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Water Stress and Desiccation Tolerance in Plants

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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 (15 March 2021) | Viewed by 79755

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Prof. Dr. Alfredo Guéra

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Dept. Life Sciences, University of Alcalá, Edificio de Ciencias, Campus Científico Tecnológico (Externo) Ctra Madrid-Barcelona Km.33,600, E-28802 Alcalá de Henares (Madrid), Spain
Interests: plant physiology; plant stress; photosynthesis; microalgae; desiccation
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Dr. Francisco Gasulla Vidal

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Dept. Life Sciences, University of Alcalá, Edificio de Ciencias, Campus Científico Tecnológico (Externo) Ctra Madrid-Barcelona Km.33,600, E-28802 Alcalá de Henares (Madrid), Spain
Interests: plant desiccation-tolerance; lichen; microalgae; molecular physiology; photosynthesis; lipids
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Water is the main component of plants and other living organisms. Among abiotic stresses, water deficit is one of the most adverse factors for plant growth and productivity. Water availability for plants is mainly determined by precipitation and the soil water retention capacity. It is also known that a large fraction of the water taken by plants from the soil is lost through transpiration, because of the need for terrestrial plants to take up CO₂ from the atmosphere. Plants have evolved a diversity of mechanisms to survive and progress in water-limited habitats. They can control water losses through stomatal opening, synthesize a range of compatible solutes that regulate their osmotic potential, and improve their photosynthetic capacity minimizing water losses by special metabolic adaptations like C-4 or CAM photosynthesis. An extreme case of adaption to low water availability are resurrection plants. These plants are able to stop any metabolic activity when they completely lose their water content but can resume physiological activities upon rehydration. Desiccation tolerance is achieved, among other mechanisms, by the accumulation of sugars that allow the rapid vitrification of cytoplasm, the pre-existence of a powerful antioxidant system, lipid membrane remodeling, activation of photoprotective mechanisms, adaptive adjustment of cell structures, etc.

All the responses of plants to water stress are regulated by a complex network of stress sensing and signaling pathways which involve hormones, Ca²⁺, ROS, lipids, and sugars. Abscisic acid (ABA) plays a critical role in regulating plant responses to dehydration and in the acquisition of desiccation tolerance. Another important pathway, independent of ABA signaling, is mediated by phospholipase D (PLD). This enzyme hydrolyzes phospholipids releasing a polar head and phosphatidic acid (PA). PLD activity is induced within minutes during dehydration and PA acts as a secondary messenger in cell signaling cascades.

Prof. Dr. Alfredo Guéra
Dr. Francisco Gasulla Vidal
Guest Editors

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Keywords

water stress
drought
desiccation
abscisic acid
compatible osmolytes
photoprotection
antioxidants
aquaporins
resurrection plants
poikilohydric organisms
stomata

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Published Papers (10 papers)

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17 pages, 998 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Gas Exchange, Water Use Efficiency, and Biomass Partitioning among Geographic Sources of Acer saccharum Subsp. saccharum and Subsp. nigrum Seedlings in Response to Water Stress

by Richard J. Hauer, Hongxu Wei, Andrew K. Koeser and Jeffrey O. Dawson

Plants 2021, 10(4), 742; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10040742 - 10 Apr 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1992

Abstract

Responses to water stress were measured for sugar maple (Acer saccharum subsp. saccharum Marshall) sources from Oklahoma (Caddo sugar maple), Missouri, Tennessee, Ontario, and a black maple (Acer saccharum subsp. nigrum F. Michx.) source from Iowa. Seedling sources were selected for differences in temperature and precipitation of their geographic origins. Seedlings were preconditioned through moist (watered daily) or dry (watered every 4–7 days) cycles and then exposed to prolonged water stress. As water stress increased, dry preconditioned 17-week-old sugar maple seedlings from Oklahoma, Missouri, and Tennessee, sources from warmer, and/or drier climates with greater restrained photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, and water use efficiency than those from cooler and moister climates. Under imposed water stress, the Ontario and Iowa sourced seedlings increased their root to shoot ratios and decreased their specific leaf area, mechanisms for drought avoidance. However, no corresponding changes in these values occurred for Oklahoma, Missouri, and Tennessee sources and for the variable of leaf wilting across all sources. Results from this study suggest greater tolerance of water stress in the Oklahoma, Missouri, and Tennessee ecotypes from the western and southern range of sugar maple resulted primarily with water use efficiency (WUE) rather than other water stress coping mechanisms. Findings from this study provide evidence to support selection of sugar maples sources for forestation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Stress and Desiccation Tolerance in Plants)

