Small RNA technology for plant abiotic stress tolerance

Abstract Plants are commonly exposed to a wide range of environmental stresses. Abiotic stresses are the key factors accountable for yield and quality losses in plants. In response to abiotic stresses, plants have regulatory mechanisms by expressing their stress response-related genes to cope with these conditions. In the past 2 decades, small RNAs (sRNAs) have emerged as promising candidates for advancing crop improvement and functional genomics studies. sRNAs (siRNA and miRNA) are key regulators in the development and growth plants at both post-transcriptional and transcriptional levels by regulating gene expression. An sRNA tool has already been proven to be an advanced technology for combating various stresses such as abiotic (salt, drought, heat, and cold) and biotic stresses (bacteria, virus, fungi, and nematode). This chapter summarizes the prospective of sRNA technology to increase abiotic stress tolerance in plants.