Methylglyoxal – a signaling molecule in plant abiotic stress responses

&NA; Abiotic stresses are the most common harmful factors, adversely affecting all aspects of plants' life. Plants have to elicit appropriate responses against multifaceted effects of abiotic stresses by reprogramming various cellular processes. Signaling molecules play vital roles in sensing environmental stimuli to modulate gene expression, metabolism and physiological processes in plants to cope with the adverse effects. Methylglyoxal (MG), a dicarbonyl compound, is known to accumulate in cells as a byproduct of various metabolic pathways, including glycolysis. Several works in recent years have demonstrated that MG could play signaling roles via Ca2+, reactive oxygen species (ROS), K+ and abscisic acid. Recently, global gene expression profiling has shown that MG could induce signaling cascades, and an overlap between MG‐responsive and…