CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -The world’s first Genetic Garden of Halophytes (naturally occurring salt-tolerant plants) was inaugurated at the coastal town of Vedaranyam in Tamil Nadu.

Detailed explanation-2: -In the state of Tamil Nadu, where I come from, halophytes are found growing in waters with high salinity along the seashore in Pichavaram in North Tamil Nadu as well as the Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary and Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve along the Palk Strait in the southern part of the state.

Detailed explanation-3: -Halophytes live in salt marshes and are exposed to excessive salt as well as physiological drought. The ice plant (Mesembryanthemum crystnllinuni) is a succulent that grows along sandy beaches of the California coast and is exposed to extreme salinity.

Detailed explanation-4: -A small group of halophytes have evolved specific salt excretory structures, termed salt glands, which can excrete excess salt from plant tissues to enhance salinity tolerance [33]. Halophytes with salt glands are collectively termed recretohalophytes.

Detailed explanation-5: -Halophytes are well-adapted and thrive under high salinity by using two strategies, salt tolerance, and salt avoidance. Generally, halophytes follow three mechanisms of salt tolerance; reduction of the Na+ influx, compartmentalization, and excretion of sodium ions (Flowers and Colmer, 2008, 2015).