Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
7.6
4.1
Journals
Plants
Special Issues
Physiological and Molecular Mechanisms of Plant Resistance to Abiotic Stress
share announcement

Physiological and Molecular Mechanisms of Plant Resistance to Abiotic Stress

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Physiology and Metabolism".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 17 February 2026 | Viewed by 2263

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Lei Cao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China
Interests: salt and alkaline stress; Glycine soja; Glycine max; Lupinus angustifolius; tolerance mechanisms; oxidative stress; transcription factor; splicing factor; root morphology
Dr. Yao Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Life Sciences, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China
Interests: cold stress; disease resistance; tolerance mechanisms; fruit quality; metabolism regulation
Dr. Qiang Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Life Sciences, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China
Interests: stress physiology of leguminous crops; saline/alkaline stress; nutritional stress; bicarbonate stress; drought stress; low nitrogen stress; tolerance mechanisms

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Abiotic stresses significantly reduce crop quality and yield. To adapt to environmental stimuli, plants have acquired stress resistance mechanisms through long-term evolution. Therefore, elucidating the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying abiotic stress responses is essential for enhancing crop sustainability and addressing the increasing global demand for food production. This Special Issue aims to highlight regulatory mechanisms in economically important plants, including food crops, horticultural crops, oil crops, and ornamental crops, affected by various abiotic stresses such as salt–alkaline stress, extreme temperature stress (cold/heat), water stress (drought/flooding), heavy metal stress, etc. Studies investigating protein interactions, transcriptional regulatory pathways, splicing factor functions, or root development are particularly encouraged. Submitted manuscripts should be original work that has neither been published previously nor is currently under consideration for publication in other journals.

Dr. Lei Cao
Dr. Yao Zhang
Dr. Qiang Li
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

  • salt and alkaline stresses
  • cold and high temperature stresses
  • water and drought stresses
  • oxidative stress
  • hydroponic cultivation
  • hairy root induction
  • horticulture crops
  • oil crops
  • ornamental crops
  • tolerance mechanisms
  • protein interaction
  • transcription regulation
  • splicing factor
  • transcription factor
  • root development
  • root morphology
  • heavy metal stress
  • environment stimuli

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 (4 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

Jump to: Review

24 pages, 14346 KB  
Article
The tae-miR164-TaNAC6A Module from Winter Wheat Could Enhance Cold Tolerance in Transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana
by Ziyao Dai, Xiaoyan Yang, Wenwang Shan, Yiou Hao, Da Zhang, Kankan Peng and Qinghua Xu
Plants 2025, 14(18), 2849; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14182849 - 12 Sep 2025
Viewed by 288
Abstract
Cold stress impedes the growth and development of wheat (Triticum aestivum) and other crops, ultimately reducing both yields and quality. Research indicates that non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) play a crucial role in regulating plant stress responses and resistance. In a previous study, [...] Read more.
Cold stress impedes the growth and development of wheat (Triticum aestivum) and other crops, ultimately reducing both yields and quality. Research indicates that non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) play a crucial role in regulating plant stress responses and resistance. In a previous study, we observed that the expression of tae-miR164 was inversely correlated with the expression of TaNAC6A in Dongnongdongmai 1 (Dn1), a winter wheat variety with high cold resistance, under cold-stress conditions. However, the molecular mechanism governing the cold responsiveness of the tae-miR164-TaNAC6A module was not fully understood. We found that tae-miR164 and TaNAC6A were both induced to express in opposite trends, and TaNAC6A was located in the nucleus. We also discovered that the expression of tae-miR164 and its target gene, TaNAC6A, was responsive to short-term freezing stress in transgenic Arabidopsis plants. Compared to wild-type (WT) Arabidopsis plants, OE-tae-miR164 plants showed decreased cold tolerance, whereas those overexpressing TaNAC6A demonstrated increased tolerance. On average, the OE-TaNAC6A and STTM-tea-miR164 plants exhibited fewer morphological abnormalities in response to cold stress, higher antioxidant enzyme activities and gene expression levels, lower levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA), and higher expressions of AtDREB1, AtDREB2, and AtABI5 in the cold-signaling pathway. Thus, the biological functions of tae-miR164 and TaNAC6A were initially confirmed through heterologous expression strategies, and we have made the first attempt to elucidate its associated tae-miR164-TaNAC6A module of cold resistance. The findings of this research will support further investigations into the regulation of plant stress resistance by ncRNAs and will inform molecular module breeding strategies aimed at enhancing the cold tolerance of crop plants. Molecular module design breeding, as a significant breakthrough in modern biotechnology, is transforming traditional breeding models. Conventional hybrid breeding relies on empirical screening, which is time-consuming and subject to randomness. In contrast, molecular module breeding directly targets key genes and achieves precise regulation through technologies such as gene editing and synthetic biology. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physiological and Molecular Mechanisms of Plant Resistance to Abiotic Stress)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 73509 KB  
Article
GsCYP93D1, a Cytochrome P450 Gene from Wild Soybean, Mediates the Regulation of Plant Alkaline Tolerance and ABA Sensitivity
by Chao Chen, Jianyue Dai, Nuo Xu, Wanying Zhou, Liankun Xu, Qiuying Pang, Huizi Duanmu and Haiying Li
Plants 2025, 14(17), 2623; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14172623 - 23 Aug 2025
Viewed by 470
Abstract
Cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYPs) are crucial catalysts responsible for the oxidative modification of diverse substrates, including plant hormones, antioxidants, and compounds involved in abiotic stress responses. While CYP functions in drought and salt stress adaptation have been extensively studied, their contribution to alkaline [...] Read more.
Cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYPs) are crucial catalysts responsible for the oxidative modification of diverse substrates, including plant hormones, antioxidants, and compounds involved in abiotic stress responses. While CYP functions in drought and salt stress adaptation have been extensively studied, their contribution to alkaline stress tolerance, particularly concerning specific cytochrome P450 genes in wild soybean (Glycine soja), remains less explored. In this study, a cytochrome P450 gene, GsCYP93D1, was identified and isolated, and its regulatory role under alkaline stress was elucidated. Transgenic GsCYP93D1 increased Arabidopsis and soybean hairy root resistance to alkaline stress, but the Arabidopsis atcyp93d1 mutant showed a reduced capacity for alkaline tolerance. Subsequent investigation showed the enhanced antioxidant defense capabilities of GsCYP93D1 transgenic plants, as evidenced by reduced superoxide radical (O2−) production under exposure to alkaline stress. Furthermore, compared to the atcyp93d1 mutant, transgenic lines of GsCYP93D1 showed sensitivity to ABA. Moreover, transcript levels of genes associated with alkaline stress response and ABA signaling pathways were elevated in both GsCYP93D1 transgenic and mutant lines. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that GsCYP93D1 positively modulates plant tolerance to alkaline stress and enhances ABA sensitivity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physiological and Molecular Mechanisms of Plant Resistance to Abiotic Stress)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

