Prospective Role of Plant Growth Regulators for Tolerance to Abiotic Stresses

Abstract

Abiotic stresses (heat, drought, salinity, and heavy metals) are projected to drastically reduce crop yields leading to seriously jeopardizing the food security of increasing population across the globe. Plant growth regulators (PGRs) are natural or synthetic substances that regulate the growth and differentiation of plant cells, tissues, and organs. Although the roles of PGRs in improving plant growth and development are well documented, their role in plant stress tolerance is continued to be explored. Among the PGRs, auxins, gibberellins, cytokinins, abscisic acid, jasmonic acid, ethylene, salicylic acid, nitric oxide, brassinosteroids, strigolactones, and polyamines have got the attention of the researchers as a sustainable source to improve abiotic stress tolerance under changing climate. Recently, numerous advancements have led to identify PGRs effects and to understand how plant growth responses are regulated by PGRs under abiotic stress. Different strategies are being employed to improve plant growth under abiotic conditions; the application of PGRs in crops offers good outcomes. However, it needs more researches and discussions on the said subject. Therefore, this chapter is focused on the stress management and role of PGRs in conferring abiotic stress tolerance under changing climate as it will play a key role to policymakers’ food, nutritional, environmental, and economic security for the present and future generation demand.