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Evaluation of Stress Factors in Crops’ Life
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Evaluation of Stress Factors in Crops’ Life

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: closed (31 January 2024) | Viewed by 20836

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Brigitta Tóth

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Food Science, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
Interests: abiotic stress; antioxidative enzymes; biofertilizers/biostimulants; biotic stress; free radicals; plant nutrients
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Crops require suitable growing conditions for their optimal productivity. Crops’ optimal productivity is a crucial component to meet the needs of human population growth. Thus, it is important to know how crops react to different stress growing conditions. Stress conditions can be caused by abiotic and biotic factors. Abiotic stressors include extreme temperatures, insufficient light conditions, ultraviolet radiation, ozone, salinity, floods, drought, heavy metals, acidic or alkaline soil pH, nutrient deficiencies, and agrochemicals (fertilizers, plant protectants), while biotic stressors are insects, herbivores, nematodes, fungi, bacteria, viruses, and weeds. When crops are exposed to any biotic and abiotic stress conditions, they respond through changed physiological, molecular, and metabolic processes, e.g., protein and metabolite production, activation of gene expression, signaling cascades (or transduction pathways), and enhanced free radical production. Therefore, changes in crops’ antioxidant defense system, protein, and metabolite production are more important than ever, because the impacts of humans influence the effectiveness of agricultural production.

Manuscripts submitted to this Special Issue should report original research data and reviews related to plants’ responses to stressors. This issue mainly focuses on crops, but other kinds of test plants are also welcome. In addition, multidisciplinary studies, including systems biology, molecular biology, genetic, physiological, and biochemical approaches, are also appreciated. The Guest Editor kindly asks scientists to submit their original research or review articles related to the following topics below, or others that are not listed but relevant:

  • Influence of heavy metal and aluminum toxicity on crops’ productivity, oxidative damage, and antioxidant defense system;
  • Stress response of crops, changes in antioxidant metabolism, and plant tolerance to adverse environmental conditions;
  • Effect of industrial production and byproducts on crops;
  • Examination of the impacts of alternative nutrient supply materials on crops;
  • Influence on water imbalance, drought stress, and unsustainable water management on crops;
  • Effects of water and/or soil salinity on crops;
  • Effects of extreme temperatures (high and low) on crops;
  • Impacts of ozone, UV radiation, and insufficient light conditions on crops;
  • Effects of biostimulants/biofertilizers on crops;
  • Effects of biostimulants/biofertilizers on the antioxidative system of abiotic and/or biotic stressed crop plants.

Dr. Brigitta Tóth
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 stressors
  • allelopathy
  • antioxidant system
  • biotic stress
  • climate change
  • free radical
  • heavy metal stress
  • oxidative damage
  • stress response

