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Plant Response to Drought, Heat, and Light Stress
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Plant Response to Drought, Heat, and Light Stress

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 November 2025 | Viewed by 2959

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Mengzhu Lu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, Key Laboratory of Modern Silvicultural Technology of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou 311300, China
Interests: molecular biology; cell differentiation; PCD; wood formation
Dr. Shijiang Cao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
Interests: forest molecular biology; tree physiology; plant developmental biology; plant-microbe interactions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue, titled "Plant Response to Drought, Heat, and Light Stress", aims to delve into the underlying genetic mechanisms and molecular processes that regulate plant adaption to environmental stress. Advanced molecular biology techniques, such as genome sequencing, gene expression profiling, and proteomics, enable researchers to gain insights into the intricate pathways and underlying molecular mechanisms of this process.

Moreover, this issue highlights the pivotal role of bioinformatics in plant adaptation research. Bioinformatics facilitates the management and analysis of extensive genomic datasets, enabling researchers to gain valuable insights into the intricate interaction between plants and their environment by integrating key genes, metabolic pathways, and signaling cascades within the context of drought, temperature, or light stress.

In summary, this Special Issue places a strong emphasis on enhancing our comprehension of plant adaptation to climate change through cutting-edge molecular biology and bioinformatic tools. We eagerly anticipate the active contribution of esteemed scholars and researchers to collectively advance this field.

Prof. Dr. Mengzhu Lu
Dr. Shijiang Cao
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

  • plant stress response
  • molecular biology techniques
  • bioinformatics
  • genetic mechanisms
  • climate change

