Abiotic stress experiments need a reality check to improve translation to the field

Abstract

In nearly every issue of this journal and other general plant biology journals, you will find articles on plant abiotic stress responses and signalling. These publications justify a focus on a particular stress acclimation mechanism by reviewing impacts of the associated stress on crop yield. Since the advent of genomics, the focus of abiotic stress response studies has shifted from whole-plant physiology to cellular and molecular mechanisms.Yet, little of this knowledge has been translated into improved crops that can better withstand abiotic constraints, lagging far behind the development of varieties resistant to pests and pathogens (Passioura, 2020).