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Growth, Development, and Stress Response of Horticulture Plants/Crops—2nd Edition
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Growth, Development, and Stress Response of Horticulture Plants/Crops—2nd Edition

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Horticultural Science and Ornamental Plants".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 2018

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Wenfeng Nie

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Horticulture Science and Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an 271002, China
Interests: DNA demethylation; abiotic stress; fruit ripening; fruit quality
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Fan Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology, Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture and Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
Interests: plant senescence; flower senescence; petal senescence; cut flower; ethylene signaling; transcriptional regulation; epigenetic regulation; postharvest
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Ping Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
Interests: brassinosteroid signaling; autophagy; Feronia; plant growth and stress responses; protein degradation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Horticulture plants and their products are necessary nutritional and functional components in human society. The growth and development of horticulture plants are complicated topics. Not only are they regulated by environmental factors but also largely dependent on genetic and epigenetic interactions. Moreover, the balance between growth and stress is essential for the quality and yield of horticultural crops. In recent years, although many studies have revealed that epigenetic regulations are important for fruit ripening, the mechanism behind the dynamic modulation of the epigenome in response to development, growth, and stress stimulations is not fully understood.

This Special Issue aims to investigate the growth, development, and stress response of horticulture plants through methods of molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, and bioinformatics, providing perspectives on the potential challenges of horticulture crop production. This Special Issue welcomes the submission of manuscripts that use horticulture plants as their experimental material to conduct analyses on the genetic and epigenetic molecular mechanisms that are involved in the regulation of growth and the development of abiotic/biotic stresses.

Dr. Wenfeng Nie
Prof. Dr. Fan Zhang
Dr. Ping Wang
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-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

  • horticulture
  • growth and development
  • biotic stress
  • abiotic stress
  • epigenetic modification
  • temperature
  • light quality

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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23 pages, 889 KB  
Article
Integrative Metabolomic and Physiological Responses of Citrus sinensis to Soil Management in a Semi-Arid Orchard
by Carlos Giménez-Valero, Dámaris Núñez-Gómez, Pilar Legua, Juan José Martínez-Nicolás, Vicente Lidón and Pablo Melgarejo
Plants 2026, 15(3), 386; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15030386 - 27 Jan 2026
Viewed by 509
Abstract
The coordination between carbon and nitrogen metabolism is central to plant adaptation to water-limited environments. This study investigated how soil management practices modulate the metabolic and physiological performance of Citrus sinensis trees cultivated under semi-arid conditions. Six field treatments combining weed-control netting, subsurface [...] Read more.
The coordination between carbon and nitrogen metabolism is central to plant adaptation to water-limited environments. This study investigated how soil management practices modulate the metabolic and physiological performance of Citrus sinensis trees cultivated under semi-arid conditions. Six field treatments combining weed-control netting, subsurface drainage, and zeolite amendment were evaluated for their effects on vegetative growth, yield, and fruit metabolome. Using 1H-NMR spectroscopy, 23 metabolites in peel and 21 in juice were identified and quantified, revealing that sugars, organic acids, and amino acids were the most responsive compound classes. Multivariate analyses (PCA, PLS-DA) showed distinct metabolic fingerprints associated with each soil management regime. Treatments integrating netting and zeolite (T4) induced a coordinated reprogramming of carbon and nitrogen metabolism, characterized by altered levels of glucose, fructose, citrate, and proline. These changes suggest enhanced osmotic regulation and tricarboxylic acid cycle activity, supporting improved water-use efficiency and physiological stability under semi-arid stress. The results demonstrate that soil management directly influences fruit metabolic homeostasis, linking environmental modulation of root-zone conditions with whole-plant biochemical adjustment. This integrative metabolomic approach provides mechanistic insight into how soil–plant interactions shape the metabolic resilience of citrus under water-limited field environments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growth, Development, and Stress Response of Horticulture Plants/Crops—2nd Edition)
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25 pages, 11228 KB  
Article
Optimal Branch Bending Angle for Korla Fragrant Pear: A Multi-Trait Physiological Trade-Off Framework
by Ablah Niyaz, Mansur Nasir, Shikui Zhang, Shaopeng Wang, Cuihui Min, Guoquan Fan, Dilraba Muhtar, Xianbiao Ma, Mirigul Tunyaz, Lihong Yao, Ruizhe Wang, Tianming He, Juan Song and Mayira Eziz
Plants 2026, 15(2), 339; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15020339 - 22 Jan 2026
Viewed by 371
Abstract
The optimal branch bending angle for Pyrus sinkiangensis Yü (Korla fragrant pear) remains undefined. In this study, the optimal angle was determined by integrating the phenological, nutritional, hormonal, and fruit-quality responses across a 15-day bloom window. Four branch angles (40°, 60°, 80°, and [...] Read more.
The optimal branch bending angle for Pyrus sinkiangensis Yü (Korla fragrant pear) remains undefined. In this study, the optimal angle was determined by integrating the phenological, nutritional, hormonal, and fruit-quality responses across a 15-day bloom window. Four branch angles (40°, 60°, 80°, and 100°) were applied to 8-year-old trees in spring 2022, and flowering dynamics, bud carbon/nitrogen status, leaf morphology/mineral content, fruiting-shoot architecture, endogenous hormones, and fruit quality were comprehensively evaluated. The 80° angle maximized the fruit set (11.77%) and bud soluble sugar content (8.84 mg/g DW), significantly outperforming the other angles (p < 0.05). The flowering rate peaked at 100° (7.89%) but was statistically comparable to that at 60° and 80° (p > 0.05); calyx removal was greatest at 60° (73.33%), with no significant difference from that at 80° (71%, p > 0.05). These reproductive benefits aligned with enhanced leaf source capacity—80° pulling resulted in the greatest leaf area (59.51 cm2), the greatest amount of chlorophyll (3.11 mg/g DW), and elevated N/Mg/Cu concentrations. Branch architecture was optimized at 80°, with the percentage of medium fruiting spurs reaching 41.1% and the xylem:phloem dry-weight ratio peaking at 1.78, indicating the development of efficient assimilate transport pathways. Hormonally, 80° triggered a distinct cascade: a transient GA4/GA7 surge (50.6 and 1.34 ng/g DW) on 28 April, followed by sustained IAA elevation (2.05 ng/g DW) and zeatin stabilization (0.27–0.29 ng/g DW) during ovary development. Consequently, the fruit quality was comprehensively improved at 80°—the single-fruit weight (110.7 g), soluble sugar content (10.08 mg/g DW), and sugar/acid ratio (17.08) were greatest, whereas the stone-cell content was lowest (0.49 mg/g DW). Principal component analysis of 57 traits confirmed 80° as the system-wide optimum (D = 0.718). These results demonstrate that an 80° bending angle synchronizes carbohydrate supply, hormone signaling, and fruit quality in Korla fragrant pear, providing a low-cost, nonchemical benchmark for precision canopy management in high-density orchards. An 80° branch-bending angle optimizes carbon-hormone synergy via a transient GA4/GA7 surge and sustained IAA-zeatin signaling, maximizing fruit set and quality in high-density Korla fragrant pear orchards. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growth, Development, and Stress Response of Horticulture Plants/Crops—2nd Edition)
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Review

