Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
6.5
4.0
Journals
Plants
Special Issues
Omics Research on Plant Resistance to Abiotic and Biotic Stress
share announcement

Omics Research on Plant Resistance to Abiotic and Biotic Stress

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 July 2025 | Viewed by 2977

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Rosa Sánchez-Lucas

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Birmingham Institute of Forest Research, School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston Campus, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
Interests: plant responses; mycorrhizae and chemical induced resistance; climate change resilience; plant pathology; -omics; epigenetics
Dr. Letizia Bernardo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Health Sciences, University of Milan, 20146 Milano, Italy
Interests: proteomics; metabolomics; mass spectrometry; bioinformatics; plant abiotic and biotic stress; food science; allergy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In nature and agricultural systems, plants are constantly exposed to multiple abiotic and biotic stresses. However, changing environmental conditions associated to climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of these stressors. Biotic stress (such as pathogens and pest attacks) and abiotic stress (such as drought, excess salt, flood, extreme heat and cold, heavy metals, radiation, etc.) caused adverse effects on plant growth, development, survival, and yield. In response to these changing circumstances, plants have evolved a series of molecular mechanisms to quickly perceive and respond to the environment. Proteins play a crucialrole of proteins in the plant defence responses. Currently, proteomics has been transformed from an isolated field into a comprehensive tool for biological research that can be used to explain biological functions. Several studies have successfully used the power of proteomics as a discovery tool to uncover plant resistance mechanisms and as a part of the Systems Biology

The purpose of this Special Issue is to investigate the current state of the -art, discuss recent research challenges, understand the mechanisms of plant abiotic and biotic stress adaptation, and the application of proteomics techniques to further explore and research.

Dr. Rosa Sánchez-Lucas
Dr. Letizia Bernardo
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

  • abiotic stress
  • biotic stress
  • plant defence mechanisms
  • proteomics
  • disease and pathogen
  • crop improvement: forest 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.

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

19 pages, 4593 KiB  
Article
Adaptive Defense Mechanism During Flowering Period of Rhododendron decorum Revealed by Comparative Transcriptomic Analysis
by Weiwei Liu, Chenghua Yu, Kaiye Yang, Ling Wang, Lianming Gao and Xinchun Mo
Plants 2025, 14(4), 559; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14040559 - 12 Feb 2025
Viewed by 617
Abstract
Rhododendron decorum, a widely distributed Rhododendron species in southwestern China, is recognized not only for its significant ornamental value but also as a culinary resource for local tribes. However, the defense mechanisms underlying the ecological adaptations of R. decorum remain to be [...] Read more.
Rhododendron decorum, a widely distributed Rhododendron species in southwestern China, is recognized not only for its significant ornamental value but also as a culinary resource for local tribes. However, the defense mechanisms underlying the ecological adaptations of R. decorum remain to be elucidated. In this study, we conducted comparative transcriptomic analyses of various organs (corolla, androecium/gynoecium and leaves) of R. decorum collected from two distinct two regions. Approximately 186.98 Gb of clean data were generated from three organs of R. decorum across these regions. Through de novo assembly, a total of 92,025 unigenes were obtained and nearly half of them (43,515 unigenes) were successfully annotated. Enrichment analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) within three comparative groups of different organs (HQI/LFI, HQO/LFO and HQL/LFL, respectively) revealed that the distribution of R. decorum in the Heqing region exhibited an increased requirement for plant immunity, including resistance to diseases, insects, and herbivores across various plant organs. Conversely, R. decorum in the Lijiang region showed a greater reliance on environmental factors, such as cold tolerance, aromatic compounds production, and the attraction of pollinating insects. Notably, the validation of 21 pivotal genes identified from significantly regulated enrichment pathways across different organs showed functional consistency in the KEGG enrichment analysis among different organs in these two regions. The functional disparities observed in the transcriptome of R. decorum across distinct regions provide valuable insight into the understanding of its adaptive defense mechanism. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Omics Research on Plant Resistance to Abiotic and Biotic Stress)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

