The Critical Role of Zinc in Plants Facing the Drought Stress

• Published in: Agriculture (Basel) Vol. 10; no. 9; p. 396
• Main Authors: Umair Hassan, Muhammad, Aamer, Muhammad, Umer Chattha, Muhammad, Haiying, Tang, Shahzad, Babar, Barbanti, Lorenzo, Nawaz, Muhammad, Rasheed, Adnan, Afzal, Aniqa, Liu, Ying, Guoqin, Huang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.09.2020
• Subjects: Abiotic stress; Abscisic acid; Agricultural production; agriculture; Amino acids; Antioxidants; aquaporins; Carbon; Cell division; Cell membranes; cell signaling; Crop production; Crops; Dietary minerals; Drought; drought stress; Droughts; Enzymes; Germination; Heat shock proteins; hormone; Hormones; Metabolism; Molecular modelling; Nutrition; Permeability; Photosynthesis; Physiological aspects; Physiology; Plant growth; Plant hormones; Plant resistance; Proteins; Rain; Respiration; ROS; Seed germination; Senescence; Stomata; stomatal movement; Stress proteins; Water relations; Water shortages; water stress; Water use; Water use efficiency; Zinc; Zinc (Nutrient)
• ISSN: 2077-0472; 2077-0472
• DOI: 10.3390/agriculture10090396

Drought stress affects plant growth and development by altering physiological and biochemical processes resulting in reduced crop productivity. Zinc (Zn) is an essential micronutrient that plays fundamental roles in crop resistance against the drought stress by regulating various physiological and molecular mechanisms. Under drought stress, Zn application improves seed germination, plant water relations, cell membrane stability, osmolyte accumulation, stomatal regulation, water use efficiency and photosynthesis, thus resulting in significantly better plant performance. Moreover, Zn interacts with plant hormones, increases the expression of stress proteins and stimulates the antioxidant enzymes for counteracting drought effects. To better appraise the potential benefits arising from optimum Zn nutrition, in the present review we discuss the role of Zn in plants under drought stress. Our aim is to provide a complete, updated picture in order to orientate future research directions on this topic.