Plant Adaptation to Flooding Stress under Changing Climate Conditions: Ongoing Breakthroughs and Future Challenges

Abstract

Climate-change-induced variations in temperature and rainfall patterns are a serious threat across the globe. Flooding is the foremost challenge to agricultural productivity, and it is believed to become more intense under a changing climate. Flooding is a serious form of stress that significantly reduces crop yields, and future climatic anomalies are predicted to make the problem even worse in many areas of the world. To cope with the prevailing flooding stress, plants have developed different morphological and anatomical adaptations in their roots, aerenchyma cells, and leaves. Therefore, researchers are paying more attention to identifying developed and adopted molecular-based plant mechanisms with the objective of obtaining flooding-resistant cultivars. In this review, we discuss the various physiological, anatomical, and morphological adaptations (aerenchyma cells, ROL barriers (redial O₂ loss), and adventitious roots) and the phytohormonal regulation in plants under flooding stress. This review comprises ongoing innovations and strategies to mitigate flooding stress, and it also provides new insights into how this knowledge can be used to improve productivity in the scenario of a rapidly changing climate and increasing flood intensity.

Keywords: aerenchyma cells; flooding; genetic adaptions; hormones; radial oxygen loss.

Figure 1

Heavy rainfall, high temperatures, waterlogging, and poor drainage are important causes of flooding stress.

Figure 2

Different adaptations used by plants to counter the toxic effects of flooding stress.

Figure 3

Regulatory mechanisms of phytohormones including ethylene, auxin, and abscisic acid in plant response to flooding stress.