Abstract
Plants are sessile organisms whose survival depends on their strategy to cope with dynamic, stressful conditions. It is urgent to improve the ability of crops to adapt to recurrent stresses in order to alleviate the negative impacts on their productivity. Although our knowledge of plant adaptation to drought has been extensively enhanced during the last decades, recent studies have tackled plant responses to recurrent stresses. The present review synthesizes the major findings from studies addressing plant responses to multiple drought events, and demonstrates the ability of plants to memorize drought stress. Stress memory is described as a priming effect allowing a different response to a reiterated stress when compared to a single stress event. Here, by specifically focusing on water stress memory at the plant cycle level, we describe the different underlying processes at the molecular, physiological and morphological levels in crops as well as in the model species Arabidopsis thaliana. Moreover, a conceptual analysis framework is proposed to study drought stress memory. Finally, the essential role of interactions between plants and soil microorganisms is emphasized during reiterated stresses because their plasticity can play a key role in supporting overall plant resilience.
Highlights
Plants 2021, 10, 1873. https://The world’s population should reach around 9.1 billion in 2050
Plant water stress memory involves processes associated with photosynthesis, energy mechanisms, osmotic adjustment, cellular protective functions, and water status maintenance
Memory mechanisms are best known at the shoot level, yet it is essential to characterize those at the root level
Summary
The world’s population should reach around 9.1 billion in 2050. An important increase in food demand is already being observed [1]. Population increase and climate change are creating an unprecedent challenge in breeding plants that are more resilient to climate fluctuations in order to feed the world population In this context, drought has been identified as the most important and harmful stress to plant production worldwide, affecting yield at several crucial moments during the crop cycle. Somatic stress memory allows plants that have experienced a stress event to benefit from stored information for days, weeks or months and to adapt their response when facing a further stress. This mechanism has been well characterized in cold hardening [9]. Soil microbial community composition and activity, as well as soil physico-chemical properties, are shaped by soil legacy effects, and could influence plant responses to a subsequent stress [15,16]
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have