Stress memory responses and seed priming correlate with drought tolerance in plants: an overview

Main conclusion Environmental-friendly techniques based on plant stress memory, cross-stress tolerance, and seed priming help sustainable agriculture by mitigating negative effects of dehydration stress. The frequently uneven rainfall distribution caused by global warming will lead to more irregular and multiple abiotic stresses, such as heat stress, dehydration stress, cold stress or the combination of these stresses. Dehydration stress is one of the major environmental factors affecting the survival rate and productivity of plants. Hence, there is an urgent need to develop improved resilient varieties. Presently, technologies based on plant stress memory, cross-stress tolerance and priming of seeds represent fruitful and promising areas of future research and applied agricultural science. In this review, we will provide an overview of plant drought stress memory from physiological, biochemical, molecular and epigenetic perspectives. Drought priming-induced cross-stress tolerance to cold and heat stress will be discussed and the application of seed priming will be illustrated for different species.

Automated summary

This review highlights the importance of environmentally-friendly techniques based on plant stress memory, cross-stress tolerance, and seed priming in mitigating the negative effects of dehydration stress for sustainable agriculture. It emphasizes the urgent need for developing resilient varieties to cope with the major environmental factor of dehydration stress.