Heat stress: Effect and tolerance mechanism in major cereal crops

Nowadays, abiotic stresses are the major area of concern for plant breeder as they are the cause of massive yield losses. Among all the stresses, escalating adverse effect of heat stress are putting global food security and nutritional security at greater risk. Temperature persistently higher than the optimal temperature induces adverse effect on growth and development of plants is called as heat stress. Heat stress induces physical damage, biochemical changes and physiological disruption and thus, increases the yield gap between potential yield and the actual yield production in crop plants. Different crop plants have varying degree of tolerance and sensitivity to the threshold temperature. Generally, the reproductive phase of crop plants is more sensitive than vegetative phase. Therefore, a better understanding of plant responses to these stresses has pragmatic implication for remedies and management.