“…Such stress (drought) may occur under dry/humid conditions and with elevated air temperatures. The disparity in the water loss due to evapotranspiration flux and water uptake from soil may attribute to the key reason behind imposing drought stress (Lipiec et al, 2013;Dash et al, 2022;Sagar et al, 2022). On the other hand, toxic heavy metals and metalloids are also posing a serious threat to achieving agricultural sustainability in crop production with significant accumulation in the edible parts imposing a menace to the food chain (Moulick et al, 2016a;Moulick et al, 2016b;Moulick et al, 2018a; Abbreviations: ABA, abscisic acid; APX, ascorbate peroxidase; AtERF5, a class I ERF protein; CAT, catalase; COR, cold-regulated genes; DREB/CBF, Crepeat binding factors; EIN3, ethylene-induced 3; ENA1, Na+-exporting Ptype ATPase gene; FIT, fer-like iron deficiency-induced transcription factor; FSD1, iron superoxide dismutase 1; GR, glutathione reductase; GSH1/2, glutathione 1/2; LP2, plasma membrane receptor-like kinase leaf panicle 2; MAPK, mitogen-activated protein kinase; MDA, malonaldehyde; NCED, 9cis-epoxy-carotenoid dioxygenase; OsDREB2A, dehydration-responsive element-binding 2A; OsP5CS, pyrroline 5 carboxylate synthetase; OsProT, proline transporter; PCS1/2, phytochelatin synthases 1/2; PMR2, Ca 2+ ATPase gene; POD, peroxidase; PRXZ4, peroxidase 24 precursor; RbohD, respiratory burst oxidase homologue; RD29A, a classical stress-response gene; ROS, reactive oxygen species; SOD, superoxide dismutase.…”