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Life
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Physiological Responses of Plants Under Abiotic Stresses
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Physiological Responses of Plants Under Abiotic Stresses

A special issue of Life (ISSN 2075-1729). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 March 2026 | Viewed by 3829

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Dawei Shi

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Guest Editor
College of Life Science, Nanjing Forestry University, 159 Long Pan Road, Nanjing, China
Interests: plant physiology; abiotic stresses; photosynthesis; omics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Changes in global climate have profound impacts on human survival and at the same time exacerbate abiotic stresses on plants. Abiotic stresses can severely limit plant productivity, and common abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, heat, cold, and flooding have profound effects on plant growth and survival. Adaptation and tolerance to such stresses involve complex perception, signaling, and stress response mechanisms. By studying the physiological responses of plants under abiotic stresses, we can provide a basis for the selection of good plant germplasm resources and the breeding of new varieties.

To solve the problem of plant growth and survival in suboptimal environments, it is necessary for us to carry out research work related to abiotic stress in plants. This Special Issue of Life, titled “Physiological Responses of Plants Under Abiotic Stresses”, aims to bring together original research articles and review papers related to this topic. Revealing stress tolerance mechanisms in plants opens up new avenues for the application of biotechnology in agriculture and forestry. The ultimate goal is to lay the foundation for advancing stress tolerance breeding in agricultural crops as well as woody and horticultural plants.

Dr. Dawei Shi
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. Life is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). 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

  • crops
  • woody plants
  • horticultural plants
  • physiological responses
  • abiotic stresses
  • photosynthesis

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 2905 KiB  
Article
Water Stress Is Differently Tolerated by Fusarium-Resistant and -Susceptible Chickpea Genotypes During Germination
by Ümmühan Kaşıkcı Şimşek, Murat Dikilitas, Talap Talapov and Canan Can
Life 2025, 15(7), 1050; https://doi.org/10.3390/life15071050 - 30 Jun 2025
Viewed by 222
Abstract
Chickpea is a legume that grows in most parts of the world. It is negatively affected by abiotic and biotic factors like drought and fungal diseases, respectively. One of the most important soil-borne pathogens affecting chickpeas is Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. ciceris (Foc [...] Read more.
Chickpea is a legume that grows in most parts of the world. It is negatively affected by abiotic and biotic factors like drought and fungal diseases, respectively. One of the most important soil-borne pathogens affecting chickpeas is Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. ciceris (Foc). Its population dynamics in the soil are affected by fluctuations in soil water content and host characteristics. For the last three decades, drought has been common in most areas of the world due to global warming. Drought stress decreases the quality and quantity of the chickpeas, particularly where soil-borne pathogens are the main stress factor for plants. The use of both drought-tolerant and disease-resistant cultivars may be the only option for cost-effective yield production. In this study, we screened the seeds of twelve chickpea genotypes WR-315, JG-62, C-104, JG-74, CPS-1, BG-212, ANNIGERI, CHAFFA, BG-215, UC-27, ILC-82, and K-850 for drought tolerance at increasing polyethylene glycol (PEG) concentrations (0-, 5-, 7.5-, 10-, 15-, 20-, 25-, 30- and 50%) to create drought stress conditions at different severities. The performances of genotypes that were previously tested in Foc resistance/susceptibility studies were assessed in terms of percentage of germination, radicle and hypocotyl length, germination energy, germination rate index, mean germination time, and vigor index in drought conditions. We determined the genotypes of C-104, CPS-1, and WR-315 as drought-susceptible, moderately drought-tolerant, and drought-tolerant, respectively. We then elucidated the stress levels of selected genotypes (20-day-old seedlings) at 0–15% PEG conditions via measuring proline and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents. Our findings showed that genotypes that were resistant to Foc also exhibited drought tolerance. The responses of chickpea genotypes infected with Foc under drought conditions are the next step to assess the combined stress on chickpea genotypes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physiological Responses of Plants Under Abiotic Stresses)
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16 pages, 3366 KiB  
Article
The Expression Profile of Genes Related to Carotenoid Biosynthesis in Pepper Under Abiotic Stress Reveals a Positive Correlation with Plant Tolerance
by Tingli Wang, Qiaoyun He, Chenyuan Wang, Zhimin Li, Shitao Sun, Xiai Yang, Xiushi Yang, Yanchun Deng and Chunsheng Hou
Life 2024, 14(12), 1659; https://doi.org/10.3390/life14121659 - 13 Dec 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1201
Abstract
In light of the increasingly adverse environmental conditions and the concomitant challenges to the survival of important crops, there is a pressing need to enhance the resilience of pepper seedlings to extreme weather. Carotenoid plays an important role in plants’ resistance to abiotic [...] Read more.
In light of the increasingly adverse environmental conditions and the concomitant challenges to the survival of important crops, there is a pressing need to enhance the resilience of pepper seedlings to extreme weather. Carotenoid plays an important role in plants’ resistance to abiotic stress. Nevertheless, the relationship between carotenoid biosynthesis and sweet pepper seedlings’ resistance to different abiotic stresses remains uncertain. In this study, the carotenoid content in abiotic-stressed sweet pepper seedling roots was determined, revealing that carotenoid content was extremely significantly elevated by more than 16-fold under salt stress, followed by drought stress (8-fold), and slightly elevated by only about 1-fold under waterlogging stress. After that, serine/threonine-protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) was found to be the suitable reference gene (RG) in sweet pepper seedling roots under different abiotic stresses by using RT-qPCR and RefFinder analysis. Subsequently, using PP2A as the RG, RT-qPCR analysis showed that the expression level of most genes associated with carotenoid biosynthesis was extremely significantly up-regulated in sweet pepper seedlings under salt and drought stress. Specifically, violoxanthin deepoxidase (VDE) was significantly up-regulated by more than 481- and 36-fold under salt and drought stress, respectively; lycopene epsilon cyclase (LCYE) was significantly up-regulated by more than 840- and 23-fold under salt and drought stress, respectively. This study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway serving as a major source of retrograde signals in pepper subjected to different abiotic stresses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physiological Responses of Plants Under Abiotic Stresses)
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Other

