Mechanisms of Plant Defense Against Abiotic Stresses
A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Molecular Biology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 December 2025 | Viewed by 714
Special Issue Editors
Interests: molecular physiology of abiotic stress tolerance in crops
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: molecular mechanism of abiotic stress response and tolerance; plant physiology; plant genetics
Interests: crop breeding for abiotic stress tolerance; plant physiology; gene mapping
Interests: crop physiology; plant biotechnology; molecular biology; genetics; crop production
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Plants are continuously exposed to abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, heavy metals, heat, waterlogging, and cold, which negatively affect crop performance and yield. This poses a significant challenge for plant scientists to secure global food supplies and creates an urgent need to continuously increase the yield of major food crops. While exceptional research has highlighted some core components of plant defenses, identifying the genes and cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the defense strategies against specific abiotic stresses remains a substantial challenge.
The complexity of stress responses and defense mechanisms is due to crosstalk, spatiotemporal regulation, intricate metabolic networks, variations in specialized metabolites among plant species, and multiple defense responses to a single threat. With advances in analytical tools for metabolomics and proteomics, genome sequencing, and improved genetic techniques, we now have better opportunities to unravel the defense mechanisms against abiotic stresses. Exploiting new knowledge of plant defense mechanisms will lead to the development of new varieties with enhanced protection against drought, salinity, heavy metals, heat, cold, and waterlogging, thereby improving sustainable agricultural practices. This Special Issue of Plants welcomes submissions of research articles, reviews, communications, methodologies, and short notes that enhance our understanding of plant defense mechanisms against abiotic stresses.
Prof. Dr. Feibo Wu
Dr. Cheng-Wei Qiu
Dr. Guohua Ding
Dr. Imrul Mosaddek Ahmed
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- abiotic stresses, including extreme temperatures, drought, salinity, submergence, heavy metals, and others
- gene regulation
- metabolism
- plant physiology
- plant signaling
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