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27 pages, 1848 KB  
Review
NBR1-Mediated Selective Autophagy in Plant Development and Stress Responses
by Xinye Li, Yali Duan, Jiyang Zhou and Peifeng Yu
Plants 2026, 15(9), 1350; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15091350 - 28 Apr 2026
Viewed by 143
Abstract
Autophagy is a conserved degradation pathway essential for cellular homeostasis in plants. Selective autophagy confers cargo specificity through receptors, among which NEIGHBOR OF BRCA1 GENE1 (NBR1) is one of the best-characterized. NBR1 mediates the selective turnover of ubiquitinated or stress-damaged cargoes, including protein [...] Read more.
Autophagy is a conserved degradation pathway essential for cellular homeostasis in plants. Selective autophagy confers cargo specificity through receptors, among which NEIGHBOR OF BRCA1 GENE1 (NBR1) is one of the best-characterized. NBR1 mediates the selective turnover of ubiquitinated or stress-damaged cargoes, including protein aggregates and damaged organelles, by linking them to ATG8-decorated autophagosomes via its AIM and UBA domains. This process supports proteostasis, plant development, and adaptation to abiotic stresses, including heat, drought, chilling, salinity, and heavy metals, as well as biotic stresses from bacteria, fungi, viruses, and oomycetes. In this review, we summarize current advances in understanding NBR1 structure, evolutionary conservation, and cargo recognition mechanisms, and highlight its interplay with phytohormone signaling and the ubiquitin–proteasome system (UPS) in shaping plant growth and stress resilience. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growth, Development, and Stress Response of Horticulture Plants/Crops—2nd Edition)
16 pages, 1147 KB  
Review
Epigenetic Regulation of Root-Associated Microbiota: Mechanisms and Horticultural Applications
by Subo Tian, Ning Zhang, Guiyu Lin, Xiaoli Cheng, Fubin Wang, Peipei Chang, Golam Jalal Ahammed, Qinghua Shi, Wen-Feng Nie and Yan Zhang
Plants 2026, 15(6), 938; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15060938 - 19 Mar 2026
Viewed by 610
Abstract
The dynamic interaction between plants and their root-associated microbiota represents a sophisticated and profound biological communication that regulates plant development and the formation of adaptation to the surrounding environment. These interactions function as critical regulators of multiple physiological processes, finally influencing soil fertility [...] Read more.
The dynamic interaction between plants and their root-associated microbiota represents a sophisticated and profound biological communication that regulates plant development and the formation of adaptation to the surrounding environment. These interactions function as critical regulators of multiple physiological processes, finally influencing soil fertility and agricultural productivity. Plants have evolved epigenetic networks that regulate beneficial plant–microbe interactions through regulating immune responses, gene regulation, and metabolite production to enhance stress tolerance and soil adaptation. These regulations collectively govern microbial colonization patterns while establishing reciprocal feedback loops through root exudate–microbe interactions. This review systematically updates contemporary advances in understanding how epigenetic modifications shape rhizosphere microbiome composition and function, and discusses their potential applications in enhancing the yield and quality of horticultural crops, as well as in mitigating continuous cropping obstacles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Growth, Development, and Stress Response of Horticulture Plants/Crops—2nd Edition)
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