Redox Strategies for Crop Improvement.

ABSTRACT

SIGNIFICANCE: Recently, the agro-biotech industry has been driven by overcoming the limitations imposed by fluctuating environmental stress conditions on crop productivity. A common theme among (a)biotic stresses is the perturbation of the redox homeostasis. RECENT ADVANCES As a strategy to engineer stress-tolerant crops, many approaches have been centered on restricting the negative impact of reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation. CRITICAL ISSUES In this study, we discuss the scientific background of the existing redox-based strategies to improve crop performance and quality. In this respect, a special focus goes to summarizing the current patent landscape because this aspect is very often ignored, despite constituting the forefront of applied research. FUTURE DIRECTIONS The current increased understanding of ROS acting as signaling molecules has opened new avenues to exploit redox biology for crop improvement required for sustainable food security.