Characterization of transcription factors for drought tolerance in maize

Abstract

Abiotic stress like drought is a major cause of maize yield reduction in the world. Past efforts to improve drought stress through conventional, genetic engineering and molecular breeding techniques had achieved less success in the maize plant. It is very important to understand the genes regulatory mechanism of drought stress to sustain plant yield. Gene expression is modulated in plants under drought stress to optimize their growth and development. Transcriptional factors (TFs) being the major regulator of gene expression can play an important role in activating gene regulatory mechanism under drought conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the physiological, genetic, and molecular response of the maize plant under drought conditions. The application of functional genomics will provide the basis for efficient strategies for genetic engineering to withstand the maize plant under severe environmental conditions. Here in the present chapter, we describe particularly about genetic engineering, and transcriptional factors activity in maize in response to drought stress. © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.