Stress tolerance molecular biology

There are several aspects of different environmental stresses that either have common features or the plant responses or adaptations to those stresses may have common components or indicate general principles. It is an objective of this volume to identify such features where they exist so as to help in the development of stress-tolerant crop plants by making the best use of the newer techniques of molecular biology. Particular examples will be discussed in more detail in succeeding chapters. 

The techniques of molecular biology have particular potential for rapidly introducing small numbers of single genes. Unfortunately there is strong evidence that the complex compensation mechanisms that exist in plants, and the interactions between different whole-plant and biochemical responses to stress, will make the direct improvement of environmental stress tolerance in crop plants by genetic engineering rather more difficult... 

Molecular biology application to studies of stress tolerance... 

The use of plants from extreme environments Wild plants from extreme environments may possess genes and gene combinations which confer stress tolerance. We must realise, however, that many of their characteristics, e.g. leaf pubescence and succulence in drought-resistant plants, are incompatible with the high yield potential required for crop plants. In addition, most of these species contain compounds such as phenolics and mucilages which interfere with conventional molecular biology techniques. 

Guy, C.L. (1990). Cold acclimation and freezing stress tolerance role of protein metabolism. Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology 41, 187-223. 

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