Imperative role of trehalose metabolism and trehalose-6-phosphate signaling on salt stress responses in plants

Sugar transport and distribution have a direct impact on the growth and development of plants. Many sugars significantly influence salt stress response. The sensing of salt stress signals triggers a wide array of complicated network transduction pathways in plants. Trehalose and its intermediate compounds effectively modulate salt response and salt tolerance. Sugars such as trehalose and its derivatives not only serve as metabolic resources and structural components of cells in plants but also exhibit hormone-like regulating properties. Trehalose has an important physiological role in improving plant tolerance against salinity stresses in different plants. Plants finely adjust their cytoplasmic compatible solute pool to cope with high salinity. Salt stress induces a variety of structural, anatomical, molecular, biochemical, and physiological changes in plants, all of which have a detrimental influence on plant growth and development. This review highlights the recent developments in understanding trehalose and trehalose-6-phosphate signaling processes in plants, especially their impacts on plants growing in salty environments.