Water deficit stress, ROS involvement, and plant performance

Crop productivity is impaired by stress factors, biotic or abiotic. The main are pathogens, diseases, insects, cold, heat, salinity, drought, radiation and others. Among these unfavorable conditions, drought is one of the main occurrences and negatively affects crop development. This environmental adversity generally induces the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). These molecules lead to oxidative stress, and at high levels cause cell effects, like loss of organelle functions, electrolyte leakage, and reduction in metabolic efficiency. High concentration of ROS in cells can still cause molecular damage that include damage in proteins, amino acids, and lipids, and even lead to cell death. To neutralize these damages, plants increase enzymatic antioxidant activity and non-enzymatic antioxidant contents. ROS are essential to life in plants, and at basal levels performs cellular functions, such as signaling and defense responses. Here, we focus on the ROS production, the involvement and damages of these species in water deficit condition, changes in activity of antioxidant enzymes and non-enzymatic antioxidant contents in plants under drought stress. In addition, the signaling reactions of ROS under stress water restriction, changes on yield components of species under water deficit and the antioxidant genes involved in plant responses to stress were also addressed.