Cold Stress Physiology and Adaptation Strategies in Crop Species
A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Farming Sustainability".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 June 2026 | Viewed by 139
Special Issue Editors
Interests: photosynthetic efficiency; cold tolerance; rice
Interests: abiotic stress; halophytes; plant physiology; reactive oxygen species; salt stress
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Cold stress, including chilling and freezing temperatures, is a major abiotic stress that severely constrains crop productivity and geographical distribution. For decades, research has focused on understanding the physiological damage caused by cold, such as membrane rigidification, oxidative stress, and photosynthetic inhibition. Landmark discoveries, including the role of some transcription factors and the process of cold acclimation, have laid a critical foundation for this field.
This Special Issue aims to compile a comprehensive collection of research that deepens our understanding of the molecular, physiological, and biochemical mechanisms underpinning cold tolerance in crop species. We seek to explore innovative adaptation strategies that can be leveraged to enhance crop resilience, thereby safeguarding global food security in the face of low temperature stress.
The forefront of this field is moving beyond model plants to dissect complex trait genetics in major crops. Current pioneering work integrates multi-omics approaches (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics), high-throughput phenotyping, and CRISPR-based gene editing to precisely identify and manipulate key regulatory networks. Furthermore, research into epigenetic controls and the role of the plant microbiome in conferring cold tolerance represents an exciting new frontier.
We actively solicit high-quality original research articles and insightful reviews. Topics of interest include but are not limited to genetic and molecular dissection of cold tolerance traits, omics-led discovery of novel genes and pathways, development of cold stress-resilient crop varieties through breeding or biotechnology, and studies on physiological adaptation mechanisms under low temperature stress.
Prof. Dr. Zhifu Guo
Dr. Pedro García Caparrós
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- crop
- cold stress
- cold adaptation
- physiological response
- molecular mechanism
- molecular breeding
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