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Forests
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Abiotic and Biotic Stress Responses in Trees Species
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Abiotic and Biotic Stress Responses in Trees Species

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Ecophysiology and Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 29 January 2025 | Viewed by 3742

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Hou-Ling Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, National Engineering Research Center of Tree Breeding and Ecological Restoration, College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Interests: abiotic stress; leaf senescence; drought; poplar; hormone regulation; genome editing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Liu-Qiang Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, Research Institute of Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China
Interests: abiotic stress; hormone regulation; tree genetic breeding
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Tree species, serving as foundational component of terrestrial ecosystems, play a crucial role in preserving biological diversity, regulating climate, conserving soil, protecting water sources, and maintaining ecological environments. Moreover, tree species provide wood and various wood-derived products. Yet, trees possess distinctive woody structures that necessitate the absorption of water and nutrients from the soil to support photosynthetic canopies that can reach heights of several tens of meters. The growth and development of trees are vulnerable to abiotic stress, including drought, soil salinity, heavy metal ion stress, and extreme temperatures. Furthermore, climate change, monocultures of forest trees, and anthropogenic activities have introduced risks to trees by exposing them to biotic stresses such as pests and diseases. This Special Issue aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the latest advancements in the research field of abiotic and biotic stress in tree species. This Special Issue aims to present selected contributions focusing on advancements in stress sensing, signaling transduction, phytohormone regulation, multilayered regulation of stress, multi-omics, and crosstalk regulation between abiotic and biotic stress.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

Stress sensing:

  • Drought;
  • Salinity;
  • Temperature;
  • Ionic stress;
  • Disease;
  • Pests.

Signaling transduction:

  • Reactive oxygen species (ROS) signaling;
  • Ca2+ signaling;
  • Protein phosphorylation or ubiquitination;
  • Systemic or local signaling.

Phytohormone regulation:

  • ABA-dependent or ABA-independent stress responses;
  • JA signaling and response to insects;
  • SA signaling and response to diseases;
  • ETH signaling and response to stress.

Multilayered regulatory of stress:

  • Chromatin-mediated regulation;
  • Transcriptional regulation;
  • Post-transcriptional regulation;
  • Translational regulation;
  • Post-translational regulation.

Multi-omics regulation of abiotic and biotic stress:

  • Genomics and transcriptomic regulation;
  • Proteomics;
  • Metabolomics;
  • Other-omics (lipidomics, glycomics, ionomics).

Crosstalk between abiotic and biotic stress responses:

  • Phytohormone mediates stress responses crosstalk;
  • MAP-kinase cascades mediate stress signaling crosstalk;
  • Roles of ROS between biotic and abiotic stress crosstalk.

Dr. Hou-Ling Wang
Dr. Liu-Qiang Wang
Guest Editors

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. Forests 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

  • drought
  • salt
  • cold
  • temperature
  • disease
  • pests
  • response
  • signaling
  • phytohormone

