Chunli Wang¹ , Xiaoli Zhou^2,4 , Jiang Qin¹ , Xianyu Wang¹ , Hang Yu¹ , Qian Zhu^1,2,3 , Dongsun Lee^1,2,3 , Lijuan Chen^1,2,3

1 Rice Research Institute, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, 650201, Yunnan, China
2 The Key Laboratory for Crop Production and Smart Agriculture of Yunnan Province, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, 650201, Yunnan, China
3 College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, 650201, Yunnan, China
4 College of Agricultural Science, Xichang University, Liangshan, 615013, Sichuan, China
Author    Correspondence author
Molecular Soil Biology, 2024, Vol. 15, No. 5   doi: 10.5376/msb.2024.15.0021
Received: 17 Jul., 2024    Accepted: 24 Aug., 2024    Published: 05 Sep., 2024

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Wang C.L., Zhou X.L., Qin J., Wang X.Y., Yu H., Zhu Q., Lee D.S., and Chen L.J., 2024, Comprehensive response mechanisms of plants to water deficit: a physiological, biochemical, molecular, and ecological review, Molecular Soil Biology, 15(5): 205-215 (doi: 10.5376/msb.2024.15.0021)

This study provides a comprehensive insight about complex response mechanisms that plants cope with water deficit conditions in the field, involving physiological, biochemical, molecular, and ecological adaptations changes that finally plants can survive and persistence under drought stress. Key adaptive changes are plants activate a range of natural defense systems to mitigate the adverse effects of drought. These changes in cellular osmotic potential, water potential, and the activation of antioxidant enzymes and osmolytes such as proline, glycine betaine, and soluble sugars. Phytohormones like abscisic acid, jasmonates, and salicylic acid play crucial roles in modulating plant responses to water stress through complex signaling networks. Additionally, plants exhibit morphological changes such as increased root growth and alterations in leaf anatomy to enhance water uptake and reduce water loss. Molecular insight of plants response to drought stress is stress-responsive genes that contribute to cellular protection and metabolic adjustments. In this paper, the multifaceted nature of plant responses to water deficit are described, and the importance of integrated physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms are listed, respectively. Understanding these complex interactions is essential for developing strategies to improve crop resilience and productivity in water-limited environments.

Water deficit; Drought stress; Plant physiology; Biochemical responses; Molecular mechanisms; Ecological adaptations