Physiological Responses and Adaptation Mechanisms of Plants to Stress

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2025 | Viewed by 739

Special Issue Editors

College of Horticulture & Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Interests: nitrogen use efficiency; transcriptome; proteomics; woody plant; abiotic stress
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Guest Editor
Independent Researcher, Luton, UK
Interests: plant stress; plant physiology; plant biology; plant growth

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue explores the physiological responses and adaptation mechanisms of plants under various environmental stressors. Topics of interest include plant growth under conditions such as salinity, drought, and extreme temperatures. The issue will examine leaf growth dynamics—including cell division, expansion, growth rate, and duration—as well as varietal differences among crops and plant species. It will also identify traits of halophytes and resistant crops associated with extreme environments. Structural, morphological, and cellular adaptations will be highlighted, along with the mechanisms underlying stress perception, signal transduction, and metabolic responses. Changes in plasma membranes, focusing on lipid and protein composition and structural modifications, will be explored. The chemical composition of plants under stress, particularly essential elements and organic compounds like proline and glycine betaine, will be a key focus. Special attention will be given to elemental contents in stressed plants, particularly Na, K, Cl, and Ca. The issue will also cover plant mechanisms for resisting salinity and drought, strategies to enhance stress resistance at cellular and molecular levels, and approaches to breeding crops with improved tolerance. The adaptation mechanisms of halophytes to salt stress and their potential contributions to biotechnology will be examined, including their role in developing crops with traits suited for growth in polluted environments. Modern biotechnological advancements in stress-resistant crops, the use of halophytes and native plants in the phytoremediation of polluted lands, and their potential as sources of experimental materials will also be explored. Additional topics include photosynthesis, transpiration, stomatal behavior, and hormonal balance under stress conditions. The impact of pollutants on plant growth is also an interesting topic.

Dr. Jie Luo
Dr. Bassam T. Yasseen
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • biotechnology
  • chemical composition
  • growth processes
  • heavy metals
  • hormonal balance
  • improving growth variables
  • mechanisms of osmotic stress
  • pollution
  • photosynthesis
  • stomatal behaviors

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

24 pages, 3632 KB  
Article
Adaptation of Plants to UV-B Radiation with Altitude in Tuha Basin: Synergistic Regulation of Epidermal Structure, Secondary Metabolites, and Organic Element Allocation
by Xiao-Min Wang, Guo-Qiang Zhao, Jie Chen, Fang-Zheng Jing, Li Li, Yu-Ying Wang, Ping Ma, Yu-Hang Wu, Shi-Jian Xu and Wen-Liang He
Life 2025, 15(9), 1375; https://doi.org/10.3390/life15091375 - 29 Aug 2025
Viewed by 506
Abstract
Ultraviolet B (UV-B) radiation is a key environmental factor that limits plant growth and development. High UV-B intensity is a typical environmental feature in Turpan-Hami (Tuha) Basin in Xinjiang, China. In this study, the altitude-dependent UV-B adaptation strategies of plants in Tuha Basin [...] Read more.
Ultraviolet B (UV-B) radiation is a key environmental factor that limits plant growth and development. High UV-B intensity is a typical environmental feature in Turpan-Hami (Tuha) Basin in Xinjiang, China. In this study, the altitude-dependent UV-B adaptation strategies of plants in Tuha Basin were analyzed. Chlorophyll (Chl) and flavonoid (Fla) play an important role in absorbing UV-B radiation, scavenging free radicals, and maintaining photosynthetic performance under UV-B stress. Principal component analysis indicated that the total chlorophyll (Chl t), Chl a, Chl b, and Fla contents and the Chl a/Chl b ratio are important indicators for evaluating plant tolerance to UV-B. Noticeably, with increased altitudes, the roles of Chl b, Chl a/Chl b, and Fla become markedly significant. The characteristics of stomata, epidermal hair, and wax layer are closely correlated with the UV-B amount that reaches leaves. Epidermal hair density and cuticle thickness in leaves decreased with increased altitudes, whereas hydrogen oxide (H2O2) was significantly accumulated, but superoxide anion (O2) remained unchanged. High altitude significantly increased the stomatal apparatus area, density and specific leaf area. Moreover, plants without epidermal hair had a larger stomatal apparatus area compared with plants with epidermal hair. However, the presence or absence of epidermal hair had no effect on cuticle thickness, H2O2 and O2 levels. The carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and hydrogen (H) contents were high in plant leaves at high altitude, but the sulfur (S) content and C/N ratio were low. Taken together, plants in Tuha Basin could cope with UV-B radiation by synergistically regulating epidermal structures and synthesis of secondary metabolites. Meanwhile, these plants could further allocate and reconstruct organic elements to optimize their resource distribution in adaptation to UV-B radiation with different altitudes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physiological Responses and Adaptation Mechanisms of Plants to Stress)
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