Effects of Abiotic and Biotic Stress in Plants

A special issue of Life (ISSN 2075-1729). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 11682

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
1. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany & CAS Key Laboratory of South China Agricultural Plant Molecular Analysis and Genetic Improvement, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China
2. National Engineering Research Center of Navel Orange, Gannan Normal University, Ganzhou 341000, China
Interests: plant-microbe interaction; epigenetics; plant virus; cross-talk between biotic and abiotic stresses
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China
Interests: biotic stress; abiotic stress; ubiquitination; post-translational modification

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As sessile organisms, plants always encounter two types of stress: biotic stress and abiotic stress, which significantly influence plant growth, development, and crop productivity. The topics of plant biotic/abiotic stress have been studied for several decades. However, the world’s agricultural production and food security are still threatened by environmental stresses. Therefore, exploring the mechanisms of how plants overcome such numerous stresses and breeding stress-tolerant crops will stay on the list of high-priority questions facing plant research.

In this Special Issue, we seek original research or review articles focusing on plant–pathogen (such as fungi, bacteria, viruses, oomycetes, nematodes, and herbivores) interaction and abiotic stress (such as salt, drought, cold, heat, and heavy metal stress). We also welcome articles that discuss the crosstalk between biotic and abiotic stresses on plants, which have been seldom touched in the field of stress biology. Moreover, studies on genetic, epigenetic, and transcriptional regulation, post-translation modification, and signal transduction are most welcome. Topics also include stress-tolerant crop breeding, which is one of the major purposes for scientific study. Developing stress-tolerant crops is the most economical and sustainable scheme to meet the urgent demand for food with the fast-increasing population, especially under current global climate change circumstances. 

Dr. Shulin Deng
Dr. Yi Zhang
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • plant–pathogen interaction
  • plant disease
  • salt and drought stress
  • cold and heat stress
  • heavy metal stress

