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Adaptive Mechanisms of Plants to Biotic or Abiotic Stresses—2nd Edition
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Adaptive Mechanisms of Plants to Biotic or Abiotic Stresses—2nd Edition

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Molecular Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 1250

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Wankui Gong

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Cotton Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Anyang 455000, China
Interests: structural and functional genetics; molecular breeding; plant physiology; biotic and abiotic stress tolerance; plant–microbe interaction; cottonseed and fiber development
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Pengtao Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Anyang Institute of Technology, Anyang, China
Interests: cotton; salt stress; verticillium wilt; QTL mapping; omics sequencing

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plants are constantly subjected to various biotic and abiotic stresses throughout their life cycles, the former of which is usually caused by the infection and competition of plant pathogens, pests, or weeds, while the latter is mainly related to environmental conditions, such as extreme temperature, drought, salinity, flooding, and waterlogging. Due to the complexity and variability of environmental factors, as well as their interactions with other factors, these stresses have a strong impact on the germination, growth, and reproduction of sessile-growing organisms. This triggers various morphological, physiological, and biochemical changes, further causing incalculable yield loss and quality reduction. Therefore, it is of great significance to investigate the adaptive mechanisms of plants to biotic and abiotic stresses to not only resolve fundamental scientific questions, but also to ensure agricultural and food security.

This Special Issue aims to showcase the progress made in state-of-the-art research on the adaptive mechanisms of plants to biotic and abiotic stresses for the implementation of sustainable agricultural practices. We welcome reviews, research articles, short letters, and reports that use multi-omics and functional verification technologies, such as RNA-seq, ATAC-seq, CHIP-seq, proteome, metabolome, genetic transformation, and genome editing, to expound the molecular mechanisms of plant responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. Additionally, we encourage the submission of research papers with significant innovative technologies and creative ideas related to the adaptive mechanisms of plants.

Dr. Wankui Gong
Dr. Pengtao Li
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

  • plant growth and development
  • adaptive mechanisms
  • biotic and abiotic stresses
  • multi-omics
  • functional verification

