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Biostimulation for Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Plants
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Biostimulation for Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Plants

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: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 3038

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Susana González-Morales

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Guest Editor
Departamento de Horticultura, SECIHTI-Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Saltillo 25315, Mexico
Interests: search for strategies to protect crops from different types of stress using biostimulants such as botanical and seaweed extracts, chitosan, and inorganic compounds; study of the mechanism of action of biostimulants in tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress using the gene expression analysis, and the quantification of phytohormones, secondary metabolites and enzymes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Adalberto Benavides-Mendoza

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Guest Editor
Departamento de Horticultura, Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Saltillo 25315, Mexico
Interests: plant biostimulation; plant nutrition; stress tolerance induction; seed priming using nanometric or bulk species of essential and beneficial nutrients; biopolymers; UV radiation; relationships between plant biostimulation, plant nutrition, tolerance to stress, and the nutritional quality and biofortification of vegetables and fruits
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Abiotic stress, such as drought, salinity, extreme temperatures, and nutritional deficiencies, represents one of the main challenges for modern agriculture.

Biostimulation is an innovative and sustainable strategy that seeks to improve plant performance and health by activating physiological and molecular mechanisms that help plants tolerate adverse conditions better. Biostimulants include organic compounds, plant and algae extracts, beneficial microorganisms, and nutrients that improve the ability of plants to adapt to these unfavorable conditions by activating cell signaling pathways, regulating stress-related genes, and producing osmoprotectants such as proline and soluble sugars, among others.

The ability of biostimulation to enhance natural defenses, improve resource use efficiency, and increase sustainable yields makes it a key component in guaranteeing food security, protecting the environment, and promoting agricultural practices that are resilient to climate change; therefore, this Special Issue will cover a wide variety of areas and contribute to the general knowledge of abiotic stress tolerance through biostimulation.

Dr. Susana González-Morales
Prof. Dr. Adalberto Benavides-Mendoza
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

  • antioxidants
  • climate change
  • agricultural sustainability
  • defense enzymes
  • agricultural resilience
  • plant hormones
  • reactive oxygen species (ROS)
  • stress genes
  • cell signaling

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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21 pages, 5660 KiB  
Article
Effect of Priming Treatment on Improving Germination and Seedling Performance of Aged and Iron-Coated Rice Seeds Aiming for Direct Sowing
by Nasratullah Habibi, Parneel, Naoki Terada, Babil Pachakkil, Atsushi Sanada, Atsushi Kamata and Kaihei Koshio
Plants 2025, 14(11), 1683; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14111683 - 31 May 2025
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Abstract
In the case of direct sowing of rice in Japan, cold stress is a critical constraint affecting seed germination and early seedling development, ultimately reducing crop productivity. We evaluated the effects of priming, with or without iron coating on the germination and vigor [...] Read more.
In the case of direct sowing of rice in Japan, cold stress is a critical constraint affecting seed germination and early seedling development, ultimately reducing crop productivity. We evaluated the effects of priming, with or without iron coating on the germination and vigor of rice seeds harvested in 2022, 2023, and 2024. The assessments were conducted at seven temperature conditions: 13 °C, 15 °C, 17 °C, 19 °C, 21 °C, 23 °C, and 25 °C. Seeds were primed with or without PEG6000; coated with or without a mixture of calcined gypsum and iron powder; and tested for germination percentage, germination speed, and seedling vigor index. Under optimal conditions, iron-coated seeds harvested in 2022 showed a significant increase in germination from 58% (non-coated without priming) to 76% (coated with priming), and the seedling vigor index improved from 615 to 890. Under cold stress (15 °C), the coated seeds of the same year achieved 68% germination with priming compared to 46% in non-coated seeds without priming, with a vigor index increase from 480 to 750. Similar improvements were observed in seeds from 2023 and 2024, although the effect was more prominent in older than younger seeds. These results indicate that iron seed coating in combination with PEG priming mitigates the negative impacts of seed aging and enhances tolerance to cold stress during germination. The technique offers a promising, low-cost approach to improving rice establishment in environments facing suboptimal seed storage and early-season cold temperatures, in particular, aiming for direct sowing methods. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biostimulation for Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Plants)
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20 pages, 5006 KiB  
Article
Enhancing Salt Tolerance in Tomato Plants Through PEG6000 Seed Priming: Inducing Antioxidant Activity and Mitigating Oxidative Stress
by Nasratullah Habibi, Shafiqullah Aryan, Naveedullah Sediqui, Naoki Terada, Atsushi Sanada, Atsushi Kamata and Kaihei Koshio
Plants 2025, 14(9), 1296; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14091296 - 25 Apr 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1726
Abstract
Salt stress is a major constraint to crop productivity, negatively affecting plant physiology and fruit quality. This study hypothesized that seed priming with polyethylene glycol (PEG6000) might enhance antioxidant activity by mitigating oxidative stress in Solanum lycopersicum ‘Micro-Tom’ under salt stress. Seeds primed [...] Read more.
Salt stress is a major constraint to crop productivity, negatively affecting plant physiology and fruit quality. This study hypothesized that seed priming with polyethylene glycol (PEG6000) might enhance antioxidant activity by mitigating oxidative stress in Solanum lycopersicum ‘Micro-Tom’ under salt stress. Seeds primed with –1.2 MPa PEG6000 were grown in Rockwool and treated with 0, 50, 100, 150, and 200 mM NaCl. Primed plants showed a 32% increase in leaf potassium (K+) and a 28% decrease in sodium (Na+) accumulation compared to non-primed plants under 150 mM NaCl. Glucose, fructose, and sucrose contents increased by 25%, 22%, and 19%, respectively, in primed fruits, while citric acid decreased by 15%. Malondialdehyde (MDA) and electrolyte leakage were reduced by 35% and 29%, respectively, in primed plants under moderate salinity. Antioxidant enzyme activities—SOD, POD, CAT, and APX were enhanced by 30–45% in primed plants under 100 and 150 mM NaCl, compared to non-primed controls. Abscisic acid (ABA) levels increased by 40% in primed roots under salt stress. Activities of polyamine-related enzymes (DAO, PAO, and ADC) also rose significantly. Priming improved protein content by 20% and relative water content by 18%. These results suggest that PEG6000 seed priming enhances salt tolerance by boosting antioxidant defense, regulating osmotic balance, and improving ion homeostasis, offering a viable strategy for sustaining tomato productivity under salinity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biostimulation for Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Plants)
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