The use of plants and associated microorganisms in the phytoremediation of salt-affected soils

Soil salinization is a worldwide issue that raises a broad range of environmental and economic concerns, varying from crop production to dysfunctional biological communities or altered biogeochemical cycles and freshwater reservoirs. Consequently, there is a growing interest i n restoring saltimpactedsoils, especially through management approaches that deliver both ecological and economic revenues. Aided-phytoremediation uses plants and microorganisms to provide this dual benefit as an environmentally friendly approach able to restore impacted soils while providing feedstock for several applications, including food and forage. The most suitable plants for restoring saltimpacted soils are typically halophytes, although some tolerant glycophytes also provide interesting alternatives. Plants can extract salt and/or revegetate saltaffected areas to restore soil-mediated ecosystem services and can be assisted by salt-tolerant microbial inoculants such as plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), which ameliorate plants stress response to salinity ensuring their survival and enhancing biomass production. PGPB and AMF have multiple traits that can induce nutrient and water uptake, decrease ionic stress, namely through increasing osmoprotectants accumulation and stimulating plants' antioxidant system, which support the feasibility of phytoremediation even in the harsher saline environments. Examples of plants and microbial inoculants are here provided to illustrate the efficiency of this approach in reclaiming salt-affected soils. The use of valuable plants in such soils can provide an added value to local human populations, by aiding in the fulfillment of their basic needs. We highlight the importance of these microorganisms and describe their selection process for improving plant tolerance and promoting the sustainable recovery of these soils for further uses, which includes cash crop production.