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11 pages, 1146 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Characteristics of Fragaria vesca Yield Parameters and Anthocyanin Accumulation under Water Deficit Stress

by Rytis Rugienius, Vidmantas Bendokas, Tadeusas Siksnianas, Vidmantas Stanys, Audrius Sasnauskas and Vaiva Kazanaviciute

Plants 2021, 10(3), 557; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10030557 - 16 Mar 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2385

Abstract

Plants exposed to drought stress conditions often increase the synthesis of anthocyanins—natural plant pigments and antioxidants. However, water deficit (WD) often causes significant yield loss. The aim of our study was to evaluate the productivity as well as the anthocyanin content and composition of berries from cultivated Fragaria vesca “Rojan” and hybrid No. 17 plants (seedlings) grown under WD. The plants were grown in an unheated greenhouse and fully irrigated (control) or irrigated at 50% and 25%. The number of berries per plant and the berry weight were evaluated every 4 days. The anthocyanin content and composition of berries were evaluated with the same periodicity using HPLC. The effect of WD on the yield parameters of two evaluated F. vesca genotypes differed depending on the harvest time. The cumulative yield of plants under WD was not less than that of the control plants for 20–24 days after the start of the experiment. Additionally, berries accumulated 36–56% (1.5–2.3 times, depending on the harvest time) more anthocyanins compared with fully irrigated plants. Our data show that slight or moderate WD at a stable air temperature of about 20 °C positively affected the biosynthesis of anthocyanins and the yield of F. vesca berries. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Stress and Desiccation Tolerance in Plants)

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14 pages, 1669 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Are Methanol-Derived Foliar Methyl Acetate Emissions a Tracer of Acetate-Mediated Drought Survival in Plants?

by Rebecca A. Dewhirst, Joseph Lei, Cassandra A. Afseth, Cristina Castanha, Christina M. Wistrom, Jenny C. Mortimer and Kolby J. Jardine

Plants 2021, 10(2), 411; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10020411 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3213

Abstract

Upregulation of acetate fermentation in plants has recently been described as an evolutionarily conserved drought survival strategy, with the amount of acetate produced directly correlating to survival. However, destructive measurements are required to evaluate acetate-linked drought responses, limiting the temporal and spatial scales that can be studied. Here, ¹³C-labeling studies with poplar (Populus trichocarpa) branches confirmed that methyl acetate is produced in plants from the acetate-linked acetylation of methanol. Methyl acetate emissions from detached leaves were strongly stimulated during desiccation, with total emissions decreasing with the leaf developmental stage. In addition, diurnal methyl acetate emissions from whole physiologically active poplar branches increased as a function of temperature, and light-dark transitions resulted in significant emission bursts lasting several hours. During experimental drought treatments of potted poplar saplings, light-dark methyl acetate emission bursts were eliminated while strong enhancements in methyl acetate emissions lasting > 6 days were observed with their initiation coinciding with the suppression of transpiration and photosynthesis. The results suggest that methyl acetate emissions represent a novel non-invasive tracer of acetate-mediated temperature and drought survival response in plants. The findings may have important implications for the future understanding of acetate-mediated drought responses to transcription, cellular metabolism, and hormone signaling, as well as its associated changes in carbon cycling and water use from individual plants to whole ecosystems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Stress and Desiccation Tolerance in Plants)

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13 pages, 1359 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Exploratory Study of Fatty Acid Profile in Two Filmy Ferns with Contrasting Desiccation Tolerance Reveal the Production of Very Long Chain Polyunsaturated Omega-3 Fatty Acids

by Claudia Rabert, Karla Inostroza, Silvana Bravo, Néstor Sepúlveda and León A. Bravo

Plants 2020, 9(11), 1431; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9111431 - 24 Oct 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2835

Abstract

Lipids are fundamental components of cell membranes and play a significant role in their integrity and fluidity. Alteration in lipid composition of membranes has been reported to be a major response to abiotic environmental stresses. This work was focused on the characterization of frond lipid composition and membrane integrity during a desiccation–rehydration cycle of two filmy fern species with contrasting desiccation tolerance: Hymenophyllum caudiculatum (less tolerant) and Hymenophyllum plicatum (more tolerant). The relative water content decreased without differences between species when both filmy ferns were subjected to desiccation. However, H. plicatum reached a higher relative water content than H. caudiculatum after rehydration. Fatty acids profiles showed the presence of a very long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid during the desiccation–rehydration cycle, with eicosatrienoic acid being the most abundant. Additionally, propidium iodide permeation staining and confocal microscopy demonstrated that, following the desiccation–rehydration cycle, H. plicatum exhibited a greater membrane integrity than H. caudiculatum. The lack of some very long chain fatty acids such as C22:1n9 and C24:1n9 in this species contrasting with H. plicatum may be associated with its lower membrane stability during the desiccation–rehydration cycle. This report provides the first insight into the fatty acid composition and dynamics of the membrane integrity of filmy ferns during a desiccation–rehydration cycle. This could potentially play a role in determining the different levels of desiccation tolerance and microhabitat preferences exhibited by Hymenophyllaceae species. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Stress and Desiccation Tolerance in Plants)

