Transcription factors in abiotic stress tolerance

Abstract

Abiotic stresses such as drought, high salinity, and extreme temperatures are common adverse environmental conditions that significantly reduce the crop productivity. Plants have the capability to sense and adjust to abiotic stresses, although the degree of adaptability to specific stresses varies from species to species. The adaptability to environmental stresses is controlled by either simple or complex cascades of molecular networks. Transcription factors (TFs) play vital regulatory roles in abiotic stress responses in plants by interacting with cis-elements present in the promoter region of various abiotic stress responsive genes. The identification and molecular tailoring of novel TFs involved in environmental stress responses have the potential to overcome a number of important limitations encountered in the generation of transgenic crop plants with superior yield under stress conditions. This opens an excellent opportunity to develop stress tolerant crops in future. This review summarizes the role of various transcription factors in crop improvement through transgenic technology.