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Resilient Plants and Algae: New Environmental Challenges and Innovative Technological...
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Resilient Plants and Algae: New Environmental Challenges and Innovative Technological Approaches

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 December 2026 | Viewed by 2636

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Simone Landi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biology, University of Naples "Federico II", Via Cinthia, I-80126 Naples, Italy
Interests: crops; landraces; glucose metabolism; NGS; abiotic stress; algal biotechnology; synthetic biology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Daniela Castiglia

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Chimica Biomolecolare (CNR-ICB), Pozzuoli, Italy
Interests: microalgae; algal biotechnology; chloroplast transformation; recombinant proteins; extracellular vesicles; immune system
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In an ever-changing world, adverse climate conditions continue to be a critical factor for living organisms. Plants and plant-related research represent a key foundation for investigating both the responses and the consequences of the changes to which all living organisms are exposed. Within this context, elucidating resilience mechanisms in plants and algae stands out as one of the most compelling areas of investigation. Photosynthetic organisms from both terrestrial and aquatic environments possess the remarkable ability to remodel their physiology and metabolism to survive under adverse conditions. This adaptation is essential in the current scenario of increasing anthropogenic pressure.

This Special Issue invites the scientific community to submit original research papers and reviews addressing plant and algal responses to both conventional (e.g., drought, salinity, and extreme temperatures) and emerging (e.g., microplastics, nanoplastics, and novel pollutants) environmental stresses. 

We particularly encourage contributions that employ innovative approaches, including omics technologies, genetic editing, biotechnologies, and advanced monitoring systems, to elucidate resilience mechanisms and promote the development of more resistant and sustainable organisms. Studies examining the effects of both conventional and novel environmental constraints on food quality and safety are also welcome.

Our goal is to foster a multidisciplinary dialogue that integrates physiology, molecular biology, ecology, and new technologies, with the aim of building resilient plants and algae for the future.

Prof. Dr. Simone Landi
Dr. Daniela Castiglia
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

  • plant stress
  • microalgae
  • extremophiles
  • abiotic
  • biotic
  • microplastic
  • tolerance
  • landraces
  • food safety
  • environment
  • genetic engineering
  • biotechnology

