Plant Stress Resilience: From Physiological Perception to Omics-Driven Systems

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Response to Abiotic Stress and Climate Change".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 December 2026 | Viewed by 793

Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Plant Protection Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 234 22 Lomma, Sweden
Interests: plant responses to abiotic and biotic stresses; combination stresses; stress signaling; omics approaches; physiological characterization; crop improvement

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Climate change-driven environmental stresses such as drought, heat, freezing, salinity, and emerging pathogens are creating complex challenges for global agriculture and food security, affecting an ever-growing population. These multifaceted stresses frequently occur in combination (concurrently or sequentially), creating complex challenges that exceed the adaptive capacity of many crop varieties. Plants have evolved diverse adaptive strategies to survive, involving integrated changes in physiology, genetics, gene expression, metabolism, and developmental programming. A comprehensive understanding of how plants perceive, respond to, and recover from stress signals is essential for designing climate-resilient crops.

This Special Issue of Plants will highlight recent advances in stress resilience research, emphasizing integrative physiological and multi-omics approaches. We invite contributions that explore dynamic responses under abiotic and biotic stresses, including changes in photosynthesis, water and nutrient use efficiency (WUE and NUE), stomatal regulation, source–sink dynamics, and growth modulation. We especially welcome contributions employing genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, epigenomics, and high-throughput phenomics to uncover key regulatory genes, stress biomarkers, gene functions, metabolic shifts, and tolerance pathways. Emphasis will be placed on studies linking physiological traits with omics data to identify biomarkers and key tolerance mechanisms. Topics of special interest include stress memory, alternative mRNA splicing, organ-specific responses, and long-distance signaling.

Reviews synthesizing emerging insights or proposing new models for stress adaptation are also encouraged. Particular emphasis will be given to research that effectively bridges the gap between molecular-level omics discoveries and measurable physiological or phenotypic outcomes.

This Special Issue aims to foster systems-level understanding in plant stress biology, accelerating innovative strategies for crop improvement. Submissions are welcomed from research on model plants, crops, and underutilized species.

Dr. Sajeevan Radha Sivarajan
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • plant stress resistance
  • multi-omics
  • abiotic and biotic stress
  • stress physiology
  • crop improvement

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

18 pages, 8631 KB  
Review
Beyond R-Genes: Dissecting Metabolic and Nutrient-Driven Wheat Rust Resistance Through Induced Mutagenesis
by Saule Kenzhebayeva, Alfia Abekova, Nargul Omirbekova, Sabina Shoinbekova, Saule Atabayeva, Gulina Doktyrbay, Aigul Amirova and Albrecht Serfling
Plants 2026, 15(14), 2131; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15142131 - 10 Jul 2026
Viewed by 358
Abstract
The increasing threat posed by wheat rust diseases caused by Puccinia spp. necessitates the development of resistance strategies that extend beyond conventional race-specific mechanisms. Although recent reviews (2023–2025) have emphasized gene discovery and genomic approaches, comparatively less attention has been given to the [...] Read more.
The increasing threat posed by wheat rust diseases caused by Puccinia spp. necessitates the development of resistance strategies that extend beyond conventional race-specific mechanisms. Although recent reviews (2023–2025) have emphasized gene discovery and genomic approaches, comparatively less attention has been given to the potential roles of metabolic regulation and micronutrient homeostasis in host–pathogen interactions. Here, we present a narrative synthesis of current evidence and propose a conceptual framework in which induced mutagenesis (ethyl methanesulfonate, EMS, and γ-irradiation) serves as a tool for investigating interactions among redox regulation, iron (Fe) homeostasis, and disease resistance. A key component of this framework is the proposed interplay between reactive oxygen species (ROS) signaling and Fe partitioning. Vacuolar iron transporters (VITs), ferritins, and associated transport networks regulate intracellular Fe distribution and may influence Fe availability at the host–pathogen interface, potentially affecting fungal development and host defense responses. This concept of “iron-withholding immunity” may operate alongside ROS-mediated defense processes, linking metabolism with immune function. Observations from mutant wheat populations are broadly consistent with the hypothesis that these processes may contribute to durable adult-plant resistance (APR), which is characterized by reduced disease development, coordinated defense responses, and relative stability across environments. In some studies, Fe-enriched mutant lines have been associated with enhanced expression of pathogenesis-related genes and the occurrence of combined APR and seedling-resistance phenotypes, suggesting possible links between micronutrient homeostasis and immunity. Integration of high-throughput phenotyping with genotype × environment × time (G × E × T) frameworks may further improve our understanding of quantitative resistance and disease-associated traits. Overall, this review highlights the potential importance of nutrient homeostasis, redox regulation, and susceptibility modulation as components of future research aimed at developing climate-resilient and nutritionally improved wheat cultivars. Full article
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