Drought

Presented by: Zobia Kousar

MS-Bot-012
Presented to: Dr. Robina Aziz
Contents
 Introduction
 Types of drought
 Causes
 How does a drought affect us?
 Drought effect of plant performance
 Plant responses to drought stress
1. Escape mechanism
2. Avoidance mechanism
3. Tolerances mechanism
 Approaches to alleviate the adverse effects of drought stress
 Drought resistance induction
1. Seed priming
2. Plant growth regulators
3. Osomprotectants
4. Plant microbes crosstalk
5. Hydrogel
 Conclusion
Introduction
• A drought is defined as "a period of
abnormally dry weather sufficiently
prolonged for the lack of water to
cause serious hydrologic imbalance in
the affected area.”
• Drought is a prolonged dry period in the
natural climate cycle that can occur
anywhere in the world. It is a slow-
onset disaster characterized by the lack
of precipitation, resulting in a water
shortage.
• The severity of the drought depends
upon the degree of moisture deficiency,
the duration, and the size of the
affected area.
 Types
[Link] [Link]
-these droughts are region-
specific, what might be -refers to a situation
considered a drought in one where the amount of
location of the country may moisture in the soil
not be a drought in another no longer meets the
location. Due to climatic needs of a particular
differences, they occur when crop.
an area receives less rainfall.

[Link] [Link]
-refers to the situation
-occurs when surface that occurs when
and subsurface water physical water
supplies are below shortages begin to affect
normal. people. Water supply is
too low to support
human needs.
 Causes
• Drought is caused by a lack of rainfall, climate
change, changing ocean temperatures, jet stream
and atmospheric fluctuation, and landscaping,
causing serious water shortages. It can be fatal.
• The likelihood and severity of droughts have been
increasing as the Earth's climate warms, and are
predicted to continue.
• Unlike other extreme weather events that are
more sudden, like earthquakes or hurricanes,
droughts happen gradually. But they can be just
as deadly as other weather hazards.
• The severity of drought worsens over time. When
it arrives, drought can last for weeks, months, or
years—sometimes, the effects last decades.
 Causes
Natural/Physical causes Human causes
• Weather: increased amount of • High water demand: There are several
anticyclone weather (hot+dry) means air reasons water demand might outweigh
holds less moisture so you get less rain the supply, including intensive
• Global warming: weather patterns agriculture and population spikes. Also,
change (e.g. Sahel is becoming high demand upstream in rivers (for
hotter+drier) dams or irrigation) can cause drought in
• Hotter weather: more evaporation than lower, downstream areas.
precipitation • Over extraction: removing too much
• El Nino: random weather event that water from wells so they dry up
reverses normal weather patterns • Deforestation: cutting down trees
which otherwise store water + hold soil
together + release water into the
atmosphere, which creates clouds and
then rain.
How does a Drought affect us?
Droughts affect us and the environment in many ways. It is because
Droughts are connected with times of less water. As we know humans,
animals and plants all need water to survive. We also need water to
generate electricity and for use in industries such as agriculture. And
most importantly we need it for drinking, cleaning and cooking.
• The possible public health implications of drought include:
• Compromised quantity and quality of drinking water
• Increased recreational risks
• Effects on air quality
• Diminished living conditions related to energy, air quality, and
sanitation and hygiene
• Compromised food and nutrition
• Increased incidence of illness and disease.
 Drought effect on plant performance
Morphological changes
Dwarf plants Physiological changes
Early maturity Closure of stomata
Leaf area reduction Biochemical changes
Photosynthesis stops
Leaf extension limited Rubisco efficiency ceased
Oxidative stress increases
Leaf rolling Photochemical efficiency
Cell wall integrity changes
Stomatal position declined
Reduction in leaf water potential
Leaf waxiness ROS production
Decrease in stomatal conductance
Leaf hairs Oxidative damage
Internal CO2 reduction
Leaf moment Antioxidant defense
Growth stops
Leaf color Chlorophyll contents
Decrease in transpiration rate
Leaf angle decreased
Enhance WUE
Leaf orientation ABA generation
Reduction in RWC
Small leaf size High proline accumulation
High proline accumulation
Less leaves Polyamine generation
Translocation ceases
Leaf longevity reduction Antioxidative enzymes
Assimilation stops
High root to shoot ratio increases
Capillary moment ceased
Reduction in shoot length Carbohydrate production
Guard cells activated
Reduction in plant height ABA accumulation
Internal temperature increases
Plant responses to drought stress
• Different adaptive mechanisms that make
plants more tolerant to the adverse effects
of drought stress have been developed
through evolution.
• Stress avoidance, escape and tolerance are
the three main survival strategies that
plants utilize when exposed to drought
stress.
• Thus, plants responses to drought stress
vary from the molecular up to plant level.
Plant responses to drought stress
Conti…
Approaches to Alleviate the Adverse Effects of Drought Stress
• Use of best management practices related to sowing
time, plant population, plant genotype, and soil and
nutrient management can help to reduce grain yield
losses in field crops subjected to drought stress
• However, use of transgenic plants with drought-
tolerant events is perhaps the drought stress
mitigation approach most heavily publicized and
the one receiving more attention at present.
• Several efforts like breeding, molecular and
genomic approaches are being undertaken to
develop drought-tolerant plants through usual
conventional breeding methods
• Other strategies include use of modern and more
effective methods of irrigation, good planting
practices, mulching, contouring, osmoprotectants
and plants inoculations with certain
microorganisms that enhance drought tolerance
 Drought-Resistance Induction

