A domestication-selected CIPK-MYB-HAK module improves salt tolerance in modern maize.

A domestication-selected CIPK20-MYB28-HAK4 module enhances salt tolerance in modern maize by regulating shoot Na+ exclusion, with the MYB28 SNP1409T conferring increased resilience.

• Why it matters: Understanding the genetic basis of salt tolerance is crucial for improving crop resilience in saline environments, addressing a key challenge in agriculture and food security.
• What they did: The study used a maize-teosinte recombinant inbred line population to identify MYB28 as a major genetic determinant, revealing that salt stress activates CIPK20 to phosphorylate MYB28, which regulates HAK4, with the SNP1409T allele originating in teosinte and being positively selected during domestication.
• The result: The domestication-driven CIPK20-MYB28-HAK4 pathway provides mechanistic insights into salt tolerance evolution and offers targets for breeding salt-resilient maize cultivars.