Salt stress significantly contributes to major losses in agricultural productivity worldwide. The sustainable approach for salinity-accrued toxicity has been explored. The use of plant growth regulators/phytohormones, mineral nutrients and other signaling molecules is one of the major approaches for reversing salt-induced toxicity in plants. Application of the signaling molecules such as nitric oxide (NO) and ethylene (ETH) and major mineral nutrient such as nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) play significant roles in combatting the major consequences of salt stress impacts in plants. However, the literature available on gaseous signaling molecules (NO/ETH) or/and mineral nutrients (N/S) stands alone, and major insights into the role of NO or/and ETH along with N and S in plant-tolerance to salt remained unclear. Thus, this review aimed to (a) briefly overview salt stress and highlight salt-induced toxicity, (b) appraise the literature reporting potential mechanisms underlying the role of gaseous signaling molecules and mineral nutrient in salt stress tolerance, and (c) discuss NO and ETH along with N and S in relation to salt stress tolerance. In addition, significant issues that have still to be investigated in this context have been mentioned.
ECe, electrical conductivity; ESP, exchangeable sodium percentage (relative amount of the Na ion present on the soil surface; SAR, sodium adsorption ratio (a measure of the amount of Na relative to Ca and Mg.
Salt stress is the issue of almost all the continents and under a wide range of climates. Conversely, this stress issue is more urgent in arid and semi-arid climates contrasted with the humid climate, where yearly precipitation is not as much as evapotranspiration in the world. At a global scale, about 12,781 Mha areas are affected by salinity and sodicity stresses. The regions with a preponderance of salt-affected soils are shown in Table 2.
It is remarkable to note that ~85% of the total global area is only slightly to moderately affected by high salt concentrations; whereas, from harsh to extreme limitations for crop production occur in the remainder 15% [24]. The countries where significant salt-affected soils exist including but not limited to such as India (27%); Pakistan (28%), Israel (13%), Australia (20%), China (15%), Iraq (50%), and Egypt (30%) [25].




