Drought stress vis a vis plant functions in the era of climate change

Drought has become a serious environmental issue in the current changing environment. It has significantly reduced plants’ productivity and caused great economic loss in the agricultural-based economy countries. To design programmes for reverting the adverse effects of drought stress, it is essential to understand the consequences of drought stress on physiological functions and focus on some aspects to better target the phenomenon for increased tolerance. The present review focuses on the effects of drought stress on the growth, water relations and photosynthesis in plants. This article also describes the mechanism of drought resistance in plants on a physiological and molecular basis. Among the various management strategies proposed to cope with drought stress, phytohormones and antioxidant systems are most appropriate and suitable for drought stress tolerance. A possible outline for drought stress tolerance has been given in the present review article.