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 3090 KiB  
Article
Mitigating the Accumulation of Mercury (Hg) and Lead (Pb) through Humic Acid Application under Aquaponic Conditions Using Watercress (Nasturtium officinale R. Br.) as a Model Plant
by Judit Éva Lelesz, József Csajbók, Péter István Molnár, István Csaba Virág and Erika Tünde Kutasy
Plants 2024, 13(17), 2386; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13172386 - 27 Aug 2024
Viewed by 900
Abstract
In aquaponic farming, there is a potential risk that heavy metals will contaminate the water, which can lead to heavy metal accumulation in the plants. Our research investigated the accumulation of mercury (Hg) and lead (Pb) under aquaponic conditions and the effect of [...] Read more.
In aquaponic farming, there is a potential risk that heavy metals will contaminate the water, which can lead to heavy metal accumulation in the plants. Our research investigated the accumulation of mercury (Hg) and lead (Pb) under aquaponic conditions and the effect of their increased presence on the uptake of other macro- and micronutrients using watercress (Nasturtium officinale) as a model plant. The potential modifying effect of humic acid on heavy metal accumulation was also investigated. Adding Hg and Pb increased the mercury and lead levels of the watercress plants to over 300 µg kg−1, while the addition of humic acid significantly reduced the concentration of both mercury and lead in the plants compared to plants treated with heavy metals alone, from 310.647 µg kg−1 to 196.320 µg kg−1 for Hg and from 313.962 µg kg−1 to 203.508 µg kg−1 for Pb. For Fe and Mn, higher values were obtained for the Hg + humic acid treatments (188.13 mg kg−1 and 6423.92 µg kg−1, respectively) and for the Pb + humic acid treatments (198.26 mg kg−1 and 6454.31 µg kg−1, respectively). Conversely, the Na, K, Cu levels were lower compared to those in plants treated with heavy metals alone. Our results demonstrated that watercress can accumulate mercury, leading to high levels, even above food safety standards, highlighting the importance of water quality control in aquaponic systems. Furthermore, these results suggest that watercress could be used as a natural filter in recirculation systems. The addition of humic acid significantly reduced the accumulation of heavy metals and altered the element content in the plant. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evaluation of Stress Factors in Crops’ Life)
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22 pages, 2249 KiB  
Article
Microanatomical Changes in the Leaves of Arundo donax (L.) Caused by Potentially Toxic Elements from Municipal Sewage Sediment
by Csilla Tóth, László Simon and Brigitta Tóth
Plants 2024, 13(5), 740; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13050740 - 6 Mar 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1138
Abstract
An open-field 3-year-long microplot experiment was set up with three micropropagated lines (SC Blossom, BFT Indiana, and STM Hajdúsági) of giant reed (Arundo donax L.). Plants were grown on a soil cover of a former sewage settling pond located in Debrecen Lovász-Zug, [...] Read more.
An open-field 3-year-long microplot experiment was set up with three micropropagated lines (SC Blossom, BFT Indiana, and STM Hajdúsági) of giant reed (Arundo donax L.). Plants were grown on a soil cover of a former sewage settling pond located in Debrecen Lovász-Zug, Hungary. Soil cover of the sewage sediment was moderately contaminated with various toxic elements (As, Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn). The highest total concentration of examined toxic elements in leaves was found in the BFT Indiana line (∑326 mg/kg), while in the SC Blossom and STM Hajdúsági lines, ∑210 mg/kg and ∑182 mg/kg were measured, respectively. The highest Zn concentration (117 mg/kg) was found in the leaves of in BFT Indiana line and was 67% higher than that in SC Blossom and 95% more than in the STM Hajdúsági line. The BFT Indiana leaves showed typical signs of adaptation to heavy metal stress in the case of numerous micromorphometric characteristics. The extent of leaf mesophylls decreased, and the number of bulliform cells and phytoliths, as well as the sclerenchymatous stock, increased. The size of the vascular bundles was reduced. The size of the stomata decreased while the stomatal density increased. It can be concluded that the BFT Indiana line had the best adaptational response to heavy metal stress. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evaluation of Stress Factors in Crops’ Life)
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17 pages, 1729 KiB  
Article
A Natural Bio-Stimulant Consisting of a Mixture of Fish Protein Hydrolysates and Kelp Extract Enhances the Physiological, Biochemical and Growth Responses of Spinach under Different Water Levels
by Pule Clement Liatile, Gerhard Potgieter and Makoena Joyce Moloi
Plants 2022, 11(23), 3374; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11233374 - 5 Dec 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2537
Abstract
Spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) is a highly nutritious, desirable green leafy vegetable, which is less tolerant to drought. This study was conducted to establish the impact of a natural bio-stimulant consisting of a mixture of fish protein hydrolysates and kelp extract (trade [...] Read more.
Spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) is a highly nutritious, desirable green leafy vegetable, which is less tolerant to drought. This study was conducted to establish the impact of a natural bio-stimulant consisting of a mixture of fish protein hydrolysates and kelp extract (trade name, Xcell Boost) on the physiological and biochemical responses as well as vegetative growth of spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) under different water levels (100% (full irrigation), 50% (mild drought stress) and 30% (severe drought stress) water holding capacity). Bio-stimulant application at any strength (single, BX1 or double, BX2) had no effect on the photochemical reactions. The application of bio-stimulant at double strength concentration (BX2) increased the chlorophyll and carotenoid contents, as well as the activities of antioxidative enzymes, ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and guaiacol peroxidase (GPX), under drought stress. Application at single strength (BX1) increased the normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI), stomatal conductance, accumulation of osmoprotectants (proline and total soluble sugars) and reduced electrolyte leakage under drought stress. Furthermore, bio-stimulant applications at either concentration induced remarkable increases in plant height, leaf area, stem dry weight, root length and root moisture. Under BX2, APX and stomatal conductance positively correlated with stem dry weight, while root length positively correlated with total chlorophyll content. These results show that Xcell Boost is a highly advantageous bio-stimulant for increasing the tolerance of spinach to drought stress, which can most likely benefit other crops grown in semi-arid and arid areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evaluation of Stress Factors in Crops’ Life)
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20 pages, 2242 KiB  
Article
S-Methylmethionine Effectively Alleviates Stress in Szarvasi-1 Energy Grass by Reducing Root-to-Shoot Cadmium Translocation
by Deepali Rana, Vitor Arcoverde Cerveira Sterner, Aravinda Kumar Potluri, Zoltán May, Brigitta Müller, Ádám Solti, Szabolcs Rudnóy, Gyula Sipos, Csaba Gyuricza and Ferenc Fodor
Plants 2022, 11(21), 2979; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11212979 - 4 Nov 2022
Viewed by 1763
Abstract
S-methylmethionine (SMM) is a universal metabolite of higher plants derived from L-methionine that has an approved priming effect under different types of abiotic and biotic stresses. Szarvasi-1 energy grass (Elymus elongatus subsp. ponticus cv. Szarvasi-1) is a biomass plant increasingly applied in [...] Read more.
S-methylmethionine (SMM) is a universal metabolite of higher plants derived from L-methionine that has an approved priming effect under different types of abiotic and biotic stresses. Szarvasi-1 energy grass (Elymus elongatus subsp. ponticus cv. Szarvasi-1) is a biomass plant increasingly applied in phytoremediation to stabilize or extract heavy metals. In this study, Szarvasi-1 was grown in a nutrient solution. As a priming agent, SMM was applied in 0.02, 0.05 and 0.1 mM concentrations prior to 0.01 mM Cd addition. The growth and physiological parameters, as well as the accumulation pattern of Cd and essential mineral nutrients, were investigated. Cd exposure decreased the root and shoot growth, chlorophyll concentration, stomatal conductance, photosystem II function and increased the carotenoid content. Except for stomatal conductance, SMM priming had a positive effect on these parameters compared to Cd treatment without priming. In addition, it decreased the translocation and accumulation of Cd. Cd treatment decreased K, Mg, Mn, Zn and P in the roots, and K, S, Cu and Zn in the shoots compared to the untreated control. SMM priming changed the pattern of nutrient uptake, of which Fe showed characteristic accumulation in the roots in response to increasing SMM concentrations. We have concluded that SMM priming exerts a positive effect on Cd-stressed Szarvasi-1 plants, which retained their physiological performance and growth. This ameliorative effect is suggested to be based on, at least partly, the lower root-to-shoot Cd translocation by the upregulated Fe uptake and transport. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evaluation of Stress Factors in Crops’ Life)
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18 pages, 3907 KiB  
Article
The Effects of Temperature and Water on the Seed Germination and Seedling Development of Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.)
by Asma Haj Sghaier, Ákos Tarnawa, Hussein Khaeim, Gergő Péter Kovács, Csaba Gyuricza and Zoltán Kende
Plants 2022, 11(21), 2819; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11212819 - 23 Oct 2022
Cited by 40 | Viewed by 13429
Abstract
The seed germination and seedling growth of rapeseed are crucial stages in plant life, especially when facing abiotic stresses. In the present work, the effects of water and temperature on seed germination and seedling growth were investigated in a rapeseed crop (Brassica [...] Read more.
The seed germination and seedling growth of rapeseed are crucial stages in plant life, especially when facing abiotic stresses. In the present work, the effects of water and temperature on seed germination and seedling growth were investigated in a rapeseed crop (Brassica napus L.). The plants were examined under different temperature levels (5 °C, 10 °C, 15 °C, 20 °C, 25 °C, 30 °C, and 35 °C) and water levels (twenty-nine levels based on either one-milliliter intervals or as a percentage of the thousand-kernel weight (TKW)). Moreover, planting densities and antifungal application techniques were investigated in the study. The findings demonstrated substantial variations between all the growth parameters investigated at all the tested temperatures, and 20 °C was considered the optimum within a broad range of 15–25 °C. Water availability plays a significant role in germination, which can be initiated at 0.65 mL, corresponding to 500% of the TKW. The method of TKW is a more accurate aspect of water application because of the consideration of the seed weight and size. The optimal water range for the accumulation of dry weight, 3.85–5.9 mL (2900–4400% of TKW), was greater than that required for seedling growth, 1.45–3.05 mL (1100–2300% of TKW). Twenty to twenty-five seeds per 9 cm Petri dish exhibited the most outstanding values compared to the others, which provides an advantage in breeding programs, especially when there are seed limitations. Seed priming is a more effective antifungal application strategy. These data can be incorporated into future rapeseed germination in vitro studies, breeding programs, and sowing date predictions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evaluation of Stress Factors in Crops’ Life)
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