Genetic Enhancement of Crops for Tolerance to Abiotic Stress: Mechanisms and Approaches, Vol. I

Genetic Enhancement of Crops for Tolerance to Abiotic Stress: Mechanisms and Approaches, Volume I provides a consolidated update of the approaches taken to deepen our understanding of plants' morphological, physiological and molecular responses to various abiotic stresses and progresses made in unraveling and understanding the regulatory mechanisms, signaling pathways and cross talk among mechanisms operating under abiotic stress situations in various crops. The book includes articles on the diverse tools and technological approaches the use of which has improved our understanding of the intricate mechanisms operating in crop plants under abiotic stress conditions. The chapters describe the use of various 'omics' platforms such as transcriptomics, metabolomics, proteomics, microRNA and heat shock proteins as molecular players, phytohormone (s) regulation of stress signalling pathways, and various functional genomics approaches adopted by scientists to collate a wealth of information to understand abiotic stress tolerance mechanisms for crop improvement. In addition, chapters have been contributed on the burning topic of the role of chromatin remodeling under stress conditions and on the epigenetic dynamics via histones modifications that can improve stress tolerance in crops by enhancing the stress memory. We are very hopeful that the topics will be useful to a broad community of scientists working in similar areas and the outcomes discussed can provide useful leads to build strategies to generate abiotic stress tolerant varieties.

Zusammenfassung

Abiotic stresses such as drought (water deficit), extreme temperatures (cold, frost and heat), salinity (sodicity) and mineral (metal and metalloid) toxicity limit productivity of crop plants worldwide and are big threats to global food security. With worsening climate change scenarios, these stresses will further increase in intensity and frequency. Improving tolerance to abiotic stresses, therefore, has become a major objective in crop breeding programs. A lot of research has been conducted on the regulatory mechanisms, signaling pathways governing these abiotic stresses, and cross talk among them in various model and non-model species. Also, various 'omics' platforms have been utilized to unravel the candidate genes underpinning various abiotic stresses, which have increased our understanding of the tolerance mechanisms at structural, physiological, transcriptional and molecular level. Further, a wealth of information has been generated on the role of chromatin assembly and its remodeling under stress and on the epigenetic dynamics via histones modifications.

The book consolidates outlooks, perspectives and updates on the research conducted by scientists in the abovementioned areas. The information covered in this book will therefore interest workers in all areas of plant sciences. The results presented on multiple crops will be useful to scientists in building strategies to counter these stresses in plants. In addition, students who are beginners in the areas of abiotic stress tolerance will find this book handy to clear their concepts and to get an update on the research conducted in various crops at one place

Inhalt
Preface.- Acknowledgements.- 1. Functional Genomics Approach Towards Dissecting out Abiotic Stress Tolerance Trait in Plants; Sneh L. Singla-Pareek.- 2. Plant miRNAome: Cross Talk in Abiotic Stressful Times; P. Suprasanna.- 3. Epigenetic Response of Plants to Abiotic Stress: Nature, Consequences and Applications in Breeding; Manoj. K. Dhar.- 4. Effect of Drought Stress and Utility of Transcriptomics in Identification of Drought Tolerance Mechanisms in Maize; T. Nepolean.- 5. Physiological and Molecular Basis of Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Wheat; H.M. Mamrutha.- 6. Molecular Chaperones: Key Players of Abiotic Stress Response in Plants; A. Pareek.- 7. Role of Chromatin Assembly and Remodeling in Water Stress Responses in Plants; N. Asharaf.- 8. The 'Omics' Approach for Crop Improvement Against Drought Stress; D. Jain.- 9. Genomic Strategies for Improving Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Crop Plants; N.R. Yadav.- 10. Genomics of Arsenic Stress Tolerance in Plants; P.K. Trivedi.- 11. Phytohormones Regulating the Master Regulators of CBF Dependent Cold Stress Signaling Pathway; R. Deswal.- Index.