Carbohydrate metabolic responses to water stress in plants: implications for yield and quality
摘要
Water stress, including drought stress and waterlogging stress, leads to a major reduction in crop yield. Saccharides serve as essential energy reserves and structural components, playing pivotal roles in determining crop quality attributes. The composition and concentration of soluble sugars not only related to economic yield, but also critically modulate flavor profiles in edible crops and the biosynthesis of bioactive compounds in medicinal species. Understanding the relationship between carbohydrate metabolism and water stress is crucial for improving crop yield and quality. We further analyze stress-responsive mechanisms through two key perspectives: (1) the changes in the content of four carbohydrate compounds, including monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides and polysaccharides in plants; (2) enzymatic regulation of carbohydrate metabolism (e.g. sucrose synthase and degradation) and transcriptional control by sugar-signaling regulators (e.g. ABA, WRKY). By integrating recent advances in omics technologies and synthetic biology approaches, this synthesis aims to elucidate adaptive strategies of carbohydrate remodeling under water stress while providing a theoretical framework for dual objectives: improving stress-resilient crop productivity and engineering plant systems for sustainable carbohydrate bioproduction.