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Spectral Control of Stress Response in Plants

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 January 2026 | Viewed by 759

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Agricultural Institute, ELKH Centre for Agricultural Research, 2462 Martonvásár, Hungary
Interests: abiotic stress; antioxidants; cereals; reactive oxygen species; redox regulation
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E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Agricultural Institute, ELKH Centre for Agricultural Research, 2462 Martonvásár, Hungary
Interests: abiotic stress; antioxidants; cereals; reactive oxygen species; redox regulation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Spatial (latitude, altitude, shade) and temporal (daily, seasonal) changes in the light spectrum play an important role in the control of stress response of plants. The alterations in the ratio of the various spectral components are sensed by the photoreceptors, and they can activate the defence processes through different signalling pathways. The redox and hormonal systems are major participants of the signal transduction. Reactive oxygen species and antioxidants adjust the redox environment, which affect the expression of the redox-responsive genes and activity of many proteins being involved in the modulation of hormone and metabolite content. However, plant hormones also affect the level of antioxidants. This mutual interaction is probably regulated by the changes in the ratio of blue, red and far-red light, and is very important for the efficient defence against environmental stresses. This Special Issue will present and discuss the effects of spectral changes on those redox- and hormone-dependent physiological, biochemical and molecular processes, which can adjust the plant growth and development in order to reduce the stress-induced damages.

Dr. Gábor Kocsy
Dr. Zsolt Gulyás
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • spectral control
  • stress response
  • light spectrum
  • photoreceptor
  • reactive oxygen
  • plant hormone
  • antioxidant
  • plant growth and development
 

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 7629 KB  
Article
Involvement of Phytochrome-Interacting Factors in High-Irradiance Adaptation
by Pavel Pashkovskiy, Anna Abramova, Alexandra Khudyakova, Mikhail Vereshchagin, Vladimir Kuznetsov and Vladimir D. Kreslavski
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(23), 11660; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms262311660 - 2 Dec 2025
Viewed by 121
Abstract
Phytochrome-interacting factors (PIFs) are key transcriptional regulators of phytochrome signalling that coordinate photomorphogenesis and photosynthesis under different environmental conditions. PIFs play an important role in this regulation and act mainly as negative regulators of photomorphogenesis, but under high-intensity light (HIL), their functions can [...] Read more.
Phytochrome-interacting factors (PIFs) are key transcriptional regulators of phytochrome signalling that coordinate photomorphogenesis and photosynthesis under different environmental conditions. PIFs play an important role in this regulation and act mainly as negative regulators of photomorphogenesis, but under high-intensity light (HIL), their functions can also include adaptive roles. We investigated the contribution of individual PIFs to the adaptation of the photosynthetic apparatus in wild-type A. thaliana and pif4, pif5, pif4pif5, and pif1pif3pif4pif5 mutants exposed to HIL for 0, 16, 32, or 48 h. Chlorophyll fluorescence parameters (Y(II), Fv/Fm, NPQ), net photosynthesis (Pn), transpiration rates, stomatal conductance (gS), pigment contents and the expression of key genes were evaluated. The response of plants to HIL varied depending on the duration of exposure. After 16 h of irradiation, the greatest reductions in Pn and gS were observed in the pif4pif5 and pif1pif3pif4pif5 mutants, whereas after 48 h, the decreases were most pronounced in the pif4, pif5, and pif4pif5 mutants. After 16 h of HIL exposure, the absence of pif4 and pif5 did not substantially alter the chlorophyll fluorescence parameters. However, after 48 h, both Y(II) and Fv/Fm were lower in these mutants than in the wild type, indicating changes in PSII functional status rather than direct reductions in photochemical quantum efficiency. At 16 h, chlorophyll levels were the highest in pif5 and WT, whereas anthocyanin and UV-absorbing pigment (UAP) levels were the highest in pif4, pif5 and WT. After 48 h, the highest levels of any pigments were detected in the WT and the pif1pif3pif4pif5 mutant. These results suggest that the accumulation of anthocyanins and UAPs under HIL is likely associated with the regulation of transcription factors, such as PIFs, de-etiolated 1 (DET1), constitutive photomorphogenic 1 (COP1), and elongated hypocotyl 5 (HY5). During prolonged HIL exposure, the absence of PIF4 and PIF5 has a critical impact on photosynthesis and the accumulation of photosynthetic pigments, whereas the simultaneous loss of PIF1, PIF3, PIF4, and PIF5 is less detrimental. This finding likely indicates opposite roles of PIF1 and PIF3 in the above-described processes, on the one hand, and PIF4 and PIF5, on the other hand, under HIL conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Spectral Control of Stress Response in Plants)
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