Plant adaptation to drought stress

TLDR

Plants naturally adapt to drought through diverse mechanisms, but crop varieties bred for high yield in water‑rich environments must also sustain productivity under water deficit, and findings from model species do not always translate to crop performance, necessitating focused investigation of drought response traits. The study aims to identify drought‑adaptation mechanisms and genes in rice to inform crop resilience. Rice (Oryza sativa) is employed as a model system to dissect drought‑adaptation mechanisms and associated genes.

Abstract

<ns4:p>Plants in their natural habitats adapt to drought stress in the environment through a variety of mechanisms, ranging from transient responses to low soil moisture to major survival mechanisms of escape by early flowering in absence of seasonal rainfall. However, crop plants selected by humans to yield products such as grain, vegetable, or fruit in favorable environments with high inputs of water and fertilizer are expected to yield an economic product in response to inputs. Crop plants selected for their economic yield need to survive drought stress through mechanisms that maintain crop yield. Studies on model plants for their survival under stress do not, therefore, always translate to yield of crop plants under stress, and different aspects of drought stress response need to be emphasized. The crop plant model rice (<ns4:italic>Oryza sativa</ns4:italic>) is used here as an example to highlight mechanisms and genes for adaptation of crop plants to drought stress.</ns4:p>