Molecular Mechanisms in Plant Abiotic Stress Response

Improved crop varieties are needed to sustain the food supply, to fi ght climate changes, water scarcity, temperature increase and a high variability of rainfalls. Variability of drought and increase in soil salinity have negative effects on plant growth and abiotic stresses seriously threaten sustainable agricultural production. To overcome the infl uence of abiotic stresses, new tolerant plant varieties and breeding techniques using assisted selection are sought. A deep understanding of the mechanisms that respond to stress and sustain stress resistance is required. Here is presented an overview of several mechanisms that interact in the stress response. Localised synthesis of plant hormones, second messengers and local effectors of abiotic stress response and survival, the signalling pathways regulated by plant hormones are today better understood. Metabolic networks in drought stress responses, long distance signalling, cross-talk between plant organs fi nalised to tissue-specifi c expression of abiotic stress relieving genes have been at the centre of most recent studies.