Mineral Nutrition and Plant Abiotic Stress Resistance

Dear Colleagues,

In the era of the current climate change and the rapid increase in food demand for the ever-growing human population, there is a serious problem with the provision of so-called food safety. Both insufficient crop production and the frequently poor nutritional value of food have become vital global concerns affecting billions of people worldwide. However, it seems that there is a growing belief that various agronomic treatments and new technologies can prevent the consequences of the warming climate and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns. Along with global warming, many abiotic stress factors that threaten the sustainability of agriculture and ecosystems are seemingly intensifying. Therefore, over the last few decades, abiotic stresses have become an important topic of concern for plant scientists. To survive time-bound or chronic unfavourable environmental changes, plants must possess some resistance and tolerance mechanisms at the cellular, organ, and whole organism levels. Their proper functioning largely depends on adequate mineral nutrition. It is well known that essential nutrients play specific and crucial roles in normal plant growth, development, and stress resistance. Sometimes, an elevated concentration of nutrients in the substrate/plant tissues positively modifies plants’ responses to stress and simultaneously increases their nutritional value. Similarly, some beneficial elements (especially Si and Se) used at low concentrations can positively influence plant metabolism and contribute to increased resistance to detrimental environmental changes. For this reason, a large number of elements in their various chemical forms have been examined as enhancers of plant abiotic stress resistance, including essential and beneficial elements. Some of them have a very promising potential to increase the quantity and quality of yield under stress.

Since the response of plants to various abiotic factors is multifaceted at physiological, biochemical, and genetic levels, the influence of mineral elements on many aspects of plant biology can be considered. This Special Issue aims to highlight new developments in our understanding of how mineral nutrition and the mineral status of plants contribute to their resistance to different environmental stresses.

Contributions to this Special Issue are invited from all scientists dealing with plant biology, including molecular biology, plant physiology, crop breeding, and environment/ecological perspectives. We hope these articles will bring this subject to the attention of a wide range of readers, not only scientists but also experts and practitioners.

Dr. Barbara Hawrylak-Nowak
Dr. Renata Matraszek-Gawron
Dr. Sławomir Dresler
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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