scholarly journals Abiotic Stress-Induced Molecular and Physiological Changes and Adaptive Mechanisms in Plants

Author(s):  
Sivaji Mathivanan

Abiotic stress is the primary cause of crop loss worldwide, reducing average yields for most major crop plants by more than 50%. Among abiotic stress, drought, salinity, high temperature, and cold are major adverse environmental factors that limit the crop production and productivity by inhibiting the genetic potential of the plant. So, it leads to complete change of morphological, physiological, biochemical, and molecular behavior of the plants and modifies regular metabolism of life, thereby adversely affecting plant productivity. Major effects of the drought, salinity, extreme temperatures, and cold stress are often interconnected and form similar cellular damage. To adopt plants with various abiotic stresses, plants can initiate a number of molecular, cellular, and physiological changes in its system. Sensors are molecules that perceive the initial stress signal from the outside of the plant system and initiate a signaling cascade to transmit the signal and activate nuclear transcription factors to induce the expression of specific sets of genes. Understanding this molecular and physiological basis of plant responses produced because of abiotic stress will help in molecular and modern breeding applications toward developing improved stress-tolerant crops. This review presents an overview and implications of physiological and molecular aspects of main abiotic stress, i.e., drought, heat, salt, and cold. Potential strategies to improve abiotic tolerance in crops are discussed.

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-109
Author(s):  
Rajeswari Somasundaram ◽  
Neeru Sood ◽  
Gokhale Trupti Swarup ◽  
Ramachandran Subramanian

Identifying naturally existing abiotic-stress tolerant accessions in cereal crops is central to understanding plant responses toward sstress. Salinity is an abiotic stressor that limits crop yields. Salt stress triggers major physiological changes in plants, but individual plants may perform differently under salt stress. In the present study, 112 barley accessions were grown under controlled salt stress conditions (1 Sm-1 salinity) until harvest. The accessions were then analyzed for set of agronomic and physiological traits. Under salt stress, less than 5 % of the assessed accessions (CIHO6969, PI63926, PI295960, and PI531867) displayed early flowering. Only two (< 2 %) of the accessions (PI327671 and PI383011) attained higher fresh and dry weight, and a better yield under salt stress. Higher K+/Na+ ratios were maintained by four accessions PI531999, PI356780, PI452343, and PI532041. These top-performing accessions constitute naturally existing variants within barley’s gene pool that will be instrumental to deepen our understanding of abiotic-stress tolerance in crops.


Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 788 ◽  
Author(s):  
Youngdae Yoon ◽  
Deok Hyun Seo ◽  
Hoyoon Shin ◽  
Hui Jin Kim ◽  
Chul Min Kim ◽  
...  

Abiotic stresses, such as drought, high temperature, and salinity, affect plant growth and productivity. Furthermore, global climate change may increase the frequency and severity of abiotic stresses, suggesting that development of varieties with improved stress tolerance is critical for future sustainable crop production. Improving stress tolerance requires a detailed understanding of the hormone signaling and transcriptional pathways involved in stress responses. Abscisic acid (ABA) and jasmonic acid (JA) are key stress-response hormones in plants, and some stress-responsive transcription factors such as ABFs and MYCs function as direct components of ABA and JA signaling, playing a pivotal role in plant tolerance to abiotic stress. In addition, extensive studies have identified other stress-responsive transcription factors belonging to the NAC, AP2/ERF, MYB, and WRKY families that mediate plant response and tolerance to abiotic stress. These suggest that transcriptional regulation of stress-responsive genes is an essential step to determine the mechanisms underlying plant stress responses and tolerance to abiotic stress, and that these transcription factors may be important targets for development of crops with enhanced abiotic stress tolerance. In this review, we briefly describe the mechanisms underlying plant abiotic stress responses, focusing on ABA and JA metabolism and signaling pathways. We then summarize the diverse array of transcription factors involved in plant responses to abiotic stress, while noting their potential applications for improvement of stress tolerance.


Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1910
Author(s):  
Masum Billah ◽  
Shirin Aktar ◽  
Marian Brestic ◽  
Marek Zivcak ◽  
Abul Bashar Mohammad Khaldun ◽  
...  

