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Responses of plants to dehydration stress: a molecular analysis

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Drought Tolerance in Higher Plants: Genetical, Physiological and Molecular Biological Analysis

Abstract

Over more than a decade molecular techniques have been applied to analyse the response of plants to drought with the objective to identify genes which contribute to drought tolerance. The studies have used a variety of experimental strategies, and they have resulted in the characterization of a large number of genes which are expressed upon dehydration. A very prominent group among these genes are the so-called Lea (=late embryogenesis abundant) genes which appear to occur ubiquitously in most higher plants. A challenge for future research is still to identify the role of the gene products in dehydration stress; it is particularly necessary to distinguish gene products with a potential in osmoprotection and those which are only involved in secondary reactions. Another area of research activities has been to elucidate the dehydration stress-triggered signal transduction and the role of ABA in this process. For this part transgenic plants have been used to evaluate promoter sequences and to characterize cis-acting regulatory promoter elements crucial for a distinct expression pattern.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Planck-Institut für Züchtungsforschung, Carl-von-Linné-Weg 10, D-50829, Köln, Germany

    Dorothea Bartels, Antonella Furini, Jonathan Ingram & Francesco Salamini

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  1. Dorothea Bartels
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  2. Antonella Furini
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  3. Jonathan Ingram
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  4. Francesco Salamini
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. UFR Génétique et Amélioration des Plantes, ENSA — INRA, Montpellier, France

    E. Belhassen

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Bartels, D., Furini, A., Ingram, J., Salamini, F. (1996). Responses of plants to dehydration stress: a molecular analysis. In: Belhassen, E. (eds) Drought Tolerance in Higher Plants: Genetical, Physiological and Molecular Biological Analysis. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1299-6_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1299-6_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-4721-2

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