Academic Press The Plant Hormone Ethylene: Stress Acclimation and Agricultural Applications

The Plant Hormone Ethylene: Stress Acclimation and Agricultural Applications presents current knowledge on our understanding of ethylene reception and signaling, its role in the regulation of plant physiological processes, and its contribution to acclimation in stressful environments. In persistently changing environmental conditions, several stress factors influence cellular metabolism, ultimately causing reduced plant growth and development with a significant loss in agricultural productivity. Sustainable agriculture depends on the acclimation of plant processes to the changing environment through altered physiological and molecular responses, which are controlled by plant hormones, including ethylene. Ethylene, the simplest alkene, is also known as “the volatile hormone, one of the most critical hormones in plants. It is a signaling molecule with the ability to modulate several responses at the molecular level in plants, from various processes related to plant growth and development (from seed germination to senescence), to several responses to changing environmental conditions (including both biotic and abiotic stresses). As a plant hormone involved in several physiological and biochemical processes that are tightly connected with the yield of agriculture crops, ethylene can interact with primary and secondary metabolism of plants affecting both yield and quality. Review Explores the impacts of ethylene on the regulation of photosynthesis, photosynthate partitioning and crop productivity From the Back Cover <p><i>The Plant Hormone Ethylene: Stress Acclimation and Agricultural Applications </i>presents current knowledge on our understanding of ethylene reception and signalling, its role in the regulation of plant physiological processes, and its contribution to acclimation to stressful environments.</p> <p>Ethylene, the simplest alkene, is also known as “the volatile hormone, which is one of the most critical hormones in plants. It is a signalling molecule with the ability to modulate several responses at the molecular level in plants, from various processes related to plant growth and development (from seed germination to senescence), to several responses to changing environmental conditions (including both biotic and abiotic stresses. As a plant hormone involved in the several physiological and biochemical processes that are tightly connected with the yield of agriculture crops, ethylene can interact with primary and secondary metabolism of plants affecting the yield and quality. Ethylene inhibitors and promoters are currently used in agriculture for improving crop productivity, quality at harvest, and during postharvest. Its promoters can be used for regulating the fruit ripening and aroma with a direct influence on product quality and can reduce the senescence and prolonging the storage of several climacteric fruits.</p> <p>Plants regularly face environmental constraints due to their immobile nature. In persistently changing environmental conditions, several stress factors influence cellular metabolism, ultimately causing reduced plant growth and development with a significant loss in agricultural productivity. Sustainable agriculture depends on the acclimation of plant processes to the changing environment through altered physiological and molecular responses, which are controlled by plant hormones, including ethylene. Ethylene co-ordinates with other plant hormones and signalling molecules to regulate several cellular processes, plant growth and development, and ultimately, crop productivity. Highlighting emerging salient trends for improving plant performance in diverse environmental conditions and climate change scenarios, Ethylene in Crop Plant Metabolism and Development provides tools for enhancing future research aimed to improve the performance of plants under stressful conditions and to promote crop productivity in the frame of more sustainable agriculture.</