Submit to Special Issue Submit Abstract to Special Issue Review for Plants Propose a Special Issue

Journal Browser

Responses of Extreme Environment Plants to Abiotic Stress

Print Special Issue Flyer
Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Published Papers

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 June 2024 | Viewed by 2868

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. León A. Bravo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Laboratorio de Fisiología y Biología Molecular Vegetal, Instituto de Agroindustria, Departamento de Ciencias Agronómicas y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias y Forestales & Center of Plant, Soil Interaction and Natural Resources Biotechnology, Scientific and Technological Bioresource Nucleus, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco 1145, Chile
Interests: Antarctic plant science; climate change; abiotic stress physiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Patricia Sáez

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Laboratorio de Fisiología y Biología Molecular Vegetal, Instituto de Agroindustria, Departamento de Ciencias Agronómicas y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias y Medioambiente, Temuco, Chile e Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad (IEB), Concepción, Chile
Interests: Antarctic plant science; plant physiology; abiotic stress
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Extremophytes are plants capable of inhabiting environments characterized by harsh abiotic conditions that limit the fundamental metabolic and physiological processes. Therefore, disentangling the ecophysiological traits enabling these species to withstand the harsh conditions becomes highly attractive. Thus, one of the most interesting aspects to study extremophile plants is the possibility to identify key traits and genes for plant adaptation to unfavorable climatic conditions, which may result in a potential tool for developing novel stress-resistant genotypes. Additionally, most extremophile environments have been identified as areas strongly affected by climate change (Antarctica, Arctic, high mountains), which further increases the interest in studying these singular species and further complicates their responses against abiotic stress. Therefore, the aim of this Special Issue is to consolidate a set of articles which examine the physiological, molecular, and biochemical mechanisms behind the singularity of extremophile plant species in terms of adaptation/acclimation to harsh environments as reservoirs of stress resistance mechanisms and the challenges they face in dealing with the current scenario of climate change.

Prof. Dr. León A. Bravo
Dr. Patricia Sáez
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

high elevation
low and high temperature
permafrost
snow cover
deserts and extreme drought
desiccation tolerance
hypersaline environments
high irradiance
UV-radiation
oxidative damage
ice encasement
hypoxia

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers

Research

Jump to: Review

16 pages, 3329 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Metabolomic Profile and Functional State of Oat Plants (Avena sativa L.) Sown under Low-Temperature Conditions in the Cryolithozone

by Vasiliy V. Nokhsorov, Fedor F. Protopopov, Igor V. Sleptsov, Lidia V. Petrova and Klim A. Petrov

Plants 2024, 13(8), 1076; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13081076 - 11 Apr 2024

Viewed by 410

Abstract

Oats are one of the most useful and widespread cereal crops in the world. In permafrost conditions (Central Yakutia), based on metabolic changes in late summer-sown oat plants (Avena sativa L.), the key processes involved in the cold acclimation of a valuable cereal species were identified. During the onset of low ambient temperatures, metabolites from leaf samples were profiled using gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA). A total of 41 metabolites were identified in oat leaves. It was found that acclimation to suboptimal temperatures during the fall period leads to biochemical (accumulation of mono- and disaccharides and decrease in fatty acids and polyols) as well as physiological and biophysical changes (decrease in leaf PRI reflectance indices and chlorophyll a fluorescence). Therefore, the study contributes to a more holistic understanding of oat metabolism under low-temperature cryolithozone stress. It is believed that the analysis of changes in leaf reflection properties and JIP-test parameters of chlorophyll a fluorescence using leaf metabolomic profiling can be used in the selection of valuable varieties of cereal crops to obtain plant fodders with high nutrient contents under conditions of a sharply continental climate. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Responses of Extreme Environment Plants to Abiotic Stress)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 6135 KiB

Open AccessArticle

ScATG8 Gene Cloned from Desert Moss Syntrichia caninervis Exhibits Multiple Stress Tolerance

by Ting Cao, Yakupjan Haxim, Xiujin Liu, Qilin Yang, Amangul Hawar, Abdul Waheed, Xiaoshuang Li and Daoyuan Zhang

Plants 2024, 13(1), 59; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13010059 - 23 Dec 2023

Viewed by 807

Abstract

Syntrichia caninervis is the dominant species of biological soil crust in the desert, including the Gurbantunggut Desert in China. It is widely distributed in drylands and considered to be a new model of vegetative desiccation tolerance moss. Here, we cloned an ATG8 gene from S. caninervis and confirmed its function under multiple abiotic stresses, both in situ and in Physcomitrium patens. The results showed that the ScATG8 gene encoded a protein with a highly conserved ATG8 functional domain. ScATG8 gene was increasingly expressed under different abiotic stresses. Under desiccation stress, the overexpression of ScATG8 enhanced the tolerance of S. caninervis and its ability to scavenge ROS. In addition, ScATG8 overexpression promoted the growth of P. patens under multiple stress conditions. Thus, ScATG8 may be a multifunctional gene, and it plays a critical role in the survival of S. caninervis under various abiotic stresses. Our results provide new insights into the function of ATG8 in enabling desiccation tolerance and open up more possibilities for subsequent plant molecular breeding and the mining of the resistance genes of S. caninervis and other moss species. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Responses of Extreme Environment Plants to Abiotic Stress)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

18 pages, 2219 KiB

Open AccessReview

Ecophysiology of Antarctic Vascular Plants: An Update on the Extreme Environment Resistance Mechanisms and Their Importance in Facing Climate Change

by Constanza F. Ramírez, Lohengrin A. Cavieres, Carolina Sanhueza, Valentina Vallejos, Olman Gómez-Espinoza, León A. Bravo and Patricia L. Sáez

Plants 2024, 13(3), 449; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13030449 - 03 Feb 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1263

Abstract

Antarctic flowering plants have become enigmatic because of their unique capability to colonize Antarctica. It has been shown that there is not a single trait that makes Colobanthus quitensis and Deschampsia antarctica so special, but rather a set of morphophysiological traits that coordinately confer resistance to one of the harshest environments on the Earth. However, both their capacity to inhabit Antarctica and their uniqueness remain not fully explained from a biological point of view. These aspects have become more relevant due to the climatic changes already impacting Antarctica. This review aims to compile and update the recent advances in the ecophysiology of Antarctic vascular plants, deepen understanding of the mechanisms behind their notable resistance to abiotic stresses, and contribute to understanding their potential responses to environmental changes. The uniqueness of Antarctic plants has prompted research that emphasizes the role of leaf anatomical traits and cell wall properties in controlling water loss and CO₂ exchange, the role of Rubisco kinetics traits in facilitating efficient carbon assimilation, and the relevance of metabolomic pathways in elucidating key processes such as gas exchange, nutrient uptake, and photoprotection. Climate change is anticipated to have significant and contrasting effects on the morphophysiological processes of Antarctic species. However, more studies in different locations outside Antarctica and using the latitudinal gradient as a natural laboratory to predict the effects of climate change are needed. Finally, we raise several questions that should be addressed, both to unravel the uniqueness of Antarctic vascular species and to understand their potential responses to climate change. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Responses of Extreme Environment Plants to Abiotic Stress)

► Show Figures