Chapter Role of Electromagnetic Radiation in Abiotic Stress Tolerance

Plants and specially crop plants are exposed to numerous abiotic stresses that restrict germination, growth, and development. Chilling, salinity, radiations, water deficit, and heat abiotic stresses have a deleterious impact on crop plants. In the current climate change period, a great drop in crop productivity is compromising the efforts/strategies used for sustainable agricultural practices. Accordingly, plant physiologists and photo biologists are trying to enhance the tolerance against the deleterious effects of abiotic stresses especially during the current era of climate change. In the current chapter, an assessment has been made in the introduction section to firstly the nature and role of light in plant life, with a great concern to various environmental electromagnetic radiations (EMRs). The effect of EMRs on plants cell physiology and metabolic processes were also assessed in the current chapter.

EMRs have a noticeable effect on plants’ physiology especially water uptake and cell turgor, membranes, minerals and nutrients, cell signals, energy and cell bioenergetics, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and oxidative stresses. In the second part of this chapter, we attempt to summarize the role of various EMRs (e.g., laser, polarized light, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), visible light, etc.) in enhancing germination, plant growth, and abiotic stress tolerance. This chapter and assessment may contribute to the development of various strategies for protecting crop plants against abiotic stress enhancing their tolerance.