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Agronomy
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Molecular Mechanisms of Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Crop Plants
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Molecular Mechanisms of Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Crop Plants

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 March 2020) | Viewed by 13236

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Bernd Mueller-Roeber

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
University of Potsdam, Molecular Biology, Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 24-25, Haus 20, 14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany
Interests: plant stress tolerance; senescence; gene regulatory networks; synthetic biology
Prof. Dr. Salma Balazadeh

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Sylviusweg 72, 2333 BE Leiden, The Netherlands
Interests: plant stress tolerance; autophagy; senescence; gene regulatory networks
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Climate change is having a significant impact on global ecosystems and, no less significant, on agricultural production across many areas of the world. The negative effects of increased temperature, reduced water availability, elevated salinity, or rapidly changing environmental factors on the growth and yield formation of crops are well known. Thanks to numerous -omics technologies, not only have the genome sequences of many crops been elucidated in recent years, but also, far-reaching insights into gene regulation, metabolic profiles and networks, or protein patterns been obtained. In addition, more and more refined genome engineering methods, e.g., on the basis of CRISPR-Cas9, allow altering plant genomes with increasing precision and developing crops with superior tolerance to abiotic stressors. The mechanisms of stress tolerance are sophisticated and may vary in different cells, tissues, and organs. Central to future plant breeding is improving stress tolerance while at the same time maintaining high and stable yields. The cultivation of hitherto underutilized crops, or even the establishment of completely new crops through integrative approaches of genome and -omics research, can help to maintain and improve global food security under the increasingly harsh conditions of climate change. Additionally, research on plants growing in marginal locations can help to develop crops adapted to climate change. For the Special Issue, we expect contributions with original research results as well as review articles on relevant and, if possible, little-addressed topics. Further, opinion papers with interesting views on future research are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Bernd Mueller-Roeber
Prof. Dr. Salma Balazadeh
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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

  • crops
  • abiotic stress
  • molecular and physiological mechanisms
  • genome editing
  • underutilized crops
  • marginal land
  • stress sensing and signaling

