Plants have evolved elaborate mechanisms for sensing and responding to sub-optimal environmental conditions. Abiotic stresses caused by these conditions trigger a wide range of local and long-distance signals which must be co-ordinated and integrated into whole-plant processes, such as development, in order for the plant to respond properly and survive. Several hormones function as key regulato...

Sumoylation regulates numerous cellular functions in plants as well as in other eukaryotic systems. However, the regulatory mechanisms controlling E3 small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO) ligase are not well understood. Here, post-translational modification of the Arabidopsis E3 SUMO ligase AtSIZ1 was shown to be specifically controlled by abiotic stresses. AtSIZ1 ubiquitination was induced b...

This chapter covers the advances in establishment and optimization of brassinoste‐ roids (BRs) in the alleviation of abiotic stresses such as water, salinity, temperature, and heavy metals in plant system, especially roots. Plant roots regulate their develop‐ mental and physiological processes in response to various internal and external stim‐ uli. Studies are in progress to improve plant root ...

Abiotic stress is one of the primary causes of crop losses worldwide. Much progress has been made in unraveling the complex stress response mechanisms, particularly in the identification of stress responsive protein-coding genes. In addition to protein coding genes, recently discovered microRNAs (miRNAs) and endogenous small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) have emerged as important players in plant s...

Although abscisic acid (ABA) is an important hormone that regulates seed dormancy, stomatal closure, plant development, as well as responses to environmental stimuli, the physiological mechanisms of ABA response to multiple stress in rice remain poorly understood. In the ABA biosynthetic pathway, 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase (NCED) is the key rate-limiting enzyme. Here, we report important...

Abiotic constraints are a source of concern in agriculture, because they can have a strong impact on plant growth and development, thereby affecting crop yield. The response of plants to abiotic constraints varies depending on the type of stress, on the species and on the organs. Although many studies have addressed different aspects of the plant response to abiotic stresses, only a handful has...

Chickpea is an important food legume crop for the semi-arid regions, however, its productivity is adversely affected by various biotic and abiotic stresses. Identification of candidate genes associated with abiotic stress response will help breeding efforts aiming to enhance its productivity. With this objective, 10 abiotic stress responsive candidate genes were selected on the basis of prior k...

In natural environments, plants often experience different stresses simultaneously, and adverse abiotic conditions can weaken the plant immune system. Interactome mapping revealed that the LOW SULPHUR UPREGULATED (LSU) proteins are hubs in an Arabidopsis protein interaction network that are targeted by virulence effectors from evolutionarily diverse pathogens. Here we show that LSU proteins are...

Rubber trees are economically important tropical tree species and the major source of natural rubber, which is an essential industrial material. This tropical perennial tree is susceptible to cold stress and other abiotic stresses, especially in the marginal northern tropics. Recent years, the genome sequencing and RNA-seq projects produced huge amount of sequence data, which greatly facilitate...

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are beneficial plant symbionts that have been successfully used in agriculture to increase seedling emergence, plant weight, crop yield, and disease resistance. Some PGPR strains release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can directly and/or indirectly mediate increases in plant biomass, disease resistance, and abiotic stress tolerance. This mini-...