ABSTRACT

Abiotic stresses (e.g., heat, freezing, chilling, salinity, drought, flooding, nutritional imbalance) are one of the major problems in agriculture. These abiotic stresses severely decrease plant growth, development and, ultimately, yield. Abiotic stresses affect plants in many ways. When plants are exposed to abiotic stresses, their physiological, morphological and biochemical processes are eventually affected. Alteration in photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, decrease in shoot and root lengths, plant biomass and chlorophyll content and denaturation of plant proteins have commonly been observed. Plants produce some antioxidant (enzymatic or non-enzymatic) compounds and proteins that help them tolerate adverse conditions. Many efforts have been made to stabilize plant growth and yield under abiotic stresses, but plant genomes still require some modifications to become tolerant under different abiotic stresses.