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16 pages, 2176 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Overexpression of OsC3H10, a CCCH-Zinc Finger, Improves Drought Tolerance in Rice by Regulating Stress-Related Genes

by So Yoon Seong, Jae Sung Shim, Seung Woon Bang and Ju-Kon Kim

Plants 2020, 9(10), 1298; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9101298 - 1 Oct 2020

Cited by 30 | Viewed by 3587

Abstract

CCCH zinc finger proteins are members of the zinc finger protein family, and are known to participate in the regulation of development and stress responses via the posttranscriptional regulation of messenger RNA in animals and yeast. However, the molecular mechanism of CCCHZF-mediated drought tolerance is not well understood. We analyzed the functions of OsC3H10, a member of the rice CCCHZF family. OsC3H10 is predominantly expressed in seeds, and its expression levels rapidly declined during seed imbibition. The expression of OsC3H10 was induced by drought, high salinity and abscisic acid (ABA). Subcellular localization analysis revealed that OsC3H10 localized not only in the nucleus but also to the processing bodies and stress granules upon stress treatment. Root-specific overexpression of OsC3H10 was insufficient to induce drought tolerance, while the overexpression of OsC3H10 throughout the entire plant enhanced the drought tolerance of rice plants. Transcriptome analysis revealed that OsC3H10 overexpression elevated the expression levels of genes involved in stress responses, including LATE EMBRYOGENESIS ABUNDANT PROTEINs (LEAs), PATHOGENESIS RELATED GENEs (PRs) and GERMIN-LIKE PROTEINs (GLPs). Our results demonstrated that OsC3H10 is involved in the regulation of the drought tolerance pathway by modulating the expression of stress-related genes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Stress and Desiccation Tolerance in Plants)

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14 pages, 2898 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Effects of Postharvest Water Deficits on the Physiological Behavior of Early-Maturing Nectarine Trees

by María R. Conesa, Wenceslao Conejero, Juan Vera and M. Carmen Ruiz-Sánchez

Plants 2020, 9(9), 1104; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9091104 - 27 Aug 2020

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2650

Abstract

The physiological performance of early-maturing nectarine trees in response to water deficits was studied during the postharvest period. Two deficit irrigation treatments were applied, moderate and severe, and these were compared with a control treatment (fully irrigated). Stem water potential and leaf gas exchange (net CO₂ assimilation rate, A_CO2; transpiration rate, E; and stomatal conductance, g_s) were measured frequently. Drought avoidance mechanisms included a decrease in stomatal conductance, especially in the case of the severe deficit treatment, which also showed a strong dependence of A_CO2 on g_s. Intrinsic water-use efficiency (A_CO2/g_s) was more sensitive than instantaneous water-use efficiency (A_CO2/E) as an indicator to detect water deficit situations in nectarine trees. However, in contrast to the results obtained for other deciduous fruit trees, a poor correlation was found between A_CO2/E and A_CO2/g_s, despite the important relation between E and g_s. A_CO2/E was also weakly correlated with g_s, although this relationship clearly improved when the vapor pressure deficit (VPD) was included, along with g_s as the independent variable. This fact reveals that apart from stomatal closure, E depends on the boundary layer conductance (g_b), which is mediated by VPD through changes in wind speed. This suggests low values of the decoupling coefficient for this water-resilient species. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Stress and Desiccation Tolerance in Plants)

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20 pages, 1143 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Silicon Supply Improves Leaf Gas Exchange, Antioxidant Defense System and Growth in Saccharum officinarum Responsive to Water Limitation

by Krishan K. Verma, Muhammad Anas, Zhongliang Chen, Vishnu D. Rajput, Mukesh Kumar Malviya, Chhedi Lal Verma, Rajesh Kumar Singh, Pratiksha Singh, Xiu-Peng Song and Yang-Rui Li

