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Agronomy
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Strategies for Enhancing Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Crops
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Strategies for Enhancing Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Crops

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant-Crop Biology and Biochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2024) | Viewed by 12089

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Fangbin Cao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Agriculture & Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310000, China
Interests: crop abiotic stress response; genome-wide association mapping; molecular biology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Abiotic stresses, which include heavy metals, salinity, aluminum, drought, waterlogging, and extreme temperature, are major constraints in global agricultural soils that limit crop growth and reduce both crop productivity and quality. Improving crop abiotic stress tolerance is of great significance to ensure food safety production around the world. Thus, strategies are needed for crops to improve their adaptation to abiotic stresses. Therefore, this Special Issue, entitled “Strategies for Enhancing Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Crops”, aims to highlight a range of reviews, perspectives and research articles on:

  • Plant growth regulators for improving abiotic stress tolerance in crops and their physiological and molecular mechanisms;
  • Understanding of the genetic architecture and identification of the genetic loci underlying abiotic stress tolerance using QTL methods;
  • Identification of key genes responsible for abiotic stress tolerance;
  • Molecular strategies to enhance abiotic stress tolerance using genome editing and overexpression technology;
  • Big data analysis.

Considering your expertise in the field, we would like to invite you to submit related papers to us.

Dr. Fangbin Cao
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. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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

  • crop
  • abiotic stress
  • strategies
  • plant growth regulator
  • molecular methods
  • QTL

