Significance of ABA Biosynthesis in Plant Adaptation to Drought Stress

Abstract

Environmental stresses have major impacts on the morphological, physiological, and biochemical processes of plants. Among these stresses, drought is the major one which greatly restricts crop productivity globally. When challenged by drought, plants promote the expression of ABA biosynthesis genes which results in ABA accumulation. Increase in ABA level promotes stomatal closure to increase plant’s adaptative response to drought stress. To handle and restrain the negative impact of drought stress, it is important to understand how plants respond to drought and the involvement of ABA in plant adaptation to drought stress at a molecular level. Under drought stress, ABA biosynthesis is the most significant event to protect plants from the dehydration stress. ABA biosynthesis is a complicated process that is mainly regulated by ABA biosynthetic enzymes. This review highlights the recent advancements in ABA biosynthesis and its involvement in plant adaptation to drought stress to improve their growth and development under water-deficient conditions.