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 3326 KiB  
Article
The bHLH Transcription Factor PubHLH66 Improves Salt Tolerance in Daqing Poplar (Populus ussuriensis)
by Dandan Li, Jindan Wang, Yuxin Pan, Hui Wang, Xinyao Dang, Shihao Zhao and Yucheng Wang
Forests 2024, 15(11), 2051; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15112051 - 20 Nov 2024
Viewed by 249
Abstract
Elevated salinity negatively impacts plant growth and yield, presenting substantial challenges to agricultural and forestry productivity. The bHLH transcription factor family is vital for plants to cope with various abiotic stresses. However, it remains uncertain whether bHLH transcription factors can regulate salt stress [...] Read more.
Elevated salinity negatively impacts plant growth and yield, presenting substantial challenges to agricultural and forestry productivity. The bHLH transcription factor family is vital for plants to cope with various abiotic stresses. However, it remains uncertain whether bHLH transcription factors can regulate salt stress in Populus ussuriensis. In the following study, a salt-induced bHLH transcription factor PubHLH66 was identified from P. ussuriensis. PubHLH66 has a typical and conserved bHLH domain. Subcellular localization and yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) assays confirmed that it is a nucleus-localized transactivator and the activation region is located at the N-terminus. PubHLH66-OE and PubHLH66-SRDX transgenic P. ussuriensis were obtained through Agrobacterium-mediated leaf disc transformation. Morphological and physiological results demonstrated that PubHLH66-OE enhanced salinity tolerance, as indicated by reduced electrolyte leakage (EL), malondialdehyde (MDA), and H2O2 levels, along with increased proline contents and activities of peroxidase (POD) and superoxide dismutase (SOD). In contrast, PuHLH66-SRDX poplar showed decreased salt tolerance. Quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) confirmed that PubHLH66 enhanced salt tolerance by regulating the expression of genes such as PuSOD, PuPOD, and PuP5CS, resulting in reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and an improved osmotic potential. Thus, PubHLH66 could be a candidate gene for molecular breeding to enhance salt tolerance in plants. These results laid a foundation for exploring the mechanisms of salt tolerance in P. ussuriensis, facilitating the development of more salt-tolerant trees to combat the increasing issue of soil salinization globally. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Abiotic and Biotic Stress Responses in Trees Species)
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16 pages, 5251 KiB  
Article
Identification of Picea mongolica LEA Gene Family Implicates PmLEA25 in Drought Resistance
by Yaping Wang, Jiaqi Li and Yu’e Bai
Forests 2024, 15(11), 1988; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15111988 - 11 Nov 2024
Viewed by 446
Abstract
Picea mongolica is a rare and valuable tree species in China, having high tolerance for drought, cold, and sand burial. The late embryogenesis abundant protein (LEA protein) is a crucial transcription factor that plays a key role in both plant embryonic development and [...] Read more.
Picea mongolica is a rare and valuable tree species in China, having high tolerance for drought, cold, and sand burial. The late embryogenesis abundant protein (LEA protein) is a crucial transcription factor that plays a key role in both plant embryonic development and stress response. LEA genes have, however, not yet been reported in P. mongolica. In this study, through the analysis of genome data from Picea abies and transcriptome data from P. mongolica, a total of 49 PmLEAs were discovered and categorized into eight subfamilies based on their Pfam domain and phylogenetic relationship. RNA-Seq research revealed that 37 PmLEAs were differentially expressed at various stages of embryonic development. Using qRT-PCR, we found that most PmLEAs responded strongly to drought stress, with genes in the same subfamily exhibiting identical expression patterns. In particular, PmLEA25 is the most highly induced by drought treatment. Furthermore, we heterologously transformed PmLEA25 into Arabidopsis. The overexpression of PmLEA25 remarkably increased the germination rate, root length, and antioxidant capacity in Arabidopsis under drought treatment, compared with WT. The results serve as a point of reference for gaining a deeper comprehension of the function of PmLEA25 in the molecular process of stress resistance in P. mongolica. Additionally, they offer significant genetic materials for the purpose of breeding stress-resistant spruce species. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Abiotic and Biotic Stress Responses in Trees Species)
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14 pages, 6742 KiB  
Article
Exploring Functional Gene XsPDAT1’s Involvement in Xanthoceras sorbifolium Oil Synthesis and Its Acclimation to Cold Stress
by Juan Wang, Hongqian Ren, Zetao Shi, Fesobi Olumide Phillip, Sisi Liu, Weiyang Zhang, Xingqiang Wang, Xueping Bao and Jinping Guo
Forests 2024, 15(10), 1822; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15101822 - 18 Oct 2024
Viewed by 525
Abstract
Phospholipid: diacylglycerol acyltransferase (PDAT) is crucial in triacylglycerol (TAG) synthesis as it represents the final rate-limiting step of the acyl-CoA-independent acylation reaction. PDAT not only regulates lipid synthesis in plants, but also plays an important function in improving stress tolerance. In this study, [...] Read more.
Phospholipid: diacylglycerol acyltransferase (PDAT) is crucial in triacylglycerol (TAG) synthesis as it represents the final rate-limiting step of the acyl-CoA-independent acylation reaction. PDAT not only regulates lipid synthesis in plants, but also plays an important function in improving stress tolerance. In this study, the full-length coding sequence (CDS) of XsPDAT1, totaling 2022 base pairs and encoding 673 amino acids, was cloned from Xanthoceras sorbifolium. The relative expression of XsPDAT1 was significantly and positively correlated with oil accumulation during seed kernel development; there were some differences in the expression patterns under different abiotic stresses. Transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants overexpressing XsPDAT1 were obtained using the Agrobacterium-mediated method. Under low-temperature stress, the transgenic plants exhibited a smaller decrease in chlorophyll content, a smaller increase in relative conductivity, and a larger increase in POD enzyme activity and proline content in the leaves compared with the wild type. Additionally, lipid composition analysis revealed a significant increase in unsaturated fatty acids, such as oleic (C18:1) and linoleic (C18:2), in the seeds of transgenic plants compared to the wild type. These results suggest that XsPDAT1 plays a dual role in regulating the ratio of fatty acid composition and low-temperature stress in plants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Abiotic and Biotic Stress Responses in Trees Species)
