Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
all aspects of plant science, and is pursued by both public and private sector researchers [9].
tolerant crop either by genetic engineering or through conventional breeding covered almost
and engineering plants with new and desired agronomical traits [8]. The creation of stress-
sustainable agriculture development is to obtain new knowledge that should allow breeding
biochemical, cellular and molecular levels [7]. One of the biggest challenges to modern
in exploring and understanding plant abiotic responses at the whole-plant, physiological,
Abiotic stresses elicit complex cellular responses that have been elucidated by progresses made
involving complex gene interactions and crosstalk with many molecular pathways [5, 6].
remarkable feature of plant adaptation to abiotic stresses is the activation of multiple responses
other processes, determining plant growth and development, namely reproduction [4]. A
or indirectly related with the plasticity and resilience of photosynthesis, in combination with
growth [3]. The ability of plants to adapt and/or acclimate to different environments is directly
excess of toxic ions, excess of light and increased hardness of drying soil that hamper roots
extreme temperatures (heating or freezing), decreased availability of soil nutrients and/or
Some examples of abiotic stresses that a plant may face include decreased water availability,
the differential distribution of the plants species across different types of environment [2].
abiotic stresses - that play a major role in determining productivity of crop yields [1] but also
Plants are often subjected to unfavorable environmental conditions - abiotic factors, causing
1. Introduction
http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/52779
Additional information is available at the end of the chapter
Pedro Fevereiro and Susana de Sousa Araújo
Ana Paula Farinha, Dulce Santos,
Anabela Bernardes da Silva, Jorge Marques da Silva,
Ana Sofia Duque, André Martinho de Almeida,
Complexity of Genes and Networks to Survive
Abiotic Stress Responses in Plants: Unraveling the
Chapter 3
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