Engineering abiotic stress tolerance traits for mitigating climate change

Abstract

Crop yield, survival, and biomass production are negatively influenced by abiotic stresses. Due to multigenic nature, the molecular basis of abiotic stress tolerance is difficult to understand. Modern agriculture faces various challenges which include global climate change, complex field environment, and the combination of abiotic stress. To improve abiotic tolerance in crop plants, a combined effect of various molecular and biochemical approaches will be needed. Advanced molecular biology tools are used to enlighten the regulation mechanism of abiotic stress tolerance based on expression analysis of various stresslinked genes. The data collected from high-throughput transcription profiling, identification of specific protein network on large scale, molecular modeling and their association with environmental changes in plants all reveal information about plant system which is used for engineering plants against various environmental changes. Various genes for abiotic stress tolerance in crop plants have been identified and cloned to develop stress tolerant plants. In spite of various advancements in the technology, the success in developing stress tolerant plants is limited. This review enlightens the recent advancement in transgenic technology for the betterment of crop plants against abiotic stress.