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Physiological and Molecular Insights into Plant Resistance to Biotic and...
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Physiological and Molecular Insights into Plant Resistance to Biotic and Abiotic Stresses

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 1004

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Violetta Katarzyna Macioszek

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Guest Editor
Department of Biology and Plant Ecology, Faculty of Biology, University of Bialystok, 15-245 Bialystok, Poland
Interests: biotic and abiotic stress; fungal pathogens; plant defense response; plant senescence
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Iwona Ciereszko

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Guest Editor
Department of Biology and Plant Ecology, Faculty of Biology, University of Bialystok, 15-245 Bialystok, Poland
Interests: abiotic stress; plant growth and development; phosphorus and nitrogen deficiency; sugar metabolism under stress
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Andrzej K. Kononowicz

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Guest Editor
Department of Plant Ecophysiology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz, 90-237 Lodz, Poland
Interests: agrobiotechnology; transgenesis; biotic and abiotic stress; plant disease resistance
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plants have evolved sophisticated strategies to survive environmental challenges. Plant resistance to biotic stress (including pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, and fungi, and pests such as nematodes and insects) and abiotic stress (e.g., drought, salinity, and temperature extremes) involves a tightly coordinated interplay between physiological adaptations and molecular signaling networks to maintain growth and survival.

Plants respond to stress physiologically through the antioxidative system, stomatal regulation, and osmotic adjustment, among other mechanisms. At the molecular level, plant signaling cascades are triggered by specific receptors (PRR or R), and activate phytohormones such as jasmonic acid (JA), salicylic acid (SA), abscisic acid (ABA), and ethylene (ET). Moreover, these hormones regulate gene expression linked to defense and stress tolerance.

In this Special Issue, we welcome original research papers and reviews on all aspects of plant physiology and molecular mechanisms of resistance under the influence of various biotic and/or abiotic stresses.

Dr. Violetta Katarzyna Macioszek
Prof. Dr. Iwona Ciereszko
Prof. Dr. Andrzej K. Kononowicz
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

  • biotic and abiotic stresses
  • plant physiology
  • plant disease
  • phytohormones
  • plant resistance
  • gene expression
  • signaling network

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 39105 KB  
Article
Genome-Wide Characterization of CAPE-Producing PR1 Genes Reveals Regulator-Dependent Expression and Abiotic Stress-Associated Functions in Nicotiana tabacum
by Yuanxin Wu, Zhongqi Zhang, Oluwaseyi Setonji Hunpatin, Zhongyang Liu, Shamima Naznin, Tao Liu, Jie Wang, Songxiao Cao, Zenglin Zhang, Yongfeng Guo, Sayed Abdul Akher and Zhenbiao Zhang
Plants 2026, 15(12), 1801; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15121801 - 11 Jun 2026
Abstract
Pathogenesis-related 1 (PR1) proteins are important components of plant defense and stress responses and also serve as precursors of CAP-derived peptides (CAPE), a class of small bioactive peptides involved in immune and stress signaling. Despite their potential biological significance, CAPE-producing PR1 genes have [...] Read more.
Pathogenesis-related 1 (PR1) proteins are important components of plant defense and stress responses and also serve as precursors of CAP-derived peptides (CAPE), a class of small bioactive peptides involved in immune and stress signaling. Despite their potential biological significance, CAPE-producing PR1 genes have not been systematically characterized in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). In this study, a genome-wide analysis identified 17 CAPE-producing PR1 genes, designated NtCAPE1 to NtCAPE17, in the tobacco genome. These genes encode proteins containing conserved CAP domains and N-terminal signal peptides, with predicted hydrophilic properties and mainly vacuolar localization, indicating conserved structural features within the family. Phylogenetic analysis, gene structure organization, conserved motif profiling, chromosomal distribution, and synteny analyses revealed both evolutionary conservation and duplication-driven diversification of the NtCAPE family. Promoter cis-element analysis showed enrichment of regulatory elements associated with phytohormone signaling, development, and stress responses. Public transcriptomic datasets revealed dynamic and gene-specific expression patterns under water-deficit and salinity stress, and qRT-PCR analysis further confirmed the stress-responsive expression of selected NtCAPE genes. Functional assays using synthetic mature peptides showed that NtCAPE9 and NtCAPE17 alleviated salinity stress- and osmotic stress-induced leaf yellowing, improved chlorophyll retention, suppressed senescence-associated responses, reduced H2O2 accumulation and POD activity, modulated stress-responsive gene expression, and promoted seed germination under salinity and osmotic stress, respectively. These results provide a comprehensive characterization of CAPE-producing PR1 genes in tobacco and identify NtCAPE9 and NtCAPE17 as candidate stress-associated peptides with exogenous activity under salinity and osmotic stress conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physiological and Molecular Insights into Plant Resistance to Biotic and Abiotic Stresses)
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14 pages, 2681 KB  
Article
Physiological and Yield Responses of Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) Genotypes Under Well-Watered and Water-Stressed Conditions
by Yogesh Dashrath Naik, Alvaro Sanz-Saez, Charles Chen, Phat Dang, N. Ace Pugh, Andrew Young, Yves Emendack and Naveen Puppala
Plants 2026, 15(8), 1243; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15081243 - 17 Apr 2026
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Abstract
A large proportion of global peanut cultivation occurs in arid and semiarid environments, where water scarcity poses a major limitation to productivity. Climate change further intensifies this challenge by causing irregular rainfall patterns. This study aimed to investigate the physiological and yield responses [...] Read more.
A large proportion of global peanut cultivation occurs in arid and semiarid environments, where water scarcity poses a major limitation to productivity. Climate change further intensifies this challenge by causing irregular rainfall patterns. This study aimed to investigate the physiological and yield responses of peanut genotypes under well-watered and water-stressed conditions. Seven genotypes, five drought-tolerant (C76-16, Line-8, PI 502120, AU-NPL-17 and AU16-28) and two drought-sensitive (Valencia-C and AP-3) were evaluated under two irrigation regimes across consecutive years (2024 and 2025). Seven yield-associated traits (number of pods per plant, pod length, pod width, pod yield per plant, seed weight, hundred-seed weight and pod yield per plot) along with three physiological traits (stomatal conductance, photosynthetic efficiency and leaf temperature) were measured at three growth stages. Drought stress caused a significant reduction in almost all traits, including pod yield per plot (42–44%) and hundred-seed weight (24–38%). Stomatal conductance showed the greatest reduction at all stages, especially during flowering (31–80%) and pod filling (45–74%) stages. Correlation analysis revealed that yield-related traits were negatively correlated with stomatal conductance at pod-filling under water-stress conditions. Genotypes such as PI 502120, AU-NPL-17 and C76-16 maintained higher yields with less reduction under water-stressed conditions. This study also confirmed that Line-8 employs a water-saver strategy, whereas PI 502120 uses a water-spender mechanism to cope with water stress. Additionally, findings showed that the flowering and pod-filling stages are more severely affected physiologically by drought stress, which likely contributed to the observed yield reduction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physiological and Molecular Insights into Plant Resistance to Biotic and Abiotic Stresses)
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