GROWTH RESPONSES OF PLANTS UNDER WATER STRESS: INVOLVEMENT OF REACTIVE OXYGEN SPECIES (ROS)

Plant growth is a vulnerable process being affected by several factors under natural conditions. All types of stresses encountered in natural environment affect plant growth and ultimately reduce productivity of crop plants. Recent global climatic changes made the situation more serious by causing problems like water deficit, high salinity, heat stress and different diseases caused by fungi, pest or bacteria as fallout. Water stress is considered as one of the major abiotic stress factors that limit plant growth and ultimately reduces the productivity of crop plants up to 80% of total production. A huge amount of land of our country is suffering from poor irrigation or irregular rainfall. Such problem calls for a demand for water use efficient or water resistant varieties of crop plants. To develop water resistant varieties, it is important to understand the growth mechanism of crop plants under water limited condition. Keeping in view of these problems this review work is focused light to the understanding of the role of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) in growth responses of plant under normal as well as water stress condition.