Systems-Level Understanding of Plant Adaptation to Abiotic Stress: Physiological and Biochemical Perspectives

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: 28 February 2026 | Viewed by 443

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Institute of Biology, Warsaw University of Life Sciences-SGGW, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland
Interests: acclimatization to drought; signaling under stress; the physiological and biochemical response of the plant to stress
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Guest Editor
Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute—National Research Institute in Radzików, Jadwisin Division, Department of Potato Agronomy, Szaniawskiego Str. 15, 05-140 Serock, Poland
Interests: potato breeding; abiotic stress tolerance; root system assessment; cultivar tolerance evaluation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, extreme temperatures, and deficiencies of mineral nutrients are among the major environmental factors limiting the growth and productivity of plants. A comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms underlying stress perception, signal transduction, and adaptation requires an integrated systems-level approach encompassing molecular, biochemical, and physiological scales.

We invite the submission of original research articles and review papers addressing, among others, changes in the transcriptome, proteome, and metabolome, as well as the regulation of hormonal signaling pathways, with particular emphasis on abscisic acid, cytokinins, ethylene, auxins, and jasmonates.

Special attention will be given to studies employing multi-omics approaches and integrating experimental data with bioinformatic analyses and regulatory network modeling. We are also interested in contributions identifying key molecular regulators, such as transcription factors, kinases, and signaling proteins, that determine plant stress adaptation and may serve as targets for biotechnological and breeding strategies to enhance stress tolerance.

We encourage collaboration among researchers across disciplines—from plant molecular biology and stress physiology to bioinformatics and genetic engineering. We believe integrative, cross-scale approaches will contribute to the development of stress-resilient plants, supporting the advancement of sustainable agriculture in the face of global climate change.

Dr. Małgorzata Nykiel
Dr. Dominika Boguszewska-Mańkowska
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • stress tolerance
  • transcriptomics
  • proteomics
  • metabolomics
  • hormonal regulation

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

27 pages, 3699 KB  
Article
Tree Age-Related Differences in Chilling Resistance and Bark-Bleeding Physiological Responses to Chemical Component and Fiber Morphology Changes in Cell Walls of Hevea brasiliensis Bark
by Linlin Cheng, Huichuan Jiang, Guishui Xie, Jikun Wang, Wentao Peng, Lijun Zhou, Wanting Liu, Dingquan Wu and Feng An
Plants 2025, 14(16), 2531; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14162531 - 14 Aug 2025
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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to establish the relationship between the chilling resistance of rubber trees and the bark-bleeding characteristics caused by chilling stress, considering physiological indicators in rubber tree bark, cell wall chemical components, fiber morphologies, and tensile properties. This offered [...] Read more.
The purpose of this study was to establish the relationship between the chilling resistance of rubber trees and the bark-bleeding characteristics caused by chilling stress, considering physiological indicators in rubber tree bark, cell wall chemical components, fiber morphologies, and tensile properties. This offered a unique perspective for examining the underlying mechanisms of latex bleeding and chilling stress in Hevea brasiliensis. One-year-old seedlings and two-year-old twig segments in five- and twenty-one-year-old rubber trees (5YB and 21YB) were used to compare the age-mediation differences in their various parameters. Meanwhile, the LT50 values were calculated with Logistic regression analysis of relative electrical conductivity (REC) data under gradient low temperatures. Subsequently, changes in corresponding parameters of 1-year-old seedling stem bark at different ages were determined, and the bark-bleeding characteristics of seedlings and twig segments were analyzed under artificially simulated chilling stress, respectively. A correlation analysis between semi-lethal temperature (LT50) values, relative water content (RWC) values, bark-bleeding characteristics, cell-wall chemical component contents, fiber dimensions, and tensile property parameters was implemented to estimate interrelationships among them. The LT50 values ranged from −2.0387 °C to −0.8695 °C. The results showed that the chilling resistance order of rubber trees at different ages was as follows: 21YB (2-year-old twig bark from 21-year-old rubber trees) > 5YB (2-year-old twig bark from 5-year-old rubber trees) > SLB (semi-lignification bark in 1-year-old seedlings) > GB (green bark in 1-year-old seedlings). The chilling resistance of seedlings and twig segments in rubber trees was highly positively (p < 0.001) related to fiber morphologies. Chilling-induced bark-bleeding characteristics were significantly correlated (p < 0.001) with fiber morphologies, bark tensile properties, and cell-wall components. The analysis data in this study contribute towards building a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms of chilling-induced bark bleeding needed not only in rubber tree cultivation but also in sustainable rubber production. Full article
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