ABSTRACT
University of Neuchâtel, Department of Sciences, Institute of Biology, Laboratory of Molecular and Cell Biology, Rue Emile Argand 11, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
* Corresponding author: brigitte.mauch@unine.ch
Plants are sessile organisms and as such, they had to develop specifi c mechanisms to be able to survive stress conditions in situ. It is crucial for them to adapt and to develop tolerance to maintain growth, complete their life cycle and reach their full genetic potential. Therefore, they are able to activate specifi c defenses which subsequently lead to alterations in morphology, physiology and to metabolic changes aimed at restoring cellular homeostasis. Plants are very sensitive to environmental change and their behaviour upon abiotic stress varies considerably between different species. This is refl ected in the multitude of different stressresponse mechanisms (Krasensky and Jonak 2011). Natural selection has led to the evolution of various morphological, physiological and molecular mechanisms to improve survival when facing extended environmental stress periods.
