Crosstalk Between Abiotic Stress and Pathogen Defense in Cereal Crops: Molecular and Redox Regulation
A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Protection and Biotic Interactions".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 September 2026
Special Issue Editors
Interests: plant physiology; molecular and biochemical response to biotic and abiotic stress in plants; plant–pathogen interactions; biofortification
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: plant antioxidative status; abiotic stress; heavy metals; metalloids; biofortification
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Plant pathogens and abiotic stress are major constraints to global cereal crop productivity and food security. Climate change-associated shifts in temperature, humidity, and the geographical distribution of plant pathogens are expected to further influence disease incidence in cereals such as wheat, barley, maize, and rice. The development and impact of plant pathogens are closely shaped by abiotic stress factors, such as water availability, salinity, temperature extremes, and nutrient imbalances, which are likewise intensified under changing climate conditions. As a result, plants continuously integrate signals derived from abiotic stresses with defense pathways activated during pathogen attack. These stress-induced responses intersect at several shared regulatory hubs, such as redox homeostasis, ROS signaling, phytohormonal networks, kinase-mediated cascades, and transcriptional regulation. Depending on the stress combination, interactions within these networks may generate synergistic, antagonistic, or priming effects that ultimately determine cereal susceptibility or tolerance. Despite substantial progress in stress biology, the mechanistic basis of this crosstalk remains only partially understood, particularly in major cereal species that underpin global food systems in an era of increasingly unstable environmental conditions.
This Special Issue aims to bring together recent advances in dissecting the complex regulatory networks underlying combined stress responses, with a particular focus on the molecular mechanisms and redox-regulated signaling pathways that integrate abiotic stress adaptation with plant immunity. We welcome contributions addressing ROS generation and antioxidant systems, phytohormonal crosstalk, transcriptional regulation, kinase-based signaling, membrane transport processes, and metabolic pathways associated with stress resilience. By integrating insights from molecular biology, biochemistry, and plant physiology, this Special Issue seeks to deepen our understanding of how cereals coordinate responses to multifactorial stresses, ultimately supporting the development of more resilient crop varieties.
Dr. Rosemary Vuković
Dr. Ivna Štolfa Čamagajevac
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
- abiotic stress
- biotic stress
- cereal crops
- combined stress
- crosstalk
- immune signaling
- pathogen defense
- phytohormonal crosstalk
- redox regulation
- ROS signaling
- stress resilience
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
