Tolerance of plants to abiotic stressors such as drought and salinity is triggered by complex multicomponent signaling pathways to restore cellular homeostasis and promote survival. Major plant transcription factor families such as bZIP, NAC, AP2/ERF, and MYB orchestrate regulatory networks underlying abiotic stress tolerance. Sucrose non-fermenting 1-related protein kinase 2 and mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways contribute to initiation of stress adaptive downstream responses and promote plant growth and development. As a convergent point of multiple abiotic cues, cellular effects of environmental stresses are not only imbalances of ionic and osmotic homeostasis but also impaired photosynthesis, cellular energy depletion, and redox imbalances. Recent evidence of regulatory systems that link sensing and signaling of environmental conditions and the intracellular redox status have shed light on interfaces of stress and energy signaling. ROS (reactive oxygen species) cause severe cellular damage by peroxidation and de-esterification of membrane-lipids, however, current models also define a pivotal signaling function of ROS in triggering tolerance against stress. Recent research advances suggest and support a regulatory role of ROS in the cross talks of stress triggered hormonal signaling such as the abscisic acid pathway and endogenously induced redox and metabolite signals. Here, we discuss and review the versatile molecular convergence in the abiotic stress responsive signaling networks in the context of ROS and lipid-derived signals and the specific role of stomatal signaling.

Plants adapt to adverse environments by integrating growth and development to environmentally activated cues. Within the adaptive signaling networks, plant hormones tightly control convergent developmental and stress adaptive processes and coordinate cellular responses to external and internal conditions. Recent studies have uncovered novel antagonizing roles of the plant hormones gibberellin (GA) and abscisic acid (ABA) in integrating growth and development in plants with environmental signaling. According to current concepts, GRAS transcription factors of the DELLA and SCARECROW-LIKE (SCL) types have a key role as major growth regulators and have pivotal functions in modulating GA signaling. Significantly, current models emphasize a function of DELLA proteins as central regulators in GA homeostasis. DELLA proteins interact with the cellular GA receptor GID1 (GA-INSENSITIVE DWARF1) and degradation of DELLAs activates the function of GA. Supplementary to the prevailing view of a pivotal role of GRAS family transcriptional factors in plant growth regulation, recent work has suggested that the DELLA and SCL proteins integrate generic GA responses into ABA-controlled abiotic stress tolerance. Here, we review and discuss how GRAS type proteins influence plant development and versatile adaptation as hubs in GA and ABA triggered signaling pathways.

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