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Abiotic Stress of Crops: Molecular Genetics and Genomics—2nd Edition
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Abiotic Stress of Crops: Molecular Genetics and Genomics—2nd Edition

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Response to Abiotic Stress and Climate Change".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2025 | Viewed by 3893

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Zhaoshi Xu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Triticeae Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 100081, China
Interests: drought; salt; heat; fusarium crown rot (FCR); regulation network; wheat; soybean
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Due in part to climate change and increasing water scarcity, drought, heat, and salt, dry-hot winds pose a substantial threat to agriculture worldwide, especially to the productivity of field crops. The time of onset, duration and intensity of drought stress can affect crop production to different degrees, and drought during the reproductive period can directly lead to losses of over 50% in average yield. Therefore, improving the abiotic stress tolerance of crops is of great importance.

With the advance in high-throughput sequencing technologies and release of crop reference genomes, the isolation of multiple genes and analysis of gene regulation networks has rapidly expanded in recent years. Genome information is laying the foundation for precision genome editing, ushering in a new era of soybean molecular breeding. This Special Issue will highlight abiotic stress responses, genomic research, gene–abiotic stress interactions, gene regulation mechanisms, and stress signal transduction.

Prof. Dr. Zhaoshi Xu
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. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2700 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

  • abiotic stress response
  • gene function
  • gene regulation
  • stress signal transduction
  • stress tolerance
  • tolerant mechanism
  • genomic research
  • gene editing
  • yield