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 2134 KB  
Article
Microplastic Transport in Buckwheat Root-Inspired Microfluidic Structures: Microfluidic and Numerical Analysis
by Skaistė Dreskinienė, Monika Vilkienė, Gintarė Šidlauskaitė, Julija Pupeikė, Vykintė Trakšelytė, Paulius Vilkinis, Aistė Tilvikaitė and Justas Šereika
Plants 2026, 15(8), 1211; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15081211 - 15 Apr 2026
Viewed by 559
Abstract
Microplastics released from synthetic textiles are increasingly recognized as an important source of environmental contamination and a potential pathway of their entry into soil–plant systems. This study quantified microfibre release from warp-knitted polyester fabric during domestic washing and investigated the migration behaviour of [...] Read more.
Microplastics released from synthetic textiles are increasingly recognized as an important source of environmental contamination and a potential pathway of their entry into soil–plant systems. This study quantified microfibre release from warp-knitted polyester fabric during domestic washing and investigated the migration behaviour of microplastics within root epidermis-like structures using a combined experimental and numerical approach. Microfibre emission was determined gravimetrically according to ISO 4484-1:2023. The average release per washing cycle was 0.6 ± 0.5 g of microfibres per kilogram of polyester textile. Raman spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry analysis confirmed that the released particles consisted of polyethylene terephthalate. Scanning electron microscopy of buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) roots revealed a well-defined epidermal and cortical tissue organization, which served as a basis for designing simplified epidermis-inspired microchannel geometries. Numerical simulations and microfluidic experiments showed that microplastics predominantly follow streamline-oriented pathways under laminar flow conditions. However, particle accumulation can induce localized clogging within pore-like structures, modifying flow pathways and redirecting particle transport. These results indicate that root epidermal tissues may function as a partial filtration barrier that restricts the transport of larger microplastics while allowing smaller particles to migrate through outer root layers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilient Plants and Algae: New Environmental Challenges and Innovative Technological Approaches)
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18 pages, 7396 KB  
Article
Are Autochthonous Bacteria of Desert Root Environments Capable of Increasing Crop Tolerance to Saline Stress?
by Vincenzo Aurilia, Alessandra Ruggiero, Cuihua Huang, Jing Pan, Xian Xue and Anna Tedeschi
Plants 2026, 15(6), 892; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15060892 - 13 Mar 2026
Viewed by 442
Abstract
Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) could be an alternative for alleviating salinity problems in different plants grown under salinity conditions. The study aimed to evaluate the ability of a bacterial consortium, isolated from the rhizosphere of the species Lycium chinense (LC), with the common [...] Read more.
Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) could be an alternative for alleviating salinity problems in different plants grown under salinity conditions. The study aimed to evaluate the ability of a bacterial consortium, isolated from the rhizosphere of the species Lycium chinense (LC), with the common name Goji, to alleviate the effect of salt stress on the crop response of two treated Lycium species. The bacterial consortium was applied in a pot experiment under controlled conditions to evaluate whether the consortium had any plant growth promoting effect on plants. Specifically two Lycium species Lycium chinense (LC) and Lycium barbarum (LB) were grown under saline (Ts) and not saline irrigation (Tc), and with (I) or without (NI) consortium inoculation. Inoculation of LB under salinity stress (Ts) significantly improved the leaf area compared to the uninoculated treatment (NI), i.e., 88.8 cm2 LB-I-Ts vs. 48.5 cm2 LB-NI-Ts. In LC, no significant difference was reported in the leaf area. Under salinity stress (Ts), the dry matter for both Lycium species significantly increased when inoculation occurred. The I treatment led to a higher WUE under the Ts treatment in both LC and LB. The inoculation (I) had a significant effect on the RWC. It was significantly higher under the I than the NI treatment, i.e., 82.5% vs. 77.0% at p ≤ 1%. The analysis of our results highlights that inoculation with the bacterial consortium has a substantially beneficial effect on plants in the presence of salt stress compared to non-saline plants. Furthermore, among the two Lycium species, the beneficial effect of inoculation with PGPB, in conditions of salt stress, is more evident in LB than in LC. Although the detailed mechanism underlying the PGPB activity was not elucidated, the results obtained support the potential beneficial use of soil bacterial species adapted to harsh conditions in the development of productive agricultural systems in saline environments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilient Plants and Algae: New Environmental Challenges and Innovative Technological Approaches)
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21 pages, 2166 KB  
Article
High-Purity Isolation of Polyphosphate-Rich Stabilisomes Defines Their Conserved Chemical Architecture in Thermophilic Cyanobacteria
by Chenyu Wang, Chuyuan Zhou, Xiaohua Song, Jingyun Yin, Mengmeng Wang and Liuyan Yang
Plants 2026, 15(3), 499; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15030499 - 5 Feb 2026
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 643
Abstract
Thermophilic cyanobacteria are key models for thermotolerance and a promising source of thermophilic bioresources. Yet the subcellular basis of their stress resilience remains poorly resolved. Here, we focus on intracellular polyphosphate (polyP)-rich granules, termed “stabilisomes,” which have been implicated in stress adaptation. The [...] Read more.
Thermophilic cyanobacteria are key models for thermotolerance and a promising source of thermophilic bioresources. Yet the subcellular basis of their stress resilience remains poorly resolved. Here, we focus on intracellular polyphosphate (polyP)-rich granules, termed “stabilisomes,” which have been implicated in stress adaptation. The lack of a high-purity, structure-preserving isolation method has been a major technical bottleneck hindering the elucidation of this resilience mechanism. This study describes a robust, structure-preserving purification strategy, boosting the granule-to-protein yield by over 10,000-fold compared with conventional methods. The specificity and structural integrity of this method are supported by the specific enrichment of complex proteomic (937 proteins) and metabolomic (1076 metabolites) signatures. Building on this, subsequent quantitative analysis across cyanobacteria at 7 hot spring sampling sites revealed a conserved core chemical composition dominated by polyphosphate (~21–36%), proteins (~10–20%), amino acids (~7–18%), and lipid components (~12–21%). The variability in abundance across species suggests a dynamic adjustment of these stabilizing components consistent with specific micro-environmental conditions. This work provides a robust bioseparation platform for prokaryotic organelles, offering a critical tool for investigating cyanobacterial resilience and developing novel biomaterials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilient Plants and Algae: New Environmental Challenges and Innovative Technological Approaches)
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18 pages, 1479 KB  
Article
Phosphorus Loading Drives Microalgal Community Changes and Enhances Nutrient Removal in Photobioreactors Treating Synthetic Wastewater
by Ayache Laabassi, Azzedine Fercha, Stefano Bellucci, Alessia Postiglione, Viviana Maresca, Martina Dentato, Asma Boudehane, Laribi Amira, Fatma Z. Saada, Rodeina Boukehil and Zahia Djenien
Plants 2026, 15(3), 351; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15030351 - 23 Jan 2026
Viewed by 571
Abstract
Phosphorus is a key nutrient regulating algal growth and eutrophication in aquatic systems, yet its isolated effect on microalgae-based wastewater treatment remains underexplored. This study evaluated how varying phosphorus loads drive microalgal community structure and purification performance in controlled photobioreactors fed synthetic wastewater. [...] Read more.
Phosphorus is a key nutrient regulating algal growth and eutrophication in aquatic systems, yet its isolated effect on microalgae-based wastewater treatment remains underexplored. This study evaluated how varying phosphorus loads drive microalgal community structure and purification performance in controlled photobioreactors fed synthetic wastewater. The synthetic wastewater was formulated with constant carbon and nitrogen but graded phosphorus at C/N/P ratios of 100/5/1, 100/5/10, and 100/5/20 under 6000 lux, a 14 h photoperiod, and 24 ± 2 °C with a 15-day hydraulic retention time. Monitoring of chlorophyll a, pH, total and volatile suspended solids, and algal composition showed that phosphorus enrichment significantly increased chlorophyll a (up to 43.9 µg/L at 20 mg P/L) and particulate biomass (TSS and VSS), while pH remained near neutral to slightly alkaline, with no significant differences among the three bioreactors. Although the same core taxa—Chlorella spp., Scenedesmus spp., Navicula spp., and filamentous algae were present across all bioreactors, their relative abundances shifted significantly with phosphorus concentration. A two-way ANOVA confirmed a highly significant interaction between bioreactor (P level) and genus (p < 0.001), demonstrating phosphorus-driven changes in the microalgal community. Notably, filamentous cyanobacteria (Anabaena spp.) were undetectable in the low- and medium-phosphorus treatments but emerged prominently only at the highest phosphorus level (20 mg/L). Nutrient removal efficiencies peaked in this high-phosphorus bioreactor (C), achieving 85% for bCOD, 78% for nitrogen, and >70% for phosphorus. These results show that phosphorus loading drives predictable shifts in microalgal community composition toward fast-growing algae and cyanobacteria and that these shifts likely contribute to enhanced nutrient removal. The findings support optimization of phosphorus supply and hydraulic residence time in low-cost, sunlight-driven systems to improve polishing performance for small settlements in arid regions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilient Plants and Algae: New Environmental Challenges and Innovative Technological Approaches)
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