ATP-Sulfurylase: Significance in Plant Tolerance to Salinity Stress

Noushina Iqbal, Rahat Nazar and Nafees A. Khan, Ph.D.: Professor in Botany at Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India and researched on biochemical mechanisms of control of source-sink relationship and nutrient-use efficiency, and regulation of physiological processes of plant development under abiotic stress tolerance

Salinity stress is one of the major contributing factors for the decrease in crop productivity worldwide. Saline soils cover about 397 million ha and sodic soils some 434 million ha of the global land area. The use of plant mineral nutrients could be a significant strategy to mitigate stress effects in plants as mineral nutrients are the integral part of the agricultural system. Among mineral nutrients, sulfur stands second to none in terms of its importance in plant stress tolerance. Sulfur assimilation in plants is initiated by ATP- sulfurylase (the first enzyme of sulfur assimilation). It influences biosynthesis of non- protein thiols and enzymes of ascorbate-glutathione pathway, the important factors in tolerance of plants to abiotic stress.The current work reports the significance of ATP-sulfurylase as a potential physiological tool for amelioration of salinity stress in mustard