Kamrun Nahar

By Mirza Hasanuzzaman, Kamrun Nahar and Masayuki Fujita

Part of the book: Abiotic Stress

By Anisur Rahman, Kamrun Nahar, Jubayer Al Mahmud, Mirza Hasanuzzaman, Md. Shahadat Hossain and Masayuki Fujita

Excess salinity in soil is one of the major environmental factors that limit plant growth and yield of a wide variety of crops including rice. On the basis of tolerance ability toward salinity, rice is considered as salt-sensitive crop, and growth and yield of rice are greatly affected by salinity. In general, rice can tolerate a small amount of saltwater without compromising the growth and yield. However, it greatly depends on the types and species of rice and their growth stage. Salinity-induced ionic and osmotic stresses reduce rate of photosynthesis and consequently cause oxidative stress, which is also responsible for growth reduction. The negative effects of salt stress that mentioned ultimately reduced yield of most crops including rice, except some halophytes. In recent decades, researchers have developed various approaches toward making salt-tolerant rice varieties. Using phytoprotectants is found to be effective in conferring salt tolerance to rice plants. In this chapter, we reviewed the recent reports on different aspects on salt stress tolerance strategies in light of using phytoprotectants.

Part of the book: Advances in International Rice Research

By Mirza Hasanuzzaman, Kamrun Nahar, Anisur Rahman, Taufika Islam Anee, Mazhar Ul Alam, Tasnim Farha Bhuiyan, Hirosuke Oku and Masayuki Fujita

Wheat is consumed as a staple food by more than 36% of world population. Wheat provides nearly 55% of the carbohydrates and 20% of the food calories consumed globally. The productivity of wheat is often adversely affected by salt stress which is associated with decreased germination percentage, reduced growth, altered reproductive behavior, altered enzymatic activity, disrupted photosynthesis, damage of ultrastructure of cellular components, hormonal imbalance, and oxidative stress. Different approaches have been adopted to improve plant performance under salt stress: introduction of genes, screening of better performing genotypes, and crop improvement through conventional breeding methods which are often not so successful and suitable due to time-consuming or reduction of plant vigor with the succession of time. Uses of exogenous phytoprotectants, seed priming, nutrient management, and application of plant hormone are convenient for improving plant performances. This chapter reviews the mechanism of damage of wheat plants under salt stress and also the recent approaches to improve growth and productivity of salt-affected wheat plants emphasizing the use of exogenous phytoprotectants from the available literature.

Part of the book: Wheat Improvement, Management and Utilization

By Mirza Hasanuzzaman, Kamrun Nahar, Tasnim Farha Bhuiyan, Taufika Islam Anee, Masashi Inafuku, Hirosuke Oku and Masayuki Fujita

Salicylic acid (SA) is an endogenous growth regulator of phenolic nature and also a signaling molecule, which participates in the regulation of physiological processes in plants such as growth, photosynthesis, and other metabolic processes. Several studies support a major role of SA in modulating the plant response to various abiotic stresses. It is a well-founded fact that SA potentially generates a wide array of metabolic responses in plants and also affects plant-water relations. This molecule also found to be very active in mitigating oxidative stress under adverse environmental conditions. Since abiotic stress remained the greatest constraints for crop production worldwide, finding effective approaches is an important task for plant biologists. Hence, understanding the physiological role of SA would help in developing abiotic stress tolerance in plants. In this chapter, we will shed light on the recent progress on the regulatory role of SA in mitigating abiotic stress.

Part of the book: Phytohormones