Molecular genetic analyses of abiotic stress responses during plant reproductive development

Abstract

Plant responses to abiotic stresses during vegetative growth have been extensively studied for many years. Daily environmental fluctuations can have dramatic effects on plant vegetative growth at multiple levels, resulting in molecular, cellular, physiological, and morphological changes. Plants are even more sensitive to environmental changes during reproductive stages. However, much less is known about how plants respond to abiotic stresses during reproduction. Fortunately, recent advances in this field have begun to provide clues about these important processes, which promise further understanding and a potential contribution to maximize crop yield under adverse environments. Here we summarize information from several plants, focusing on the possible mechanisms that plants use to cope with different types of abiotic stresses during reproductive development, and present a tentative molecular portrait of plant acclimation during reproductive stages. Additionally, we discuss strategies that plants use to balance between survival and productivity, with some comparison among different plants that have adapted to distinct environments.

Keywords: Abiotic stresses; large-scale studies; plants; reproductive development; transcriptional regulation.

Fig. 1.

Cellular responses to drought/salt stresses during reproductive development. Transcriptional regulation, epigenetic regulation, and protein modification are labeled in yellow, purple, and green boxes, respectively. Key regulators discussed in this review are listed with the same color codes.

Fig. 2.

A transcriptional regulation network for flowering under drought/salt stresses, modified from: Su Z, Ma X, Guo H, Sukiran NL, Guo B, Assmann SM, Ma H. 2013. Flower development under drought stress: morphological and transcriptomic analyses reveal acute responses and long-term acclimation in Arabidopsis. The Plant Cell 25, 3785–3807, (www.plantcell.org), ‘Copyright American Society of Plant Biologists’. Ovals represent genes with known functions in either stress response or developmental process; boxes show different proposed functions. Dashed lines with arrows represent positive regulatory relationships, whereas hammer-ended dashed lines represent inhibitions. Red symbols indicate stress-related interactions, whereas cyan symbols indicate developmental regulation.

Fig. 3.

Cellular responses to temperature stresses (cold and heat) during reproductive development. Key regulators discussed in this review are shown.