A protein-linger strategy keeps the plant on-hold after rehydration of drought-stressed Beta vulgaris

A drought stress and recovery time course experiment was carried out under controlled environmental conditions. In order to find regulatory key mechanisms enabling plants to rapidly react to periodic stress events, beets were either subjected to 11 days of progressive drought, or were drought stressed for 9 days followed by gradual rewatering for 14 days. Based on physiological measurements of leaf water status and changes in morphology, plants experienced a switch from moderate to severe water stress between day 9 and 11 of drought.