Nataraja KN, Dhanyalakshmi KH, Govind G, Oelmüller R. Activation of drought tolerant traits in crops: endophytes as elicitors.
PLANT SIGNALING & BEHAVIOR 2022;
17:2120300. [PMID:
36373371 PMCID:
PMC9665085 DOI:
10.1080/15592324.2022.2120300]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2022] [Revised: 08/26/2022] [Accepted: 08/26/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Drought challenges crop production worldwide. The issue is aggravated by frequent drought episodes and unpredictable rainfall patterns associated with global climate change. While the efforts to breed drought-resistant crop varieties are progressing, the need of the hour is immediate strategies to sustain the yields of existing ones. As per recent studies, stress adaptive traits can be activated using specific elicitors. Endophytes that inhabit host plants asymptomatically are natural elicitors/bio-stimulators capable of activating host gene expression, conferring several benefits to the hosts. This review discusses the scope of using trait-specific endophytes in activating drought adaptive traits in crop varieties.
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