Figure 1.

Generic pathway for plant response to stress. The extracellular stress signal is first perceived by the membrane receptors and then activate large and complex signaling cascade intracellularly including the generation of secondary signal molecules. The signal cascade results into the expression of multiple stress responsive genes, the products of which can provide the stress tolerance directly or indirectly. ABA, abscisic acid; LEA, late embryogenesis abundant; InsP, inositol phosphate; ROS, reactive oxygen species.