Abstract
Abiotic stresses, including drought, extreme temperatures, salinity, and waterlogging, are the major constraints in crop production. These abiotic stresses are likely to be amplified by climate change with varying temporal and spatial dimensions across the globe. The knowledge about the effects of abiotic stressors on major cereal and legume crops is essential for effective management in unfavorable agro-ecologies. These crops are critical components of cropping systems and the daily diets of millions across the globe. Major cereals like rice, wheat, and maize are highly vulnerable to abiotic stresses, while many grain legumes are grown in abiotic stress-prone areas. Despite extensive investigations, abiotic stress tolerance in crop plants is not fully understood. Current insights into the abiotic stress responses of plants have shown the potential to improve crop tolerance to abiotic stresses. Studies aimed at stress tolerance mechanisms have resulted in the elucidation of traits associated with tolerance in plants, in addition to the molecular control of stress-responsive genes. Some of these studies have paved the way for new opportunities to address the molecular basis of stress responses in plants and identify novel traits and associated genes for the genetic improvement of crop plants. The present review examines the responses of crops under abiotic stresses in terms of changes in morphology, physiology, and biochemistry, focusing on major cereals and legume crops. It also explores emerging opportunities to accelerate our efforts to identify desired traits and genes associated with stress tolerance.
Highlights
Major abiotic stresses that are likely to be amplified by climate change and can destabilize crop yields include drought, extreme temperatures, flooding, waterlogging, soil salinity, acidity, mineral toxicity, and nutrient deficiency
Matyszczak et al [299] identified two near-isogenic lines, BW507 and BW508, in barley which were reported to carry two independent early-flowering mutant loci, mat-b.7, and mat-c.19, respectively. They mapped the mutation in BW507 to a 31 Mbp interval on chromosome 2HL and concluded that BW507 has a deletion of Mat-c, which is an ortholog of Antirrhinum majus CENTRORADIALIS (AmCEN) and Arabidopsis thaliana TERMINAL FLOWER1 (AtTFL1) and is a key gene in regulating early flowering
The challenge of improving abiotic stress tolerance in crops must be addressed with an understanding of the underlying complexities and with care taken to avoid grain yield penalties resulting from the introgression of relevant traits
Summary
Major abiotic stresses that are likely to be amplified by climate change and can destabilize crop yields include drought, extreme temperatures, flooding, waterlogging, soil salinity, acidity, mineral toxicity, and nutrient deficiency. Global climate change and environmental degradation are intensifying the severity of abiotic stresses that adversely affect the growth, development, and productivity of crop plants. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has emphasized that about a 60% enhancement in food production is needed by 2050 to feed a population of about 9.3 billion This must be achieved with no adverse effects on the environment, which is threatened by the continuous exploitation of natural resources and the loss of biodiversity. In order to ensure sustainability even under the changing climate, it is essential to develop resilient cultivars of crops and suitable crop production practices with insights on stress tolerance mechanisms and the associated traits. This review aims to update current knowledge about the impacts of key abiotic stresses in major cereal and legume crops, the mechanisms of tolerance to various abiotic stresses, and the opportunities to translate the knowledge for the development of climate-resilient crop varieties and management practices
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