"The book is basic in the sense that it begins at the beginning and is entirely self-contained. It is also comprehensive and contains detailed descriptions of Responses of Organisms to Water Stress. The aim has been to make the subject matter broadly accessible to advanced students, whilst at the same time providing a reference text for graduate scholars and research scientists active in the field.
The principle abiotic stress factors that affect plant growth and development are water, temperature, light and the mineral elements in the soil. This chapter will examine water stress and its effects on plant growth, damage caused by water deficit and how plants avoid or mitigate the injury that could result from water stress.
Water forms the largest proportion of the cellular volume in most organisms and is the most limiting resource. About 97% of water taken up by plants is lost to the atmosphere, mainly by transpiration and about 2% is used for cell expansion and rest 1% for metabolic processes. Water-related stress can arise either through an excess of water or a water deficit, though stress due to water deficit is far more common.
Stress conditions trigger a plethora of plant responses ranging from altered gene expression and cellular metabolism to changes in growth rates and growth yields. It is described using terms—stress tolerance and stress resistance. A plant's response to stress will depend upon the duration, severity and rate at which a stress is being imposed and also organ or tissue identity, developmental stage and the genotype of the plant. Some plants may escape the effects of stress entirely by completing their growth during less stressful periods.
This book has been written in easy and fluent language expressive and self-explanatory labelled diagrams, concise but not too brief, written to the point starting from fundamentals and finishing to the most advanced and current concepts. All diagrams have been provided with detailed legends. Some diagrams have been drawn the author himself from the original source, while the remaining ones are quoted from the authentic works."