Rana Munns received her PhD from the University of Sydney in 1972 from research undertaken at the CSIRO Plant Physiology Unit. Her research has focussed on mechanisms of stress tolerance in plants, in particular on adaptations to drought and salinity stress. This research continued at Macquarie University in Sydney, the University of Western Australia in Perth and then at CSIRO Plant Industry in Canberra where she has worked since 1981. She is now Chief Research Scientist and leads a research team on the genetic and physiological basis of salt tolerance in wheat. Rana is recognised internationally for her insights into the fundamental principles of crop adaptation to salinity, and for applications of these insights. She characterised the critical plant processes involved in tolerance of salinity, and showed what distinguishes salinity stress from drought stress. This work produced a highly sensitive technique for identifying salttolerant plants, and the discovery of important genes for salt tolerance.

Adaptations of plants to drought and salinity stress
by Dr Rana Munns

Drought and soil salinity have much in common in the way they affect plant growth. The decline of available water causes roots to produce signals that travel to the leaves and slow down leaf growth and water use. This conserves the scarce water that remains in the soil. If it rains, the signals disappear and the plant immediately starts to grow fast again.

Soil salinity also poses an additional stress on the plant as the roots have to exclude most of the salt while taking up water from the soil. If salt accumulates to high levels in leaves, it can become toxic, if not stored in the right places. We have discovered novel genes in a primitive ancestor of wheat that control the uptake of sodium and prevent it accumulating in leaves. These genes are being crossed into modern wheat to improve its salt tolerance.

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