Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Plant Cell Reports https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-020-02614-z REVIEW Jasmonic acid: a key frontier in conferring abiotic stress tolerance in plants Ali Raza 1  · Sidra Charagh 2  · Zainab Zahid 3  · Muhammad Salman Mubarik 2  · Rida Javed 2  · Manzer H. Siddiqui 4  · Mirza Hasanuzzaman 5 Received: 10 August 2020 / Accepted: 25 September 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020 Abstract Abiotic stresses are the primary sources of crop losses globally. The identifcation of key mechanisms deployed and estab- lished by plants in response to abiotic stresses is necessary for the maintenance of their growth and persistence. Recent discoveries have revealed that phytohormones or plant growth regulators (PGRs), mainly jasmonic acid (JA), have increased our knowledge of hormonal signaling of plants under stressful environments. Jasmonic acid is involved in various physiologi- cal and biochemical processes associated with plant growth and development as well as plant defense mechanism against wounding by pathogen and insect attacks. Recent fndings suggest that JA can mediate the efect of abiotic stresses and help plants to acclimatize under unfavorable conditions. As a vital PGR, JA contributes in many signal transduction pathways, i.e., gene network, regulatory protein, signaling intermediates and enzymes, proteins, and other molecules that act to defend cells from the harmful efects of various environmental stresses. However, JA does not work as an independent regulator, but acts in a complex signaling pathway along other PGRs. Further, JA can protect and maintain the integrity of plant cells under several stresses by up-regulating the antioxidant defense. In this review, we have documented the biosynthesis and metabolism of JA and its protective role against diferent abiotic stresses. Further, JA-mediated antioxidant potential and its crosstalk with other PGRs have also been discussed. Keywords Abiotic stress · Antioxidant enzymes · Jasmonates · Molecular crosstalk · Genetic engineering · Plant hormones · Stress signaling Introduction Plants grow in atmospheres that execute a diversity of environmental stresses, and the variation of any of these stresses can hinder the normal physiological mecha- nisms (Raza et al. 2019a). Plants need to replicate and further grow to sustain their existence in harsh environ- mental conditions, and there are several aids of uphold- ing an equilibrium among plant growth/ development and stress tolerance (Harfouche et al. 2019; Raza et al. 2020a). Being stationary creatures, plants are power- less to evade abiotic stresses merely by moving to an appropriate environment. Therefore, they have advanced mechanisms to pay for the undesirable stressful environ- ment by changing their developmental and physiological mechanisms (Raza et al. 2019a; Harfouche et al. 2019). Although environmental stresses can afect and disrupt their basic functioning mechanism, including amendments in gene expression, biosynthesis of distinct proteins and Communicated by Neal Stewart. * Ali Raza alirazamughal143@gmail.com * Mirza Hasanuzzaman mhzsauag@yahoo.com 1 Key Lab of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Oil Crops, Oil Crops Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Wuhan 430062, China 2 Centre of Agricultural Biochemistry and Biotechnology (CABB), University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan 3 Institute of Environmental Sciences and Engineering (IESE), School of Civil and Environmental Engineering (SCEE), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad 44000, Pakistan 4 Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 2455, Saudi Arabia 5 Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh