title: Targeting metabolic pathways for genetic engineering abiotic stress-tolerance in crops.
abstract: Abiotic stress conditions are the major limitations in modern agriculture. Although many genes associated with plant response(s) to abiotic stresses have been indentified and used to generate stress tolerant plants, the success in producing stress-tolerant crops is limited. New technologies are providing opportunities to generate stress tolerant crops. Biotechnological approaches that emphasize the development of transgenic crops under conditions that mimic the field situation and focus on the plant reproductive stage will significantly improve the opportunities of producing stress tolerant crops. Here, we highlight recent advances and discuss the limitations that hinder the fast integration of transgenic crops into agriculture and suggest possible research directions. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Plant gene regulation in response to abiotic stress.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Sci.s, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Reguera
authors.forename: Zvi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Peleg
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Blumwald
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D060847:Metabolic Engineering; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D013312:Stress, Physiological