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18 pages, 2653 KiB  
Systematic Review
Morpho-Physiological Adaptations of Rice Cultivars Under Heavy Metal Stress: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
by Esmeth C. Espinola, Monica Maricris N. Cabreros and Mark Christian Felipe R. Redillas
Life 2025, 15(2), 189; https://doi.org/10.3390/life15020189 - 27 Jan 2025
Viewed by 1948
Abstract
Soil contamination, including in rice fields, arises from a variety of natural processes and anthropogenic activities, leading to an accumulation of heavy metals. While extensive research has addressed the bioaccumulation of heavy metals in rice, only limited systematic reviews have examined their specific [...] Read more.
Soil contamination, including in rice fields, arises from a variety of natural processes and anthropogenic activities, leading to an accumulation of heavy metals. While extensive research has addressed the bioaccumulation of heavy metals in rice, only limited systematic reviews have examined their specific impact on the morpho-physiological traits of rice plants. This review aims to provide a comprehensive synthesis of current studies detailing the rice cultivars, types of heavy metals investigated, study designs, sampling locations, and experimental sites while systematically analyzing the morphological and physiological responses of rice cultivars to heavy metal stress. Studies show that morphological traits generally exhibit a decline under heavy metal exposure. Physiologically, rice cultivars tend to show decreased total chlorophyll and carotenoid levels, along with increased levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), and antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and proline. These findings suggest that plant genotype, type of heavy metal, and intensity of stress significantly modulate the morphological and physiological responses of rice, highlighting critical areas for further research in heavy metal stress tolerance in rice cultivars. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physiological Responses of Plants Under Abiotic Stresses)
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