Submit to Special Issue Submit Abstract to Special Issue Review for IJMS Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Crop Biotic and Abiotic Stress Tolerance: 4th Edition

Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
Published Papers

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 October 2025 | Viewed by 2118

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Fazhan Qiu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

College of Plant Science and Technology, National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Interests: QTL/gene clones; genomic breeding; plant genetics; plant architecture
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Crop production is affected by biotic and abiotic stresses, such as drought, salinity, flooding, low or high temperatures, and pest and disease attacks. Therefore, QTL/gene clone and functional analyses of traits related to these stresses are very important for the development of stress-resilient and high-yield crops. Recent advances in functional genomics in crops will accelerate the breeding and genetic improvement of crops for biotic and abiotic stresses and yield-related traits.

For this Special Issue, we welcome novel research related to QTL/gene clones, especially for biotic and abiotic stresses, molecular marker development, marker-assisted selection, genome editing, and genetic transformation, and their advancement and application in crop improvement. We also welcome reviews on recent molecular and biotechnological advances and their potential applications in the genetic improvement of corn.

Prof. Dr. Fazhan Qiu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

biotic and abiotic stress tolerance
QTL/gene mapping and clones
gene editing
marker-assisted selection
genomic breeding

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers

Order results

Result details

Show export options Show export options

Select all

Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

16 pages, 2295 KB

Open AccessArticle

Research on the Response of Arbuscular Mycorrhizae Fungi to Grape Growth Under High Temperature Stress

by Panyu Jian, He Zhang, Xiaojun Xi, Xiangjing Yin, Pengpeng Sun, Qian Zha and Dejian Zhang

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(13), 6165; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26136165 - 26 Jun 2025

Viewed by 308

Abstract

Arbuscular mycorrhizae fungi (AMF) plays an important role in plants’ response to environmental stress, and the main environmental stress encountered in grape production is high temperature stress. This study aims to inoculate Funneliformis mosseae (A type of AMF) on grapes and investigate their tolerance to high temperature stress after inoculation. The results showed that AMF could infect grape roots, and the mycorrhizal infection rate was 20.78%. After inoculation with AMF, the growth of grape plants was significantly better than that in the non-inoculation group. Compared with the uninoculated group, the net photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate and stomatal conductance were higher in the AMF group, and the intercellular CO₂ concentration was lower. After high temperature treatment, there was no significant difference in the content of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) in grape leaves between the two experimental groups at each time, and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT) and other enzymes showed great differences, especially after high temperature treatment for 6 h. The activities of SOD, POD and CAT in AMF group were significantly higher than those in uninoculated group. The content of malondialdehyde (MDA) in grape leaves of the two experimental groups had no significant difference between 0 h and 3 h after high temperature treatment, and the MDA content in the AMF group was significantly lower than that in the uninoculated group after 6 h of high temperature treatment. The contents of soluble sugar and soluble protein in the AMF group were higher than those in the uninoculated group at all time periods, especially after 6 h of high temperature treatment. In addition, we found that VvHSP70, VvHSP17.9, VvGLOS1, VvHSFA2 genes all responded to high temperature stress, but there was no significant difference between the AMF group and the uninoculated group. It can be seen from the above that AMF can significantly enhance the adaptability of grape plants to high temperature stress by improving photosynthetic efficiency, antioxidant enzyme activity, soluble sugar and soluble protein content, and reduce Malondialdehyde (MDA) content, which provides guidance and theoretical basis for grape production. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Crop Biotic and Abiotic Stress Tolerance: 4th Edition)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 2956 KB

Open AccessArticle

Development of Molecular Markers for Bacterial Leaf Streak Resistance Gene bls2 and Breeding of New Resistance Lines in Rice

by Jieyi Huang, Xuan Wei, Min Tang, Ziqiu Deng, Yi Lan and Fang Liu

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(11), 5264; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26115264 - 30 May 2025

Viewed by 410

Abstract

Bacterial leaf streak (BLS) is one of the internationally significant quarantine diseases in rice. Effectively utilizing BLS resistance genes from wild rice (Oryza rufipogon Griff.) to breed new varieties offers a fundamental solution for BLS control. This study focused on the fine mapping of the BLS resistance gene bls2 and the development of closely linked molecular markers for breeding BLS-resistant lines. Using a Guangxi common wild rice accession DY19 (carrying bls2) as the donor parent and the highly BLS-susceptible indica rice variety 9311 as the recipient parent, BLS-resistant rice lines were developed through multiple generations of backcrossing and selfing, incorporating molecular marker-assisted selection (MAS), single nucleotide polymorphism(SNP) chip genotyping, pathogen inoculation assays, and agronomic trait evaluation. The results showed that bls2 was delimited to a 113 kb interval between the molecular markers ID2 and ID5 on chromosome 2, with both markers exhibiting over 98% accuracy in detecting bls2. Four stable new lines carrying the bls2 segment were obtained in the BC₅F₄ generation. These four lines showed highly significant differences in BLS resistance compared with 9311, demonstrating moderate resistance or higher with average lesion lengths ranging from 0.69 to 1.26 cm. Importantly, no significant differences were observed between these resistant lines and 9311 in key agronomic traits, including plant height, number of effective panicles, panicle length, seed setting rate, grain length, grain width, length-to-width ratio, and 1000-grain weight. Collectively, two molecular markers closely linked to bls2 were developed, which can be effectively applied in MAS, and four new lines with significantly enhanced resistance to BLS and excellent agronomic traits were obtained. These findings provide technical support and core germplasm resources for BLS resistance breeding. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Crop Biotic and Abiotic Stress Tolerance: 4th Edition)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 14317 KB

