Molecular Strategies for Development of Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Plants

It is an established fact that abiotic stresses are a major cause of productivity losses worldwide. Abiotic stresses not only reduce crop yield but also limit the area that can be brought under productive cultivation. Global warming has only added to this already grim scenario. Development of novel, stress resistant genotypes through transgenic technology is seen as a viable solution to this critical problem. However, different abiotic stresses have distinctive primary effects on plants, while all of them have a common denominator in the form of production of reactive oxygen species. Therefore, understanding the biochemical and molecular basis of differential abiotic stress effectors is critically important for the development of transgenic crops. Further, novel gene discovery, annotation and validation is an integral part of this process. The current review highlights various strategies that have been employed to develop transgenic crops resistant to specific abiotic stresses, along with exploring the use of nanotechnology in developing stress tolerance in plants.