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Wild and Cultivated Plants under Climate Change

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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: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 5452

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Przemysław Kopeć

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Guest Editor

The Franciszek Górski Institute of Plant Physiology of Polsih Academy of Sciences, Niezapominajek, 230-236 Kraków, Poland
Interests: climate change; climate-resilient crops; drought; abiotic stress; proteomics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Climate change that is taking place today is having a huge impact on the plant world. The ability of plants to adapt to the direct and indirect effects of climate change will affect their survival. The long-term change in global and regional climate patterns has far-reaching implications for agriculture and food production. Climate change has been connected with extreme weather events such as more frequent and more intense droughts, heat waves, hurricanes, downpours and floods. Understanding plant responses to new, often unfavorable, environmental conditions, will enable forecasting future scenarios of the effects of climate change, preserving plant biodiversity and securing food production. This Special Issue is devoted to the influence of environmental conditions on the biology and physiology of wild and cultivated plants.

Key areas in this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following:

The effect of a single abiotic/biotic stress on plants or impact of combined stressors;
Research in the field of genetics, physiology and biochemistry of plants;
Research on wild, crop and model plants;
Climate-resilient crops;
Stability and adaptability of crops.

Dr. Przemysław Kopeć
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. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2700 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

abiotic and biotic stress
multiple stressor effects
climate change
climate-resilient crops
crop stability
crop adaptability
drought
heat
flooding
frost resistance

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 3247 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Response to Waterlogging Stress in Wild and Domesticated Accessions of Timothy (Phleum pratense) and Its Relatives P. alpinum and P. nodosum

by Silvana Moreno, Girma Bedada, Yousef Rahimi, Pär K. Ingvarsson, Anna Westerbergh and Per-Olof Lundquist

Plants 2023, 12(23), 4033; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12234033 - 30 Nov 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 825

Abstract

Timothy (Phleum pratense) is a cool-season perennial forage grass widely grown for silage and hay production in northern regions. Climate change scenarios predict an increase in extreme weather events with fluctuating periods of high rainfall, requiring new varieties adapted to waterlogging (WL). Wild accessions could serve as germplasm for breeding, and we evaluated the responses of 11 wild and 8 domesticated accessions of timothy, P. nodosum and P. alpinum from different locations in northern Europe. Young plants at tillering stage were exposed to WL for 21 days in a greenhouse, and responses in growth allocation and root anatomy were studied. All accessions produced adventitious roots and changed allocation of growth between shoot and root as a response to WL, but the magnitude of these responses varied among species and among accessions. P. pratense responded less in these traits in response to WL than the other two species. The ability to form aerenchyma in the root cortex in response to WL was found for all species and also varied among species and among accessions, with the highest induction in P. pratense. Interestingly, some accessions were able to maintain and even increase root growth, producing more leaves and tillers, while others showed a reduction in the root system. Shoot dry weight (SDW) was not significantly affected by WL, but some accessions showed different and significant responses in the rate of production of leaves and tillers. Overall correlations between SDW and aerenchyma and between SDW and adventitious root formation were found. This study identified two wild timothy accessions and one wild P. nodosum accession based on shoot and root system growth, aerenchyma formation and having a root anatomy considered to be favorable for WL tolerance. These accessions are interesting genetic resources and candidates for development of climate-resilient timothy varieties. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wild and Cultivated Plants under Climate Change)

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23 pages, 6973 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Morpho-Anatomical, Physiological and Biochemical Adjustments in Response to Heat and Drought Co-Stress in Winter Barley

by Emmanuel Asante Jampoh, Eszter Sáfrán, Dorina Babinyec-Czifra, Zoltán Kristóf, Barbara Krárné Péntek, Attila Fábián, Beáta Barnabás and Katalin Jäger

Plants 2023, 12(22), 3907; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12223907 - 20 Nov 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1096

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the combined effect of high temperatures 10 °C above the optimum and water withholding during microgametogenesis on vegetative processes and determine the response of winter barley genotypes with contrasting tolerance. For this purpose, two barley varieties were analyzed to compare the effect of heat and drought co-stress on their phenology, morpho-anatomy, physiological and biochemical responses and yield constituents. Genotypic variation was observed in response to heat and drought co-stress, which was attributed to differences in anatomy, ultrastructure and physiological and metabolic processes. The co-stress-induced reduction in relative water content, total soluble protein and carbohydrate contents, photosynthetic pigment contents and photosynthetic efficiency of the sensitive Spinner variety was significantly greater than the tolerant Lambada genotype. Based on these observations, it has been concluded that the heat-and-drought stress-tolerance of the Lambada variety is related to the lower initial chlorophyll content of the leaves, the relative resistance of photosynthetic pigments towards stress-triggered degradation, retained photosynthetic parameters and better-preserved leaf ultrastructure. Understanding the key factors underlying heat and drought co-stress tolerance in barley may enable breeders to create barley varieties with improved yield stability under a changing climate. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wild and Cultivated Plants under Climate Change)

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21 pages, 2376 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Interplay of Physiological and Biochemical Response to Short-Term Drought Exposure in Garlic (Allium sativum L.)

by Tvrtko Karlo Kovačević, Nina Išić, Nikola Major, Marina Krpan, Dean Ban, Mario Franić and Smiljana Goreta Ban

Plants 2023, 12(18), 3215; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12183215 - 8 Sep 2023

Viewed by 925

Abstract

The impacts of global climate change and a rapid increase in population have emerged as major concerns threatening global food security. Environmental abiotic stress, such as drought, severely impairs plants’ morphology, physiology, growth, and yield more than many other environmental factors. Plants use a complex set of physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms to combat the negative effects caused by drought-induced stress. The aim of this study was to investigate morphological, spectral, physiological, and biochemical changes occurring in 30 garlic accessions exposed to short-term drought stress in a greenhouse setting and to identify potential early drought-induced stress markers. The results showed that, on average, garlic plants exposed to drought conditions exhibited a decrease in assimilation, transpiration, and stomatal conductance of 39%, 52%, and 50%, respectively, and an average increase in dry matter and proline content of 10.13% and 14.29%, respectively. Nevertheless, a significant interaction between the treatment and accessions was observed in the investigated photosynthetic and biochemical parameters. The plants’ early response to drought ranged from mild to strong depending on garlic accession. Multivariate analysis showed that accessions with a mild early drought response were characterized by higher values of assimilation, transpiration, and stomatal conductance compared to plants with moderate or strong early drought response. Additionally, accessions with strong early drought response were characterized by higher proline content, lipid peroxidation, and antioxidant capacity as measured by FRAP compared to accessions with mild-to-moderate early drought response. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wild and Cultivated Plants under Climate Change)

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Review

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12 pages, 1345 KiB

Open AccessReview

Climate Change—The Rise of Climate-Resilient Crops

by Przemysław Kopeć

Plants 2024, 13(4), 490; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13040490 - 8 Feb 2024

Viewed by 2178

Abstract

Climate change disrupts food production in many regions of the world. The accompanying extreme weather events, such as droughts, floods, heat waves, and cold snaps, pose threats to crops. The concentration of carbon dioxide also increases in the atmosphere. The United Nations is implementing the climate-smart agriculture initiative to ensure food security. An element of this project involves the breeding of climate-resilient crops or plant cultivars with enhanced resistance to unfavorable environmental conditions. Modern agriculture, which is currently homogeneous, needs to diversify the species and cultivars of cultivated plants. Plant breeding programs should extensively incorporate new molecular technologies, supported by the development of field phenotyping techniques. Breeders should closely cooperate with scientists from various fields of science. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wild and Cultivated Plants under Climate Change)

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