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Adaptation Strategies and Defense Mechanisms of Plants During Environmental Stress
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Adaptation Strategies and Defense Mechanisms of Plants During Environmental Stress

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: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 4756

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Fei Xu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Applied Biotechnology Center, Wuhan Institute of Bioengineering, Wuhan 430415, China
Interests: plant–environment interactions; plant molecular breeding; mechanisms of small molecules such as ethylene and cyanide in plant stress response
Prof. Dr. Zhengquan He

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Biotechnology Research Center, China Three Gorges University, Yichang 443002, China
Interests: plant molecular biology and genetic engineering; plant breeding and cell engineering
Dr. Muhammad Ahsan Asghar

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Food Science, Aarhus University, Agro Food Park 48, 8200 Aarhus N, Denmark
Interests: plant stress physiology and biochemistry; abiotic stresses; light; drought; salt; redox changes; antioxidants; genes; phytohormones; metabolic shifts; reactive oxygen species

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plants, as sessile organisms, are constantly exposed to a wide array of environmental stressors, including drought, salinity, extreme temperatures, and pathogen attacks. In response to these challenges, plants have evolved a sophisticated set of adaptive strategies and defense mechanisms that allow them to survive and thrive in hostile environments. At the cellular and molecular levels, plants employ a variety of strategies to cope with stress. These include the activation of stress-responsive genes, the production of protective proteins and metabolites, and the reconfiguration of cellular pathways to mitigate damage.

In recent years, research has increasingly focused on uncovering the genetic, biochemical, and ecological bases of plant resilience to environmental stress. Advances in omics technologies, such as genomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics, have enabled the identification of key genes and pathways involved in stress tolerance. These findings not only enhance our fundamental understanding of plant biology but also open new avenues for developing stress-resistant crops through breeding or biotechnological approaches.

Therefore, this Special Issue encourages authors to publish cutting-edge research on the adaptive strategies and defense mechanisms of plants under environmental stress. Original research articles and reviews are welcome.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Fei Xu
Prof. Dr. Zhengquan He
Dr. Muhammad Ahsan Asghar
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 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

  • biotic stress
  • environmental control
  • salt stress
  • drought stress
  • low-temperature stress
  • light damage
  • heavy metal stress
  • hormonal regulation

