Soda saline-alkaline lands are significantly harmful to agriculture; thus, effective strategies to remediate such soil are urgently needed. Multiple negative factors exist in the community structure of saline-alkaline fields, among which the lack of fungal species diversity remains the most prominent problem. The haloalkaliphilic fungi are a unique group of extremophiles that grow optimally under conditions of extreme salinity and alkalinity; these fungi, which buffer salinity and alkalinity by absorbing and/or constraining salt ions, produce organic acids and/or macromolecules, secrete macromolecules such as cellulose degradation enzymes, and provide biomass that is beneficial for soil health. Considering that haloalkaliphilic fungi are a valuable genetic resource of resistance and degradation genes, these fungi are expected to be applied in biotechnology. Aspergillus glaucus exhibits high resistance to a variety of stressors and the ability to degrade crop straw; and it is a practical genetic tool that can be used to identify and validate genes involved in abiotic stress resistance and cellulose decomposition genes. This review will focus on the following aspects: isolation of extreme haloalkaliphilic fungi, fungal genes involved in salt and alkalinity resistance, macromolecule degrading enzymes, applications for genetic improvement of haloalkaliphilic fungi, and application of haloalkaliphilic fungi in saline-alkali soil mycoremediation.
Keywords: Abiostress-resistant gene; Cellulase gene; Haloalkaliphilic fungi; Saline–alkaline remediation.