Cellular Mechanisms Of Tolerance To Water Stress

Abstract

Water availability is one of the principal environmental limitations of crop productivity throughout the world. The water deficits, which are a consequence of either continuous or transitory periods of drought, cause significant yield reductions on presently cultivated land, and greatly restrict the cultivation of crops on over one-third of the earth’s land surface considered to be arid or semiarid (25). These restrictions on yield potential are rapidly becom ing of great concern in the face of the food demands of an ever increasing world population. The problem becomes complicated further by the fact that supplies of suitable irrigation water are dwindling rapidly, and that the costs of irrigation are becoming prohibitive. As a result, studies on the effects of water stress on plant survival and yield are attracting added interest in plant science research.