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Published Papers (8 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 6102 KiB  
Article
Comparative Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Transcriptional Differences in the Response of Quinoa to Salt and Alkali Stress Responses
by Qinghan Bao, Yang Wu, Yang Wang and Yongping Zhang
Agronomy 2024, 14(7), 1596; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14071596 - 22 Jul 2024
Viewed by 828
Abstract
Soil salinization is a global agro-ecological problem and a major factor impeding agricultural development. Planting salt-tolerant plants to improve saline soils offers both ecological and economic benefits. Currently, there are few studies addressing the combined effects of salt and alkali stress. Quinoa is [...] Read more.
Soil salinization is a global agro-ecological problem and a major factor impeding agricultural development. Planting salt-tolerant plants to improve saline soils offers both ecological and economic benefits. Currently, there are few studies addressing the combined effects of salt and alkali stress. Quinoa is known for its salinity tolerance. However, research has predominantly focused on the effects of salinity stress on quinoa’s morphology and physiology, with its molecular mechanisms remaining unclear. To better understand quinoa’s response mechanisms to salinity and alkali stress, we employed RNA-seq technology to analyze transcriptomes under these conditions. We identified 1833 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) under salt stress and 2233 DEGs under alkali stress. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) annotations revealed that quinoa responds to salt and alkali stress through similar mechanisms. Both stresses promoted sucrose synthesis, starch synthesis and catabolism, which increased the osmotic potential of quinoa leaves. Additionally, there was a regulation of the down-regulated expression of the abscisic acid receptor PYR/PYL and the up-regulated expression of the serine/threonine protein kinase (PP2C) gene in the ABA signaling pathway. Contrasting with salt tolerance, the mechanism specific to quinoa’s alkalinity tolerance involves the up-regulation of the citric acid cycle via an active γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) branch, enhancing quinoa’s energy metabolism. In summary, our transcriptome analysis revealed key regulatory mechanisms in quinoa’s response to saline and alkaline stress. This study deepens the understanding of quinoa’s stress response mechanisms and provides theoretical references for the biological improvement of salinized soils. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Strategies for Enhancing Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Crops)
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17 pages, 2008 KiB  
Article
The Impact of Shale Oil Residue on the Growth and Physiological Characteristics of Corn Seedlings under Saline Soil Conditions
by Jian Huang, Zhiduo Dong, Ajing Meng, Tong Qi and Chunhui Ge
Agronomy 2024, 14(1), 44; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14010044 - 22 Dec 2023
Viewed by 1106
Abstract
Soil salinization is a primary environmental factor leading to reduced crop yields, and oil shale waste residues may have the potential to alleviate plant salt stress. This study aims to investigate the effects of three types of oil shale waste residues (fine concentrate [...] Read more.
Soil salinization is a primary environmental factor leading to reduced crop yields, and oil shale waste residues may have the potential to alleviate plant salt stress. This study aims to investigate the effects of three types of oil shale waste residues (fine concentrate ore, fine ore, and semi-coke) on the growth and physiological characteristics of maize seedlings in saline–alkali soil. The results indicate the following: (1) All three types of oil shale waste residues increased the root vitality of seedlings and reduced the root proline content. (2) The three types of oil shale waste residues increased the activity of superoxide dismutase (1.70% to 97.19%) and peroxidase (29.39% to 61.21%) in maize seedlings, but there were differences in their effects on catalase activity. The fine ore and semi-coke treatments increased catalase activity (4.98% to 77.42%), while fine concentrate ore decreased catalase activity (39.28% to 5.30%). (3) The three types of oil shale waste residues effectively alleviated the degree of membrane lipid peroxidation in maize seedling leaves. (4) Principal component analysis showed that the semi-coke treatment was beneficial to the growth and physiology of maize seedlings in saline–alkali soil, with the optimal effect occurring at a 0.2% addition rate. In conclusion, adding semi-coke to saline–alkali soil promotes the growth of maize by regulating its physiological and biochemical mechanisms, alleviating the salt stress on maize seedlings caused by salt content. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Strategies for Enhancing Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Crops)
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20 pages, 7547 KiB  
Article
Exogenous Uniconazole Application Positively Regulates Carbon Metabolism under Drought Stress in Wheat Seedlings
by Ying Jiang, Hao Rong, Qiang Wang, Yingchao Lu, Na Li, Weiqiang Li, Min Li, Tao Xie, Shanshan Wang, Hong Zhao, Yanyong Cao and Yumei Qian
Agronomy 2024, 14(1), 22; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14010022 - 21 Dec 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1107
Abstract
Drought is one of the most detrimental environmental factors restricting the growth of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The investigation of the impact of uniconazole on carbon metabolism in wheat seedlings under drought stress could provide new insights into wheat stress physiology and [...] Read more.
