Endogenous glycine betaine accumulation mediates abiotic stress tolerance in plants
Aryadeep Roychoudhury* and Aditya Banerjee
Viewed: 3649 - Downloaded: 1649
Full Article
Abstract: Abiotic stresses like salinity, drought, cold, high temperature, etc. are largely responsible for a considerable degree of annual crop losses worldwide. Till date, several effectors have been reported which confer stress tolerance to the plants. Glycine betaine (GB) is one such important regulator which accumulates in the cell as a crucial osmolyte and alleviates the cell from damages due to salinity, drought, temperature and oxidative stresses. This has been verified through several investigations at the physiological, biochemical and molecular levels. Apart from acting as an important compatible solute, GB has a prominent role in maintaining cellular homeostasis and mediating chaperone activity to prohibit undesirable protein folding under stress. The protective role of exogenous applications of GB in crops is also a well-studied fact. In addition, several detailed literatures are available on the transgenic technology and on-field tests which have depicted the increasing stress tolerance developed in plants accumulating higher levels of endogenous GB. All these issues have been reviewed and documented in the present communication.