Table 1.

The role of sterols in plant responses to a variety of abiotic stress.

Plant	Related Treatment	Stress Factor	Effect	References
Triticum aestivum		4 °C for 1 and 12 h	Up-regulated the expression of TaCYP710A1; increased the content of stigmasterol	[80]
Lactuca sativa		35 or 21 °C for 40 h	Up-regulated the concentrations of sterols	[81]
Helianthus annuus		25 or 35 °C for 1–5 days	Reduced the level of stigmasterol	[82]
Phaeodactylum tricornutum		13 or 23 °C under white light	Reduced the level of the total sterols at 23 °C	[83]
Avena sativa		2 °C for 4 weeks	Increased acylated sterol glycoside (ASG) content; changes in the ratio of free sterol and ASG	[84]
Arabidopsis thaliana		7 ± 1 ℃ for 30 days	Increased the permeability of plant cell membrane; increased ratio of stigmasterol to sitosterol	[85]
Arabidopsis thaliana		45 ℃ for 3 and 6 h	Increased fatality rate	[85]
Arabidopsis thaliana	AtCYP710A1 gene-overexpression	45 ℃ for 3 and 6 h	Enhanced the heat tolerance and reduced the mortality	[85]
Triticum aestivum		4 ℃ for 1 and 12 h	Destructed membrane integrity; accumulated reactive oxygen species; increased total sterol content; increased the ratio of C24-methy sterol and C24-ethyl sterol	[86]
Triticum aestivum	5 mM MβCD for 12 h	4 ℃ for 1 and 12 h	Decreased sterol content; aggravated the cold stress injury	[86]
Lycopersicon esculentum	Seeds were soaked with 10 μM sitosterol for 10 h	10, 25, and 45 ± 3 °C for 14 days	Increased tolerance of tomato plants to both high and low temperature stress	[87]
Agrostis stolonifera	400 μM sitosterol, foliar spraying until droplets formed	35 °C for 28 days	Inhibited the leaf senescence under heat stress; enhanced plant heat tolerance.	[88]
Glycine max		25 mM NaCl for 8 days	Decreased the content of total sterols by 50%; increased the content of saturated fatty acids	[89]
Kosteletzkya virginica		85 mM NaCl for 17–20 days	Decreased the content of total sterol	[90]
Brassica oleracea		0, 40 and 80 mM NaCl for 15 days	Decreased the content of sitosterol; increased stigmasterol content	[91]
Zea mays		150 mM NaCl for 15 days	Decreased the content of total sterol	[92]
Spartina patens		0, 170, 340, and 510 mM NaCl for 10 weeks	Decreased sitosterol in response to elevated NaCl.	[93]
Triticum aestivum		150 mM NaCl for 21 days	Decreased the content of campesterol and cholesterol; improved salt tolerance	[94]
Lycopersicon esculentum		50 and 100 mM NaCl for 4 weeks	Increased the ratio of sterols and phospholipids; enhanced salt tolerance; improved membrane rigidity	[95]
Nicotiana tabacum	Overexpressing AaSMO1	400 mM NaCl for 0, 0.5, 1.5, 3, 6, 9, 24 and 72 h	Decreased the sensitivity of plants to dehydration stress; increased the content of total sterols	[96]
Brassica oleracea, Brassica napus and Cakile maritima		100 and 200 mM NaCl for 1 week	Increased the level of stigmasterol; enhanced the adaption of the membrane to salt stress	[97]
Linum usitatissimum	seeds were soaked with 200 ppm stigmasterol for 12 h	0, 100, 150 or 200 mM NaCl for 40 days	Decreased the drastic affect by NaCl; enhanced plant salinity tolerance	[98]
Capsicum annuum	150 ppm sitosterol	50, 100 or 200 mM NaCl	Offset the salinity stress damage; improved membrane stability and antioxidant enzyme activity	[99]
Vitis vinifera		UV-B (8.25 lW·cm−2, 16 h)	Increased the content of sitosterol and stigmasterol	[100]
Vitis vinifera		UV-B (33 lW·cm−2, 4 h)	Increased the content of triterpenoids 4.8-fold	[100]
Olea europaea		UV-B (6.5 kJ·m−2·day−1, 5 days)	No significant influence on the content of sterol	[101]
Olea europaea		UV-B (12.4 kJ·m−2·day−1, 5 days)	No significant influence on the content of sterol	[101]
Withania somnifera		UV-B (3.6 kJ·m−2·day−1)	Decreased the content of triterpenoids in leaf; increased triterpenoids levels in root	[102]
Oryza sativa	150 μM sitosterol for 20 days	UV-B (315 ± 20 nm, 6 h per day, 5 days)	Improved the growth of rice plants; enhanced tolerance of rice to UV-B stress	[103]
Oryza sativa		Water stress for 3, 6, 9 and 12 days	Up-regulated the level of stigmasterol, campesterol, β-sitosterol; decreased the activity of HMGR in rice	[104]
Cucurbita pepo		Five levels of drought stress on seed	Increased the content of plant sterols, especially β-sitosterol; inhibited the oil production of pumpkin seeds	[105]
Oryza sativa		Drought stress for 3, 6, 9 and 12 days	Increased the content of both free sterols and sterol ester; improved HMGR activity	[106]
Camellia sinensis		1, 8, and 15 days under water deprivation treatment	Increased sterols levels	[107]
Cynodon dactylon	smt1 mutant	Drought stress for 7 days	Increased the content of cholesterol, putrescine (Put), spermidine (Spd), and spermine (Spm); improved drought tolerance	[68]
Oryza sativa	Knock-down of OsSMT1 expression by RNA interference	Drought stress for 7 days	Increased the content of cholesterol, Put, Spd, and Spm; improved drought tolerance	[68]
Trifolium repens	120 μM sitosterol for 3 days	Drought stress for 7 days	Enhanced the drought tolerance and total antioxidant capacity.	[108]
Triticum aestivum	0, 25, 50, 100 mg·L−1 sitosterolapplied to wheat plants foliage	50% of crop evapotranspiration for 45 days	Offset the damage caused by drought to plants; improved yield.	[109]