It is very important for humans to understand how stress factors affect plants and other living things so that we can take some preventative measures.
There are many different types of abiotic stressors, and several methods that humans can use to reduce the negative effects of stress on living things.
Cold stress was shown to enhance the transcript, protein, and activity of different ROS-scavenging enzymes.
Even below freezing temperatures can be survived if the proper genes are activated (Suzuki & Mittler, 2006).
Heat stress has been shown to cause problems in mitochondrial functions and can result in oxidative damage.
Activators of heat stress receptors and defenses are thought to be related to ROS.
(Cross, McKay, McHughen, & Bonham-Smith, 2003) There have been many studies on the effects of heat on plant reproduction.
Plants seem to be more easily damaged by extreme temperatures during the late flower to early seed development stage (Cross, McKay, McHughen, & Bonham-Smith, 2003).
These types of areas don't have any vegetation to hold the soil particles in place.
When the wind blows, the powdery top layer of the farmland is picked up and carried for miles.
The combination of drought and poor farming practices allowed the wind to moves thousands of tons of dirt from one area to the next.
This action severely degrades the soil and creates a poor condition for growing plants.
Many signaling transduction networks have been discovered and studied in microbial and animal systems.
Animals and microbes easier to run tests on because they show a reaction fairly quickly when a stress factor is put on them, this leads to the isolation of the specific gene.
The part of the plants, animal, or microbe that first senses an abiotic stress factor is a receptor.
Even though none of the receptors for cold, drought, salinity or the stress hormone abscisic acid in plants is known for sure, the knowledge that we have today shows that receptor-like protein kinases, two-component histidine kinases, as well as G-protein receptors may be the possible sensors of these different signals.
Cold, heat, drought, or salt are all factors that could possibly be defended against by genetically modified plants.
If plants could be genetically engineered to be resistant to a wider variety of stress, crop yields would skyrocket.
Although the farm acres are being built on, the number of people consuming agriculture products is going up.
The combination of reduced acres of farmland and a higher demand on crops have left producers and consumers in a severe dilemma.
This would eliminate crop yield loss due to extreme temperatures, drought, wind, or salinity.
If plants could use less water and produce yields that are superior or equal to current ones, it would be better for the people and also the environment.
Crops modified to be resistant to abiotic stress and other factors that decrease yields would require less land use.
People opposed to these modified plants often claim that they are not safe for the environment or for human consumption.
There are many videos and reports in circulation that discredit the safety of genetically modified organisms.
A company that specializes in producing genetically modifying organisms must put their plants through a huge variety of tests to ensure the safety of their product.
They only help create more land to be put back into natural habitats for plants and animals.
Genetically modified plants can be implemented to slow down the effects of the abiotic stressors.