Water deficit stress-induced changes in higher plants and implications for global arid regions

Water is vital for plant growth, development and productivity. Water deficit stress limits the growth and distribution of natural vegetation and the performance of cultivated plants more than any other environmental factors. Although basic studies and practices aimed at improving water stress resistance and water use efficiency have been carried out for many years, the mechanism involved from molecular level to ecosystem is still not clear. Further understanding and manipulating plant water relations and water stress tolerance at the scale of ecology, physiology and molecular biology can significantly improve plant productivity and environmental quality,which is the basis of agricultural and eco-environmental sustainable development.Currently,genomics, post-genomics and metabolimics are very important to explore anti-drought gene resources in different life forms, but modern agricultural sustainable development must be combined with plant physiological measures in field,on the basis of which post-genomics and metabolimics have further a practical prospect.In this review, we have discussed the physiological and molecular insights and effects in basic plant metabolism and drought tolerance strategies under drought condition in higher plants for sustainable agriculture and ecoenvironment in arid and semiarid areas in the world.