Peptide Elicitors for Defense Against Abiotic Stress

One of the major challenges that agriculture is facing is how to meet the world’s population’s food demands, while improving the sustainability of agricultural practices. Thus, there is a need to develop innovative technologies and products to increase agricultural productivity, despite climate change, technologies that can enhance crop quality and yields while minimizing the environmental impact of farming practices. Plants have a defense mechanism known as pattern-triggered immunity (PTI), enabled upon the detection of both endogenous and external elicitors. Microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) refer to chemically preserved structures that signal the presence of microorganisms and are used as a description for exogenous elicitors. Endogenous elicitors are produced and identified in various contexts, making it difficult to assess their biological significance. Plant elicitor peptides (PEPs) are a type of endogenous elicitors that help protect plants against bacteria, fungi, and herbivores. Recent research has shown that PEP-triggered signaling pathways are active in response to various stress factors, including abiotic stress. PEPs pose a key role in plant health as they regulate plant development and are involved in PEP-mediated suppression of root growth, among other functions. PEPs are active in angiosperms, including numerous significant crops, throughout the evolutionary tree. To better understand the effects of PEP application in crop production, comprehensive research in agronomy, physiology, chemistry, biochemistry, and molecular biology must be performed. This will allow the development of precise procedures to aid farmers and agrochemical firms in the production and application of PEPs. This chapter offers a comprehensive up-to-date summary of PEPs as a protective mechanism against abiotic stress.