Mitigation of Water Stress and Saline Stress by Brassinosteroids

Brassinosteroids is a new group of plant growth regulators with significant growth promoting influence which was first isolated and characterized from the pollen of Brassica napus L. Subsequently, they were reported from monocots, dicots, gymnosperms, pteridophyte and alga. Brassinosteroids are now considered as plant hormones with pleiotropic effects as they influence varied developmental processes like growth, germination of seeds, rhizogenesis, flowering, senescence and all kinds of stresses. This chapter reviews the effect of brassinosteroids in mitigating water and saline stresses.