Genetic Improvement of Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Crops

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Breeding and Genetics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 December 2023) | Viewed by 2796

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Interests: mining wheat gene resources for stress resistance; molecular improvement of crop stress resistance

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Crop production is frequently threatened by environmental stress, which is exacerbated by the trends of climate warming on a global scale. Improving the adaptability of crops is a key strategy to mitigate the effects of climate change on productivity. Thus, it is imperitive to breed broad-spectrum tolerant crops in order to meet the increasing demand for food productivity globally. However, the tolerance of abiotic stress, such as drought, heat, and sanility is a complex quantitative trait controlled by many genes involved in the stress signal perception, signal transduction and amplification, and plant stress adjustments. One leverage point to accelerate the improvement in crops is to better understand the genetic and molecular bases of abiotic stress resistence, which require comprehensive studies of various aspects of crops, including their physiology, agronomy, phenome, omics, genetics, molecular mechanism, breeding, yield production, and utilization. In addition, the trade-off between crop yields and stress resistance is also highly important in this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Hude Mao
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • crops
  • abiotic stress
  • physiology
  • agronomy
  • phenome
  • mechanism
  • omics
  • genetics
  • breeding
  • trade-off

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 6257 KiB  
Article
Distinguishing Abiotic from Biotic Stressors in Perennial Grain Crops: Nutrient Deficiency Symptoms in Silphium integrifolium and Thinopyrum intermedium
by Angela Brekalo, Damian Ravetta, Yvonne Thompson and M. Kathryn Turner
Agronomy 2024, 14(4), 647; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14040647 - 23 Mar 2024
Viewed by 1011
Abstract
Perennial grains have been proposed as a soil-healthy alternative to annual grains. Intermediate wheatgrass (Thinopyrum intermedium), whose seed is currently sold under the trade name Kernza®, and silflower (Silphium integrifolium), which is in the early stages of [...] Read more.
Perennial grains have been proposed as a soil-healthy alternative to annual grains. Intermediate wheatgrass (Thinopyrum intermedium), whose seed is currently sold under the trade name Kernza®, and silflower (Silphium integrifolium), which is in the early stages of domestication at The Land Institute in Central Kansas, lack characterization for their deficiency symptoms. This has complicated attempts to assess the causes of visible stress on plants in the field and the greenhouse. By growing Th. intermedium and S. integrifolium in a set of hydroponic solutions, each containing all but one selected nutrient—including nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulfur, iron, boron, zinc, copper, molybdenum, and manganese—we were able to assess the effects of twelve different nutrient deficiencies across the two species. Visible symptoms were described and documented via photographs. The effects of the deficiencies on height, leaf biomass, root biomass, gas exchange and photosynthesis (silflower), and resin production (silflower) were measured. Calcium, nitrogen, and potassium were found to alter growth responses in intermediate wheatgrass; in silflower, growth, resin production, and photosynthetic traits were affected by many nutrient deficient treatments. Our results suggest that further work addressing how symptoms might look at the time of flowering, seed production, and in the field at different concentrations of key nutrients would help ongoing plant-breeding efforts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Improvement of Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Crops)
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19 pages, 11015 KiB  
Article
The Analysis of Short-Term Differential Expression of Transcription Factor Family Genes in Diploid and Tetraploid Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Varieties during Blast Fungus Infection
by Minghong Xu, Dayong Li, Zitian Leng, Keyan Liu, Chenxi Wang, Yingkai Wang, Weilong Meng, Lintian Yu, Chunying Zhang, Jian Ma and Ningning Wang
Agronomy 2023, 13(12), 3007; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13123007 - 7 Dec 2023
Viewed by 1245
Abstract
The necessity to understand plant adaptations to environmental stressors is underscored by the role of polyploidy in species evolution. This study focuses on the superior stress resistance exhibited by autotetraploid rice, which arises from chromosome doubling, in comparison to its diploid donor. We [...] Read more.
The necessity to understand plant adaptations to environmental stressors is underscored by the role of polyploidy in species evolution. This study focuses on the superior stress resistance exhibited by autotetraploid rice, which arises from chromosome doubling, in comparison to its diploid donor. We provide a quantitative analysis that highlights the differing susceptibilities of diploid (GFD-2X) and autotetraploid (GFD-4X) rice to rice blast disease, with GFD-2X being significantly more susceptible. Our investigation centers on transcription factors (TFs), which are crucial in regulating biological stress responses, by analyzing their expression in the face of a pathogen attack. This study uncovers variations in the number and expression timing of differentially expressed TF genes, providing a quantitative view of GFD-4X’s resistance. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses confirm the role of specific pathways, including “response to stimulus” and the “MAPK signaling pathway,” in resistance mechanisms. An extensive analysis of protein–protein interaction networks further clarifies the complex role of TFs during stress responses. The rationale for our experimental approach is rooted in the imperative to decipher the molecular basis of disease resistance across different ploidies, which has implications for crop enhancement. The conclusion from our research is that autotetraploid rice has a unique and more effective defense response regulation system, facilitated by transcription factors, when faced with rice blast disease. This finding provides a foundation for future genetic strategies aimed at improving crop resistance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Improvement of Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Crops)
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