Open AccessArticle

Genome-Wide Identification of the Cation/Proton Antiporter (CPA) Gene Family and Expression Pattern Analysis Under Salt Stress in Winter Rapeseed (Brassica rapa L.)

by Chunyang Han, Li Ma, Xiaolei Tao, Yintao Lian, Junyan Wu, Abbas Muhammad Fahim, Yanxia Xu, Xianliang Zhang, Lijun Liu, Gang Yang, Yuanyuan Pu, Tingting Fan, Wangtian Wang and Wancang Sun

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(7), 3099; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26073099 - 27 Mar 2025

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 519

Abstract

The CPA gene family regulates ionic balance and pH homeostasis in cells, significantly contributing to plant stress tolerance. In this study, a total of 63 BrCPA gene family members were identified in the whole genome of Brassica rapa L. (B. rapa), and the three subfamily members were BrNHX (9), BrKEA (15), and BrCHX (39), respectively. The members of the BrCPA gene family encoded 303-1259 amino acids, with molecular weights in the range of 32,860.39~139,884.73 kDa, distributed on 10 chromosomes, and contained 17 conserved motifs, BrNHX and BraKEA, and the BrCPA gene family members had the same molecular weights on 10 chromosomes and contain 17 conserved motifs. The BrNHX and BraKEA subfamilies have more exons than the BrCHX subfamily. An analysis of promoter cis-acting elements in the BrCPA gene showed that members of this gene family contain TC-rich, LTR, MBS, and ARE stress response elements. In addition, transcriptome analysis revealed the expression of CPA genes in B. rapa under salt stress. The selected genes were verified by RT-qPCR. By detecting the Na⁺ and K⁺ flow rates in the root and chloroplast cells of salt-tolerant and salt-sensitive varieties after salt treatment, it was found that the rate of Na⁺ and K⁺ efflux from the root and chloroplast cells of salt-sensitive varieties was significantly higher than that of salt-tolerant varieties. This investigation marks the first systematic identification of the CPA gene family in B. rapa. This study further explores its expression patterns and the efflux rates of Na⁺ and K⁺ across salt-tolerant varieties, providing a theoretical basis for understanding the role of the CPA gene family in the salt stress response of B. rapa. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Crop Biotic and Abiotic Stress Tolerance: 4th Edition)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

19 pages, 12568 KB

Open AccessArticle

A Starch Phosphorylase, ZmPHOH, Improves Photosynthetic Recovery from Short-Term Cold Exposure in Maize

by Yao Qin, Haiping Ding, Hailiang Zhao, Xueqing Zheng, Jing Wang, Ziyi Xiao, Yuanru Wang, Hongwei Wang, Yinggao Liu, Dianming Gong and Fazhan Qiu

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(4), 1727; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26041727 - 18 Feb 2025

Viewed by 579

Abstract

The photosynthetic system of maize (Zea mays) leaves is sensitive to low temperatures and suffers from irreversible damage induced by cold exposure, making cold stress a major factor limiting maize yield. Identifying genes that improve the recovery of photosynthesis from low temperatures in maize will help enhance the cold tolerance of this crop and ensure stable yields. Here, we demonstrate the role of starch phosphorylase 2 (ZmPHOH) in promoting photosynthetic recovery from cold damage. Chlorotic leaf3 (chl3), a null mutant of ZmPHOH, which undergoes chlorophyll degradation and chlorosis earlier than under normal growth conditions after brief exposure to 8 °C and restoration to normal. We determined that chl3 plants could not repair the damage to their photosynthetic system caused by short-term cold exposure after the temperature returned to normal. Metabolome and transcriptome profiling indicated that the soluble sugar content in chl3 leaves was significantly increased after cold treatment and could not be catabolized promptly, leading to repression of photosynthetic gene expression. Our results reveal that ZmPHOH enhances post-cold photosynthetic recovery by promoting the decomposition and metabolism of soluble sugars, thereby regulating the low-temperature resilience in maize, which provides new insights into the chilling tolerance mechanism of maize. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Crop Biotic and Abiotic Stress Tolerance: 4th Edition)

► Show Figures

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Crop Biotic and Abiotic Stress Tolerance: 4th Edition

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Keywords

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

Published Papers (4 papers)

Research

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI