Bhoopander Giri - Plant Stress Biology

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In the recent agriculture scenario, climate change and food security are the two prominent challenges faced by the scientists to cater to the needs of the burgeoning global population. The global climate is predicted to change drastically over the next century and different plant growth parameters will be affected due to these aberrations. The struggle for survival is a natural and continuous process. Plants growing in the natural environment confront with a variety of biotic (pathogen infections) and abiotic stresses (salinity, drought, heat and cold stresses, etc.) that drastically affect plant growth and productivity under field conditions. These challenges are likely to grow as consequences of global climate change.

Gradual increase in the global warming of this planet has grown incidence of extreme weather conditions such as increasing periods of drought, variation in temperature, incidents of flooding and accumulation of soluble salts that all are liable to drastically impact food production, because these extreme weather conditions largely affect plant growth and thereby lowering crop production. Indeed, plants have evolved various direct and indirect mechanisms to respond or adapt to extreme environmental conditions. Therefore, the acquaintance with underlying signalling pathways, physiological, biochemical and molecular mechanisms in plants and the role of beneficial soil microorganisms in plants stress tolerance are pivotal for sustainable crop production. Indeed, microbes present in phyllosphere, rhizosphere (bacteria and fungi) and inside the plants (endophytes) could play a significant role in the alleviation of biotic and abiotic stresses in plants due to the activation of the ISR system and improve on the PGP traits through enhanced nitrogen fixation, exopolysaccharides (EPS) secretion, phytohormones (IAA, GA, CK), 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminases, trehalose synthase gene, volatile compounds, inducing accumulation of osmolytes (proline), antioxidants, upregulation or downregulation of stress responsive genes (acdS). Thus, the use of such beneficial microbes could play a vital role in mitigating abiotic and biotic stresses in plants.