Chapter 11 - Transcription factors and their roles in phosphorus stress tolerance in crop plants

Abstract

Phosphorus is considered to be one of the least plant macronutrients available in the soil. This mineral element plays an important role in plant growth and development and also represents essential constitutes of nucleic acids, phosphoproteins, phospholipids, and ATP. Various environmental factors in the form of abiotic stresses adversely affect crop production in a significant manner. It is well established that phosphate stress tolerance is regulated using transcription factors (TFs) and microRNAs that enable plants to cope with unfavorable conditions. This chapter gives an overview of the role of important genes-encoding TFs belonging to four multigene families (WRKY, MYB, ZFP, and ARF). Since, these four specific families of TFs and their regulatory partners, i.e., noncoding, RNAs have gained widespread attention on account of their critical role in Pi-stress tolerance in plants; there is a growing interest in the use of genomic candidates for developing Pi-stress-tolerant plants.