Salinity is a major factor limiting crop productivity, with at least 20 percent of irrigated lands already affected by salinity and the problem increasing globally. Plants naturally adapted to highly saline environments can provide key insights into the mechanisms of tolerance to extreme salinity.

Plants of the genus Salicornia grow in coastal salt marshes and their growth can even be stimulated by sodium chloride (NaCl). KAUST is leading Salicornia research and research scientist Octavio R. Salazar Moya, who has worked on this since he was a Ph.D. student, wanted to investigate what makes these plants so incredibly tolerant to salt.

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