Signal transduction networks during stress combination.

Abstract

Episodes of heat waves combined with drought can have a devastating impact on agricultural production worldwide. These conditions, as well as many other types of stress combinations, impose unique physiological and developmental demands on plants and require the activation of dedicated pathways. Here, we review recent RNA sequencing studies of stress combination in plants, and conduct a meta-analysis of the transcriptome response of plants to different types of stress combination. Our analysis reveals that each different stress combination is accompanied by its own set of stress combination-specific transcripts, and that the response of different transcription factor families is unique to each stress combination. The alarming rate of increase in global temperatures, coupled with the predicted increase in future episodes of extreme weather, highlight an urgent need to develop crop plants with enhanced tolerance to stress combination. The uniqueness and complexity of the physiological and molecular response of plants to each different stress combination, highlighted here, demonstrate the daunting challenge we face in accomplishing this goal. Dedicated efforts combining field experimentation, omics, and network analyses, coupled with advanced phenotyping and breeding methods, will be needed to address specific crops and particular stress combinations relevant to maintaining our future food chain secured.