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Plant Challenges in Response to Salt and Water Stress, 2nd...
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Plant Challenges in Response to Salt and Water Stress, 2nd Edition

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 August 2026 | Viewed by 4210

Editors

Dr. Alexandre Maniçoba da Rosa Ferraz Jardim

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biodiversity, Institute of Biosciences, São Paulo State University—UNESP, Rio Claro 13506-900, SP, Brazil
Interests: abiotic stresses; salinity; physiological and biochemical changes in plants; salt stress tolerance; reactive oxygen species (ROS); ion homeostasis; ion toxicity; agricultural challenges in arid and semi-arid regions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Toshik Iarley da Silva

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Center for Agrarian, Environmental and Biological Sciences, Federal University of Recôncavo da Bahia, Cruz das Almas 44380-000, BA, Brazil
Interests: plant physiology; abiotic stress; salt stress; drought stress; phytohormones; vegetables; postharvest of fruits and vegetables; edible flowers
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Abiotic stress, more specifically, saline and water, poses a significant threat to plant survival and productivity, causing substantial losses in global crop yields. The adverse effects caused by water stress (drought and flood) and saline stress are maximized with environmental conditions. Consequently, there's a pressing need for comprehensive research delving into the molecular, cellular, tissue, anatomical, morphological, and physiological mechanisms underlying plant resilience to salt and water stress.

This Second Edition of the Special Issue in Plants aims to aggregate extensive insights into plant responses to salt and water stress and propose innovative strategies for enhancing their resilience. By synthesizing a wealth of information, we aspire to advance our understanding of plant adaptation mechanisms and foster the development of effective solutions to mitigate the impact of salt and water stress. We invite research articles that address the following topics: ROS; salinity; drought; flood stress; signaling molecules; antioxidants; and oxidative stress. Finally, we are particularly interested in understanding how these combined stresses impact plant responses and adaptations, rather than studying individual stress factors in isolation.

Dr. Alexandre Maniçoba da Rosa Ferraz Jardim
Dr. Toshik Iarley da Silva
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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-anonymized 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

  • antioxidant defense
  • lipid peroxidation
  • oxidative stress
  • phytohormones
  • stress signaling
  • physiological and biochemical changes in plants
  • salt stress tolerance
  • reactive oxygen species (ROS)
  • drought stress responses
  • ion toxicity
  • redox and ROS balance
  • enzymes

