Figure 4.

Schematic illustration of drought-induced damage and acclimation responses. The plant cell undergoes a number of osmotic, enzymatic, and metabolic changes. However, a severe and prolonged drought may cause irreparable damage to plant cells, eventually resulting in cell death. In contrast, short-duration drought stress can be tolerated. The plant resumes its normal growth and functioning. Here, “↑” and “↓” indicates a positive increase/decrease in a certain activity while “↑” and “↓” indicates a negative increase/decrease in a certain activity.