Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
5.1
3.0
Journals
Horticulturae
Special Issues
Recent Advances in the Ecophysiology, Biochemistry, and Stress Adaptation of...
share announcement

Recent Advances in the Ecophysiology, Biochemistry, and Stress Adaptation of Succulent Plants

A special issue of Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524). This special issue belongs to the section "Biotic and Abiotic Stress".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2026 | Viewed by 1995

Special Issue Editors

Dr. José Luis Aragón-Gastélum

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Facultad de Ciencias Químico-Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Campeche, San Francisco de Campeche, Avenida Ing, Humberto Lanz Cárdenas S/N, Col. Ex Hacienda Kalá, San Francisco de Campeche CP 24085, Mexico
Interests: biodiversity; cacti; conservation biology; ecosystem functioning; functional ecology; global environmental change; natural resource management; plant ecophysiology; plant life cycle; stress tolerance; succulent species; sustainable development
Dr. Claudia González-Salvatierra

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Instituto Tecnológico de Chetumal, Av. Insurgentes No. 330, Esq Andrés Q. Roo, Col. David Gustavo Gutiérrez, Chetumal CP 77013, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Interests: plant ecophysiology; conservation biology; global environmental change; stress tolerance; restauration; epiphytes; photosynthesis; seed ecology
Dr. Joel Flores

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Environmental Sciences Division, Instituto Potosino de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica, A. C., San Luis Potosi 78216, Mexico
Interests: plant ecophysiology; CAM plant research; plant responses to abiotic stress
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will focus on succulent plants, a group uniquely adapted to survive in arid and semiarid environments, and which are also of increasing horticultural and ornamental importance worldwide. We invite contributions that address fundamental and applied aspects of succulent plant biology, with particular emphasis on their ecophysiological, anatomical, biochemical, and horticultural traits.

Topics include (but are not limited to) the following:         

  • Ecophysiological mechanisms of drought, heat, and salinity tolerance in succulents;
  • Biochemical and molecular bases of CAM photosynthesis and water-use efficiency;
  • Stress physiology: antioxidant systems, osmotic adjustment, and secondary metabolites;
  • Functional anatomy and morphological traits related to water storage and conservation;
  • Seed germination, dormancy, and establishment strategies under extreme environments;
  • Roles of succulent plants in horticulture, landscaping, and climate-resilient agriculture;
  • Conservation physiology of rare or threatened succulent species;
  • Biotechnological and breeding advances in succulent plants.

Dr. José Luis Aragón-Gastélum
Dr. Claudia González-Salvatierra
Dr. Joel Flores
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. Horticulturae 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 2200 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

  • Aizoaceae
  • Aloe
  • antioxidant enzymes
  • Apocynaceae
  • Asparagaceae
  • Asphodelaceae
  • Cactaceae
  • CAM photosynthesis
  • conservation physiology
  • Crassulaceae
  • ecophysiology
  • Euphorbiaceae
  • drought tolerance
  • horticulture
  • Orchidaceae
  • Portulacaceae
  • seed germination
  • stress physiology
  • succulent plants
  • sustainable landscaping
  • water-use efficiency

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

20 pages, 1282 KB  
Article
Acclimation of Young Plants of Opuntia spp. to the Heightened Night Temperature
by Claudia Reyes Buendía, Cecilia Beatriz Peña-Valdivia, Daniel Padilla-Chacón, Amalio Santacruz Varela and Monserrat Vázquez Sánchez
Horticulturae 2026, 12(2), 167; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae12020167 - 30 Jan 2026
Viewed by 64
Abstract
Increases in global temperatures, due to the climate change, are generating stress in most plant species. We hypothesize that young plants of Opuntia spp. adjust their Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) to the increase in nighttime temperature, allowing them to continue growing. The study [...] Read more.
Increases in global temperatures, due to the climate change, are generating stress in most plant species. We hypothesize that young plants of Opuntia spp. adjust their Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) to the increase in nighttime temperature, allowing them to continue growing. The study was carried out in a greenhouse and laboratory of the Colegio de Postgraduados, Montecillo, Mexico. Three-month-old greenhouse-grown plants remained in a control environment with an average day/night temperature of 19.1/12.3 °C or were maintained in a chamber with increased nighttime temperatures averaging 19.1/18.9 °C day/night for 70 days. The experimental design was completely randomized with two treatments (control and high nighttime temperatures). After 70 days of high nighttime temperatures (HNT), at dawn (end of CAM phase I), plants had a 45% decrease in glucose (2.9 to 1.5 mg/100 mg dry tissue; dt) concentration and doubled and tripled fructose (0.43 to 0.95 mg/100 mg dt) and sucrose (0.47 to 0.09 mg/100 mg dt) concentrations. Glucose consumption may be related to the plant’s metabolic energy expenditure to overcome stress. The significant increase in fructose and sucrose is explainable by their function as signaling molecules among others. In contrast, photosynthetic efficiency, i.e., increased compared to the control, but the difference of acidity (end of phase I less phase III), the concentration of starch (1 mg/100 mg dt), free amino acids and soluble protein (1.2 mg/100 mg dt), wet and dry matter, stem height (60 cm) and width of the stem at dawn were not significantly affected. The adjustments in C and N metabolism and the non-significant effect on growth promoted by 70 HNT days may be related to adjustments in enzyme activities without changes in protein concentration. Young Opuntia spp. plants adjust their metabolism in response to increased nighttime temperatures, allowing them to maintain growth similar to that of the control. The results confirm the great potential of using the Opuntia genus in agriculture and genetic improvement in the face of the challenges posed by climatic change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in the Ecophysiology, Biochemistry, and Stress Adaptation of Succulent Plants)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 2225 KB  
Article
Thermal Effects on Early Life Stages of Leptocereus (Cactaceae) Species from Cuban Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests
by Duniel Barrios, Jorge A. Sánchez, Luis R. González-Torres, Joel Flores and Ricardo Álvarez-Espino
Horticulturae 2025, 11(12), 1541; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae11121541 - 18 Dec 2025
Viewed by 458
Abstract
Rising temperatures are among the most predictable outcomes of climate change, and cacti are particularly vulnerable at the germination stage. We tested seeds of ten Cuban Leptocereus species from coastal and inland habitats under five temperature regimes to evaluate germination responses, thermal buffering [...] Read more.
Rising temperatures are among the most predictable outcomes of climate change, and cacti are particularly vulnerable at the germination stage. We tested seeds of ten Cuban Leptocereus species from coastal and inland habitats under five temperature regimes to evaluate germination responses, thermal buffering capacity for optimal germination, photoblastic behavior, recovery after heat stress, and seedling vigor. Germination declined sharply with increasing temperature, revealing minimal thermal buffering capacity for optimal germination. All species exhibited positively photoblastic seeds, while recovery and the degree of physiological dormancy varied among taxa. Except for one taxon, most displayed partial dormancy that could stagger germination over time. Seedling vigor was not affected by high temperatures in the same way in all species. Overall, our findings suggest that climate warming will further constrain the germination niche of Leptocereus, underscoring the importance of conservation measures such as ex situ propagation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in the Ecophysiology, Biochemistry, and Stress Adaptation of Succulent Plants)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-2
Back to TopTop