For more than 6 thousand years, populations of Arabidopsis thaliana have adapted to the environment of the African archipelago of Cabo Verde. Now, an international study involving the CBGP and INRAE shows how plants from two different islands have independently and in parallel acquired mutations in a gene that allows them to produce a substance that helps them survive in high salinity conditions. This discovery offers new avenues for improving the resilience of agricultural crops in soils with high salt concentrations.