Drought is one of the most detrimental environmental factors restricting the growth of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The investigation of the impact of uniconazole on carbon metabolism in wheat seedlings under drought stress could provide new insights into wheat stress physiology and tolerance. The effects of uniconazole (30 mg L−1) on wheat drought tolerance were investigated via a physiological analysis of the wheat genotypes ‘Wansu 1510’ (WS1510) and ‘Huacheng wheat 1688’ (HC1688) under a 15% polyethylene glycol (PEG) and 30% PEG treatment and a transcriptome analysis of ‘Wansu 1510’ (WS1510) under a 30% PEG treatment. The results revealed that uniconazole significantly increased the leaf relative water content (RWC), reduced plant height, and counteracted the reduction in fresh weight and root length under drought stress. It inhibited the excessive accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and protected against membrane lipid peroxidation caused by drought stress by regulating superoxide dismutase (SOD) gene expression, enhancing antioxidant enzymes activities, and adjusting the content of osmoregulatory compounds in drought-stressed plants. Furthermore, uniconazole treatment increased chlorophyll (Chl) and carotenoid (Car) contents, inhibited the increase in sucrose concentration, and alleviated the reduction in starch content due to increased sucrose synthase (SS) activity under drought stress. Transcriptome sequencing revealed that uniconazole regulated the expression of genes associated with starch and sucrose metabolism, porphyrin and chlorophyll metabolism, the photosynthetic antenna proteins, carotenoid biosynthesis, and carbon fixation in photosynthetic organisms, which are involved in carbon metabolism processes and photosynthetic pigment production and which regulate the conversion of sucrose and starch under drought stress. Our findings emphasize the importance of exogenous uniconazole in regulating carbon metabolism in wheat. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Strategies for Enhancing Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Crops)
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20 pages, 9145 KiB  
Article
Genome-Wide Identification and Characterization of Glutaredoxin Family Genes in Common Wheat
by Xiaoyan He, Weiyue Chen, Xingcai Sun, Yu Gao, Yaru He, Xintong Xu, Congjun Su, Yifan Lv, Boyu Ren, Huayan Yin, Jianbin Zeng, Wujun Ma and Ping Mu
Agronomy 2023, 13(12), 2985; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13122985 - 4 Dec 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1404
Abstract
Glutaredoxins (GRXs) are small-molecular-weight proteins present in a wide range of organisms, and they play a key role in maintaining the redox homeostasis of cells. Most studies on GRXs are conducted in animals and humans, and those conducted on plants are scarce. The [...] Read more.
Glutaredoxins (GRXs) are small-molecular-weight proteins present in a wide range of organisms, and they play a key role in maintaining the redox homeostasis of cells. Most studies on GRXs are conducted in animals and humans, and those conducted on plants are scarce. The number and types of GRX genes vary in different plants. According to the active sites, the GRX family can be further divided into the CPYC, CGFS, and CC subfamilies. The CPYC and CGFS subfamilies are present in eukaryotes. The CC subfamily is exclusively present in higher plants and has the highest number of genes. In this study, 85 GRX genes were identified in common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) using a bioinformatic method, wherein 12, 9, and 64 belonged to the CPYC, CGFS, and CC subfamilies, respectively. All TaGRX genes were homogeneously distributed in the three subgenomes of wheat. The gene structure analysis revealed that TaGRX members had 1–7 introns. The conserved motif analysis revealed that members of the same TaGRX subfamily had similar motifs. An analysis of cis-regulatory elements of promoters demonstrated that most TaGRX members had auxin-responsive elements; cis-regulatory elements, such as methyl jasmonate (MeJA), MYB, and abscisic acid (ABA), were distributed in all subfamilies, and the cell-cycle regulation element was only observed in the CC and CPYC subfamily members. Additionally, the synteny of the GRX genes in wheat, in wheat and Arabidopsis, and in wheat and barley was analyzed to clarify the evolutionary correlation of TaGRXs. The expression characteristics of TaGRXs were investigated, and TaGRX expression in various tissues and its responses to different abiotic stresses were preliminarily determined. This study provides a reference for the functional analysis of TaGRXs and understanding their role in molecular breeding of wheat. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Strategies for Enhancing Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Crops)
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21 pages, 25914 KiB  
Article
The Physiological Mechanism of Melatonin Enhancing the Tolerance of Oat Seedlings under Saline–Alkali Stress
by Qiang Wang, Xiaotian Liang, Dabing Xiang, Weiwei Xu, Chunlong Wang, Chao Zhan, Changzhong Ren, Liming Wei, Shuqiao Zhang, Li Zhang, Junying Wang and Laichun Guo
Agronomy 2023, 13(9), 2343; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13092343 - 8 Sep 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1700
Abstract
Exogenous melatonin (MT) regulates plant growth and mitigates stress in response to stress. To analyze the machinery of exogenous melatonin, which improves salt and alkaline tolerance in oats, MT’s function was identified in the oat seed germination stage in our previous study. In [...] Read more.
Exogenous melatonin (MT) regulates plant growth and mitigates stress in response to stress. To analyze the machinery of exogenous melatonin, which improves salt and alkaline tolerance in oats, MT’s function was identified in the oat seed germination stage in our previous study. In this study, morphogenesis, photosynthetic physiology, hormone levels, and ion homeostasis were evaluated using the same MT treatment concentration. The results revealed that compared to the S45 treatment, the 100 μmol·L−1 MT treatment efficiently increased the seedling height and main root length of oat seedlings; promoted secondary root development; enhanced the root volume and root surface area; maintained a higher photosynthetic pigment content (carotenoids; chlorophyll a; chlorophyll b); raised the leaf photosynthetic rate (Pn), intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci), conductance to H2O (Gs), and transpiration rate (Tr); enhanced the light energy absorption and conversion of leaves; increased the leaf GA3, Tryptamine (TAM), and IAA contents; and decreased ABA levels. Hierarchical cluster analysis revealed that MT treatment also increased the contents of P, K, Ca, Mn, Cu, Mg, Fe, Zn, Mo, Cd, Al, Se, Ni, Co, and Ti; decreased the Na/K ratio; and maintained cellular ionic homeostasis in oat seedlings under saline–alkali stress, as compared with the untreated group. These findings showed that MT treatment enhanced the adaptation of oat to saline–alkali stress through regulating the physiological process of seedling growth. This suggests that MT plays a different role in improving saline–alkali tolerance in the germination and seedling stages of oat. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Strategies for Enhancing Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Crops)
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15 pages, 1683 KiB  
Article
Magnetic Seed Treatment Modulates Phenolic and Fatty Acid Metabolism of Sunflower under Water Scarcity
by Beenish Afzal, Zaib un Nisa, Rohina Bashir, Naila Ali, Saqib Mahmood, Muhammad Azeem, Fatima Batool, Abdul Wahid, Muhammad Iqbal, Abdulaziz Abdullah Alsahli and Prashant Kaushik
