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Molecular Regulation of Plant Tolerance to Saline, Alkali, and Combined Stresses

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: 30 November 2026 | Viewed by 488

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Saline-Alkali Vegetation Ecology Restoration, Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
Interests: the linkage between metabolic mechanisms and stress response; the mechanism of plant-growth-promoting bacteria enhancing plant stress adaptability
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Guest Editor Assistant
Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Specialty Agriculture, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430074, China
Interests: salt-alkali stress; response mechanisms; biosynthesis; pathway analysis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Soil salinization and alkalization are global ecological problems. Soils in coastal areas are threatened by saltwater intrusion, while in many arid and soil-degraded inland regions, soil salinization and alkalization occur due to gradual salt accumulation driven by water evaporation and plant transpiration. Meanwhile, inappropriate irrigation and fertilization practices have accelerated the process of soil degradation. Enhancing crop saline- and/or alkali-tolerance and increasing yields have long been key topics in basic research, yet developing saline–alkali tolerant crop varieties applicable to practical agricultural production remains highly challenging. Clarifying the complex regulatory mechanisms underlying the balance between improved saline–alkali tolerance and yield in plants will provide theoretical support for breeding saline–alkali tolerant crops. The objective of this Special Issue is to compile the latest research findings on plant growth, development, and environmental adaptability under saline–alkali or combined stresses; this includes, but is not limited to, the following research directions:

  • Regulatory mechanisms of plant development under salt, alkali or combined (e.g., with light, temperature, or water) stresses, including spatiotemporal regulation across different growth stages (e.g., root, stem, and leaf development, germination, flowering, or grain filling);
  • The roles of microorganisms in modulating plant salt, alkali or combined stress tolerance;
  • Differences between sensitive and tolerant ecotypes, including variations at the physiological, gene expression, and metabolism levels;
  • Integrated omics analyses to unravel plant response mechanisms to salt, alkali or combined stresses;
  • The role of carbon, nitrogen metabolism, and secondary metabolism, etc., in the process of plants acquiring adaptability to saline–alkali conditions.

Prof. Dr. Lixin Li
Guest Editor

Dr. Yiming Zhang
Guest Editor Assistant

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Keywords

  • saline–alkali stress
  • plant's environmental adaptation mechanisms
  • metabolism and secondary metabolism
  • signal transduction
  • plant–microorganism interaction
  • omics

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

14 pages, 7550 KB  
Article
Genome-Wide Identification of the JAZ Family in Quinoa and the Negative Regulatory Role of CqJAZ1 in Abiotic Stress Responses
by Yongshun Huang, Mingyu Wang, Zijian Zhang, Xu Liu, Jinxia Li, Long Han, Peng Zhu and Lixin Li
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2026, 27(5), 2406; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms27052406 - 5 Mar 2026
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Abstract
Jasmonic acid (JA) signaling plays a pivotal role in plant stress response, with Jasmonate ZIM-domain (JAZ) proteins acting as key transcriptional repressors. Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is highly stress-tolerant, but its JAZ gene family remains poorly characterized. In this study, we identified [...] Read more.
Jasmonic acid (JA) signaling plays a pivotal role in plant stress response, with Jasmonate ZIM-domain (JAZ) proteins acting as key transcriptional repressors. Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is highly stress-tolerant, but its JAZ gene family remains poorly characterized. In this study, we identified 11 CqJAZ genes in the quinoa genome and systematically analyzed their phylogenetic relationships, gene structures, conserved motifs, and cis-acting elements in their promoters. Expression profiling revealed distinct response patterns of CqJAZ genes to salt, drought, and saline-alkali stresses, among which CqJAZ1 was significantly down-regulated under all three conditions. Subcellular localization analysis indicated that CqJAZ1 is localized to the nucleus. Ectopic overexpression of CqJAZ1 in Arabidopsis thaliana inhibited root growth and reduced survival rates under salt, saline-alkali, and osmotic stresses. Physiologically, CqJAZ1-overexpressing lines had elevated malondialdehyde (MDA), decreased superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) activities, and reduced endogenous JA accumulation under stress conditions. Furthermore, they showed reduced methyl jasmonate (MeJA) sensitivity. Collectively, CqJAZ1 negatively regulates quinoa stress tolerance by modulating JA homeostasis and compromising antioxidant defense capacity, shedding light on quinoa’s JA signaling and stress-resistance mechanisms. Full article
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