Salt bladders: do they matter?

• Agricultural production should move into marginal saline areas.
• A major breakthrough in crop breeding for salinity tolerance is needed.
• Understanding Na+ sequestration in salt bladders is critical to achieve this goal.
• Learning from halophytes opens new opportunities to crop breeders.

Soil salinity is claiming about three hectares of arable land from conventional crop farming every minute. At the same time, the challenge of feeding 9.3 billion people by 2050 is forcing agricultural production into marginal areas, and providing sufficient food for this growing population cannot be achieved without a major breakthrough in crop breeding for salinity tolerance. In this Opinion article, we argue that the current trend of targeting Na+ exclusion mechanisms in breeding programmes for salinity tolerance in crops needs revising. We propose that progress in this area will be achieved by learning from halophytes, naturally salt-loving plants capable of surviving in harsh saline environments, by targeting the mechanisms conferring Na+ sequestration in external storage organs.