AREB/ABF Proteins are Master Transcription Factors That Mediate Aba-Dependent Gene Regulation During Water-Stress

Abstract

As sessile organisms plants have to cope with changing environmental conditions. Drought and salinity, which cause water-deficit in plant cells, are common adverse factors that limit plant growth and productivity. Understanding the mechanisms by which plants perceive environmental signals and transmit them to the cellular machinery to activate adaptive responses is of great importance to biology and to rational engineering of crop plants. Abscisic acid (ABA) plays a pivotal role in stress responses in plants. This chapter reviews the involvement of ABA and AREB/ABF transcription factors in the signal transduction mechanisms that activate stress responses that control the expression of stress-responsive genes.