Abstract

MORENO F., Liz Patricia. Plant responses to water deficit stress. A review. Agron. colomb. [online]. 2009, vol.27, n.2, pp.179-191. ISSN 0120-9965.

Water being one of the most important factors for plant development, its scarcity is considered a major source of stress. Many plant species have developed responses that allow them to tolerate different water deficit levels ranging from a mild water stress caused by water potential decrease at noon, to those found in desert habitats. The present article reviews the different plant responses that confer them the capability of tolerating and adapting to water deficit stress at the morphological, anatomical, cellular and molecular levels. These responses include changes in growth, development of C4 and CAM metabolic strategies, closure of stomata and changes in gene expression. The latter include those encoding potentially protective proteins, antioxidant and osmolyte synthesis key enzymes, and transcription factors that regulate stress induced gene expression itself. Also, it is described how these responses can occur through abscisic acid dependent and independent signaling paths, both leading to water stress tolerance.

Keywords : abscisic acid (ABA); late embryogenesis abundant proteins (LEA); stomatal movement; osmolytes; ABA response elements (ABRE).

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