Targeting detoxification pathways: an efficient approach to obtain plants with multiple stress tolerance?

A serious factor limiting the engineering of stress tolerance has been our ignorance about the function of stress-induced genes. A stress-activated novel aldose-aldehyde reductase was cloned from alfalfa. The ectopic expression of this gene in tobacco resulted in tolerance to oxidative stress and dehydration. Physiological analysis suggested that aldose reductase probably functions by reducing the level of reactive aldehydes. This provides a promising perspective for the development of crop plants with improved stress tolerance.