Molecular and Physiological Mechanisms to Mitigate Abiotic Stress Conditions in Plants

Abstract

Agriculture production faces many abiotic stresses, mainly drought, salinity, low and high temperature. These abiotic stresses inhibit plants’ genetic potential, which is the cause of huge reduction in crop productivity, decrease potent yields for important crop plants by more than 50% and imbalance agriculture’s sustainability. They lead to changes in the physio-morphological, molecular, and biochemical nature of the plants and change plants’ regular metabolism, which makes them a leading cause of losses in crop productivity. These changes in plant systems also help to mitigate abiotic stress conditions. To initiate the signal during stress conditions, sensor molecules of the plant perceive the stress signal from the outside and commence a signaling cascade to send a message and stimulate nuclear transcription factors to provoke specific gene expression. To mitigate the abiotic stress, plants contain several methods of avoidance, adaption, and acclimation. In addition to these, to manage stress conditions, plants possess several tolerance mechanisms which involve ion transporters, osmoprotectants, proteins, and other factors associated with transcriptional control, and signaling cascades are stimulated to offset abiotic stress-associated biochemical and molecular changes. Plant growth and survival depends on the ability to respond to the stress stimulus, produce the signal, and start suitable biochemical and physiological changes. Various important factors, such as the biochemical, physiological, and molecular mechanisms of plants, including the use of microbiomes and nanotechnology to combat abiotic stresses, are highlighted in this article.

Comprehensive analysis of the Aquaporin genes inEucalyptus grandissuggests potential targets for drought stress tolerance

“…As the climate continues to change, limited water availability and high temperatures have resulted in drought stresses that have already begun to hinder the growth and productivity of the Eucalyptus grandis trees (Saharan et al . 2022).…”

“…As the climate continues to change, limited water availability and high temperatures have resulted in drought stresses that have already begun to hinder the growth and productivity of the Eucalyptus grandis trees (Saharan et al 2022). Here, we have identified six EgAQPs that play a pivotal role in responding to drought stress and subsequent rehydration (Figure 6.…”

Microbial bioformulation: a microbial assisted biostimulating fertilization technique for sustainable agriculture

“…Rhizobacteria offer drought resilience through RIDER (Rhizobacterial-Induced Drought Endurance and Resilience). RIDER involves PGPR-induced changes like producing phytohormones, exopolysaccharides, cyclic metabolic pathways, and reinforcing antioxidant defenses with compounds like amino acids, polyamines, sugars, and heat shock proteins ( Saharan et al., 2022 ). Additionally, the Piriformospora indica fungal endophyte was also found to enhance drought resistance by upregulating antioxidant enzymes, drought-related genes, and CAS mRNA levels in stressed leaves ( Sun et al., 2010 ).…”

Comprehensive identification of maize ZmE2F transcription factors and the positive role of ZmE2F6 in response to drought stress

“…In adaption to drought, plants activate a series of physiological, morphological, and molecular changes [ 1 – 3 ]. Among them, many transcription factors (TFs) can be dominated by stress to regulate gene expression and coordinate plant antagonism to adverse factors [ 4 – 6 ].…”