• Plants adopt various approaches and strategies to

alleviate the adverse effects of drought stress.
Agriculturists are also using various strategies for
drought stress tolerance, among which the application of
exogenous regulators, chemicals, synthetic hormones and
compounds are of great value to increase drought
resistance at different plant growth stages.
 1. Seed Priming

• Seed priming has been referred to as the most important short-term

approach to alleviate the adverse effect of drought on plants
• The objective of this pre-sowing technique is to initiate the germination
process in the metabolic machinery of the seed and prepare the seed for
radicle protrusion without radicle emergence taking place during the process
• The germination process of prime seeds is more efficient, which results in
higher germination rates and uniformity compared to non-primed seeds
• In crops like wheat, maize and chickpea seed priming is used to alleviate the
adverse effect of drought stress
• Recently, the directly seeded rice (DSR) method used in rice grown in aerobic
conditions resulted in an increment in the drought severity and frequency
 2. Plant Growth Regulators

• Application of natural and synthetic plant growth regulators can

improve drought tolerance in plants
• The reduction in the length and weight of the hypocotyl in
seedlings due to water stress can be mitigated with the application
of gibberellic acid (GA), which helps to maintain the internal water
balance and the protein synthesis in drought stressed plants
• The stomatal conductance, as well as the photosynthesis and the
respiration rates in wheat and cotton and maize were increased in
water-scant areas following application of GA, and this resulted in
higher grain yields compared to treatments where GA was not
applied
 3. Osmoprotectants
• The multiple range of plant stresses that reduce plant
growth and productivity are regulated by
osmoprotectants signaling.
• These substances accumulate during the time when
growing conditions are not suitable for plant growth and
development, and are responsible for maintaining the
internal physiological processes that ensure plant
survival under optimal conditions such as water scarcity
• Among others, important osmoprotectants in plants
subjected to water stress include proline, trehalose,
mannitol, fruton, and glycinebetaine
 4. Plant Microbes Crosstalk
• The microorganisms also play a vital role in reducing
the adverse effects of drought stress and thereby
improving plant productivity
• The oxidative damage in the plants grown under
different environmental stresses can be reduced
through the microorganisms and enabling the cereals
to cope with drought conditions. Among them, plant
growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) is
responsible for drought stress effect mitigation in dry
environments
• The PGPR inoculation into the plants can increase
the drought tolerance of those crops because these
PGPR make colonies in the root-zones and enhance
the plant growth under different circumstances. They
also can solubilize various micronutrients to make
them available for the plant uptake. PGPR also
enhances the plant resistance to different abiotic
stresses
 5. Hydrogel: A Water Absorbing Polymer

• Hydrogel is a polymer, and its application to the soil in agriculture systems can reduce the
need for frequent irrigation
• Plants can survive and sustain their life cycle through hydrogel conditioning in arid and
semi-arid environments, where the shortage of water is a serious issue
• The water limitation is not covered with the rainfall occurrence, and hence there is a
demand to protect the available soil moisture from damage and loss to overcome soil
degradation
• Due to hydrogel soil amendment, soil physical, chemical and biological traits are enhanced
with positive effects on the plant growth and development
• Through its application to soil, it increases the plant survival time under drought stress,
which was decreased due to the loss of the water and the hydraulic conductance in soil
• Apart from this, the hydraulic conductivity of the polymer amended soil is less than the plain
soil. Similarly, water loss through evaporation in polymer-amended soil was lower than the
soil with no hydrogel amendment
 Conclusions

• Drought stress is a serious threat to global food security and plant

production sustainability due to its adverse effect on plant growth and
development and reduction in yield and biomass. To improve drought
stress tolerance in plants, breeding strategies, molecular and genomics
perspectives, omics technology alteration, seed priming, growth
hormones, osmoprotectants, silicon (Si), selenium (Se) and potassium
application are being explored. Additionally, microbes, hydrogel,
nanoparticles applications and metabolic engineering techniques are
being used to regulate the antioxidant enzymes activity for adaptation
to drought stress in plants, enhancing plant tolerance through
maintenance in cell homeostasis and ameliorating the adverse effects of
water stress in plants.
Any questions?