Chapter 26 Stress Physiology

Yee-yung Charng ()
Agricultural Biotechnology Research Center
Academia Sinica

Plant-Environment Interactions
Abiotic stress
UV

Pathogens
Biotic stress

Heavy
metals

Nutrients
(N, P, K)
Modified from Buchanan et al. Biochem. Mol. Biol of Plants

Factors Determine How Plants Respond to Environmental Stress

Stress
Plant
characteristics characteristics

Severity

Environmental
Stress

Response

Organ or
Tissue in
Question
Resistance

Survival
and
growth

Susceptibility

Death

Duration

Number of
exposures

Combination
of stresses

Result

Stage of
Development

Genotype
Modified from Buchanan et al. Biochem. Mol. Biol of Plants

Chapter 26 Stress Physiology

p. 672

Abiotic stress (drought, salinity, cold, heat, and

flooding)
Stress tolerance - Stress resistance
Acclimation - Adaptation
Anatomical, morphological, cellular, biochemical,
molecular level

Chapter 26 Stress Physiology

p. 672

Drought resistance mechanisms

Desiccation postponement
Desiccation tolerance
Drought escape (avoidance)

Drought affects productivity of plants

26.1 Dependence of leaf expansion on leaf turgor

26.2 Leaves of young cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) plants abscise in response to water stress

Water deficit stimulates leaf abscission

26.3 Accumulation of ABA by chloroplasts in the light

26.4 Effects of water stress on photosynthesis and leaf expansion of sunflower

26.5 Relative effects of water stress on photosynthesis and translocation in sorghum

26.6 Water loss and carbon gain by sugar beet (Beta vulgaris)

Osmotic adjustment
Compatible osmolytes

26.7 Leaf movements in soybean in response to osmotic stress (Part 1)

26.7 Leaf movements in soybean in response to osmotic stress (Part 2)

26.7 Leaf movements in soybean in response to osmotic stress (Part 3)

26.8 Phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) carboxylase levels change during shift

26.9 Signal transduction pathways for osmotic stress in plant cells

Stomatal conductance has increased in parallel with agronomic yields

in irrigated Pima cotton (Gossypium barbadense)

26.10 Response of frosted orache and Arizona honeysweet to heat stress

Heat + Drought Caused the Most Serious Loss

in Agricultural Production

US weather disasters costing billions of dollars between 1980

and 2004 (excluding hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires)
Mittler (2006) Trends in Plant Science

PNAS 2004
Frequency of heat waves and extreme heat would
increase 4-8 times by the end of the century in LA due to
global warming.
For example, heat wave days in LA will increase from
12 days to 44-95 days; from 58 days to 109-138 days
in Sacramento .

26.11 The heat shock factor cycle activates the synthesis of heat shock protein mRNAs

Expanded Hsf Family Suggests a Complex Regulation of HS Response in Plants

Arabidopsis

Rice

Drosophila

C. elegans

Human

# of genes

Hsf

21

Total ORF ~26,000

23
~37,000

1
~14,000

1
~19,000

4
~30,000

26.12 Regulation of GABA accumulation during heat stress

26.13 Survival at low temperature of seedlings of different populations of tomato

26.14 The growth of different species subjected to salinity relative to that of unsalinized controls

Salt glands in halophytes

26.15 Membrane transport proteins mediating sodium, potassium, and calcium transport

26.16 Regulation of ion homeostasis by the SOS signal transduction pathway

Metal Tolerance and Homeostasis

Sequestration
Trafficking
Chelation
Uptake
Clemens, Planta (2001) 212: 475

Hyperaccumulators

Accumulated heavy metal amount > 0.1% plant dry

weight
Ratio of accumulated heavy metal amount in aboveground and root > 1

Lab cultured A. halleri can tolerate high level of Zn and Cd

At

Cd

0.025

0.05

0.5

0.1

0.2

0.075 0.1

(mM)

Ah

(mM)

At

Zn

0.5

(mM)

Ah

10

(mM)

26.17 During episodes of anoxia, pyruvate produced by glycolysis is initially fermented to lactate

26.18 Scanning electron micrographs of transverse sections through roots of maize