Genetic engineering for abiotic stress resistance in crop plants

Drought, extreme temperatures and high salinity are major limiting factors for plant growth and crop productivity. In their quest to feed the ever-inc reasing world population, agricultural scientists have to contend with thes e adverse environmental factors. If claps can he redesigned to better cope with abiotic stress, agricultural production can he increased dramatically. Recent advances in understanding crop abiotic stress resistance mechanisms and the advent of molecular genetic technology allow us to address these i ssues much more efficiently than in the past. This paper reviews the most s ignificant achievements of the genetic engineering approach tl, improving p lant abiotic stress resistance and discusses future prospects ill transgeni c research. Improved resistance to drought, salinity and extreme temperatur es has been observed in transgenic plants that express/overexpress genes re gulating osmolytes, specific proteins, antioxidants, ion homeostasis, trans cription factors and membrane composition. Although the results ale not alw ays consistent, these studies collectively foretell ii scenario where biote chnology will arm our future crops with new tactics to survive in hostile e nvironments. Further experiments are needed to determine if the achieved in creases in stress tolerance are applicable to agriculture.