Harnessing the potential of modern omics approaches to study plant biotic and abiotic stresses

Abstract The growing food demands and increasing urbanization are putting pressure to obtain more crop productivity from the shrinking piece of land. Climate change is further complicating the food chain by putting a negative impact on crop productivity by giving rise to multiple biotic and abiotic stresses. As crop plants are sessile hence cannot move from their place to escape the biotic and abiotic stresses hence they should be resilient to combat these stresses. The conventional breeding approaches are lacking the pace to equip the crops with biotic and abiotic stress tolerance. Omics has gained momentum in the last couple of decades and have emerged as a crop-saving tool in wake of the climate change. The multiomics approaches in combination have played a significant role in the identification of stress-responsive genes. Further, it has been possible to identify the role of different genes in the metabolic pathways and utilize this information in the development of climate-resilient crops at a rapid pace. In this book chapter, we have highlighted the role of multi-omics approaches to combat biotic and abiotic stresses. Further the use of these techniques in accelerated the development of climate-resilient crop varieties to ensure global food security in the years to come.