Cotton and drought stress: An updated overview for improving stress tolerance

Owing to changing climatic conditions, drought stress has emerged as a global issue significantly affecting the production of cotton. Enhancing water use efficiency and implementing water conservation practices have become primary challenges in irrigated agriculture. Consequently, efforts have been dedicated to better understand the adaptation mechanisms of cotton against drought stress. Closure of stomata is considered a major physiological response of plants under drought stress, triggering a stress-induced compensatory response. Drought stress causes an internal heatwave effect resulting in a marked reduction of photosynthesis and ultimately stunted plant growth. However, this response come with consequences as drought stress leads to an internal heatwave effect, causing a notable reduction in photosynthesis and ultimately hindering plant growth and development. Nevertheless, the accumulation of drought-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a crucial role in activating stress-responsive transcription factors, leading to the induction of specific proteins and pathways that foster tolerance in plant cells. Despite the progress made in understanding these processes, the underlying physiological and molecular responses to drought stress in cotton crops remain elusive. Here, in this review, we aim to elucidate the key morphological, physiological, and molecular responses of cotton crops to drought stress. We also discussed the strategies that can help growers to improve drought tolerance in cotton.