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A modification of the ‘cold plaque’ screening technique (Hodge et al., Plant Journal1992, 2, 257–260) was used to screen a cDNA library constructed from drought‐stressed leaf tissue of the desiccation tolerant (‘resurrection’) grass Sporobolus stapfianus. This technique allowed a large number of clones representing genes expressed at low abundance to be isolated. An examination of expression profiles revealed that several of these genes are induced in desiccation‐tolerant tissue experiencing severe drought stress. Further characterization indicated that the gene products encoded include an eIF1 protein translation initiation factor and a glycine‐ and proline‐rich protein which have not previously been associated with drought stress. In addition, genes encoding a serine/threonine phosphatase type 2C, a tonoplast‐intrinsic protein (TIP) and an early light‐inducible protein (ELIP) were isolated. A number of these genes are expressed differentially in desiccation‐tolerant and desiccation‐sensitive tissues, suggesting that they may be associated with the desiccation tolerance response of S. stapfianus. The results indicate that there may be unique gene regulation processes occurring during induction of desiccation tolerance in resurrection plants which allow different drought‐responsive genes to be selectively expressed at successive levels of water loss.

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Multiple biotic and abiotic environmental factors may constitute stresses that affect plant growth and yield in crop species. Advances in plant physiology, genetics, and molecular biology have greatly improved our understanding of plant responses to stresses. This book details on technologies that have emerged during the past decade and have been useful in studying the multigenicity of the plant abiotic stress response. Upstream molecular mechanisms are involved in the plant response to abiotic stress, above all in the regulation of timings and amount of specific stress responses. Post-transcriptional mechanisms based on alternative splicing and RNA processing, as well as RNA silencing define the actual transcriptome supporting the stress response. Beyond protein phosphorylation, other post-translational modifications like ubiquitination and sumoylation regulate the activation of pre-existing molecules to ensure a prompt response to stress factors. The text in this book deals with the importance of -omics approaches like Genomics, Metabolomics and Proteomics in abiotic stress tolerance. Large scale analytical approaches provide detailed information about the structure and complexity of signaling networks, identify subsets of genes or activities that are correlated to given stress factors and reveal unexpected or previously uncharacterized biochemical interactions. To the best of our knowledge no book on -Omics studies in relation to Plant Abiotic Stress Tolerance is available in the market. This book should therefore be a valuable asset for the readers.

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RNA silencing is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism in eukaryotes that control gene expression through small RNA-guided RNA degradation, translational repression and DNA methylation. Plants have evolved multiple small RNA pathways that have been demonstrated to play an essential role in developmental regulation and defence against invasive nucleic acids such as transposable elements and viruses. Recent studies have provided evidence that the different small RNA pathways play a more diverse role in plant defence against biotic and abiotic stresses. These findings are likely to result in new platforms for engineering stress tolerant crops in the future.