Scientists reviewing 'extremophyte' plants — those naturally adapted to scorching, salty, or dry environments — found two key survival strategies that could be engineered into food crops to keep farming viable as climate change turns more land into desert.
1
Over half of the world's arable land is projected to degrade due to climate-driven aridification and soil salinization, pushing conventional crops past their physiological limits.
2
Extremophytes survive harsh conditions through two core strategies: precise control of reactive oxygen species (ROS) as developmental signaling molecules, and active recruitment of stress-protective soil microbiomes via targeted root exudates.
3
Integrating extremophytes into farming systems — via intercropping, phytoremediation rotations, and circular bioeconomy models — offers measurable gains in ecosystem function and productivity on degrading lands.
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