title: Brassinosteroid Action in Plant Abiotic Stress Tolerance.
abstract: Brassinosteroids (BRs) are a class of plant steroidal hormones that play essential roles in plant growth and development. Systematic studies had first been undertaken concomitantly to determine both the effects of exogenous BR on stress phenotypes of Arabidopsis thaliana and Brassica napus (rapeseed) seedlings and the expression of stress marker genes in BR-treated and untreated seedlings. When reproducible and convincing evidence of the role of BR in stress tolerance had been obtained, molecular mechanisms underlying the ability of BR to confer tolerance against heat, cold, drought, and salt stress, as well as pathogen resistance were studied with several molecular approaches and tools. The results of these studies have together provided valuable insights into how BRs, through their control of many basic cellular processes and stress responses, promote vigor in plants and prepare the plant to mount a dynamic response upon environmental challenges. Protocols to assess BR effects on abiotic stress tolerance in Arabidopsis and rapeseed seedlings are described here and they can be fine-tuned and adapted for other plant species.
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, 2351, Australia. pkrishn2@une.edu.au.
authors.forename: Priti
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Krishna
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering, Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bihar, 813210, India.
authors.forename: Bishun D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Prasad
authors.affiliation: Saskatoon Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 0X2, Canada.
authors.forename: Tawhidur
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rahman
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D001681:Biological Assay; D029688:Brassica napus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D060406:Brassinosteroids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003080:Cold Temperature; D055864:Droughts; D006358:Hot Temperature; D010641:Phenotype; D063245:Plant Development / Q000187:drug effects*; D036226:Seedlings / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology; D013260:Steroids, Heterocyclic / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013312:Stress, Physiological
chemical_list: D060406:Brassinosteroids; D013260:Steroids, Heterocyclic; D012965:Sodium Chloride; C023623:brassinolide
keywords: 24-Epibrassinolide; Arabidopsis; Brassica napus; Brassinosteroid; Cold stress; Drought stress; Heat stress; Salt stress