Journal of Agronomy and Field Innovations

Background: Salinity of soil is huge limitation on wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production worldwide and affects over 800 million hectares of cultivated land. Progress in salinity tolerance improvement through traditional breeding has been slow because of polygenic nature of the traits that provide response to stress.
Objective: In this research, we try to test the use of genome-editing using CRISPR/Cas9 for improving salinity tolerance in wheat by cutting the genes responsible for creation of important ion transporters, enzyme for production of osmolyte and proteins that defend from reactive oxygen species.
Methods: We created the strains of wheat with modified TaHKT1, TaNHX1 and TaAPX2 genes which participate in sodium exclusion, ion accumulation in vacuole. The plants were grown in controlled laboratory environment and studied under salinity conditions reaching 150mM and 250 mM NaCl.
Results: CRISPR/Cas9 modified strains showed improved salt tolerance performance on multiple parameters. For instance, when treated with 250 mM NaCl, the modified strains maintained 78–82% of the control biomass while the wild-type plants recorded 45–52%. The modified strains had a better root architecture with their roots being 2.3 times longer than those of the wild types together with lower Na⁺/K⁺ ratio, which was 0.42 as compared to 0.78.
Moreover, gene expression analysis revealed greater transcription of the salt-responsive genes and the enhanced activities of the antioxidant enzymes. Overall, the yield under salt stress was 65–72% higher in the modified strains than in the wild types.
Conclusion: CRISPR/Cas9-mediated editing of many genes is a serious way of developing salt-resistant wheat forms. The additive impacts of gene engineering onion transport, regulation of osmotic processes, and reactive oxidative stress make it clear how precision editing can be applied to improve agricultural crop resilience in climate conditions and sustainable wheat production for salt-affected regions.