Plant Responses to Environmental Stresses: Physiological and Molecular Mechanisms
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 2026 | Viewed by 891
Special Issue Editors
Interests: oxidative stress; antioxidant enzyme activity; moss; bryophytes; heavy metals; biological activity of secondary metabolites
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: plant stress; biomonitoring; protection against environmental stresses; phytoremediation; essentials oils; biological activity of secondary metabolites
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Plants face numerous environmental stresses, both abiotic (e.g., drought, salinity, temperature extremes, heavy metals, pollutants, UV radiation) and biotic (e.g., pathogens, herbivores), which strongly affect their growth, development, and productivity. These challenges threaten agricultural yields, food security, and ecosystem stability. To survive, plants have evolved complex physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms involving stress perception, signaling pathways, gene expression reprogramming, osmoprotectant accumulation, secondary metabolite synthesis, and antioxidant defenses. Understanding these adaptive mechanisms is essential for developing stress-tolerant crops and improving strategies for biomonitoring and phytoremediation. In the context of accelerating climate change, unraveling how plants sense and respond to multiple stressors has become an urgent research priority with significant ecological and socio-economic implications.
This Special Issue of the International Journal of Molecular Sciences (IJMS) aims to collect high-quality original research articles and reviews that provide new insights into the molecular and physiological bases of plant responses to environmental stresses. Consistent with IJMS’s mission to advance molecular biology through interdisciplinary research, the contributions will enhance understanding of stress perception, signaling, and adaptation processes. This Special Issue welcomes original articles, short communications, and reviews addressing topics such as plant physiological and biochemical responses to abiotic stress; signaling pathways involving hormones and transcription factors; reactive oxygen species and antioxidant systems; metabolic and secondary metabolite adjustments; omics-based stress studies; plant–microbe interactions; non-model plant ecophysiology; and applications in phytoremediation, biomonitoring, and crop improvement.
Dr. Viviana Maresca
Dr. Alessia Postiglione
Guest Editors
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
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
- plant stress
- abiotic stress
- biotic stress
- oxidative stress
- antioxidant enzymes
- reactive oxygen species (ROS)
- phytoremediation
- biomonitoring
- secondary metabolites
- molecular mechanisms
- omics approaches
- bryophytes
- heavy metals
- plant–microbe interactions
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.
