Regulatory Role of Transcription Factors in Abiotic Stress Responses in Plants

The major abiotic stresses, such as drought, extreme temperatures, and salinity, are \nresponsible for huge losses in agricultural production. Abiotic stresses induce \nvarious biochemical and physiological responses in plants, and absdsic acid (ABA), \na plant hormone, plays important roles in the responses. Various stress-responsive \ngenes can be expressed under environmental stresses either through an ABAdependent \nor ABA-independent pathway, and various stress signals and ABA share \ncommon elements. Both ABA-dependent and ABA-independent signal transduction \npathways from stress signal perception to gene expression involve different \nteanscriptionJfactors.-The. maj.or_ transcription factors involved in abiotic stress \nresponse are bZIP proteins, MYB-like proteins, MYC-Kke bHLH proteins, HD-ZIP \nproteins, and AP2/EREBP proteins. This chapter provides an extensive review of \nthe AP2/EREBP transcription factors and their potential for abiotic stress tolerance \nin crops.