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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16 pages, 1831 KiB  
Article
Overexpression of the Transcription Factor GmbZIP60 Increases Salt and Drought Tolerance in Soybean (Glycine max)
by Mengnan Chai, Fan Yang, Shuping Cai, Tingyu Liu, Xiaoyuan Xu, Youmei Huang, Xinpeng Xi, Jiahong Yang, Zhuangyuan Cao, Ling Sun, Danlin Dou, Xunlian Fang, Maokai Yan and Hanyang Cai
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(7), 3455; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26073455 - 7 Apr 2025
Viewed by 708
Abstract
The regulation of downstream responsive genes by transcription factors (TFs) is a critical step in the stress response system of plants. While bZIP transcription factors are known to play important roles in stress reactions, their functional characterization in soybeans remains limited. Here, we [...] Read more.
The regulation of downstream responsive genes by transcription factors (TFs) is a critical step in the stress response system of plants. While bZIP transcription factors are known to play important roles in stress reactions, their functional characterization in soybeans remains limited. Here, we identified a soybean bZIP gene, GmbZIP60, which encodes a protein containing a typical bZIP domain with a basic region and a leucine zipper region. Subcellular localization studies confirmed that GmbZIP60 is localized in the nucleus. Expression analysis demonstrated that GmbZIP60 is induced by salt stress, drought stress, and various plant hormone treatments, including abscisic acid (ABA), ethylene (ETH), and methyl jasmonate acid (MeJA). Overexpressing GmbZIP60 (OE-GmbZIP60) in transgenic soybean and rice enhanced tolerance to both salt and drought stresses. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis indicated that the expression levels of abiotic stress-responsive genes were significantly higher in transgenic plants than in wild-type (WT) plants under stress conditions. Chromatin immunoprecipitation-qPCR (ChIP-qPCR) analysis further confirmed that GmbZIP60 directly binds to the promoters of abiotic stress-related genes induced by ABA, ETH, JA, and salicylic acid (SA). Overall, these findings revealed GmbZIP60 as a positive regulator of salt and drought stress tolerance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Response to Drought, Heat, and Light Stress)
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22 pages, 7954 KiB  
Article
Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Analysis of Thionin Family in Rice (Oryza sativa) and Functional Characterization of OsTHION15 in Drought Stress and ABA Stress
by Maokai Yan, Mengnan Chai, Chang An, Xiaohu Jiang, Fan Yang, Xunlian Fang, Tingyu Liu, Yunfei Ju, Boping Tang, Hanyang Cai and Yuan Qin
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(7), 3447; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26073447 - 7 Apr 2025
Viewed by 656
Abstract
The OsTHION family represents a class of cysteine-rich signal peptides widely recognized for their significant roles in plant disease resistance and immunity. While members of this family are known to be induced under various biotic and abiotic stresses, their responses to environmental stressors [...] Read more.
The OsTHION family represents a class of cysteine-rich signal peptides widely recognized for their significant roles in plant disease resistance and immunity. While members of this family are known to be induced under various biotic and abiotic stresses, their responses to environmental stressors beyond disease resistance remain underexplored. This study investigates the evolution, expression patterns, and functional roles of the OsTHION gene family in rice (Oryza sativa) under diverse stress conditions. Using sequence data from the Phytozome database, we identified 44 OsTHION family members and classified them into four groups based on phylogenetic analysis. Cis-acting element analysis revealed that the promoter regions of OsTHION genes are enriched with regulatory elements associated with light response, hormone signaling, plant growth, and stress responses. The OsTHION genes exhibit complex organ-specific expression patterns, with OsTHION30 and OsTHION36 showing ubiquitous expression, while other members are highly expressed in specific tissues or developmental stages. Under drought, salt, and low-temperature stress, OsTHION genes undergo significant expression changes, underscoring their critical role in plant adaptation to environmental challenges. Notably, OsTHION15 was markedly upregulated under drought stress, and the Osthion15 mutant displayed heightened sensitivity to drought and ABA stress, confirming its pivotal role in stress resistance. RNA sequencing analysis identified many differentially expressed genes (DEGs), primarily enriched in pathways related to ribosomal function and plant hormone signaling, suggesting that OsTHION15 may regulate stress responses through multiple mechanisms. In summary, this study advances our understanding of the OsTHION gene family and highlights its intricate involvement in regulating rice growth, development, and environmental stress responses. These findings offer valuable insights and technical support for crop improvement, with potential applications in enhancing environmental adaptability and yield stability in crops. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Response to Drought, Heat, and Light Stress)
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15 pages, 2791 KiB  
Article
StTCTP Positively Regulates StSN2 to Enhance Drought Stress Tolerance in Potato by Scavenging Reactive Oxygen Species
by Shifeng Liu, Feng Zhang, Haojie Feng, Xiyao Wang, Qiang Wang, Xianjun Lai and Lang Yan
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(6), 2796; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26062796 - 20 Mar 2025
Viewed by 462
Abstract
Drought is a negative agronomic effect that can lead to an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. Excessive drought can severely alter cell membrane fluidity and permeability, significantly reducing cell viability. The Gibberellic acid-stimulated Arabidopsis (Snakin/GASA) gene family has an important role [...] Read more.
Drought is a negative agronomic effect that can lead to an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. Excessive drought can severely alter cell membrane fluidity and permeability, significantly reducing cell viability. The Gibberellic acid-stimulated Arabidopsis (Snakin/GASA) gene family has an important role as antioxidants in inhibiting the accumulation of ROS and improving crop drought resistance. However, the regulatory mechanism of potato StSnakin-2 (StSN2) in response to drought, along with how StSN2 expression is regulated, is not well understood. In this study, we found that StSN2 was induced by drought. Overexpression of StSN2 significantly increased drought tolerance, whereas silencing StSN2 increased sensitivity to drought. Overexpression of StSN2 resulted in higher antioxidant enzyme (superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and peroxidase (POD)) activity, and lowered hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation during drought stress. Also, overexpression of StSN2 increased the relative water content (RWC) of leaves and reduced the water loss in leaves. We screened the upstream regulatory protein translation-controlled tumor protein (StTCTP) of StSN2 through DNA pull-down combined with mass spectrometry. Yeast one-hybrid (YIH), electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA), and luciferase reporting assay (LUC) indicated that StTCTP binds the StSN2 promoter. Like StSN2, StTCTP was highly expressed in response to drought. Overexpression of StTCTP increased the photosynthetic rate and CAT enzyme activity, and lowered H2O2 and MDA accumulation during drought. Meanwhile, overexpression of StTCTP increased leaf RWC and reduced water loss. Our research strongly suggested that StSN2 effectively cleared ROS and significantly boosted the drought resistance of potatoes. Furthermore, as a transcriptional activator of StSN2, StTCTP, much like StSN2, also enhanced the potato’s drought tolerance. The results provided a foundation for the further study of StSN2 regulatory mechanisms under drought stress. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Response to Drought, Heat, and Light Stress)
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19 pages, 5658 KiB  
Article
Selection and Validation of Reference Genes in Clinacanthus nutans Under Abiotic Stresses, MeJA Treatment, and in Different Tissues
by Chang An, Lin Lu, Yixin Yao, Ruoyu Liu, Yan Cheng, Yanxiang Lin, Yuan Qin and Ping Zheng
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(6), 2483; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26062483 - 11 Mar 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 537
Abstract
Clinacanthus nutans is a valuable traditional medicinal plant that contains enriched active compounds such as triterpenoids and flavonoids. Understanding the accuulation process of these secondary metabolites in C. nutans requires exploring gene expression regulation under abiotic stresses and hormonal stimuli. qRT-PCR is a [...] Read more.
Clinacanthus nutans is a valuable traditional medicinal plant that contains enriched active compounds such as triterpenoids and flavonoids. Understanding the accuulation process of these secondary metabolites in C. nutans requires exploring gene expression regulation under abiotic stresses and hormonal stimuli. qRT-PCR is a powerful method for gene expression analysis, with the selection of suitable reference genes being paramount. However, reports on stably expressed reference genes in C. nutans and even across the entire family Acanthaceae are limited. In this study, we evaluated the expression stability of 12 candidate reference genes (CnUBQ, CnRPL, CnRPS, CnPTB1, CnTIP41, CnACT, CnUBC, CnGAPDH, Cn18S, CnCYP, CnEF1α, and CnTUB) in C. nutans across different tissues and under abiotic stresses and MeJA treatment using three programs (geNorm, NormFinder, and BestKeeper). The integrated ranking results indicated that CnUBC, CnRPL, and CnCYP were the most stably expressed genes across different tissues. Under abiotic stress conditions, CnUBC, CnRPL, and CnEF1α were the most stable, while under MeJA treatment, CnRPL, CnEF1α, and CnGAPDH exhibited the highest stability. Additionally, CnRPL, CnUBC, and CnEF1α were the most stable reference genes across all tested samples, whereas CnGAPDH was the least stable. CnRPL, consistently ranking among the top three most stable genes, may therefore serve as an ideal reference gene for qRT-PCR analysis in C. nutans. To further validate the selected reference genes, we assessed the expression of two key biosynthetic genes, CnPAL and CnHMGR. The results confirmed that using the most stable reference genes yielded expression patterns consistent with biological expectations, while using unstable reference genes led to significant deviations. These findings offer valuable insights for accurately quantifying target genes via qRT-PCR in C. nutans, facilitating investigations into the mechanisms underlying active compound accumulation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Response to Drought, Heat, and Light Stress)
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