23 pages, 8300 KB  
Article
Pan-Genome-Based Characterization of the PYL Transcription Factor Family in Populus
by Xiaoli Han, Chen Qiu, Zhongshuai Gai, Juntuan Zhai, Jia Song, Jianhao Sun and Zhijun Li
Plants 2025, 14(16), 2541; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14162541 - 15 Aug 2025
Viewed by 508
Abstract
Abscisic acid (ABA) is a key phytohormone involved in regulating plant growth and responses to environmental stress. As receptors of ABA, pyrabactin resistance 1 (PYR)/PYR1-like (PYL) proteins play a central role in initiating ABA signal transduction. In this study, a total of 30 [...] Read more.
Abscisic acid (ABA) is a key phytohormone involved in regulating plant growth and responses to environmental stress. As receptors of ABA, pyrabactin resistance 1 (PYR)/PYR1-like (PYL) proteins play a central role in initiating ABA signal transduction. In this study, a total of 30 PopPYL genes were identified and classified into three sub-families (PYL I–III) in the pan-genome of 17 Populus species, through phylogenetic analysis. Among these subfamilies, the PYL I subfamily was the largest, comprising 21 members, whereas PYL III was the smallest, with only four members. To elucidate the evolutionary dynamics of these genes, we conducted synteny and Ka/Ks analyses. Results indicated that most PopPYL genes had undergone purifying selection (Ka/Ks < 1), while a few were subject to positive selection (Ka/Ks > 1). Promoter analysis revealed 258 cis-regulatory elements in the PYL genes of Populus euphratica (EUP) and Populus pruinosa (PRU), including 127 elements responsive to abiotic stress and 33 ABA-related elements. Furthermore, six structural variations (SVs) were detected in PYL_EUP genes and significantly influenced gene expression levels (p < 0.05). To further explore the functional roles of PYL genes, we analyzed tissue-specific expression profiles of 17 PYL_EUP genes under drought stress conditions. PYL6_EUP was predominantly expressed in roots, PYL17_EUP exhibited leaf-specific expression, and PYL1_EUP showed elevated expression in stems. These findings suggest that the drought response of PYL_EUP genes is tissue-specific. Overall, this study highlights the utility of pan-genomics in elucidating gene family evolution and suggests that PYL_EUP genes contribute to the regulation of drought stress responses in EUP, offering valuable genetic resources for functional characterization of PYL genes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physiological and Molecular Mechanisms of Plant Resistance to Abiotic Stress)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

34 pages, 4551 KB  
Review
Multi-Scale Remote-Sensing Phenomics Integrated with Multi-Omics: Advances in Crop Drought–Heat Stress Tolerance Mechanisms and Perspectives for Climate-Smart Agriculture
by Xiongwei Liang, Shaopeng Yu, Yongfu Ju, Yingning Wang and Dawei Yin
Plants 2025, 14(18), 2829; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14182829 - 10 Sep 2025
Viewed by 577
Abstract
Climate change is intensifying the co-occurrence of drought and heat stresses, which substantially constrain global crop yields and threaten food security. Developing climate–resilient crop varieties requires a comprehensive understanding of the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying combined drought–heat stress tolerance. This review systematically [...] Read more.
Climate change is intensifying the co-occurrence of drought and heat stresses, which substantially constrain global crop yields and threaten food security. Developing climate–resilient crop varieties requires a comprehensive understanding of the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying combined drought–heat stress tolerance. This review systematically summarizes recent advances in integrating multi-scale remote-sensing phenomics with multi-omics approaches—genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics—to elucidate stress response pathways and identify adaptive traits. High-throughput phenotyping platforms, including satellites, UAVs, and ground-based sensors, enable non-invasive assessment of key stress indicators such as canopy temperature, vegetation indices, and chlorophyll fluorescence. Concurrently, omics studies have revealed central regulatory networks, including the ABA–SnRK2 signaling cascade, HSF–HSP chaperone systems, and ROS-scavenging pathways. Emerging frameworks integrating genotype × environment × phenotype (G × E × P) interactions, powered by machine learning and deep learning algorithms, are facilitating the discovery of functional genes and predictive phenotypes. This “pixels-to-proteins” paradigm bridges field-scale phenotypes with molecular responses, offering actionable insights for breeding, precision management, and the development of digital twin systems for climate-smart agriculture. We highlight current challenges, including data standardization and cross-platform integration, and propose future research directions to accelerate the deployment of resilient crop varieties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physiological and Molecular Mechanisms of Plant Resistance to Abiotic 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 1-4
Back to TopTop