Physiological and Molecular Perspectives of Environmental Stress to Plants

Dear Colleagues,

Plants face a myriad of environmental stressors that profoundly impact their physiological and molecular processes, ultimately influencing their growth, development, and productivity. Environmental stressors, such as drought, salinity, extreme temperatures, and pollution, pose significant challenges to global agriculture, threatening food security and ecosystem stability. Understanding the intricate mechanisms underlying plant responses to these stressors is crucial for developing strategies to enhance plant resilience and sustainability in a changing climate.

Physiological and molecular perspectives offer valuable insights into how plants perceive, signal, and adapt to environmental stress. Physiological responses encompass a wide array of adaptive strategies, including changes in stomatal conductance, osmotic regulation, and antioxidant defense mechanisms. At the molecular level, plants deploy intricate signaling networks and gene regulatory pathways to modulate stress-responsive gene expression and biosynthetic pathways, enabling them to cope with adverse environmental conditions.

Scope of this Special Issue:

This Special Issue invites original research articles, reviews, and communications that delve into the physiological and molecular mechanisms governing horticultural crop responses to environmental stress. We welcome contributions that explore the following topics:

1. Elucidating the physiological mechanisms underlying horticultural plant responses to specific environmental stressors.
2. Unraveling the molecular signaling pathways involved in stress perception and adaptation.
3. Investigating the crosstalk between different stress signaling pathways and the integration of stress responses.
4. Characterizing stress-responsive genes and regulatory elements involved in plant stress tolerance.
5. Exploring novel strategies for enhancing plant resilience through genetic engineering and biotechnological approaches.
6. Assessing the impact of environmental stress on horticultural crop performance, yield, and nutritional quality.

By addressing these critical themes, this Special Issue aims to advance our understanding of how plants cope with environmental stress at the physiological and molecular levels. Researchers are encouraged to contribute their findings to collectively enrich our knowledge base and inform the development of innovative strategies for sustainable agriculture in the face of escalating environmental challenges.

Dr. Fasih Haider Ullah Haider
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. Horticulturae 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 2200 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.

• environmental stress
• physiological responses
• molecular mechanisms
• plant adaptation
• stress tolerance