Interpreting the Metabolic Responses of Plants to Water Stress1

Abstract

Climatic factors-particularly the ranges and mean values of water availability and temperature-were major selective forces in the evolution of crop plants, and it is adaptation to these factors which sets the broad distribution limits for today's crops. The extremes of the ranges of water availability and temperature (the stresses of drought, flooding, cold and heat) likely to be encountered at any location are particularly important in determining the crop species and cultivars which can be profitably grown there, i.e. the adapted genotypes for that environment. The phenomenon of plant adaptation to environment can, in principle, be understood in physiological, biochemical and genetic terms. Current research on crop adaptation to stress-prone environments, research which seeks such an understanding, may influence the future practices in both plant breeding and crop management.