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Advances in Improving Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Plants

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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: closed (20 November 2022) | Viewed by 8163

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Ashraf El-Kereamy

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Guest Editor

Department of Botany and Plant Science, University of California Riverside, CA 92521, USA
Interests: fruit trees; plant physiology; abiotic stress; fruit quality improvement; molecular biology; plant biotechnology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plants are sessile organisms and are consistently exposed to various abiotic stresses, affecting their metabolism and productivity. With the aggravation of climate change, plants are facing tremendous pressure to survive. Improving plants’ abiotic stress tolerance has been the subject of many research articles for years; however, nowadays, technological advances in plant analysis could provide an in-depth understanding of the abiotic stress tolerance of plants and help improve plants’ productivity. We are looking to gather cutting-edge research and review articles for enhancing the tolerance of different plant species to abiotic stresses. It is now, more than ever, the time to make a difference by developing plants that can withstand abiotic stresses, including those related to the climate, drought, salt, heavy metals, and limited resources. This Special Issue includes, but is not limited to the following topics:

New perspectives on plant tolerance to abiotic stress.
New factors involved in plant stress.
Advanced techniques to understand and improve plant tolerance to abiotic stress.
Improve the efficiency of water and nutrient use.
Climate changes and plant productivity.
Adaptation mechanisms to diverse conditions.
Traditional and nontraditional plant breeding for stress tolerance.
Genetic engineering for stress tolerance.
Cultural practices to improve plant productivity under stressful conditions.

Dr. Ashraf El-Kereamy
Guest Editor

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
plants
climate changes
drought stress
heat stress
salinity
nutrients’ limitations
cold injuries
frost damage
rain damage
oxidative stress
lightning damage
light quality

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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25 pages, 5491 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Rebalancing Nutrients, Reinforcing Antioxidant and Osmoregulatory Capacity, and Improving Yield Quality in Drought-Stressed Phaseolus vulgaris by Foliar Application of a Bee-Honey Solution

by Sameera A. Alghamdi, Hesham F. Alharby, Atif A. Bamagoos, Safi-naz S. Zaki, Abdelmonam M. A. Abu El-Hassan, El-Sayed M. Desoky, Ibrahim A. A. Mohamed and Mostafa M. Rady

Plants 2023, 12(1), 63; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12010063 - 22 Dec 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1736

Abstract

Bee-honey solution (BHS) is considered a plant growth multi-biostimulator because it is rich in osmoprotectants, antioxidants, vitamins, and mineral nutrients that can promote drought stress (DtS) resistance in common bean plants. As a novel strategy, BHS has been used in a few studies, which shows that the application of BHS can overcome the stress effects on plant productivity and can contribute significantly to bridging the gap between agricultural production and the steady increase in population under climate changes. Under sufficient watering (SW (100% of crop evapotranspiration; ETc) and DtS (60% of ETc)), the enhancing impacts of foliar application with BHS (0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, and 1.5%) on growth, productivity, yield quality, physiological-biochemical indices, antioxidative defense ingredients, and nutrient status were examined in common bean plants (cultivar Bronco). DtS considerably decreased growth and yield traits, green pod quality, and water use efficiency (WUE); however, application of BHS at all concentrations significantly increased all of these parameters under normal or DtS conditions. Membrane stability index, relative water content, nutrient contents, SPAD (chlorophyll content), and PSII efficiency (Fv/Fm, photochemical activity, and performance index) were markedly reduced under DtS; however, they increased significantly under normal or DtS conditions by foliar spraying of BHS at all concentrations. The negative impacts of DtS were due to increased oxidants [hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and superoxide (O₂^•−)], electrolyte leakage (EL), and malondialdehyde (MDA). As a result, the activity of the antioxidant system (ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione reductase, catalase, superoxide dismutase, α-tocopherol, glutathione, and ascorbate) and levels of osmoprotectants (soluble protein, soluble sugars, glycine betaine, and proline) were increased. However, all BHS concentrations further increased osmoprotectant and antioxidant capacity, along with decreased MDA and EL under DtS. What is interesting in this study was that a BHS concentration of 1.0% gave the best results under SW, while a BHS concentration of 1.5% gave the best results under DtS. Therefore, a BHS concentration of 1.5% could be a viable strategy to mitigate the DtS impairment in common beans to achieve satisfactory growth, productivity, and green pod quality under DtS. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Improving Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Plants)

