ROS as Key Players of Abiotic Stress Responses in Plants

Abstract

Despite their toxic potential, reactive oxygen species (ROS) play an integral role as signaling molecules in the regulation of a broad range of biological processes such as growth, development, and responses to biotic and/or abiotic stimuli in plants. To some extent, various functions of ROS signaling are attributed to differences in the regulatory mechanisms of respiratory burst oxidase homologs (RBOHs) that are involved in a multitude of different signal transduction pathways activated in assorted tissue and cell types under fluctuating environmental conditions. To acclimate or survive under abiotic stress conditions, plants possess powerful strategies involving systemic signaling, retrograde signaling, and programmed cell death (PCD), in which ROS signals are integrated with other pathways to generate highly coordinated signaling networks. In this chapter, beneficial roles of ROS as signaling molecules in the regulation of abiotic stress responses in plants will be addressed.