Abstract:

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are a class of new plant hormones and play very important roles in the growth and development as well as stress resistance of plants. Taking rice (Oryza sativa L.) as a sample, the paper reviewed roles of BRs in crops from the aspects of organ growth and development, grain filling, leaf photosynthesis and senescence and the resistance of hot, cold, and salinity. Key issues for future studies were discussed such as molecular mechanisms of BRs in crop growth and development and applications of BRs in crop production.