Regulation of Transcription Factors in Abscisic Acid-Mediated Signaling Under Abiotic Stresses

Abstract

Abiotic stresses like drought, salinity, heat, cold, and osmotic pressure have adverse effects on a plant’s growth and development. The stress response in plants is mediated by several signaling pathways, mediated by the intervention of different phytohormones. The phytohormones that are linked to biotic and abiotic stresses are salicylic acid, jasmonic acid, auxin, abscisic acid, and gibberellin. The role of auxins, cytokinins, ethylene, gibberellins, brassinosteroids, and jasmonic acid has been studied in the context of developing abiotic stress-tolerant plants by metabolic engineering. The phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) is a key hormone known to be involved in the regulation of abiotic stresses. ABA regulates osmolytes and detoxifies reactive oxygen species (ROS) as part of stress signaling pathways. During abiotic stress, signaling and plant response, phytohormones induce the expression of the transcription factors that regulate stress-responsive genes. Over the past few years, several transcription factors (TF) have been identified and are essential for regulating plant responses to these stresses. Activation of these TF can be ABA-dependent or independent in nature. In plants, several transcription factors like NAC, NAM, NF-Y, WRKY, bZIP, MYC, MYB, NAM, DREB, AP2, YABBY, Zinc finger, and their cis-acting elements regulate abiotic stresses in association with different plant hormones. This chapter highlights the ABA-dependent and independent transcription factors responsible for abiotic stress tolerance and their regulatory mechanisms. © 2026 selection and editorial matter, Kapil Gupta, Keshawanand Tripathi, Amit Joshi, and Dinesh Yadav.