Transcription Factors: Improving Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Plants

Abstract

Perception of environmental cues and downstream cellular signaling schemes are critical for plant adaptation and survival under abiotic stress conditions. Gene transcription is a primary regulatory scheme that induces massive biological processes and traits in response to incoming signals. In this regard, transcription factors play a critical role in gene regulatory networks governing cellular and organismal responses to developmental signals, including those mediated by growth hormonal regulators, and environmental fluctuations, such as cold or low temperatures, high salinity, and drought. Numerous transcription factors and their target genes have been identified, and underlying molecular mechanisms have been explored in a variety of plant species, mostly in Arabidopsis and rice. Furthermore, it has been shown that there are extensive signaling crosstalks among different environmental signals. Therefore, understanding the roles of major transcription factors in stress adaptation responses and their signaling interactions is important for genetic engineering of crop plants to improve stress tolerance. In this chapter, transcriptional signaling cascades under various abiotic stress conditions, roles of transcription factors, and their regulatory schemes are discussed.