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 2398 KB  
Article
Phenotyping Root and Shoot Traits for Drought Response in Bambara Groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.)
by Anne Linda Chisa, Takudzwa Mandizvo, Alfred Odindo and Paramu Mafongoya
Plants 2026, 15(8), 1138; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15081138 - 8 Apr 2026
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 900
Abstract
Drought stress poses a significant challenge to food security in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly for smallholder farmers in dryland systems. Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.), an underutilised legume with inherent drought tolerance, remains underexplored in terms of its root system traits. This [...] Read more.
Drought stress poses a significant challenge to food security in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly for smallholder farmers in dryland systems. Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.), an underutilised legume with inherent drought tolerance, remains underexplored in terms of its root system traits. This greenhouse study investigated the early root and shoot responses of six Bambara groundnut genotypes under well-watered (100% field capacity) and water-stressed (50% field capacity) conditions using rhizotron-based phenotyping. Significant genotypic differences (p < 0.01) were observed in root traits such as root system depth (RSD: 11.0–19.9 cm), root system width (RSW: 6.96–12.2 cm), and root dry mass (RDM: 0.42–1.27 g). The ARC genotype exhibited a strong drought-avoidance strategy, increasing RSD from 12.2 to 19.9 cm and RDM from 0.42 to 1.16 g under stress. The Tiga Nicuru DIP-C-F7471 genotype showed adaptive plasticity, maintaining deeper roots (11.0–14.5 cm), high convex hull area (CHA), and root–shoot ratio (RSR) values, despite a reduction in RDM, suggesting a resource-conserving strategy. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) captured 93.6% of the total variability among genotypes. Root traits, particularly total root length (TRL), convex hull area (CHA), root system width (RSW), and root dry mass (RDM), were the main contributors to genotype differentiation. Strong positive correlations (r = 0.88–0.97) between root and shoot traits suggest that genotypes with more developed root systems also supported greater shoot growth, highlighting the coordinated response of above- and below-ground traits under drought stress. These findings provide valuable targets for breeding and highlight the value of rhizotron-based screening for root trait selection. Future field validation and full-season studies are recommended to confirm their relevance for improving yield stability in dryland agriculture. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Challenges in Response to Salt and Water Stress, 2nd Edition)
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23 pages, 6358 KB  
Article
Integrated Multi-Omics Analysis Revealed the Synergistic Regulatory Mechanisms of Salt Tolerance in Soybean (Kefeng 1)
by Yuan Yuan, Lihua Zhu, Biting Cao, Jiaqi You, Haijian Zhi, Kai Li, Weihong Gu, Hongjuan Yang and Chaohan Li
Plants 2026, 15(4), 555; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15040555 - 10 Feb 2026
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1164
Abstract
Soil salinisation has become one of the major abiotic stresses limiting crop growth in the world. To enhance soybean productivity on saline lands, understanding its salt-stress response and underlying mechanisms is necessary. In this study, the salt-tolerant soybean Kefeng 1 and the salt-sensitive [...] Read more.
Soil salinisation has become one of the major abiotic stresses limiting crop growth in the world. To enhance soybean productivity on saline lands, understanding its salt-stress response and underlying mechanisms is necessary. In this study, the salt-tolerant soybean Kefeng 1 and the salt-sensitive soybean Qihuang 1 were used to elucidate the synergistic regulatory networks underlying soybean salt tolerance. After 12 days of 150 mM NaCl treatment, both varieties were subjected to phenotypic evaluation, physiological measurements, and integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis. The results showed that the salt tolerance in Kefeng 1 primarily originated from its root. Under salt stress, Kefeng 1 maintained Na+/K+ ion homeostasis by up-regulating Cation/H+ Exchanger 15 (CHX15) and Cation Exchanger 3 (CAX3), and down-regulating Cyclic Nucleotide-Gated Channel 13 (CNGC13). Furthermore, Kefeng 1 stabilised auxin (IAA) homeostasis by inhibiting IAA biosynthesis and regulating concentrations through PIN-FORMED 3 (PIN3)-mediated efflux. It also scavenged reactive oxygen species (ROS) by employing enhanced enzymatic antioxidant systems, specifically aldo-keto reductase 1 (AKR1), glutathione S-transferase (GST), and catalase (CAT), alongside non-enzymatic antioxidants like the isoflavone genistein. Gene–metabolite correlation network analysis identified Glyma.09G117900 (PIN3) and Glyma.19G244200 (AKR1) as two hub genes. These two genes were specifically up-regulated in Kefeng 1 root under NaCl stress, and the proteins they encoded played important roles in salt tolerance in Kefeng 1 root as described above. Accordingly, these two genes were identified as candidate genes for salt tolerance in Kefeng 1. This study offered a theoretical framework and genetic resources for developing salt-tolerant soybean cultivars. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Challenges in Response to Salt and Water Stress, 2nd Edition)
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16 pages, 1176 KB  
Article
Mechanisms of Aphids (Myzus persicae (Sulzer)) Response to Insecticides and Drought Stresses on Cabbage (Brassica rapa L. ssp. Pekinensis)
by Peter Quandahor, Jong-ho Park, Minju Kim, Keunpyo Lee, Ahrang Kang, Young Ho Koh, Francis Kusi, Mohammed Mujitaba Dawuda, Jerry A. Nboyine and In-hong Jeong
Plants 2026, 15(2), 219; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15020219 - 10 Jan 2026
Viewed by 1659
Abstract
Drought stress and insecticide exposure are two significant environmental factors that can impact the physiology and behaviour of aphids, a major agricultural pest. An understanding of the mechanisms of green peach aphids’ response to insecticides under drought stress is a critical area of [...] Read more.
Drought stress and insecticide exposure are two significant environmental factors that can impact the physiology and behaviour of aphids, a major agricultural pest. An understanding of the mechanisms of green peach aphids’ response to insecticides under drought stress is a critical area of research that needs urgent attention. In view of this, we conducted this study to determine the impact of drought and insecticides on the activity of detoxification enzymes in green peach aphid. A 2 × 2 × 3 factorial experiment involving two levels of water treatments (drought and no drought), two levels of aphids infestation (aphids and no aphids), and three levels of pesticides applications (thiacloprid, flonicamid and no pesticide) was conducted. The treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The results showed that there was a significant (p < 0.01) interaction effect of drought × insecticides on the green peach aphid performance under drought or no drought conditions. Generally, the highest aphids host acceptance, survival rate, colonization success, and average daily reproduction under drought and well-watered conditions occurred on flonicamid-treated plants, whereas thiacloprid-treated plants had the least. However, the thiacloprid-treated plants had higher photosynthetic rate, water use efficiency, lower stomatal conductance, and decreased transpiration rate. Moreover, flonicamid treatment increased the accumulation of glutathione–S-transferase, acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase, 1-napthyle acetate, and 1-napthyle butyrate activities in aphids, compared to the thiacloprid treatments. The thiacloprid pesticide, which demonstrated higher efficacy against green peach aphid, can be used in areas where green peach aphids and drought stress are major concerns. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Challenges in Response to Salt and Water Stress, 2nd Edition)
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