Cakile maritima, a promising model for halophyte studies and a putative cash crop for saline agriculture

Agricultural intensification necessary for global food security as well as changes in temperature and precipitation patterns expected from climate change are likely to cause further deterioration irrigated lands in various part of the world. Salinization is spreading particularly in arid and semi-arid regions and urban sprawl is forcing agricultural production into marginal areas. Many salted marginal areas could support biomass production if halophytes able to tolerate high salinity were used. This chapter presents general data on Cakile maritima, a halophyte, concerning its ecological characteristics, diversity and distribution, adaptation to environment and its potential uses as medicinal plant, for oilseed production or phytoremediation. In a second part we present what have been uncovered in C. maritima in term of mechanisms and physiological adaptations to salinity when compared to other plants. Cakile maritima appears worthy of attention since it meets numerous criteria for being a good genetic model of halophyte. It has a small diploid genome, a short life cycle and produces large amount of seeds. Furthermore Cakile maritima represents a promising species owing its large geographical and ecological amplitude, its economic potential because of its ability to produce numerous secondary compounds and as an oilseed and energy crop. This renders the cultivation of this plant on salted marginal soil of practical significance in the context of the necessary development of biosaline agriculture in the future.