Drought stress in plants: Effects and tolerance

Abstract

Water is the catalyst of life and plays a profound role in plant physiological processes ranging from photosynthesis to intermolecular interactions through a hydrophobic bond. Because of the alterations due to changing environmental conditions, the plants are continuously exposed to a lack of optimum water availability, leading to impaired growth and disturbance in water transport and uptake. Drought is a prominent environmental factor that triggers various plant processes from morphological, physiological, biochemical, and molecular. Plants portray an array of drought tolerance mechanisms; these responses differ based on the type of plant species and may involve the functions of various stress genes. Reduction in plant growth and productivity due to stomatal closure affects photosynthetic efficiency, altering membrane integrity and several enzymes involved in adenosine triphosphate synthesis. Plants exhibit a range of drought tolerance mechanisms and undergo several phenological, morphological, physiological, biochemical, and molecular adaptations at the cellular, subcellular and whole plant levels. Also, drought stress induces the production of reactive oxygen species at the cellular level and is strongly protected by the increase in the enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidative system. This chapter/ review provides a glimpse of the effects and tolerance strategies adapted by the plant under drought stress.