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Brassinosteroids in Plant Tolerance to Abiotic Stress

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Abstract

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are a group of plant steroid hormones with multiple roles in plant growth, development, and responses to stresses. In plants, BR deficiencies impair vital physiological processes and cause phenotypic abnormalities. A large number of studies show that BRs can positively influence plant responses to abiotic stresses such as heat, cold, drought, salinity, pesticides, and heavy metals. However, the underlying mechanisms of BR-induced stress tolerance are largely unclear. BR perception takes place in the cell surface by BR receptors, leading to a cascade of phosphorylation events to activate the central transcription factor BRASSINAZOLE-RESISTANT1 (BZR1) that controls the transcription of BR-responsive genes in the nucleus. BRs improve photosynthetic efficiency under stress conditions, which largely contributes to increased growth and biomass accumulation. Studies relating to exogenous BRs reveal a high dependency on concentrations with regards to BR effects on plants. Genetic studies show a positive correlation between the endogenous BR levels and abiotic stress tolerance, although this assumption contradicts with the performance of some BR mutants under stress conditions. Notably, plant responses to BRs greatly vary depending on the plant species, developmental stages, and environmental conditions. In addition, other hormones and signaling molecules that participate in fine-tuning the BRs effects also play an important role in plant adaptation to stress. Here, we review the involvement of BRs in plant responses to abiotic stresses. We also discuss available literature to show potential mechanisms of BR-induced abiotic stress tolerance. These studies signify the complexity of BR action in mediating stress responses in plants.

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Acknowledgements

Research in the authors’ laboratories was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31950410555), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFD1000800), the National Key R&D Program of China (2017YFE0107500), and the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (LY19C160009).

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Conceived and designed the article: GJA and XL; wrote the draft manuscript: GJA and XL; and reviewed and edited the manuscript: GJA, XL, AL, and SC. All authors have read and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Golam Jalal Ahammed or Xin Li.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Ahammed, G.J., Li, X., Liu, A. et al. Brassinosteroids in Plant Tolerance to Abiotic Stress. J Plant Growth Regul 39, 1451–1464 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-020-10098-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-020-10098-0

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