Advances and New Perspectives for Improving Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Cereals

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 October 2023) | Viewed by 7989

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Institute of Plant Physiology and Genetics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria
Interests: mineral nutrition; water stress tolerance; photosynthesis; plant biochemistry

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Plant Physiology and Genetics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria
Interests: genetic diversity in wheat; mutant genes; QTL; biochemical stress markers; nitrogen use efficiency

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Environmental conditions affect the production and quality of cultivated plants, among which cereals are of major importance in securing human needs for food and fodder. The challenge to improve abiotic stress tolerance as well as to increase crop yield should be addressed with a vivid insight into the coping strategies of plants and their ability to grow in constantly changing environments. This SI aims to highlight advances and new perspectives in scientific research on sustaining plant productivity under stressful conditions and the development of tolerance mechanisms at the cellular, organ, and whole organism levels. We invite contributors proficient in all areas of plant and agricultural sciences dealing with physiology and crop breeding, including ecological, molecular, and genetic research approaches. Original papers, short communications, reviews, and methodical reports are welcome that contribute to extending current knowledge about stress tolerance mechanisms and their manifestation in cereal crops, along with agronomical and interdisciplinary works focused on improving yield under suboptimal environmental conditions.

Dr. Konstantina Kocheva
Dr. Tania Kartseva
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • abiotic stress
  • barley
  • corn
  • drought
  • einkorn
  • genetic resources
  • high temperatures
  • low temperatures
  • maize
  • oats
  • rice
  • rye
  • sorghum
  • salinity
  • triticale
  • UV
  • wheat

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 1322 KiB  
Article
Investigating the Phytotoxic Potential of Helianthus annuus on Germination and Seedling Morphological Parameters of Two Target Poaceae Species: Spring Barley and Spring Wheat
by Daiva Janusauskaite
Agronomy 2023, 13(12), 3064; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13123064 - 14 Dec 2023
Viewed by 1299
Abstract
Allelopathy is a phenomenon that has both beneficial and deleterious influences among plants within the same ecosystem. The allelopathic activity of sunflower on cereals, one of the most popular crops in crop rotation, is still poorly studied and understood. This experiment was aimed [...] Read more.
Allelopathy is a phenomenon that has both beneficial and deleterious influences among plants within the same ecosystem. The allelopathic activity of sunflower on cereals, one of the most popular crops in crop rotation, is still poorly studied and understood. This experiment was aimed at evaluating the allelopathic potential of aqueous extracts of different parts of the sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) grown in the Boreal environmental zone on seedling morphological parameters of spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The following three factors were studied: factor A—two growth stages: flowering sunflower (FS) and ripe sunflower (RS); factor B—three sunflower plant parts: leaves and stems (L + S), heads (H), and roots (R) for extract preparation; factor C—five concentrations (25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% (initial concentration 1:10, referred to as 100% solution)) of sunflower aqueous extracts and deionised water (0%) as a control. FS extract revealed an inhibitory effect on all parameters of spring barley and spring wheat in comparison to RS extract. Extracts from different plant parts differed in their allelopathic effects. Compared with L + S extract, R extract significantly stimulated SG and the morphological characteristics of wheat. H extract significantly inhibited barley RL and SL. With increasing concentrations of the extracts, the values of all investigated parameters were significantly inhibited for both receptor plants. Full article
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17 pages, 2696 KiB  
Article
Differences in the Physiological Indicators of Seed Germination and Seedling Establishment of Durum Wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) Cultivars Subjected to Salinity Stress
by Manel Hmissi, Mohamed Chaieb and Abdelmajid Krouma
Agronomy 2023, 13(7), 1718; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13071718 - 27 Jun 2023
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2072
Abstract
To investigate the effects of salinity stress on durum wheat cultivars at the critical stages of germination and seedling establishment under salinity stress, a study was conducted on eight durum wheat cultivars (Karim, Khiar, Inrat100, Maali, Monastir, Portodur, Razeg, and Salim) subjected to [...] Read more.
To investigate the effects of salinity stress on durum wheat cultivars at the critical stages of germination and seedling establishment under salinity stress, a study was conducted on eight durum wheat cultivars (Karim, Khiar, Inrat100, Maali, Monastir, Portodur, Razeg, and Salim) subjected to an increasing salinity concentration by using sodium chloride (NaC) (0, 2, 4, 6, and 10 g L−1). Germination and seedling physiological parameters were measured and thoroughly analyzed. Salinity stress significantly decreased germination capacity (GC), germination rate (GR), final germination capacity (FGC), germination index (GI), mean daily germination (MDG), and velocity coefficient (Vc), whereas mean germination time (MGT) and the stress index (SI) increased. Plantlet growth and initial vigor (IV) were also significantly hampered. Regarding all these traits, the cultivars’ differences were revealed: Karim and Salim were the least affected, whereas Razeg and Maali were the most affected, and the other cultivars occupied an intermediate position. Depending on cultivar, salinity stress decreased the germination capacity and delayed its initiation. At low salinity stress (2–4 g L−1 NaCl), the osmotic effect (OE) was the main cause of germination inhibition, whereas at high salinity stress (6–10 g L−1 NaCl), the toxic effect (TE) dominated and irreversibly inhibited the germination process. The initial vigor and the stress index that clearly discriminate among the studied cultivars are useful traits for screening tolerant genotypes. Otherwise, durum wheat showed a higher plasticity with salinity at the germination stage, allowing it to develop better tolerance at this stage, as compared to early stage plantlet growth. Full article
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12 pages, 1456 KiB  
Article
The Impact of Climatic Factors on the Development Stages of Maize Crop in the Transylvanian Plain
by Alina Șimon, Paula Ioana Moraru, Adrian Ceclan, Florin Russu, Felicia Chețan, Marius Bărdaș, Alin Popa, Teodor Rusu, Adrian Ioan Pop and Ileana Bogdan
Agronomy 2023, 13(6), 1612; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13061612 - 15 Jun 2023
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3950
Abstract
Climate change has become the biggest global challenge, being a real danger especially for crops and an inevitable threat to food security. This paper presents the results of a study conducted in the Transylvanian Plain during 2012–2021, regarding the influence of climatic factors, [...] Read more.
Climate change has become the biggest global challenge, being a real danger especially for crops and an inevitable threat to food security. This paper presents the results of a study conducted in the Transylvanian Plain during 2012–2021, regarding the influence of climatic factors, such as temperature, rainfall, water reserve in the soil and hours of sunshine, on the development stages and yield of maize. During 2012–2021, the soil water reserve determined for maize cultivation was above the minimum requirements (1734.8 m3 ha−1) in the spring months, but fell below this limit in the months when the water consumption for maize was the highest, but without reaching the withering index (1202.8 m3 ha−1). The hours of sunshine in the maize vegetation period have been significantly reduced from 1655.5 h (2012) to values between 1174.6 and 1296.7 h, with a significant decrease in this parameter being observed. The coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.51) shows the importance of rainfall during the period of emergence of reproductive organs in maize production. During 2019–2021, there was a decreasing trend of temperatures in May compared to the multiannual average of this month, and therefore the processes of emergence and growth of plants in the early stages were affected. During the period of the study, all parameters analyzed (temperature, rainfall, water reserve in the soil, hours of sunshine) deviated from the multiannual average, with negative variations compared to the requirements of maize. Climatic conditions, especially during the growing season, have a significant influence on the yield of a crop, especially when the interaction between several parameters is manifested. Full article
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