Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 29 January 2021 doi:10.20944/preprints202101.0616.v1 Review Plant nitric oxide signaling under drought stress Su-Ee Lau 1,3, Mohd Fadhli Hamdan 2, Teen-Lee Pua 1, Noor Baity Saidi 3 and Boon Chin Tan 1,* 1 Centre for Research in Biotechnology for Agriculture, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;
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[email protected]; Tel.: +603-79677982 Abstract: Water deficit caused by drought is a significant threat to crop growth and production. Nitric oxide (NO), a water- and lipid-soluble free radical, plays an important role in cytoprotection. Apart from a few studies supporting the role of NO in drought responses, little is known about this pivotal molecular amendment in the regulation of abiotic stress signaling. In this review, we high- light the knowledge gaps in NO roles under drought stress and the technical challenges underlying NO detection and measurements, and we provide recommendations regarding potential avenues for future investigation. The modulation of NO production to alleviate abiotic stress disturbances in higher plants highlights the potential of genetic manipulation to influence NO metabolism as a tool with which plant fitness can be improved under adverse growth conditions. Keywords: Abiotic stress; crop improvement; drought; nitric oxide; S-nitrosylation; signaling mol- ecule; water deficit ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1.