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Horticulturae
Special Issues
Physiology of Vegetables Under Biotic/Abiotic Stress Conditions
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Physiology of Vegetables Under Biotic/Abiotic Stress Conditions

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 November 2026 | Viewed by 2000

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Kalliopi Kadoglidou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Plant Breeding and Genetic Resources, Hellenic Agricultural Organization—DEMETER, Thermi, GR-57001 Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: physiology of vegetables under biotic/abiotic stress conditions; sustainable and organic farming of vegetable crops in greenhouse and in open field systems; nutritional and phytochemical composition/secondary metabolites in horticulture; circular economy/reuse of crop residues in vegetable production; biofertilizers-composting; allelopathy; integrated characterization and the exploitation of promising genetic resources of horticultural species; Agro-EcoPhysiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The productivity and quality of vegetable crops are frequently substantially restricted by a wide range of biotic and abiotic stressors, despite their importance to human nutrition and global food security. Unfavorable environmental factors like pathogen infection, pest infestation, and weed competition, along with drought, salinity, heat, cold, nutrient imbalances, and heavy metal toxicity, can drastically impact physiological processes, leading to yield losses and lowered product quality. Therefore, a deeper understanding of the physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms through which vegetables perceive, respond, and adapt to stress is imperative for the development of resilient cropping systems.

This Special Issue of Horticulturae invites high-quality original research, reviews, and brief communications covering a variety of topics related to vegetable physiology under stress. Issues may relate to secondary metabolism, oxidative balance, respiration, water relations, mineral nutrition, photosynthesis, hormone regulation, and stress signaling pathways. We especially encourage research on integrative physiological responses to multiple stresses and innovative strategies to improve stress tolerance, such as the use of biostimulants, advanced agronomic techniques, and genetic or biotechnological approaches.

This Special Issue aims to provide a thorough presentation of the achievements of research community related to the aforementioned trends, ultimately supporting sustainable horticultural production under changing environmental conditions.

We look forward to your precious contributions.

Dr. Kalliopi Kadoglidou
Guest Editor

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

  • plant physiology
  • stress signaling
  • photosynthesis
  • oxidative stress
  • hormonal regulation
  • water relations
  • secondary metabolism
  • stress tolerance
  • sustainable horticulture

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 421 KB  
Article
Effects of Two Biostimulant Formulations on Growth, Nutritional Value, and Antioxidant Properties of Sonchus oleraceus L. Plants Grown Under Low and High Salinity
by Nikolaos Polyzos, Antonios Chrysargyris, Nikolaos Tzortzakis and Spyridon A. Petropoulos
Horticulturae 2026, 12(4), 449; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae12040449 - 5 Apr 2026
Viewed by 1142
Abstract
In this work, we assessed the impacts of biostimulant application on pot-grown Sonchus oleraceus L. plants under saline conditions. The biostimulant products tested were an experimental formulation based on humic and fulvic acids (HF) and the commercial product Sipfol Star® (SS), which [...] Read more.
In this work, we assessed the impacts of biostimulant application on pot-grown Sonchus oleraceus L. plants under saline conditions. The biostimulant products tested were an experimental formulation based on humic and fulvic acids (HF) and the commercial product Sipfol Star® (SS), which comprises amino acids (mainly glutamic acid, alanine, and aspartic acid). Our results highlight that biostimulants mitigated the negative impacts of high salinity only on specific morphological traits, such as the dry matter of leaves. Accordingly, the HF treatment reduced the fat and protein content (under low and high salinity, respectively) and energetic value (under high salinity), while the carbohydrate content increased under high salinity for the SS treatment and the untreated plants compared to the respective treatment under low salinity. The nitrogen content of leaves was negatively affected by biostimulant application at high salinity, whereas the HF and SS treatments induced the accumulation of sodium and potassium under high salinity compared to the untreated plants. The total flavonoid content also increased in biostimulant-treated plants under high salinity, whereas no effects on total phenol content were recorded. Moreover, the plants treated with biostimulants under low salinity conditions showed higher antioxidant activity for the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay than the respective treatments at high salinity and the control treatment. The content of oxidative markers, such as malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), was higher under low-salinity levels, whereas biostimulant-treated plants showed the lowest content under high salinity. Overall, the application of biostimulants showed promising results in mitigating the adverse impacts of high salinity on S. oleraceus plants. However, further research is needed on more biostimulatory products and application regimes (e.g., different doses and application times) to elucidate the mechanisms of action and bolster the positive effects of this sustainable agronomic tool. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physiology of Vegetables Under Biotic/Abiotic Stress Conditions)
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18 pages, 1400 KB  
Article
Tomato Cultivar and Rootstock Evaluation Under Mg Deficiency: Growth, Mg Uptake, and Leaf Gas Exchange
by Branimir Urlić, Karmen Radovani, Marko Runjić, Maja Veršić Bratinčević, Marijana Popović, Ivana Generalić Mekinić, Zed Rengel and Gvozden Dumičić
Horticulturae 2026, 12(2), 179; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae12020179 - 31 Jan 2026
Viewed by 453
Abstract
The importance of magnesium (Mg) is often overlooked in modern crop production. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is commonly grafted onto appropriate rootstock to improve the nutrient uptake, which may have a negative effect on the tomato Mg leaf concentration and possibly influence [...] Read more.
The importance of magnesium (Mg) is often overlooked in modern crop production. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is commonly grafted onto appropriate rootstock to improve the nutrient uptake, which may have a negative effect on the tomato Mg leaf concentration and possibly influence the carbohydrate partitioning required for optimal crop yield and quality. The aim of this study was to screen tomato cultivars and rootstocks under Mg deficiency using two experiments. The first experiment included a panel of 14 tomato cultivars and 10 rootstocks grown with 1 or 0.1 mM Mg in nutrient solution. The second experiment consisted of four cultivars either self-grafted or grafted onto four rootstocks chosen from the first experiment. In both experiments, most of the plants grown under low-Mg conditions, on average, had a higher biomass production. The magnesium concentrations in the leaves and stems (but not in the roots) of both cultivars and rootstocks, non-grafted or grafted, were significantly higher under optimal Mg supply. Regarding the Mg content, the differences between the Mg supplies were up to three-fold for cultivars, up to two-fold for the rootstocks, and up to five-fold for the combinations of grafted plants. Our results showed that genotypic differences between used tomato cultivars and rootstocks in response to Mg can be observed at early developmental stages and can possibly serve as a tool in screening programs, but further research is needed to assess their relationship with long-term cultivation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physiology of Vegetables Under Biotic/Abiotic Stress Conditions)
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