Rising from the sea: correlations between sulfated polysaccharides and salinity in plants.

ABSTRACT: High salinity soils inhibit crop production worldwide and represent a serious agricultural problem. To meet our ever-increasing demand for food, it is essential to understand and engineer salt-resistant crops. In this study, we evaluated the occurrence and function of sulfated polysaccharides in plants. Although ubiquitously present in marine algae, the presence of sulfated polysaccharides among the species tested was restricted to halophytes, suggesting a possible correlation with salt stress or resistance. To test this hypothesis, sulfated polysaccharides from plants artificially and naturally exposed to different salinities were analyzed. Our results revealed that the sulfated polysaccharide concentration, as well as the degree to which these compounds were sulfated in halophytic specie

SUBMITTER: Aquino RS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3084243 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature