Mechanism and Regulation of Stress Resistance in Cucurbit Crops

Dear Colleagues,

Cucurbitaceae plants, such as cucumber, melon, watermelon, pumpkin, gourd, wax gourd, and loofah, are economically important horticultural crops which are widely cultivated around the world. Like every other plant that lives on the earth, cucurbit crops are highly exposed to biotic and abiotic stresses and the ongoing climate change. Biotic and abiotic stress factors affect the yield and quality of cucurbit crops in many ways, and they exert morphological and physiological effects via complex and combined internal molecular mechanisms. Although considerable amounts of data are available on stress-related cucurbit crop responses, the underlying physiological and molecular mechanisms regulated by phytohormones, small molecule signaling, and specific functional genes have not yet been extensively elucidated. The focus of this Special Issue of Plants is on the possibility to accelerate cucurbit crops to resist stress agents from the molecular to ecophysiological level in order to successfully combat them in real life. We welcome original research papers based on experimental, theoretical, and modeling approaches, as well as review articles.

Dr. Hao Li
Dr. Fei Cheng
Guest Editors

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