Drought and salinity are the major environmental abiotic stresses that negatively impact crop development and yield. To improve yields under abiotic stress conditions, drought- and salinity-tolerant crops are key to support world crop production and mitigate the demand of the growing world population. Nevertheless, plant responses to abiotic stresses are highly complex and controlled by networks of genetic and ecological factors that are the main targets of crop breeding programs. Several genomics strategies are employed to improve crop productivity under abiotic stress conditions, but traditional techniques are not sufficient to prevent stress-related losses in productivity. Within the last decade, modern genomics studies have advanced our capabilities of improving crop genetics, especially those traits relevant to abiotic stress management. This review provided updated and comprehensive knowledge concerning all possible combinations of advanced genomics tools and the gene regulatory network of reactive oxygen species homeostasis for the appropriate planning of future breeding programs, which will assist sustainable crop production under salinity and drought conditions.


Metabolites ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 445
Author(s):  
Morena M. Tinte ◽  
Kekeletso H. Chele ◽  
Justin J. J. van der Hooft ◽  
Fidele Tugizimana

Plants are constantly challenged by changing environmental conditions that include abiotic stresses. These are limiting their development and productivity and are subsequently threatening our food security, especially when considering the pressure of the increasing global population. Thus, there is an urgent need for the next generation of crops with high productivity and resilience to climate change. The dawn of a new era characterized by the emergence of fourth industrial revolution (4IR) technologies has redefined the ideological boundaries of research and applications in plant sciences. Recent technological advances and machine learning (ML)-based computational tools and omics data analysis approaches are allowing scientists to derive comprehensive metabolic descriptions and models for the target plant species under specific conditions. Such accurate metabolic descriptions are imperatively essential for devising a roadmap for the next generation of crops that are resilient to environmental deterioration. By synthesizing the recent literature and collating data on metabolomics studies on plant responses to abiotic stresses, in the context of the 4IR era, we point out the opportunities and challenges offered by omics science, analytical intelligence, computational tools and big data analytics. Specifically, we highlight technological advancements in (plant) metabolomics workflows and the use of machine learning and computational tools to decipher the dynamics in the chemical space that define plant responses to abiotic stress conditions.


1986 ◽  
Vol 64 (8) ◽  
pp. 1633-1641 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parvaneh Rafiee ◽  
Christopher O. Matthews ◽  
Joseph C. Bagshaw ◽  
Thomas H. MacRae

Under normal conditions, an encysted Artemia embryo undergoes a developmental process that culminates in the gradual, uninterrupted emergence of the prenauplius from the cyst. The hatching membrane surrounding the emerged organism is then ruptured, usually beginning at the posterior end, and a motile nauplius is released. We have observed this process microscopically in the presence and absence of cadmium and report that cadmium disrupts Artemia development in a dose–dependent manner. At 0.1 μM, cadmium slows emergence but nauplii eventually resume rellatively normal development. Emergence and hatching are either delayed considerably or almost entirely prevented at 1 μM cadmium. Cadmium at 10 μM, completely arrests emergence but development continues at a reduced rate, eventually resulting in hatching of some organisms without need for complete emergence. If organisms exposed to 10 μM cadmium are washed, abnormally shaped emerged forms are released and many of these eventually hatch, although in an unusual manner. Cadmium at 10 μM causes complete, rapid precipitation of purified Artemia tubulin at 0 °C but cadmium at the lower concentrations tested has no apparent inhibitory effect on microtubule assembly. Although we do not know the actual cadmium–induced physiological changes that result in abnormal development of Artemia, our results indicate that we can now examine the interdependence of morphological and molecular aspects of Artemia development in a way not previously possible.


Agronomy ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirza Hasanuzzaman ◽  
M. Bhuyan ◽  
Kamrun Nahar ◽  
Md. Hossain ◽  
Jubayer Mahmud ◽  
...  

