Drought Stress: Manifestation and Mechanisms of Alleviation in Plants

Abstract

Drought can be referred to as a meteorological period without significant rainfall and it is one of such major abiotic stresses that contributes to a huge reduction in crop yield throughout the world. Plant shows a broad range of physiological, morphological, and biochemical changes such as reduced photosynthetic accumulation, altered gene expression, etc. Under the drought stress which ultimately causes reduced growth as well as poor grain yield. Drought stressconditions trigger production of ROS, which disrupts the dynamic balance between ROS production and ROS scavenging systems and its accumulation depends on the intensity as well as duration of water stress, and it varies among species. A plant species that has a better inherited genetic response allowing it to rapidly deploy its antioxidant enzymatic and non-enzymatic defense system, can tolerate drought better than a plant species with a poor antioxidant defense system. Furthermore, enzyme and protein encoding drought specific genes have the ability to enhance drought tolerance. These two enzymatic and genetic engineering strategies are unique and vital tools, which can be used to help alleviate the world’s future problems related to energy, food, and environmental stresses, particularly drought. This chapter attempts to discuss developments in understanding effects of drought stress and underlying mechanisms in plants for its alleviation.