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17 pages, 2593 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mitigation of Salinity Stress in Maize Seedlings by the Application of Vermicompost and Sorghum Water Extracts

by Khalid H. Alamer, Shaista Perveen, Abdul Khaliq, Muhammad Zia Ul Haq, Muhammad Usman Ibrahim and Bader Ijaz

Plants 2022, 11(19), 2548; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11192548 - 28 Sep 2022

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2576

Abstract

Abiotic stresses are important constraints limiting crop productivity worldwide. Salinity is one of the most devastating environmental factors restraining the production of crops. It is urgently needed to search for environmentally safe and sustainable approaches to mitigate the harmful effects of salinity on plants. Hence, applying vermicompost and low-dose aqueous extract of sorghum delivers a pragmatic solution to ameliorate the detrimental outcomes of salinity on maize seedlings (Zea mays L.). The experiment consisted of three factors, each at different levels, i.e., salinity (control, 6, and 12 dS m⁻¹), vermicompost (control, 5, and 10%), and sorghum water extract (control, 1, and 2%). Higher salt stress negatively influenced the morpho-physiological traits of maize. Nonetheless, applying vermicompost and sorghum water extract at 10% and 2%, respectively, increased tolerance against salinity. The application of 2% sorghum water extract and 10% vermicompost significantly improved morphological characteristics, chlorophyll contents, activities of antioxidant enzymes, leaf and root K⁺/Na⁺ ratio, and K⁺ contents. It decreased Na+ concentration, H₂O₂, and malondialdehyde contents at higher salinity levels. It can be concluded that soil-applied vermicompost and foliar-applied sorghum water extract mitigates the adverse impacts of salinity by activating the antioxidant defense system, improving chlorophyll contents, and reducing the accumulation of Na⁺ under salinity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Improving Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Plants)

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Review

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21 pages, 2274 KiB

Open AccessReview

Strigolactones in Plants and Their Interaction with the Ecological Microbiome in Response to Abiotic Stress

by Sabry Soliman, Yi Wang, Zhenhai Han, Tariq Pervaiz and Ashraf El-kereamy

Plants 2022, 11(24), 3499; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11243499 - 13 Dec 2022

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3248

Abstract

Phytohormones play an essential role in enhancing plant tolerance by responding to abiotic stresses, such as nutrient deficiency, drought, high temperature, and light stress. Strigolactones (SLs) are carotenoid derivatives that occur naturally in plants and are defined as novel phytohormones that regulate plant metabolism, growth, and development. Strigolactone assists plants in the acquisition of defensive characteristics against drought stress by initiating physiological responses and mediating the interaction with soil microorganisms. Nutrient deficiency is an important abiotic stress factor, hence, plants perform many strategies to survive against nutrient deficiency, such as enhancing the efficiency of nutrient uptake and forming beneficial relationships with microorganisms. Strigolactone attracts various microorganisms and provides the roots with essential elements, including nitrogen and phosphorus. Among these advantageous microorganisms are arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (AMF), which regulate plant metabolic activities through phosphorus providing in roots. Bacterial nodulations are also nitrogen-fixing microorganisms found in plant roots. This symbiotic relationship is maintained as the plant provides organic molecules, produced in the leaves, that the bacteria could otherwise not independently generate. Related stresses, such as light stress and high-temperature stress, could be affected directly or indirectly by strigolactone. However, the messengers of these processes are unknown. The most prominent connector messengers have been identified upon the discovery of SLs and the understanding of their hormonal effect. In addition to attracting microorganisms, these groups of phytohormones affect photosynthesis, bridge other phytohormones, induce metabolic compounds. In this article, we highlighted the brief information available on SLs as a phytohormone group regarding their common related effects. In addition, we reviewed the status and described the application of SLs and plant response to abiotic stresses. This allowed us to comprehend plants’ communication with the ecological microbiome as well as the strategies plants use to survive under various stresses. Furthermore, we identify and classify the SLs that play a role in stress resistance since many ecological microbiomes are unexplained. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Improving Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Plants)

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