Halophytes

Freshwater salinization and expanding desertification threaten global agriculture. Promise lies in salt resistance genes found in Salicornia europaea, a halophyte that thrives in high-salt conditions partly due to protein action. We focused one of its genes, SeNN24. It enhanced salt resistance in yeast and shows promise in improving crop resilience. Our research introduced SeNN24 into tobacco via agrobacterial transformation, testing the plants under salt and drought conditions. The transformed tobacco showed superior tolerance of up to 400mM NaCl and drought, maintaining health and even flowering under stress. This suggests that SeNN24 could potentially confer significant salt and drought resistance to vital crops, protecting them from environmental challenges and enhancing agricultural sustainability.

Suaeda linearis is an edible halophyte crop with nutraceutical properties that is native to Florida. This study investigated how the biomass production and mineral content of aquacultured S. linearis was affected by harvest frequency during a 10-week period using four different harvest treatments. Under the first treatment (T1) plants received zero intermittent harvests, the second (T2) received harvests every five weeks, the third (T3) received harvests every 3.3 weeks, and the fourth (T4) received harvests every 2.5 weeks. The results indicate that biomass production and mineral content were both strongly affected by harvest treatment. Intermittent harvesting decreased biomass production and conversely, intermittent harvesting increased the quantities of certain desirable minerals in S. linearis. Early harvests of the study plants were small, suggesting that 13-15 weeks after germination is the earliest time a harvestable yield can be achieved from S. linearis.