MOLECULAR SIGNATURES OF ADAPTIVE STRESS RESPONSES IN CROP PLANTS UNDER CLIMATE VARIABILITY

Abstract

Climate variability, which is typified by rising incidences of drought, heat, and salinity stresses, is a major threat to productivity and food security of crops globally. It is also important to understand the molecular processes involved in the adaptation of plants to these abiotic stresses in order to come up with climate-resistant crop species. The aim of the study was to determine the important molecular signatures linked to adaptive responses to stress in some crop plants under different environmental conditions. Controlled stress treatments of plants, such as drought and heat were done in the laboratory. Synthetic RNA measures were obtained and then RNA was extracted and subjected to gene expression measures through quantitative real-time PCR and transcriptomic methods. To determine the differentially expressed genes (DEGs), functional annotation, and enriched metabolic and signaling pathways involved in stress responses, bioinformatics tools were used. These findings showed that there was a unique group of stress-responsive genes, with transcription factors, including DREB, NAC and MYB being considerably enhanced when the conditions were under stress. The pathway analysis revealed the activation of abscisic acid (ABA)-dependent signaling, reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging pathways, and osmoprotectant biosynthesis pathways. A number of candidate genes were found to be repeatedly expressed under a variety of stress situations indicating their usefulness in demonstrating potential molecular markers of stress tolerance. Finally, this paper gives an understanding on the complicated regulatory systems that regulate the adaptation of plants to the environment and the most important molecular target in improving crops. Such outcomes lead to the creation of genetically resistant crop that resists the climate variability and sustainable agriculture productivity.