Search

This commentary details how a novel alkali-tolerance gene, I AT1 i , is anticipated to revolutionize crop production in >1 billion hectares of saline-alkaline land worldwide. At the global level, currently there are 618 million hectares of sodic land; if 20% of the world's salt-alkaline land used I AT1 i -modified crops, it will produce at least 250 million tons of grain per year in addition to the existing crop yield. In summary, the discovery of a novel alkali tolerant gene ( I AT1 i ) is anticipated to revolutionize crop production in >1 billion hectares of saline-alkaline land worldwide. It is necessary to develop an effective strategy to explore conserved salt-alkali-resistant genes from these less-studied halophyte plants, which may in turn benefit in creating more salt-alkaline tolerance crops. [Extracted from the article]