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 5921 KiB  
Article
Genome-Wide Identification of PR10 Family Members in Durum Wheat: Expression Profile and In Vitro Analyses of TdPR10.1 in Response to Various Stress Conditions
by Emna Khanfir, Ikram Zribi, Hanen Dhouib, Mouna Ghorbel, Karama Hamdi, Olfa Jrad, Inès Yacoubi and Faiçal Brini
Plants 2024, 13(22), 3128; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13223128 - 7 Nov 2024
Viewed by 500
Abstract
The functional characterization of PR10 proteins has been extensively studied in many plant species. However, little is known about the role of TdPR10 in the response of durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) to stress. In this study, we identified members of the [...] Read more.
The functional characterization of PR10 proteins has been extensively studied in many plant species. However, little is known about the role of TdPR10 in the response of durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) to stress. In this study, we identified members of the T. durum PR10 family, which are divided into three major subfamilies based on phylogenetic analyses. The analysis revealed that tandem duplication was the primary driver of the expansion of the T. durum PR10 gene family. Additionally, gene structure and motif analyses showed that PR10 family genes were relatively conserved during evolution. We also identified several cis-regulatory elements in the TdPR10 promoter regions related not only to abiotic and biotic stress but also to phytohormonal responses. In response to abiotic stresses and phytohormones, several TdPR10 genes were highly expressed in the leaves and roots of durum wheat. Moreover, TdPR10.1 family members improve RNase activity, increase LDH protective activity under abiotic stress conditions, and ensure resistance to fungi in vitro. Collectively, these findings provide a basis for further functional studies of TdPR10 genes, which could be leveraged to enhance stress tolerance in durum wheat. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Abiotic Stress of Crops: Molecular Genetics and Genomics—2nd Edition)
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14 pages, 6553 KiB  
Article
GmTRAB1, a Basic Leucine Zipper Transcription Factor, Positively Regulates Drought Tolerance in Soybean (Glycine max. L)
by Hui Li, Qiu-Yu Zhang, Ping Xu, Xiao-Hua Wang, Sheng-Jie Dai, Zhen-Ning Liu, Meng Xu, Xue Cao and Xiao-Yu Cui
Plants 2024, 13(21), 3104; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13213104 - 4 Nov 2024
Viewed by 696
Abstract
The basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factors play crucial roles in plant resistance to environmental challenges, but the biological functions of soybean bZIP members are still unclear. In this study, a drought-related soybean bZIP gene, GmTRAB1, was analyzed. The transcript of GmTRAB1 [...] Read more.
The basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factors play crucial roles in plant resistance to environmental challenges, but the biological functions of soybean bZIP members are still unclear. In this study, a drought-related soybean bZIP gene, GmTRAB1, was analyzed. The transcript of GmTRAB1 was upregulated under drought, ABA, and oxidative stresses. Overexpression of GmTRAB1 improved the osmotic stress tolerance of transgenic Arabidopsis and soybean hairy roots associated with increased proline content and activity of antioxidant enzymes and reduced accumulations of malonaldehyde and reactive oxide species. However, RNA interference silencing of GmTRAB1 in the soybean hairy roots improved drought sensitivity. Furthermore, GmTRAB1 increased the sensitivity of transgenic plants to ABA and participated in modulating ABA-regulated stomatal closure upon drought stress. In addition, GmTRAB1 stimulated the transcript accumulation of drought-, ABA-, and antioxidant-related genes to respond to drought. Collectively, this research will contribute to understanding the molecular mechanisms of bZIP transcription factors in soybean’s resistance to drought. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Abiotic Stress of Crops: Molecular Genetics and Genomics—2nd Edition)
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20 pages, 3338 KiB  
Article
Enhancing Coleoptile Length of Rice Seeds under Submergence through NAL11 Knockout
by Zhe Zhao, Yuelan Xie, Mengqing Tian, Jinzhao Liu, Chun Chen, Jiyong Zhou, Tao Guo and Wuming Xiao
Plants 2024, 13(18), 2593; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13182593 - 17 Sep 2024
Viewed by 822
Abstract
Submergence stress challenges direct seeding in rice cultivation. In this study, we identified a heat shock protein, NAL11, with a DnaJ domain, which can regulate the length of rice coleoptiles under flooded conditions. Through bioinformatics analyses, we identified cis-regulatory elements in [...] Read more.
Submergence stress challenges direct seeding in rice cultivation. In this study, we identified a heat shock protein, NAL11, with a DnaJ domain, which can regulate the length of rice coleoptiles under flooded conditions. Through bioinformatics analyses, we identified cis-regulatory elements in its promoter, making it responsive to abiotic stresses, such as hypoxia or anoxia. Expression of NAL11 was higher in the basal regions of shoots and coleoptiles during flooding. NAL11 knockout triggered the rapid accumulation of abscisic acid (ABA) and reduction of Gibberellin (GA), stimulating rice coleoptile elongation and contributes to flooding stress management. In addition, NAL11 mutants were found to be more sensitive to ABA treatments. Such knockout lines exhibited enhanced cell elongation for coleoptile extension. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis revealed that NAL11 mediated the gluconeogenic pathway, essential for the energy needed in cell expansion. Furthermore, NAL11 mutants reduced the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde under submerged stress, attributed to an improved antioxidant enzyme system compared to the wild-type. In conclusion, our findings underscore the pivotal role of NAL11 knockout in enhancing the tolerance of rice to submergence stress by elucidating its mechanisms. This insight offers a new strategy for improving resilience against flooding in rice cultivation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Abiotic Stress of Crops: Molecular Genetics and Genomics—2nd Edition)
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20 pages, 4756 KiB  
Article
The Physiological and Molecular Mechanisms of Exogenous Melatonin Promote the Seed Germination of Maize (Zea mays L.) under Salt Stress
by Jiajie Wang, Di Yan, Rui Liu, Ting Wang, Yijia Lian, Zhenzong Lu, Yue Hong, Ye Wang and Runzhi Li
Plants 2024, 13(15), 2142; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13152142 - 2 Aug 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1520
Abstract
Salt stress caused by high concentrations of Na+ and Cl- in soil is one of the most important abiotic stresses in agricultural production, which seriously affects grain yield. The alleviation of salt stress through the application of exogenous substances is important [...] Read more.
Salt stress caused by high concentrations of Na+ and Cl- in soil is one of the most important abiotic stresses in agricultural production, which seriously affects grain yield. The alleviation of salt stress through the application of exogenous substances is important for grain production. Melatonin (MT, N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) is an indole-like small molecule that can effectively alleviate the damage caused by adversity stress on crops. Current studies have mainly focused on the effects of MT on the physiology and biochemistry of crops at the seedling stage, with fewer studies on the gene regulatory mechanisms of crops at the germination stage. The aim of this study was to explain the mechanism of MT-induced salt tolerance at physiological, biochemical, and molecular levels and to provide a theoretical basis for the resolution of MT-mediated regulatory mechanisms of plant adaptation to salt stress. In this study, we investigated the germination, physiology, and transcript levels of maize seeds, analyzed the relevant differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and examined salt tolerance-related pathways. The results showed that MT could increase the seed germination rate by 14.28–19.04%, improve seed antioxidant enzyme activities (average increase of 11.61%), and reduce reactive oxygen species accumulation and membrane oxidative damage. In addition, MT was involved in regulating the changes of endogenous hormones during the germination of maize seeds under salt stress. Transcriptome results showed that MT affected the activity of antioxidant enzymes, response to stress, and seed germination-related genes in maize seeds under salt stress and regulated the expression of genes related to starch and sucrose metabolism and phytohormone signal transduction pathways. Taken together, the results indicate that exogenous MT can affect the expression of stress response-related genes in salt-stressed maize seeds, enhance the antioxidant capacity of the seeds, reduce the damage induced by salt stress, and thus promote the germination of maize seeds under salt stress. The results provide a theoretical basis for the MT-mediated regulatory mechanism of plant adaptation to salt stress and screen potential candidate genes for molecular breeding of salt-tolerant maize. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Abiotic Stress of Crops: Molecular Genetics and Genomics—2nd Edition)
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