Ricerc@Sapienza

A number of metabolic adaptive processes have been evolved in higher plants to cope with environmental stresses. Being sessile organisms unable to escape stressful conditions, plant survival is critically dependent by the rapid establishment of metabolic and physiologic responses that collectively attenuate or block the harmful effects of environmental injuries. Drought, cold and salt stress, in particular, are major threats for plant life, and cause, on a worldwide scale, dramatic losses in crop yields, especially in many developing countries and arid or semi-arid regions.

Seed yield, a major determinant for the commercial success of grain crops, critically depends on pollen viability, which is dramatically reduced by environmental stresses, such as drought, salinity, and extreme temperatures. Salinity, in particular, is a major problem for crop yield known to affect about 20% of all arable land and cause huge economic losses worldwide. Flowering plants are particularly sensitive to environmental stress during sexual reproduction, and even a short exposure to stressing conditions can severely hamper reproductive success, and thus reduce crop yield.