Role of plant transcription factors in abiotic stress tolerance

Abstract

Plants are constantly exposed to a wide range of environmental stresses such as drought, high salt, heat and extremes of temperature. Growth constraints due to these abiotic stresses result in reduced productivity and significant crop losses globally. Drought and salinity affect more than 10% of arable land, which results in more than 50% decline in the average yields of important crops worldwide (Bray et al., 2000). Tolerance or susceptibility to these stresses is also a very intricate event as stress may affect multiple stages of plant development and often several stresses concurrently affect the plants (Chinnusamy et al., 2004). Therefore, the basic mechanisms of abiotic stress tolerance and adaptation have been the area of comprehensive research.