Abstract
Abiotic stress is the major limiting factor for the steady decline in global crop production. The situation is further aggravated by decrease in arable land and changes in annual rainfall patterns due to population explosion. Plants have gradually evolved strategies to counter these environmental cues. Among the major adaptive stress responses, osmotic adjustment by accumulation of osmoprotectants (proline, glycine betaine, polyamines, and sugars) has been found to be effective in improving plant stress physiology. Failure of conventional breeding and recent advances in the field of genetic engineering persuaded researchers in developing stress tolerant cultivars. In this regard, extensive research has been conducted in unraveling the biosynthetic pathways of these osmolytes as well as their regulation. Overexpression of the core biosynthetic enzymes in major crops has enhanced the accumulation of respective osmolytes as well as improved plant stress tolerance and crop productivity. This prompted scientists worldwide to engineer transgenic plants accumulating these compatible solutes under stress-inducible as well as tissue-specific regulation. The present review focuses on plant stress signaling, the physiological role and regulation of these osmolytes in response to abiotic stress, and highlights the successful transgenic crops developed to date.
Published Version
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