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 6975 KiB  
Article
Different Leaf Anatomical Responses to Water Deficit in Maize and Soybean
by Noel Anthony Mano, Bethany Madore and Michael V. Mickelbart
Life 2023, 13(2), 290; https://doi.org/10.3390/life13020290 - 20 Jan 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2400
Abstract
The stomata on leaf surfaces control gas exchange and water loss, closing during dry periods to conserve water. The distribution and size of stomatal complexes is determined by epidermal cell differentiation and expansion during leaf growth. Regulation of these processes in response to [...] Read more.
The stomata on leaf surfaces control gas exchange and water loss, closing during dry periods to conserve water. The distribution and size of stomatal complexes is determined by epidermal cell differentiation and expansion during leaf growth. Regulation of these processes in response to water deficit may result in stomatal anatomical plasticity as part of the plant acclimation to drought. We quantified the leaf anatomical plasticity under water-deficit conditions in maize and soybean over two experiments. Both species produced smaller leaves in response to the water deficit, partly due to the reductions in the stomata and pavement cell size, although this response was greater in soybean, which also produced thicker leaves under severe stress, whereas the maize leaf thickness did not change. The stomata and pavement cells were smaller with the reduced water availability in both species, resulting in higher stomatal densities. Stomatal development (measured as stomatal index, SI) was suppressed in both species at the lowest water availability, but to a greater extent in maize than in soybean. The result of these responses is that in maize leaves, the stomatal area fraction (fgc) was consistently reduced in the plants grown under severe but not moderate water deficit, whereas the fgc did not decrease in the water-stressed soybean leaves. The water deficit resulted in the reduced expression of one of two (maize) or three (soybean) SPEECHLESS orthologs, and the expression patterns were correlated with SI. The vein density (VD) increased in both species in response to the water deficit, although the effect was greater in soybean. This study establishes a mechanism of stomatal development plasticity that can be applied to other species and genotypes to develop or investigate stomatal development plasticity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Abiotic and Biotic Stress in Plants)
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16 pages, 316 KiB  
Article
Plant Growth and Fruit Nutrient Changes in Carica papaya L. Genotypes Subjected to Regulated Deficit Irrigation
by Jalel Mahouachi and Elías Marrero-Díaz
Life 2022, 12(11), 1831; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12111831 - 9 Nov 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2259
Abstract
The current genotypes of Carica papaya L. cultivated worldwide are considered relatively tolerant or sensitive to drought conditions, depending specifically on the cultivar features and the severity of water shortage. In this work an experimental field was established by subjecting “Intenzza” and “Siluet” [...] Read more.
The current genotypes of Carica papaya L. cultivated worldwide are considered relatively tolerant or sensitive to drought conditions, depending specifically on the cultivar features and the severity of water shortage. In this work an experimental field was established by subjecting “Intenzza” and “Siluet” to the following water regimes: Control (“CT”), plants irrigated at field capacity (100%); Moderate Deficit Irrigation (“MDI”, watered at 66%); and Severe Deficit Irrigation (“SDI”, watered at 50%). The results indicated that water deficit decreases leaf number leading to a decline of total leaf area, being “Intenzza” equally affected by “SDI” and “MDI”, whereas in “Siluet” the major decrease was induced by “SDI”. Regarding fruit development, in “Intenzza”, “MDI” and “SDI” did not affect fruit number except two dates (120 and 202 DAT), decreased fruit fresh weight (FW), and increased total soluble solutes (TSS) levels, while in “Siluet” only “SDI” reduced fruit FW and watering systems did not change TSS, suggesting a better performance of this cultivar under “MDI”. In addition, drought did not impair fruit mineral concentrations excepting in few dates, and in such cases stressed fruits accumulated a slight minor or even major concentration of some nutrients than control, maintaining consequently suitable organoleptic quality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Abiotic and Biotic Stress in Plants)
13 pages, 1434 KiB  
Article
Thymoquinone Alleviates Cadmium Induced Stress in Germinated Lens culinaris Seeds by Reducing Oxidative Stress and Increasing Antioxidative Activities
by Reda Ben Mrid, Abdelhamid Ennoury, Zoulfa Roussi, Imane Naboulsi, Bouchra Benmrid, Anass Kchikich, Redouane El Omari, Mohamed Nhiri and Abdelaziz Yasri
Life 2022, 12(11), 1779; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12111779 - 3 Nov 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1616
Abstract
This study investigated the effect of thymoquinone on seeds germination and young seedlings of lentils under cadmium (Cd) stress (300 µM). Three different concentrations (10 µM, 1 µM, and 0.1 µM) of thymoquinone were applied. Our results indicated that thymoquinone has a positive [...] Read more.
