SURINA BHADU*, H. R. SINGAL, HIMANI AND JAYANTI TOKAS
Department of Biochemistry, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : surina.bhadu@gmail.com; Mobile : 9996439147)
(Received : July 11, 2019; Accepted : September 15, 2019)
ABSTRACT
Plants are not able to get the proper nourishment under change in the environmental conditions, from the surroundings which lead to abiotic/biotic stresses. Abiotic stresses, specifically salinity affects the major portion of the irrigated land. Salt stress affects both the quantity and quality of wheat. High-Affinity Potassium (HKT) transporters are the primary defence system which gets activated to reduce the effect of stress condition. To protect the plants from the salt stress, a change is observed in structural carbohydrates (cellulose and lignin) in the presence of the HKT transporter genes Nax1 and Nax2. Maximum tolerance
against stress was observed in the plants having both Nax1 and Nax2 genes against salinity by increasing the cellulose and lignin content of the plant. The presence of HKT transporters resulted in good yield as well as improved forage quality in saline soils.
Key words : Abiotic, cellulose, HKT, lignin, salinity, structural carbohydrates