Contribution of Bioinformatics to Gene Discovery in Salt Stress Responses in Plants

Salinity is the major abiotic stress leading to huge losses in crop productivity. Therefore, understanding the regulatory mechanisms and subsequently improving salinity tolerance in plants are important goals for plant biologists. Salinity tolerance depends upon the ability of plants to exclude salts, the compartmentalization of sodium (Na+) into vacuoles and acquisition of potassium (K+) to cope with osmotic stress and to maintain ion homeostasis. The availability of complete genome sequences coupled with effective and high-throughput methods has helped us in identifying many genes associated with salt stress. The tools of bioinformatics have allowed us to identify stress-associated gene families across species based on homology and gene synteny. Besides, whole genome sequencing, cDNA libraries related to stress tolerance, and genome-wide association studies have facilitated the discovery of stress-related genes. This vital information from both halophytic and glycophytic species coupled with the isolation of potential target genes associated with salt stress tolerance helps in crop breeding programs aimed at generating salt stress-tolerant crop plants.