Manipulation of alternative oxidase can influence salt tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana.

The growth and development of plants can be limited by environmental stresses such as salinity. It has been suggested that the non-phosphorylating alternative respiratory pathway in plants, mediated by the NAD(P)H dehydrogenase [NAD(P)H DH] and alternative oxidase (AOX), is important during environmental stresses. The involvement of this alternative pathway in a stress response may be linked to its capacity to uncouple carbon metabolism from adenylate control and/or the minimization of the formation of destructive reactive oxygen species (ROS).