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Abiotic Stress in Plants: Physiological and Molecular Responses

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Plant Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 September 2026 | Viewed by 1919

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As the global climate continues to change, plants are increasingly exposed to adverse environmental conditions that negatively affect their growth and development, ultimately reducing productivity. Today, plants often have to cope with extreme temperatures, water shortages, floods, environmental salinity, or UV radiation. Equally important are the detrimental effects associated with environmental pollution from heavy metals and herbicides. When exposed to abiotic stress factors, plants activate a number of physiological and molecular responses that enable them to survive under these harsh conditions.

This Special Issue aims to bring together the latest advances in understanding plant responses to abiotic stress factors that have emerged from the implementation of a wide range of approaches, from whole-plant physiological studies to molecular approaches dealing with stress perception mechanisms, stress-triggered signaling pathways, and downstream transcriptomic and metabolomic responses. All types of articles, such as original research, opinion pieces, and reviews, are welcome.

Dr. Edyta Zdunek-Zastocka
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • cold
  • drought
  • gene expression
  • heat
  • heavy metals
  • oxidative stress
  • salinity
  • stress tolerance
  • stress perception
  • stress signaling

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 2082 KB  
Article
Proline Accumulation in Barley Under Salinity Is ABA-Independent, but Relies on the Level of Oxidative Stress When Modulated by Mo and W Ions
by Moldir Beisekova, Beata Michniewska, Weronika Kusek, Alua Zh. Akbassova, Rustem Omarov, Sławomir Orzechowski and Edyta Zdunek-Zastocka
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2026, 27(2), 1104; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms27021104 - 22 Jan 2026
Viewed by 129
Abstract
The accumulation of proline, an important osmoprotective and antioxidant compound, is a key defense mechanism induced in plants in response to stress factors, including salinity, and is likely dependent on abscisic acid (ABA). However, in barley grown for 8 days under salinity conditions [...] Read more.
The accumulation of proline, an important osmoprotective and antioxidant compound, is a key defense mechanism induced in plants in response to stress factors, including salinity, and is likely dependent on abscisic acid (ABA). However, in barley grown for 8 days under salinity conditions (125 mM NaCl), proline accumulation was not accompanied by changes in ABA content. Co-application of 0.5 mM molybdenum (Mo) significantly reduced NaCl-induced oxidative stress, as measured by H2O2, O2, MDA, and chlorophyll content, and increased the activity of Mo-containing aldehyde oxidase (AO), an enzyme involved in de novo ABA synthesis. As a result, elevated ABA levels were observed, but proline content under salinity conditions was similar in Mo-treated and non-Mo-treated plants. In contrast, exposing plants to 0.5 mM tungsten (W), an antagonist of Mo, inhibited AO activity without significantly altering ABA content, while proline and oxidative stress marker levels increased dramatically under both non-saline and saline conditions. The observed changes in proline content are mainly due to modulation of the rate of synthesis and, to a lesser extent, the rate of degradation, as revealed by transcript abundance of P5CS1 and PDH, which encode D1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase and proline dehydrogenase, respectively. The results indicate that in barley grown under salinity conditions, proline accumulation is ABA-independent but depends on the level of oxidative stress modulated by Mo and W ions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Abiotic Stress in Plants: Physiological and Molecular Responses)
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34 pages, 9898 KB  
Article
Physiological and Multi-Omics Insights into Trichoderma harzianum Alleviating Aged Microplastic Stress in Nicotiana benthamiana
by Feiyan Wang, Xiaoyan Sun, Ke Wang, Bibo Long, Fayong Li and Dong Xie
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(23), 11667; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms262311667 - 2 Dec 2025
Viewed by 458
Abstract
Microplastics derived from biodegradable PBAT film, widely used in agriculture, pose ecological and biological hazards. This study explores how Trichoderma harzianum T4 mitigates this microplastic-induced stress in Nicotiana benthamiana. Using five experimental setup-control (CK), low/high-dose aged microplastics (MP80/MP320), and their co-treatments with [...] Read more.
Microplastics derived from biodegradable PBAT film, widely used in agriculture, pose ecological and biological hazards. This study explores how Trichoderma harzianum T4 mitigates this microplastic-induced stress in Nicotiana benthamiana. Using five experimental setup-control (CK), low/high-dose aged microplastics (MP80/MP320), and their co-treatments with T. harzianum T4 (MP80+T4/MP320+T4), multi-omics analyses reveal the microplastic stress-alleviating mechanisms of T. harzianum T4. Aged microplastics significantly inhibit plant growth, promote reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation, and disrupt metabolic homeostasis. Conversely, T. harzianum T4 activates the plant antioxidant defense system, reducing ROS/MDA levels and upregulating superoxide dismutase (SOD)/peroxidase (POD) activities, and promotes biomass. Transcriptomic analysis shows T. harzianum T4 reverses gene expression patterns disrupted by microplastics, particularly in DNA replication and pentose–glucuronic acid pathways. Metagenomic sequencing indicates T. harzianum T4 restores soil microbial diversity, increases the abundance of Bacteroidota and Myxococcota, downregulates antibiotic resistance genes (e.g., tetA5, MDR), and upregulates carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZys), thereby enhancing carbon metabolism. In conclusion, T. harzianum T4 alleviates microplastic stress through a tripartite mechanism: activating plant stress-response gene networks, reshaping soil microbial communities, and modulating functional gene expression, offering a promising bioremediation strategy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Abiotic Stress in Plants: Physiological and Molecular Responses)
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16 pages, 6554 KB  
Article
MfWRKY40 Positively Regulates Drought Tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana by Scavenging Reactive Oxygen Species
by Xueli Zhang, Wei Duan, Yuxiang Wang, Zhihu Jiang and Qian Li
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(17), 8495; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26178495 - 1 Sep 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1037
Abstract
Drought stress is a major abiotic constraint that severely restricts the growth of Medicago falcata L. by inducing the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in plants. WRKY transcription factors (TFs) play a key role in regulating plant responses to drought stress. In [...] Read more.
Drought stress is a major abiotic constraint that severely restricts the growth of Medicago falcata L. by inducing the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in plants. WRKY transcription factors (TFs) play a key role in regulating plant responses to drought stress. In this study, we investigated the role of the MfWRKY40 gene in drought tolerance. Under mannitol and ABA stress treatments, MfWRKY40-overexpressing lines (OEs) showed significantly longer primary roots, increased lateral roots, and higher fresh weight compared to wild-type (Col) lines, indicating significantly enhanced growth and drought tolerance. Similarly, under soil drought conditions, transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana exhibited enhanced drought tolerance. NBT staining demonstrated decreased ROS accumulation in transgenic lines after stress treatment. Correspondingly, the MfWRKY40-overexpressing lines displayed significantly lower levels of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), superoxide anion (O2), and malondialdehyde (MDA) compared to Col, along with elevated activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and peroxidase (POD), as well as increased proline (Pro) content. Furthermore, MfWRKY40 upregulated the expression of antioxidant enzyme genes (AtPOD3, AtSOD4, and AtCAT1) and modulated the expression of other drought-related genes. In summary, our results demonstrate that MfWRKY40 enhances drought tolerance in A. thaliana by improving ROS scavenging capacity. This study provides a theoretical foundation for further exploration of MfWRKY40’s functional mechanisms in drought stress adaptation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Abiotic Stress in Plants: Physiological and Molecular Responses)
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