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14 pages, 11795 KiB  
Article
Molecular Cloning of QwMYB108 Gene and Its Response to Drought Stress in Quercus wutaishanica Mayr
by Xuefei Zhao, Ying Sun, Yong Wang, Di Shao, Gang Chen, Yiren Jiang and Li Qin
Forests 2024, 15(9), 1557; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15091557 - 4 Sep 2024
Viewed by 519
Abstract
Drought is a significant environmental limiting factor that restricts the growth of Quercus wutaishanica Mayr. The MYB transcription factor plays a wide role in controlling the growth of plants. In this study, the QwMYB108 gene was cloned and the bioinformatics was analyzed, and [...] Read more.
Drought is a significant environmental limiting factor that restricts the growth of Quercus wutaishanica Mayr. The MYB transcription factor plays a wide role in controlling the growth of plants. In this study, the QwMYB108 gene was cloned and the bioinformatics was analyzed, and we examined how QwMYB108 responded to various gradient drought stresses. The results demonstrated that QwMYB108 encoded 275 amino acids using an 828 bp open reading frame. Subcellular localization indicated that the gene was located in the nucleus. Phylogenetic analysis showed that QwMYB108 was close to Q. robur, and that the highest level of expression was found in leaves, which was significantly different from other tissues. The expression of QwMYB108 increased as the stress degree rose when drought stress was present, and there was a significant difference between severe drought stress and other gradient stress. In this study, the function of QwMYB108 in drought stress response was investigated, and the drought response function gene of Q. wutaishanica was further explored to provide a theoretical basis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Abiotic and Biotic Stress Responses in Trees Species)
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11 pages, 2647 KiB  
Article
Deciphering the Regulatory Mechanism of PmMYB21 in Early Flowering of Prunus mume through Dap-Seq and WGCNA Analysis
by Xi Yuan, Ran He, Hui Zhang, Dongyan Liu, Donghuan Liu, Zhihong Niu, Yu Zhang and Xinli Xia
Forests 2024, 15(8), 1300; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15081300 - 25 Jul 2024
Viewed by 763
Abstract
Prunus mume Siebold & Zucc (mei) is a horticulturally important fruit tree that undergoes anthesis in winter. Therefore, its flowering process is challenged by low-temperatures conditions. The transcription factor (TF) MYB21 is pivotal in regulating the flowering process, and particularly functions in petal [...] Read more.
Prunus mume Siebold & Zucc (mei) is a horticulturally important fruit tree that undergoes anthesis in winter. Therefore, its flowering process is challenged by low-temperatures conditions. The transcription factor (TF) MYB21 is pivotal in regulating the flowering process, and particularly functions in petal expansion and filament elongation. However, the regulatory mechanism of PmMYB21 in mei remains unknown. To breed early-flowering cultivars, a deeper understanding of PmMYB21-regulated genes is essential. We employed DNA affinity purification sequencing (Dap-seq) to identify downstream genes bound by PmMYB21. The results revealed the promoter region is the primary binding region of PmMYB21, and the AGTTAGGTARR motif (motif1) is the predominant binding sequence type. Our analysis identified 8533 genes that are potentially bound by PmMYB21 with the motif1 sequence type, within the promoter region. These genes are involved in biological processes critical to flowering. Further refinement of candidate genes was achieved through Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA), which identified the co-expressed genes of PmMYB21 during flowering activity. Integrating Dap-seq and WGCNA data, we narrowed down the candidate gene list to 54, with a focus on 4 MADS-box genes and 2 hormone signaling genes that are crucial to the flowering process under low-temperature conditions. This study offers valuable insights into the molecular underpinnings of PmMYB21’s role in the low-temperature flowering regulation of mei, paving the way for the development of new cultivars adapted to early blooming. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Abiotic and Biotic Stress Responses in Trees Species)
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19 pages, 3901 KiB  
Article
Physiological Response to Low-Temperature Stress and Cold Resistance Evaluation of Ziziphus jujuba var. spinosa Clones from Different Provenances
by Biao Li, Yuncheng Zhang, Ying Kang, Yijin Wang, Ruilin Liu, Qingbai Liu and Shengjun Dong
Forests 2024, 15(7), 1130; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15071130 - 28 Jun 2024
Viewed by 830
Abstract
To investigate the low-temperature adaptability of different provenances of Ziziphus jujuba var. spinosa, we used 21 clones from seven provenances as experimental materials and observed the changes in physiological and biochemical indicators and the characteristics of anatomical structures under low-temperature stress. A [...] Read more.
To investigate the low-temperature adaptability of different provenances of Ziziphus jujuba var. spinosa, we used 21 clones from seven provenances as experimental materials and observed the changes in physiological and biochemical indicators and the characteristics of anatomical structures under low-temperature stress. A comprehensive evaluation of their cold resistance was conducted using the membership function method. As the temperature decreased, the relative electrical conductivity (REC) of clone 89 became stable and had the lowest LT50 value (−44.04 °C). The cold-resistant Z. jujuba var. spinosa had a higher bound water/free water (BW/FW) ratio and antioxidant enzyme activity and accumulated large quantities of osmotic regulatory substances. Higher xylem, phloem, and xylem–cortex ratios and greater conduit density enhanced the cold resistance of Z. jujuba var. spinosa. The membership function values of clones 89, 90, 91, 604, and 612 were greater than 0.6, indicating that they could be evaluated as resources with the potential for low-temperature resistance. The cold resistance rankings for the different provenances were as follows: Kazuo, Liaoning > Jiaxian, Shaanxi > Fuxing, Heibei > Changqing, Shandong > Neiqiu, Heibei > Yanchuan, Shaanxi > Xiaxian, Shanxi. These results provide a scientific basis for the rapid and accurate identification of cold resistance in Z. jujuba var. spinosa resources and the breeding and cultivation of new cold-resistant varieties of this subspecies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Abiotic and Biotic Stress Responses in Trees Species)
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