Somatic embryogenesis (SE) is a complicated developmental process and a unique model system to investigate the physiological,biochemical,and molecular biological events occurring during plant embryo development.Stresses are very important factors that have been increasingly recognized in the induction of SE.Plant growth regulators such as 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D),ABA and so on are known as stress-related substances for acquisition of embryogenic competence by plant cells.Some stress-related genes and proteins associated with SE have been identified and researched from both the proteome and transcriptome levels.This review focuses on stress-related genes and proteins in the induction of SE.