Zhonggang Li¹ , Yeping Han²

1 Tropical Specialty Crops Research Center, Hainan Institute of Tropical Agricultural Resources, Sanya, 572025, Hainan, China
2 Institute of Life Science, Jiyang College of Zhejiang A&F University, Zhuji, 311800, Zhejiang, China
Author    Correspondence author
Biological Evidence, 2025, Vol. 15, No. 4   
Received: 28 May, 2025    Accepted: 02 Jun., 2025    Published: 17 Jul., 2025

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Pitaya, due to its heat, drought and poor soil tolerance, is widely cultivated in saline-alkali lands in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and other regions. But, salt stress remains an important factor affecting its yield and growth. To enhance its adaptability in saline-alkali environments, this study has sorted out the genetic regulatory mechanism of pitayat's salt tolerance, focusing on three major aspects: ion balance, osmotic regulation and root structure. Several key genes, like HuTZF3, HuERF1 and HuBADH, have been identified in the research, which play significant roles in regulating ion transport, antioxidant response and root development. Based on transcriptome and functional verification data, a regulatory network of these genes has been initially established. The study also summarized several current strategies for salt-tolerant breeding, including field screening, MAS, GS and gene editing. The results show that, if the salt tolerance potential of wild resources is combined with precise molecular tools, it is expected to accelerate the breeding process of new salt-tolerant varieties. This study provides ideas and technical paths for the in-depth research, and breeding application of pitaya's salt tolerance.

Pitaya; Salt stress; Ion homeostasis; Osmotic regulation; Root system structure; Gene regulation