AUTHOR=Prasad Ravindra 

TITLE=Cytokinin and Its Key Role to Enrich the Plant Nutrients and Growth Under Adverse Conditions-An Update

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Genetics

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2022.883924

DOI=10.3389/fgene.2022.883924

ISSN=1664-8021

ABSTRACT=Among the field crops, wheat regarded as the most paramount cereal crops because it is widely grown, consumed as food in the world and also known as the staple food for nearly 35 per cent of the world population. However, it is threatened by spot blotch disease causing considerable yield loss, existing genotypes lacking the resistance and enough nutrients as well. Cytokinins (CKs) are key phytohormones that not only regulate the plant growth/development but also play the important role during stress and nutrients metabolic pathway of crop plant. Deficiency of important nutrients like zinc, iron, and vitamin A, causes irreparable damage to the body pressing the need to increase the accumulation of such micronutrients in the edible parts of plant. Crop bio-fortification is one of the emerging approach through which the quantities of these nutrients could be increased to an advisable amount. Cytokinin is observed to have a pivotal role in managing environmental stress/climate change and defence system of plant, apart from this, it is also found that it has an impact over Zn accumulation in cereal crops. Manipulation of cytokine dehydrogenase (CKX) enzyme that degrades cytokinin which could affect the yield, root growth and important nutrients. Several instances revealed an increment in the contents of Zn, S, Fe, and Mn in the seeds of cereals is a reflection of increasing the activity of CKX enzyme resulting the enhancement of root system which not only helps in the absorption of water in a drought prone area but also beneficial for scavenging nutrients to the deeper ends of the soil. Exploring micronutrients from the lithosphere via the root system helps in the uptake of the micronutrients and transporting them via the vascular system to the sink of crop plants, therefore, identification and incorporation of CKs/CKX linked gene(s) into targeted crop plants, exploring bio-fortification approach including CRISPR-Cas9 through conventional and molecular breeding approaches could be the most paramount job for  improving the important traits and stress management in order to enhance the plant growth, productivity and nutritional value of the wheat crops useful for mankind