ABSTRACT
Both osmotin and germin, the salt-induced polypeptides play a role in plant tolerance/adaptation. The wheat germ agglutinin has a defensive action on wheat seedling responses to salinity and the brassinosteroids increase salinity tolerance of plants. Both the salt-induced endogenous abscisic acid (ABA) levels and a greater molecular response of root tissues to ABA were associated with the varietal differences in tolerance. The rate of ethylene production under stress by different varieties can form a basis of screening for tolerance. Polyamines reduce ethylene production, possibly by preventing synthesis of the ethylene forming enzyme or by competing for the substrate, since the biosynthetic pathways of spermine, spermidine and ethylene share the common precursor S-adenosylme-thionine. A. A. Khan and X. L. Huang hypothesized that kinetin may alleviate salt stress on germination by promoting both 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid production and its conversion to ethylene.