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 7398 KiB  
Article
Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Analysis of Aspartic proteases in Populus euphratica Reveals Candidates Involved in Salt Tolerance
by Peiyang He, Lifan Huang and Hanyang Cai
Plants 2025, 14(13), 1930; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14131930 - 23 Jun 2025
Viewed by 426
Abstract
Aspartic proteases (APs) are among the four primary families of proteolytic enzymes found in plants, and they are essential for both stress response mechanisms and developmental activities. While the AP gene family has been studied in model plants like Arabidopsis, its characterization [...] Read more.
Aspartic proteases (APs) are among the four primary families of proteolytic enzymes found in plants, and they are essential for both stress response mechanisms and developmental activities. While the AP gene family has been studied in model plants like Arabidopsis, its characterization in woody species-particularly in extremophytes like Populus euphratica, remains limited. Moreover, the potential involvement of APs in salt tolerance mechanisms in trees is yet to be explored. In this research, 55 PeAPs were discovered and categorized into three distinct classes based on their conserved protein structures. The phylogenetic analysis revealed potential functions of AP genes derived from Arabidopsis thaliana, V. vinifera, and P. euphratica. Our findings indicate that PeAP possesses a well-conserved evolutionary background and contains numerous highly variable regions, making it an excellent candidate for the identification and systematic examination of woody trees. Additionally, motifs frequently found in aspartic proteases within the genome of P. euphratica may be linked to functional PeAPs. It appears that PeAPs are associated with specific gene functions. These genes are influenced by cis-elements, which may play a role in their responsiveness to phytohormone, stress adaptation maybe changed to these genes are regulated by cis-elements that may mediate their responsiveness to phytohormones, abiotic stress, and developmental cues. Our research offers the initial comprehensive analysis of the AP family in P. euphratica, emphasizing its potential functions in adapting to salt conditions. The findings uncover candidate PeAPs for genetic engineering to enhance salinity tolerance in woody crops. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adaptation Strategies and Defense Mechanisms of Plants During Environmental Stress)
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19 pages, 7637 KiB  
Article
A Genome-Wide Characterization of Receptor-like Cytoplasmic Kinase IV Subfamily Members in Populus deltoides Identifies the Potential Role of PdeCRCK6 in Plant Osmotic Stress Responses
by Huanhuan Pan, Zhengquan He, Linxiu Liu, Renyue Cai, Hu Huang, Xinru Xie, Xun Cao, Yanan Li, Wenmin Qiu, Zhuchou Lu, Xiaojiao Han, Guirong Qiao, Renying Zhuo, Jianjun Hu and Jing Xu
Plants 2024, 13(23), 3371; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13233371 - 30 Nov 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1148
Abstract
The IV subfamily of receptor-like cytoplasmic kinase (RLCK-IV), known as calcium-binding receptor-like cytoplasmic kinases (CRCKs), plays a vital role in plant signal transduction, particularly in coordinating growth and responses to abiotic stresses. However, our comprehension of CRCK genes in Populus deltoides, a [...] Read more.
The IV subfamily of receptor-like cytoplasmic kinase (RLCK-IV), known as calcium-binding receptor-like cytoplasmic kinases (CRCKs), plays a vital role in plant signal transduction, particularly in coordinating growth and responses to abiotic stresses. However, our comprehension of CRCK genes in Populus deltoides, a species characterized as fast-growing and pest-resistant but with drought intolerance, is limited. Here, we identify 6 members of the CRCK subfamily on a genome-wide scale in P. deltoides, denoted as PdeCRCK1–PdeCRCK6. An evolutionary and structural analysis revealed highly conserved kinase catalytic domains across all PdeCRCKs, characterized by calmodulin (CaM)-binding sites and serine (Ser)/threonine (Thr) phosphorylation sites. The cis-acting elements of promoters indicated the presence of responsive elements for plant hormones, abiotic stresses, and transcription factor binding sites, which is supported by the distinct transcriptional expression patterns of PdeCRCKs under abscisic acid (ABA), polyethylene glycol (PEG), and mannitol treatments. A transient overexpression of PdeCRCK3/5/6 in tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana) leaves indicated their involvement in reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging, polyamine gene synthesis, and ABA signaling pathway modulation. Immunoprecipitation–Mass Spectrometry (IP–MS) and a yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) assay showed that PdeCRCK6 interacted with AAA-type ATPase proteins and ubiquitin, suggesting its potential function in being involved in chloroplast homeostasis and the 26S ubiquitin protease system. Taken together, these findings offer a comprehensive analysis of the RLCK-IV subfamily members in P. deltoides, especially laying a foundation for revealing the potential mechanism of PdeCRCK6 in response to osmotic stresses and accelerating the molecular design breeding of drought tolerance in poplar. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adaptation Strategies and Defense Mechanisms of Plants During Environmental Stress)
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22 pages, 3992 KiB  
Article
Optimizing Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) Yield Under Salt Stress: The Physiological and Biochemical Effects of Foliar Thiourea Application
by Jawaria Abdul Majeed, Safura Bibi, Athar Mahmood, Liaqat Ali, Muhammad Ehsan Safdar, Mahmoud F. Seleiman, Zain Ul Abidin, Bushra A. Alhammad and Muhammad Ahsan Asghar
Plants 2024, 13(23), 3318; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13233318 - 26 Nov 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1702
Abstract
A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the role of thiourea exogenous application (0 mg/L and 100 mg/L) on the morphological, physiological, and yield traits of two varieties of tomato (Naqeeb and Nadir) under different salt stress treatments (0, 60, and 120 mM) [...] Read more.
A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the role of thiourea exogenous application (0 mg/L and 100 mg/L) on the morphological, physiological, and yield traits of two varieties of tomato (Naqeeb and Nadir) under different salt stress treatments (0, 60, and 120 mM) in completely randomized design (CRD). The imposition of salinity by rooting medium showed that salt stress reduced plant height by 20%, fresh shoot weight by 50%, dry shoot weight by 78%, fresh root weight by 43%, dry root weight by 84%, root length by 34%, shoot length by 32%, shoot K+ by 47%, Ca2+ by 70%, chlorophyll a by 30%, chlorophyll b by 67%, and the number of seeds per berry by 53%, while shoot Na+ ions were increased by 90% in comparison to those grown with control treatment. However, the exogenous application of thiourea significantly enhanced dry root weight by 25% and the number of seeds per berry by 20% in comparison to untreated plants with thiourea when grown under salt stress. Salt stress resulted in a reduction in the number of berries, weight per berry, number of seeds per berry, and seed weight in both varieties, while thiourea foliar application increased these yield parameters. On the other hand, the Nadir variety surpassed Naqeeb in plant height (+13%), root length (+31%) and shoot length (+11%), fresh shoot weight (+42%) and dry shoot weight (+11%), fresh root weight (+29%), dry root weight (+25%), area of leaf (+26%), chlorophyll a (+32%), and chlorophyll b (+24%). In conclusion, the exogenous application of thiourea can be used to mitigate salt stress in tomato plants since it can improve the growth, physiological, and yield traits of this strategic crop. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adaptation Strategies and Defense Mechanisms of Plants During Environmental Stress)
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