Agronomy 2023, 13(8), 2094; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13082094 - 10 Aug 2023
Viewed by 1433
Abstract
Environmental and anthropogenic activities are pushing the earth towards warmer years, which is reducing agricultural land and causing water scarcity. It is well documented that sunflower (being drought tolerant) crops can be grown under water deficit conditions with some additional supportive priming applications [...] Read more.
Environmental and anthropogenic activities are pushing the earth towards warmer years, which is reducing agricultural land and causing water scarcity. It is well documented that sunflower (being drought tolerant) crops can be grown under water deficit conditions with some additional supportive priming applications to compensate for drought-induced challenges. However, finding the most efficient and eco-friendly priming tools is always a top priority among researchers to improve plant growth, adaptive traits, and productivity. In this study, an experiment was performed on oil-producing crops (sunflower) using seed magnetic treatment. The seeds were subjected to 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 Tesla for 20 min, respectively. Plants were exposed to water limitation (100 and 50%) after 30 days of germination. Sunflower showed its tolerance to water limitation by maintaining the majority of growth parameters, nutritive value, metabolizable energy, and higher proline content. Nevertheless, a reduction in the achene number per capitulum, capitulum weight, chlorophyll, catalase activity, unsaturated to saturated fatty acids, anthocyanin, and hydroxyl derivatives of cinnamic acid supported our hypothesis about the need for some supportive techniques. Better metabolic adjustment and percentage of oil yield were manifested by 0.3 T magnetic seed treatment, which was used for phenolic and fatty acid profiling. To conclude, magnetic treatment of seeds may improve their primary metabolic capacity and antioxidation potential, which in turn may activate their secondary metabolism as evidenced by an excess of gallic acid, quercetin, benzoic acid, curcumin acid, sinapic acid, and chlorogenic acid. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Strategies for Enhancing Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Crops)
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20 pages, 4059 KiB  
Article
Physiological and Biochemical Mechanisms of Exogenous Melatonin Regulation of Saline–Alkali Tolerance in Oats
by Qiang Wang, Weiwei Xu, Changzhong Ren, Chao Zhan, Chunlong Wang, Junwei Li, Qinyong Ren, Xiaotian Liang, Liming Wei, Dabing Xiang, Junying Wang and Laichun Guo
Agronomy 2023, 13(5), 1327; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13051327 - 9 May 2023
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2147
Abstract
Saline–alkali stress is one of the major factors limiting oat seed germination. The regulatory role of melatonin (MT) as a naturally occurring active substance is well known, but the mechanism of MT-mediated intrinsic physiological regulation of oat seed germination under saline–alkali stress is [...] Read more.
Saline–alkali stress is one of the major factors limiting oat seed germination. The regulatory role of melatonin (MT) as a naturally occurring active substance is well known, but the mechanism of MT-mediated intrinsic physiological regulation of oat seed germination under saline–alkali stress is unclear. Therefore, this study investigated (1) the variability of different MT seed soaking concentrations and times on the germination of oat seeds under saline–alkali stress, and (2) the possible physiological regulatory mechanisms of MT on the germination of oat seeds under saline–alkali stress. The results showed that seed vigor was significantly reduced under saline–alkali stress, and seed germination of oats was significantly inhibited; different concentrations of MT seed soaking treatments improved the germination rate, germination potential, germination index, vigor index, root length, germ length, fresh weight, and dry weight; and, overall, treatment improved seed germination and exhibited the phenomenon of “low promotion and high inhibition”. The 100 μmol·L−1 MT seed soaking treatment effectively enhanced the activities of seed antioxidant enzymes (SOD, POD, CAT, and APX) and nonenzymatic antioxidants (GSH and AsA), affected the AsA-GSH cycle, and effectively increased the contents of osmoregulatory substances (proline, protein, and soluble sugar) by reducing levels of H2O2, OH−, and MDA, thus enhancing the tolerance of oats to saline–alkali and promoting seed germination. In conclusion, MT has a positive effect on the saline–alkali tolerance of oat seeds. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Strategies for Enhancing Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Crops)
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11 pages, 973 KiB  
Article
Identification of Wheat Germplasm Resistance to Late Sowing
by Samia Mahgoub Omer Basheir, Yi Hong, Chao Lv, Hongwei Xu, Juan Zhu, Baojian Guo, Feifei Wang and Rugen Xu
Agronomy 2023, 13(4), 1010; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13041010 - 29 Mar 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1570
Abstract
To evaluate the performance of wheat plant height and spike-related traits under delayed sowing conditions, a screening trial was conducted for wheat germplasm that exhibits resistance to late sowing and early maturity. The differences and stability of plant height and spike-related traits under [...] Read more.
To evaluate the performance of wheat plant height and spike-related traits under delayed sowing conditions, a screening trial was conducted for wheat germplasm that exhibits resistance to late sowing and early maturity. The differences and stability of plant height and spike-related traits under different sowing dates were analyzed using 327 wheat germplasm sources from a wide range of areas. The results showed that mean values of wheat plant height and spike-related traits generally decreased along with the delay in sowing dates. Broad-sense heritability of plant height (PH), internode length below spike (ILBS), spike length (SL), spikelet per spike (SPS), and spike number (SN) under multiple environments were all above 85%. Ten varieties, including Xiangmai 35, Pingyang 27, Huaimai 23, Huaimai 22, Emai 6, Zhenmai 12, Xiaoyan 81, Shannong 7859, Annong 1589, and Shuiyuan 86 indicated stable performance under different sowing dates, which harboring good resistance to late sowing. The results of this study laid a foundation for breeding high-yield wheat varieties that are resistant to late sowing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Strategies for Enhancing Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Crops)
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