ABSTRACT
Plants have developed a different mechanism to cope with adverse environmental conditions. Biosynthesis or accumulation of different metabolites is one such mechanism. Among different metabolites, metabolism and accumulation of amino acids is of prime importance. A plethora of literature is available about the roles of amino acids under varying abiotic stresses, but it is plant-species or stress-type specific. Exogenous use of amino acids alone or in combination with micro-nutrients in field crops as foliar fertilization is raising interest due to its potential role for better production with better nutritional quality under normal irrigation as well as under abiotic stresses. Some economically important plant species are a deficit to this mechanism. Species are made tolerant to different abiotic stresses through different modes because it is considered as an economic and shotgun approach for the induction of stress tolerance. Efforts with some success are also in continuation through genetic manipulation for the gene of interest. In spite of extensive work on the roles of amino acids in plants, there is a further need to explore their function under stressful conditions, because up to nowresearch has been conducted only on specific amino acids (GB, proline), and work on the others still needs specific attention.