Among the plant nutrients, potassium (K) is one of the vital elements required for plant growth and physiology. Potassium is not only a constituent of the plant structure but it also has a regulatory function in several biochemical processes related to protein synthesis, carbohydrate metabolism, and enzyme activation. Several physiological processes depend on K, such as stomatal regulation and photosynthesis. In recent decades, K was found to provide abiotic stress tolerance. Under salt stress, K helps to maintain ion homeostasis and to regulate the osmotic balance. Under drought stress conditions, K regulates stomatal opening and helps plants adapt to water deficits. Many reports support the notion that K enhances antioxidant defense in plants and therefore protects them from oxidative stress under various environmental adversities. In addition, this element provides some cellular signaling alone or in association with other signaling molecules and phytohormones. Although considerable progress has been made in understanding K-induced abiotic stress tolerance in plants, the exact molecular mechanisms of these protections are still under investigation. In this review, we summarized the recent literature on the biological functions of K, its uptake, its translocation, and its role in plant abiotic stress tolerance.


Helia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (68) ◽  
pp. 83-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Mubashar Hussain ◽  
Maria Kausar ◽  
Saeed Rauf ◽  
M. Farukh Zafar Khan ◽  
Jakub Paderweski ◽  
...  

AbstractAbiotic stresses including drought are major crop production constraints. However, specific functional phenotypic markers induce resistance against these stresses. Therefore, a study was initiated to study the variability, inheritance and selection of epicuticular waxes (EW) and leaf hairiness (LH) along with low cell membrane injuries (CMI) within F2 populations derived by crossing H. annuus×H. argophyllus lines. These traits have been shown to be associated with drought tolerance of Helianthus argophyllus and thus study aims to introgress these traits in Helinathus annuus. The studied parent populations showed contrasting values of the traits. The drought susceptible line CMS-14 and CMS-20 showed lower epicuticular waxes (0.79, 0.69 mg g−1), leaf hairiness (0.75, 1.53) and higher cell membrane injury (40.90, 55.76 %) respectively while drought resistant line Argo 1802 and 1806 showed higher epicuticular waxes (2.28, 3.18), leaf hairiness (3.71, 3.80) and lower cell membrane injury (14.22, 21.54 %) respectively. The F1 hybrids had mean values of the three studied parameters i. e. epicuticular waxes (1.50 mg g−1), cell membrance injury (32.54 %) and leaf hairiness (2.74) in the range of parent lines, but some of F2 individuals extend beyond this range (Parents and F1s). The two-step selections maintained high variability especially of LH for set of F2 individuals (H. annuus CMS-20×H. argophyllus 1806). Simultaneous selection of F2 individuals with high values of LH or EW with low CMI was possible. The selected plants were further studied for narrow leaf, high fertility and silver canopy color. Selected material was promoted as the candidate of inbred line. Plant (F4) having introgressed traits (silver canopy) showed lower yield (19 %) than green leafed plants (53 %) and commercial hybrids under drought stress (63 % and 53 %). The study could help to increase the abiotic stress tolerance, minimize the yield losses under drought stress and increase functional diversity within sunflower.


Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Dalma Nagy-Réder ◽  
Zsófia Birinyi ◽  
Marianna Rakszegi ◽  
Ferenc Békés ◽  
Gyöngyvér Gell

Global climate change in recent years has resulted in extreme heat and drought events that significantly influence crop production and endanger food security. Such abiotic stress during the growing season has a negative effect on yield as well as on the functional properties of wheat grain protein content and composition. This reduces the value of grain, as these factors significantly reduce end-use quality. In this study, four Hungarian bread wheat cultivars (Triticum aestivum ssp. aestivum) with different drought and heat tolerance were examined. Changes in the size- and hydrophobicity-based distribution of the total proteins of the samples have been monitored by SE- and RP-HPLC, respectively, together with parallel investigations of changes in the amounts of the R5 and G12 antibodies related to celiac disease immunoreactive peptides. Significant difference in yield, protein content and composition have been observed in each cultivar, altering the amounts of CD-related gliadin, as well as the protein parameters directly related to techno-functional properties (Glu/Gli ratio, UPP%). The extent of changes largely depended on the timing of the abiotic stress. The severity of the negative effect depended on the growth stage in which abiotic stress occurred.


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