Insight to the biotechnological interventions in flower crops for abiotic stress tolerance

Abstract

Biotechnology with the use of genetic engineering tools constitutes different applications in improving crop plants including commercial flower crops and several other ornamental plants. Competition for excellent quality has compelled the research endeavours towards the use of molecular markers, functional genomics, and genetic engineering in ornamental crop breeding where potential genes have been identified and several traits have been improved. AREB/ABF TFs, AP2/ERF, NAC TFs, bZIP TFs, MYC, and MYB have been implicated in drought stress response. CBF genes encode AP2/ERF (APETALA2/Ethylene-Responsive Factor) transcription factors to initiate cold stress responses in plants. Genes such as Na+/H+ antiporter genes (AtNHX1, AtSOS1), DREB1A, SOS1, ICE1, WRKY4, NAC1, SOS3, etc. have been identified for imparting salt tolerance in flower crops. Heat shock transcription factors (HSFs) mediate the expression of heat shock protein, where several genes have been shown to impart heat tolerance such as; HSP70, FaHsfA2c, etc. This review covers the work on gene identification and developing stress- responsive transgenics in commercial flower crops and other ornamental plants.