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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20 pages, 2404 KiB  
Review
Bridging Molecular Insights and Agronomic Innovations: Cutting-Edge Strategies for Overcoming Boron Deficiency in Sustainable Rapeseed Cultivation
by Muhammad Riaz, Muhammad Rafiq, Hafiz Husnain Nawaz and Weiguo Miao
Plants 2025, 14(7), 995; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14070995 - 21 Mar 2025
Viewed by 417
Abstract
Boron (B) is an essential micronutrient for the growth, development, and maintenance of cellular integrity in vascular plants, and is especially important in cell wall synthesis and reproductive development. Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.), one of the dominant oil crops globally, has a [...] Read more.
Boron (B) is an essential micronutrient for the growth, development, and maintenance of cellular integrity in vascular plants, and is especially important in cell wall synthesis and reproductive development. Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.), one of the dominant oil crops globally, has a high boron demand and its yield is dramatically decreased under B-deficiency conditions. Rapeseed, which is very sensitive to boron deficiency, suffers from reduced growth and reproductive development, ultimately causing severe yield losses. Here, we reviewed the present state of knowledge on the physiological function of boron in rapeseed, mechanisms of boron uptake and transport, specific effects of boron deficiency in rapeseed, and approaches to alleviate boron deficiency in rapeseed at the agronomical and molecular levels. A specific focus is given to recent molecular breakthroughs and agronomic approaches that may improve boron efficiency. The review focuses on practices that may alleviate the problems caused by boron-deficient soils by investigating the genetic and physiological mechanisms of boron tolerance. In summary, this review describes the integration of molecular information with practical agronomy as an important aspect of breeding future nutrient-efficient rapeseed cultivars that can sustain increasing yields while being cultivated in regions with boron-deficient soils. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adaptive Mechanisms of Plants to Biotic or Abiotic Stresses—2nd Edition)
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27 pages, 13079 KiB  
Article
Comparative Transcriptome Analysis of Gene Responses of Salt-Tolerant and Salt-Sensitive Watermelon Cultivars’ Roots to Salt Stress
by Peng Liu, Chao Gao, Shuai Li, Xudong Wang, Yumei Dong, Chongqi Wang, Zigao Jiao and Jianlei Sun
Plants 2025, 14(7), 1013; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14071013 - 24 Mar 2025
Viewed by 382
Abstract
Salt stress, as a significant adverse consequence of global climate change, severely restricts the yield and quality of watermelon. In this study, salt-tolerant cultivar T23 and salt-sensitive cultivar B2 were subjected to a 200 mM NaCl treatment (0 h, 6 h, 24 h, [...] Read more.
Salt stress, as a significant adverse consequence of global climate change, severely restricts the yield and quality of watermelon. In this study, salt-tolerant cultivar T23 and salt-sensitive cultivar B2 were subjected to a 200 mM NaCl treatment (0 h, 6 h, 24 h, 48 h, and 168 h) at the three-leaf stage, and the adaptation mechanisms of the watermelon roots to salt stress were systematically investigated at the phenotypic, physiological, and gene transcription levels. Phenotypic observations revealed that salt stress inhibited seedling growth, caused leaf curling, and induced root yellowing, with the damage being significantly more severe in B2 than in T23. Compared with B2, the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) were increased by −7.13%, 169.15%, 34.95%, 84.87%, and 39.87% under NaCl treatment at 0 h, 6 h, 24 h, 48 h, and 168 h, respectively. Compared to the 0 h NaCl treatment, the proline content in B2 increased by 4.25%, 14.39%, and 110.00% at 24 h, 48 h, and 168 h of NaCl treatment, respectively, while T23 showed increases of 93.74%, 177.55%, and 380.56% at the corresponding time points. The provided physiological data demonstrate that T23 exhibits superior antioxidant and osmoregulatory abilities relative to B2. The transcriptome analysis identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the two cultivars under salt stress, with T23 showing the highest number of DEGs at 6 h, while B2 exhibited a significant increase in DEGs at 168 h. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis revealed that metabolic pathways such as plant hormone signal transduction, terpenoid biosynthesis, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways, transporter activity, and transcription regulator activity play important roles in the salt stress response. Furthermore, yeast overexpression experiments preliminarily validated the critical roles of the tonoplast dicarboxylate transporter gene ClCG01G010280 and the NAC transcription factor gene ClCG05G024110 in salt stress tolerance. This study provides new molecular insights into the salt tolerance mechanism of watermelon and offers potential genetic resources for breeding salt-tolerant varieties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adaptive Mechanisms of Plants to Biotic or Abiotic Stresses—2nd Edition)
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18 pages, 9515 KiB  
Article
Mining Key Drought-Resistant Genes of Upland Cotton Based on RNA-Seq and WGCNA Analysis
by Hu Zhang, Wen Zhang, Yu Tang, Yuantao Guo, Jinsheng Wang, Wenju Gao, Qingtao Zeng, Quanjia Chen and Qin Chen
Plants 2025, 14(10), 1407; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14101407 - 8 May 2025
Viewed by 269
Abstract
Cotton, as a globally important fiber crop, is significantly affected by drought stress during production. This study uses the drought-resistant variety Jin and the drought-sensitive variety TM-1 as test materials. Through multi-period drought stress treatments at 0 d, 7 d, 10 d, 15 [...] Read more.
Cotton, as a globally important fiber crop, is significantly affected by drought stress during production. This study uses the drought-resistant variety Jin and the drought-sensitive variety TM-1 as test materials. Through multi-period drought stress treatments at 0 d, 7 d, 10 d, 15 d, and 25 d, combined with dynamic monitoring of physiological indicators, RNA sequencing, and weighted gene co-expression network analysis, the molecular mechanism of cotton drought resistance is systematically analyzed. Dynamic monitoring of physiological indicators showed that Jin significantly accumulated proline, maintained superoxide dismutase activity, reduced malondialdehyde accumulation, and delayed chlorophyll degradation. Transcriptome analysis revealed that Jin specifically activated 8544 differentially expressed genes after stress, which were significantly enriched in lipid metabolism (α-linolenic acid, ether lipids) and secondary metabolic pathways. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis identified co-expression modules significantly correlated with proline (r = 0.81) and malondialdehyde (r = 0.86) and selected the key hub gene Gh_A08G154500 (WRKY22), which was expressed 3.2 times higher in Jin than in TM-1 at 15 days of drought stress. Functional validation suggested that WRKY22 may form a “osmotic regulation–membrane protection” co-regulatory network by activating Pro synthesis genes (P5CS) and genes involved in the jasmonic acid signaling pathway. This study reveals, for the first time, the possible dual regulatory mechanism of WRKY22 in cotton’s drought resistance, providing a theoretical basis for cotton drought-resistant breeding. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adaptive Mechanisms of Plants to Biotic or Abiotic Stresses—2nd Edition)
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