21 pages, 4953 KiB  
Article
Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Analysis of Hexokinase Gene Family Under Abiotic Stress in Tomato
by Jing Li, Xiong Yao, Jianling Zhang, Maoyu Li, Qiaoli Xie, Yingwu Yang, Guoping Chen, Xianwei Zhang and Zongli Hu
Plants 2025, 14(3), 441; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14030441 - 3 Feb 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 877
Abstract
In plants, hexokinase (HXK) is a kind of bifunctional enzyme involved in sugar metabolism and sugar signal transduction that plays important roles in plant growth and development and stress response. Some HXK genes without a phosphorylation function have been found in Arabidopsis, tobacco, [...] Read more.
In plants, hexokinase (HXK) is a kind of bifunctional enzyme involved in sugar metabolism and sugar signal transduction that plays important roles in plant growth and development and stress response. Some HXK genes without a phosphorylation function have been found in Arabidopsis, tobacco, etc., but these genes have not been identified in tomato. Therefore, further genome-wide systematic identification and characterization is necessary for tomato HXK genes. In this study, six HXK genes were identified from the tomato genome distributed across six different chromosomes, named SlHXK1-6. Gene structure analysis showed that the SlHXK genes contain the same number of introns and exons. Gene duplication and collinearity analysis revealed two pairs of tandem repeats among SlHXKs, and a higher collinearity between tomatoes and potatoes were found. Response elements associated with phytohormones, abiotic stresses, and growth and development were identified in the promoter sequences of SlHXKs. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) results further indicated the potential role of SlHXKs in tomato development and stress responses. The expression levels of most SlHXKs were significantly induced by abiotic stress, hormone, and sugar solution treatments. In particular, the expression of SlHXK1 was significantly induced by various treatments. Functional complementation experiments were performed using HXK-deficient yeast strain YSH7.4-3C (hxk1, hxk2, and glk1), and the results showed that SlHXK5 and SlHXK6 were unable to phosphorylate glucose and fructose in yeast. In conclusion, these results provide valuable foundations for further exploring the sugar metabolism and sugar signal transduction mechanisms of HXK and the functions of SlHXK genes in various abiotic stresses, and some SlHXKs may be key genes for enhancing plants’ tolerance to abiotic stresses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Omics Research on Plant Resistance to Abiotic and Biotic Stress)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

30 pages, 10691 KiB  
Article
Genome- and Transcriptome-Wide Characterization and Expression Analyses of bHLH Transcription Factor Family Reveal Their Relevance to Salt Stress Response in Tomato
by Jianling Zhang, Xiaoying Liu, Zuozhen Yin, Tiantian Zhao, Dan Du, Jing Li, Mingku Zhu, Yueying Sun and Yu Pan
Plants 2025, 14(2), 200; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14020200 - 12 Jan 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 992
Abstract
The bHLH (basic helix–loop–helix) transcription factors function as crucial regulators in numerous biological processes including abiotic stress responses and plant development. According to our RNA-seq analysis of tomato seedlings under salt stress, we found that, although the bHLH gene family in tomato has [...] Read more.
The bHLH (basic helix–loop–helix) transcription factors function as crucial regulators in numerous biological processes including abiotic stress responses and plant development. According to our RNA-seq analysis of tomato seedlings under salt stress, we found that, although the bHLH gene family in tomato has been studied, there are still so many tomato bHLH genes that have not been identified and named, which will hinder the later study of SlbHLHs. In total, 195 SlbHLHs that were unevenly distributed onto 12 chromosomes were identified from the tomato genome and were classified into 27 subfamilies based on their molecular features. The collinearity between SlbHLHs and interrelated orthologs from 10 plants further revealed evolutionary insights into SlbHLHs. Cis-element investigations of SlbHLHs promotors further suggested the potential roles of SlbHLHs in tomato development and stress responses. A total of 30 SlbHLHs were defined as the differentially expressed genes in response to salt stress by RNA-seq. The expression profiles of selected SlbHLHs were varyingly and markedly induced by multiple abiotic stresses and hormone treatments. These results provide valuable information to further understand the significance and intricacy of the bHLH transcription factor family, and lay a foundation for further exploring functions and possible regulatory mechanisms of SlbHLH members in abiotic stress tolerance, which will be significant for the study of tomato stress resistance and agricultural productivity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Omics Research on Plant Resistance to Abiotic and Biotic Stress)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-3
Back to TopTop