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 3400 KiB  
Article
Response of Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) to Abrupt Chilling as Reflected by Changes in Freezing Tolerance and Soluble Sugars
by Hongyu Xu, Zongyong Tong, Feng He and Xianglin Li
Agronomy 2020, 10(2), 255; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10020255 - 10 Feb 2020
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 3010
Abstract
Abrupt-chilling events threaten the survival of alfalfa plants, the ability to cope with such condition should be considered during cultivar selection in the production. To assess biochemical and molecular responses of alfalfa to abrupt chilling, the cultivars “WL440HQ” (WL) and “ZhaoDong” (ZD) were [...] Read more.
Abrupt-chilling events threaten the survival of alfalfa plants, the ability to cope with such condition should be considered during cultivar selection in the production. To assess biochemical and molecular responses of alfalfa to abrupt chilling, the cultivars “WL440HQ” (WL) and “ZhaoDong” (ZD) were subjected to a five-phase experimental regime that included two abrupt-chilling events. The freezing tolerance of the crown was determined as the semi-lethal temperature (LT50) calculated from electrolyte leakage. Soluble sugar concentrations were quantified by ion chromatography. The mRNA transcript levels of four genes encoding enzymes (β-amylase, sucrose phosphate synthase, galactinol synthase, and stachyose synthase) involved in sugar metabolism and two cold-regulated genes (Cas15A and K3-dehydrin) were quantified using quantitative real-time PCR analysis. During the abrupt-chilling events, the LT50 decreased significantly in ZD but not in WL. The rapid response of ZD to abrupt chilling may have been due to the large increases in raffinose and stachyose concentrations, which were consistent with increased transcript levels of the galactinol synthase and stachyose synthase genes. Transcript levels of the cold-regulated genes Cas15A and K3-dehydrin were correlated with increased freezing tolerance under abrupt chilling. The results provide a reference for selection of appropriate cultivars to reduce the risk of crop damage in production areas where early autumn or late spring frosts are likely. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Mechanisms of Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Crop Plants)
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10 pages, 1439 KiB  
Article
Accumulation of Phenylpropanoids in Tartary Buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum) under Salt Stress
by Nam Su Kim, Soon-Jae Kwon, Do Manh Cuong, Jin Jeon, Jong Seok Park and Sang Un Park
Agronomy 2019, 9(11), 739; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy9110739 - 11 Nov 2019
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3010
Abstract
Salinity stress affects plants by reducing the water potential and causing ion imbalance or disturbances in ion homeostasis and toxicity. Salinity stress frequently causes both osmotic and ionic stress in plants, resulting in the increase or decrease of certain secondary metabolites in plants. [...] Read more.
Salinity stress affects plants by reducing the water potential and causing ion imbalance or disturbances in ion homeostasis and toxicity. Salinity stress frequently causes both osmotic and ionic stress in plants, resulting in the increase or decrease of certain secondary metabolites in plants. In this study, the effect of NaCl treatment on the nutritional quality of tartary buckwheat plants was studied by conducting an HPLC analysis of phenylpropanoid and anthocyanin content. It was observed that there was no significant change of color in tartary buckwheat during salt treatment. The accumulation of most phenylpropanoid compounds increased slightly in response to the NaCl concentration. The total phenylpropanoid content in tartary buckwheat was the highest at 100 mM NaCl treatment. Seven-day-old wheat plantlets treated with 100 mM NaCl for 2, 4, 6, and 8 days showed the highest accumulation of total phenylpropanoids at day 8 after treatment, while the content of most phenylpropanoids was higher than that in the control during this period. Although the development of tartary buckwheat slightly decreased with NaCl treatment and the accumulation of anthocyanin compounds did not change in plants with a diffident NaCl concentration and time treatment, the results suggest that the salinity treatment of tartary buckwheat causes antioxidant activity improvement by inducing an accumulation of flavonoid and phenolic compounds. However, since the anthocyanin content did not increase, the antioxidant effect of the treatment is not expected to be significant. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Mechanisms of Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Crop Plants)
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24 pages, 5052 KiB  
Article
CRISPR/Cas9-Induced Mutagenesis of Semi-Rolled Leaf1,2 Confers Curled Leaf Phenotype and Drought Tolerance by Influencing Protein Expression Patterns and ROS Scavenging in Rice (Oryza sativa L.)
by Shanyue Liao, Xuemei Qin, Liang Luo, Yue Han, Xin Wang, Babar Usman, Gul Nawaz, Neng Zhao, Yaoguang Liu and Rongbai Li
Agronomy 2019, 9(11), 728; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy9110728 - 8 Nov 2019
Cited by 121 | Viewed by 6568
Abstract
Rice leaf morphology is an essential agronomic trait to develop drought-tolerant genotypes for adequate and stable crop production in drought-prone areas. Here, rolled leaf mutant plants were acquired by CRISPR/Cas9-based mutagenesis of Semi-rolled leaf1,2 (SRL1 and SRL2) genes, and isobaric tags [...] Read more.
Rice leaf morphology is an essential agronomic trait to develop drought-tolerant genotypes for adequate and stable crop production in drought-prone areas. Here, rolled leaf mutant plants were acquired by CRISPR/Cas9-based mutagenesis of Semi-rolled leaf1,2 (SRL1 and SRL2) genes, and isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) based proteomic analysis was performed to analyze the subsequent proteomic regulation events. Homozygous mutants exhibit decreased chlorophyll content, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, vascular bundles (VB), stomatal number, and agronomic traits with increased panicle number and bulliform cells (BCs). Under drought stress, mutant plants displayed lower malondialdehyde (MDA) content while higher survival rate, abscisic acid (ABA) content, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) activities, and grain filling percentage compare with their wild type (WT). Proteomic results revealed that 270 proteins were significantly downregulated, and 107 proteins were upregulated in the mutant line compared with WT. Proteins related to lateral organ boundaries’ (LOB) domain (LBD) were downregulated, whereas abiotic stress-responsive proteins were upregulated in the CRISPR mutant. LBD proteins (Q5KQR7, Q6K713, Q7XGL4, Q8LQH4), probable indole-3-acetic acid-amido synthetase (Q60EJ6), putative auxin transporter-like protein 4 (Q53JG7), Monoculm 1 (Q84MM9) and AP2 (Apetala2) domain-containing protein (Q10A97) were found to be hub-proteins. The hybrids developed from mutant restorers showed a semi-rolled leaf phenotype with increased panicle number, grain number per panicle, and yield per plant. Our findings reveal the intrinsic value of genome editing and expand the knowledge about the network of proteins for leaf rolling and drought avoidance in rice. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Mechanisms of Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Crop Plants)
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