Unravelling the physiological web: Mechanisms of plant adaptation to abiotic stress under changing climates
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Plants are constantly exposed to various types of abiotic stresses such as drought, heat, salinity and cold, which significantly limit agricultural productivity worldwide. Understanding the adaptation of the plant for these stresses is important to develop climate-flexible crops. This review synthesizes current knowledge on major physical and biochemical reactions that enable plants to survive and maintain in adverse environmental conditions. We discuss the roles of antioxidant rescue in osmoregulation, stomatal regulation, photosynthate adjustment, membrane stability and stress tolerance. Additionally, complex hormonal signalling networks and molecular reactions are examined, including heat shock protein and stress-stress-generated genes. Emerging insight into epic regulation and systemic acquisition highlights the ability of plants for stress memory and priming. Finally, we detect agricultural and biotechnology approaches to increase stress tolerance, including development regulators, genetic engineering and genome editing. The review also identifies challenges in translating laboratory findings in regional applications and emphasizes the need for integrated, multi -disciplinary research to develop strong crop varieties capable of understanding the increasing challenges arising from climate change.
Authors: Kiran Kiran, Sudeep Sindhu, Sujata Yadav, Preety Rani
Language: English
Subfield: Plant Science
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4411739475