ABSTRACT
Flooding across the range of spatial and temporal scales is therefore a globally significant characteristic of the Earth’s ecosystems. Flooding has always been among the most destructive natural disasters for humankind. Crop losses are frequently one of the most far-reaching effects of flooding, and flood tolerance is among the most useful attributes of many crop varieties. Manipulation of ethylene signaling has changed crop responses to flooding, and differences in ethylene responses are likely to underpin differences in plant ability to withstand flooding in unmanaged ecosystems. Lysigenous aerenchyma is induced by waterlogging in some tolerant species, including varieties of crops such as maize, but can be constitutive in others, such as rice. Prolonged waterlogging tolerance is generally more common in primitive and monocotyledonous plants, and although it is also found in plants that evolved more recently, it depends on adaptations that many less primitive plants have lost.
