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Review
. 2018 Apr 6;293(14):5035-5043.
doi: 10.1074/jbc.TM117.000232. Epub 2018 Jan 16.

Engineering abiotic stress response in plants for biomass production

Rohit Joshi  1 , Sneh L Singla-Pareek  2 , Ashwani Pareek  3   4
Affiliations
Review

Engineering abiotic stress response in plants for biomass production

Rohit Joshi et al. J Biol Chem. .

Abstract

One of the major challenges in today's agriculture is to achieve enhanced plant growth and biomass even under adverse environmental conditions. Recent advancements in genetics and molecular biology have enabled the identification of a complex signaling network contributing toward plant growth and development on the one hand and abiotic stress response on the other hand. As an outcome of these studies, three major approaches have been identified as having the potential to improve biomass production in plants under abiotic stress conditions. These approaches deal with having changes in the following: (i) plant-microbe interactions; (ii) cell wall biosynthesis; and (iii) phytohormone levels. At the same time, employing functional genomics and genetics-based approaches, a very large number of genes have been identified that play a key role in abiotic stress tolerance. Our Minireview is an attempt to unveil the cross-talk that has just started to emerge between the transcriptional circuitries for biomass production and abiotic stress response. This knowledge may serve as a valuable resource to eventually custom design the crop plants for higher biomass production, in a more sustainable manner, in marginal lands under variable climatic conditions.

Keywords: abiotic stress; biomass; microbiome; phytohormone; plant; plant cell wall; plant–microbe interactions; secondary cell wall; stress.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest with the contents of this article

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Plant microbe interactions for biomass enhancement. Shown is a schematic diagram representing the plant-associated bacteria that can promote plant growth by producing various volatile organic compounds, phytohormones, siderophores, biofertilizers, and antioxidants that indirectly or directly benefit plant growth by induced systemic resistance, phytoremediation, systemic acquired resistance, ion chelation, nutrient acquisition, and inhibition of reactive oxygen species to improve stress tolerance in host plants.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Complex transcriptional circuitry contributing toward secondary cell wall development in plants as influenced by abiotic stress. The secondary cell wall biosynthesis consists of two nodes: one is E2Fc-mediated and the other one is through the BR-signaling pathway. E2Fc is the master regulator of downstream transcription factors that act in a coordinated manner to further result in synthesis, transport, and assembly of secondary cell wall components such as cellulose, xylan, and lignin. Similarly, brassinosteroid signaling also modulates various downstream genes leading to cell wall remodeling under stress as follows: BSK1 (BR-SIGNALING KINASE); BSU1 (BRI1 SUPPRESSOR1); BZR1 (BRASSINAZOLE-RESISTANT1); CAD4 (CINNAMYL ALCOHOL DEHYDROGENASE 4); CESA4/7 (CELLULOSE SYNTHASE 4/7); FLY1 (FLYING SAUCER 1); GSK2 (GSK3/SHAGGY-LIKE KINASES); GUX2 (UDP-GLUCURONATE: XYLAN α-GLUCURONOSYLTRANSFERASE 2); IRX7/9 (IROQUOIS HOMEOBOX 7); LAC4/17 (LACCASE 4/17); REV (REVOLUTA); SKP2A (S-PHASE KINASE-ASSOCIATED PROTEIN 2A); SND1/2/3 (STAPHYLOCOCCAL NUCLEASE AND TUDOR DOMAIN CONTAINING 1/2/3); VND 6/7 (VASCULAR-RELATED NAC DOMAIN 6/7); XTH (XYLOGLUCAN TRANSFERASE/HYDROLASE); EXP (EXPANSINS). In this complex process, various NACs (NAM-ATAF1,2-CUC2) and MYBs act as the key master switches that control cell wall deposition.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Schematic representation of cross-talk between different phytohormone signaling pathways for higher biomass production in plants under stress conditions. BIN2 (BR-INSENSITIVE 2); CK (CYTOKININ); CKX2 (CYTOKININ OXIDASE 2); GA2ox6 (GA2 OXIDASE6). For the sake of brevity, only representative examples have been depicted.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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