Adaptations of Plant Metabolism and Their Consequences on Nutritive Potential and Bioactivity

Dear Colleagues,

Increasingly pronounced changes in environmental conditions that occur due to climate change (high/low temperatures, drought/flooding), anthropogenic influence (such as the use of pesticides, planting monocultures, enriching the soil with minerals, water pollution, etc.), and the appearance of various pathogens (bacteria, viruses, viroids, fungi, phytoplasmas, etc.) inevitably affect plant organisms. In order to survive these conditions, plants adapt their primary (gene expression, protein, carbohydrate and lipid profile) and specialized metabolism (phenolics, glucosinolates, vitamins, etc.). Such adaptations could have profound consequences on the nutritional value of plants and bioactivity of their extracts as well.

In this Special Issue, the contributing authors explore changes in plants’ primary and specialized metabolisms under the influence of environmental pressure. They investigate the potential of adaptation in different stages of plant development, among different plant varieties, under the influence of short or constant, sudden or gradual stress, etc. The approaches employed include different techniques and methods, such as HPLC, LC-MS/MS, GC-MS/MS, NMR, ICP-MS, spectrophotometry, RT-PCR, qRT-PCR, NGS, etc. They also investigate potential consequences of such changes on the nutritional value of plant material, as well as the biological effects of its extracts using methods like MTT assay, neutral red, comet assay, effects on enzymes activity, etc. Manuscripts describing different models of prediction are welcome.

Dr. Ivana Sola
Guest Editor

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