| In the past twenty years, brassinosteroids (BRs) have been increasingly applied in agriculture and horticulture, and some new research achievements have been obtained. Brassinosteroids are able to promote cell division, elongation, swelling, curvature and splitting of internodes, and to improve the growth of plants and the output of crops. In this paper the effects of brassinosteroids on stress-resistance (including drought-resistance, cold-resistance, heat-resistance, salt-resistance, drug-resistance and toxicity-resistance) and consenescence regulation of crops and trees are described from the parameters such as water content, protective enzyme activity, proline cumulation, photosynthesis, MDA and cell membrane penetrability. BRs can be regarded as plant growth promoters with promising properties for practical use in agriculture and forestry. |