Plant Morphogenesis under Stress

Dear Colleagues,

Plant development is regulated in a rather flexible way as compared to that of animals. Organogenesis is post-embryonic and continuous during the whole life of plants, defining size and form in concert with the everchanging environment. Timing of developmental phases is also dependent on environmental cues. Plant developmental plasticity is coordinated by plant hormones and largely depends on the function of meristems and the capability of somatic cells to get reprogrammed and transdifferentiated.

Cellular reprogramming requires global changes in the pattern of gene expression that often rely on epigenetic regulation. Among plant hormones, auxin plays a central role coordinating morphogenesis, growth, and development. Stress conditions might alter the directional flow of auxin, restructuring the growth pattern.

Culturing cells/plants under in vitro conditions represents a useful model to understand cellular reprogramming and transdifferentiation events underlying the exceptional regeneration and developmental adaptation potential of plants.

Plants can sense uncountable numbers of abiotic environmental factors, including various parameters of light, temperature, humidity, soil water, mineral content, and so on. Out of the optimal range of environmental parameters, adaptation mechanisms are triggered, which include physiological responses to maintain cellular and metabolic homeostasis. In many cases, however, plant growth and development are also modified to accommodate plant form and function to the altered conditions.

In addition, plant morphogenesis is strongly influenced by other organisms, being either harmful (pathogens, herbivores, parasites) or beneficial (symbionts). These organisms might evoke plant responses that result in cellular reorganisation or new or unusual organ formation.

Current climate change is associated with the increase of Earth’s surface temperature that considerably alters the local environments to which plant species are adapted. A 1 °C increase in the average temperature can significantly alter the distribution of plant species shifting to higher altitudes and latitudes. Moreover, global warming is also predicted to negatively affect crop productivity. Climate change alters not only average temperature but water availability, length of seasons, frequency of exceptional weather conditions, the abundance and composition of the biotic environment including the local appearance of new pathogens/herbivores/parasites, etc.

Although the stress responses of plants are widely studied at the physiological and molecular levels, our knowledge about how and in what way abiotic or biotic stresses affect plant morphogenesis during development is rather scant.

In this Special Issue, we aim to collect high-quality research articles, short communications, and review articles that address significant research questions related to the developmental, hormonal, cellular, and molecular mechanisms behind various developmental and cellular reprogramming events characterizing plant morphogenesis in unusual or stressful environments.

Dr. Attila Fehér
Dr. Zsuzsanna Kolbert
Dr. Zoltán Magyar
Guest Editors

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• plant morphogenesis altered by pathogens, herbivores, parasites
• plant morphogenesis due to symbiotic organisms
• In vitro conditions affecting plant regeneration and morphogenesis
• function of apical meristems in stressful environments
• photo- and thermomorphogenesis
• tropisms
• the effect of drought and/or heat on seed development
• germination and seedling development under suboptimal conditions
• environmental factors affecting plant reproductive organs
• plant adaptation and integrity: role of plant hormones
• flexibility of plant development: epigenetic and transcriptional reprogramming associated with morphogenesis
• evolution of developmental adaptation mechanism