Polyamines: Role in Plants Under Abiotic Stress

Abstract

Environmental changes, irrespective of source, cause a variety of stresses in plants. These stresses affect the growth and development and trigger a series of morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular changes in plants. Abiotic stress is the primary cause of crop loss worldwide. The most challenging job before the plant biologists is the development of stress tolerant plants and maintenance of sufficient yield of crops in this changing environment. Polyamines can be of great use to enhance stress tolerance in such crop plants. Polyamines are small organic polycations present in all organisms and have a leading role in cell cycle, expression of genes, signaling, plant growth and development and tolerance to a variety of abiotic stresses. High accumulation of polyamines (putrescine, spermidine and spermine) in plants during abiotic stress has been well documented and is correlated with increased tolerance to abiotic stress. Genetic engineering of PA biosynthetic genes in crop plants is the way to create tolerance against different stresses. The present review throws light on the role of polyamines in plants.