This study investigated the effect of thymoquinone on seeds germination and young seedlings of lentils under cadmium (Cd) stress (300 µM). Three different concentrations (10 µM, 1 µM, and 0.1 µM) of thymoquinone were applied. Our results indicated that thymoquinone has a positive effect on several physiological and biochemical parameters on seeds germination and young seedlings of lentils under Cd stress, which led to enhancing their growth. A significant increase in shoot and root length, fresh and dry weight, and chlorophyll content was observed in the treated plants compared to the control plants. However, the thymoquinone treatment significantly reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) contents compared to untreated roots and seedlings under Cd-stress. Nevertheless, our results show that the thymoquinone significantly improved the activities of enzymes involved in antioxidant response, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR), thioredoxin reductase (TrxR), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX). We have also studied the activities of isocitrate dehydrogenase (ICDH) and malate dehydrogenase (MDH); ICDH was increased significantly in roots and seedlings in the presence of different doses of thymoquinone. However, the activity MDH was increased only in roots. Our results suggest that the application of thymoquinone could mitigate cadmium induced oxidative stress. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Abiotic and Biotic Stress in Plants)
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12 pages, 1872 KiB  
Article
Systemic Resistance Induction of Potato and Tobacco Plants against Potato Virus Y by Klebsiella oxytoca
by Mohsen Mohamed Elsharkawy, Fatimah O. Alotibi, Abdulaziz A. Al-Askar, Muhammad Adnan, Muhammad Kamran, Ahmed Abdelkhalek, Said I. Behiry, Muhammad Hamzah Saleem, Abdelmonim Ali Ahmad and Amr Ahmed Khedr
Life 2022, 12(10), 1521; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12101521 - 29 Sep 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2298
Abstract
Potato Virus Y (PVY) is a serious potato disease that may significantly decrease potato production. To suppress potato virus infection, several measures have been undertaken. The utilization of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria is one of these methods. Biochar soil treatment is believed to provide [...] Read more.
Potato Virus Y (PVY) is a serious potato disease that may significantly decrease potato production. To suppress potato virus infection, several measures have been undertaken. The utilization of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria is one of these methods. Biochar soil treatment is believed to provide plants with a number of advantages, including increased plant growth and the development of systemic resistance to a variety of plant diseases. The goal of this research was to see whether adding biochar and Klebsiella oxytoca to the soil might cause PVY resistance and enhance the involved mechanisms in PVY resistance. Potato and tobacco seedlings treated with Klebsiella oxytoca and biochar exhibited the same impact of significant symptom reduction, with complete negative ELISA findings, supporting the antiviral activity of K. oxytoca and biochar. Furthermore, owing to the connection between the ISR implicated substrates, significant amounts of polyphenol oxidase, catalase, and superoxide dismutase were observed in treated plants, with the same behavior as defense genes expression levels. It may be a step forward in the development of biochar and K. oxytoca as potential environmentally friendly disease control strategies against PVY. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Abiotic and Biotic Stress in Plants)
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18 pages, 3860 KiB  
Article
Comparative Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Differential Gene Expression in Resistant and Susceptible Watermelon Varieties in Response to Meloidogyne incognita
by Yingchun Zhu, Gaopeng Yuan, Renzong Zhao, Guolin An, Weihua Li, Wenjing Si, Junpu Liu and Dexi Sun
Life 2022, 12(7), 1003; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12071003 - 6 Jul 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2203
Abstract
M. incognita is a major parasitic plant disease in watermelon production, causing serious economic losses. Although there are many studies on root-knot nematode, the resistance mechanism is still unclear. In this study, in order to fully understand the mechanism of watermelon resistance to [...] Read more.
M. incognita is a major parasitic plant disease in watermelon production, causing serious economic losses. Although there are many studies on root-knot nematode, the resistance mechanism is still unclear. In this study, in order to fully understand the mechanism of watermelon resistance to root-knot nematode, the relatively strongly resistant ‘Hongzi watermelon’ variety and the susceptible ‘M16’ watermelon variety were used as materials, combined with RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), to analyze the expression abundance of resistant and susceptible varieties at 0, 2, 8 and 15 days post-infection (DPI) by M. incognita. The number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the four comparison groups (A0_B0, A1_B1, A2_B2 and A3_B3) was 3645, 2306, 4449 and 2362, respectively, and there were 835 shared DEGs among them. GO annotation and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed that 835 DEGs were mainly involved in phenylpropane biosynthesis and carbon metabolism. Furthermore, lignin-biosynthesis-related genes (4CL (4-coumaric acid-CoA ligase), C3H (coumaric acid 3-hydroxylase), CSE (caffeoyl shikimate esterase), COMT (caffeic acid-O-methyltransferase), CCR (cinnamyl CoA reductase) and PRX (peroxidase)), defense-related proteins (UDP-glucoronosyl/UDP-glucosyl transferase, UGT84A13; salicylic acid binding protein, SABP2) and some transcription factors (TFs) were highlighted, which may be potential candidate genes for further analysis in the infection process of M. incognita. These results suggest that watermelon can achieve resistance to M. incognita by increasing the content of lignin and phenols in root or improving ROS level. These RNA-seq data provide new knowledge for future functional studies and will be helpful to further elucidate the molecular mechanism of resistance to M. incognita in watermelon. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Abiotic and Biotic Stress in Plants)
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