Heterotrimeric G proteins in crop improvement.

Saline-alkaline soils are found worldwide, affecting over 1 billion hectares of arable lands especially in arid and semiarid regions. Alkaline soils are characterized by the high pH and low nutrient availability as well as high concentrations of bicarbonate and carbonate, being highly detrimental to crop production. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO and ITPS, 2015 FAOITPSStatus of the World's Soil Resources: Main Report. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils, Rome, Italy2015 Google Scholar ), approximately 60% of saline soils are concurrently affected by alkalization, posing a serious threat to food security. In recent decades, the breeding objectives for staple crops were mainly focused on yield, quality, and resistance to diseases, leaving alkaline tolerance largely overlooked. Now more than ever, we need to understand the mechanisms of plant alkaline tolerance to develop new crop varieties better adapted to alkaline soil conditions.