Plants 2020, 9(8), 1032; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9081032 - 14 Aug 2020

Cited by 34 | Viewed by 3783

Abstract

Silicon (Si) is not categorized as a biologically essential element for plants, yet a great number of scientific reports have shown its significant effects in various crop plants and environmental variables. Plant Si plays biologically active role in plant life cycle, and the significant impact depends on its bioaccumulation in plant tissues or parts. In particular, it has been investigated for its involvement in limited irrigation management. Therefore, this experiment was conducted to examine the effect of Si application in eco-physiological, enzymatic and non-enzymatic activities of sugarcane plants against water stress. Four irrigation levels, i.e., normal (100–95% of soil moisture), 80–75, 55–50, and 35–30% of soil moisture were treated for the sugarcane cultivar GT 42 plants supplied with 0, 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 mg Si L⁻¹ and exposed for 60 days after Si application. Under stress, reduction in plant length (~26–67%), leaf area-expansion (~7–51%), relative water content (~18–57%), leaf greenness (~12–35%), photosynthetic pigments (~12–67%), physiological responses such as photosynthesis (22–63%), stomatal conductance (~25–61%), and transpiration rate (~32–63%), and biomass production were observed in the plants without Si application. The drought condition also inhibited the activities of antioxidant enzymes like catalase (~10–52%), peroxidase (ca. 4–35), superoxide dismutase (10–44%) and enhanced proline (~73–410%), and malondialdehyde content (ca. 15–158%), respectively. However, addition of Si ameliorated drought induced damage in sugarcane plants. The findings suggest that the active involvement of Si in sugarcane responsive to water stress ranges from plant performance and physiological processes, to antioxidant defense systems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Stress and Desiccation Tolerance in Plants)

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14 pages, 2236 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Photosynthesis and Growth of Pennisetum centrasiaticum (C₄) is Superior to Calamagrostis pseudophragmites (C₃) during Drought and Recovery

by Yayong Luo, Xueyong Zhao, Ginger R. H. Allington, Lilong Wang, Wenda Huang, Rui Zhang, Yongqing Luo and Zhuwen Xu

Plants 2020, 9(8), 991; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9080991 - 4 Aug 2020

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2470

Abstract

Global warming and changes in rainfall patterns may put many ecosystems at risk of drought. These stressors could be particularly destructive in arid systems where species are already water-limited. Understanding plant responses in terms of photosynthesis and growth to drought and rewatering is essential for predicting ecosystem-level responses to climate change. Different drought responses of C₃ and C₄ species could have important ecological implications affecting interspecific competition and distribution of plant communities in the future. For this study, C₄ plant Pennisetum centrasiaticum and C₃ plant Calamagrostis pseudophragmites were subjected to progressive drought and subsequent rewatering in order to better understand their differential responses to regional climate changes. We tracked responses in gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, biomass as well as soil water status in order to investigate the ecophysiological responses of these two plant functional types. Similar patterns of photosynthetic regulations were observed during drought and rewatering for both psammophytes. They experienced stomatal restriction and nonstomatal restriction successively during drought. Photosynthetic performance recovered to the levels in well-watered plants after rewatering for 6–8 days. The C₄ plant, P. centrasiaticum, exhibited the classic CO₂-concentrating mechanism and more efficient thermal dissipation in the leaves, which confers more efficient CO₂ assimilation and water use efficiency, alleviating drought stress, maintaining their photosynthetic advantage until water deficits became severe and quicker recovery after rewatering. In addition, P. centrasiaticum can allocate a greater proportion of root biomass in case of adequate water supply and a greater proportion of above-ground biomass in case of drought stress. This physiological adaptability and morphological adjustment underline the capacity of C₄ plant P. centrasiaticum to withstand drought more efficiently and recover upon rewatering more quickly than C. pseudophragmites and dominate in the Horqin Sandy Land. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Stress and Desiccation Tolerance in Plants)

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Review

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24 pages, 811 KiB

Open AccessReview

Advances in Understanding of Desiccation Tolerance of Lichens and Lichen-Forming Algae

by Francisco Gasulla, Eva M del Campo, Leonardo M. Casano and Alfredo Guéra

Plants 2021, 10(4), 807; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10040807 - 20 Apr 2021

Cited by 41 | Viewed by 6045

Abstract

Lichens are symbiotic associations (holobionts) established between fungi (mycobionts) and certain groups of cyanobacteria or unicellular green algae (photobionts). This symbiotic association has been essential in the colonization of terrestrial dry habitats. Lichens possess key mechanisms involved in desiccation tolerance (DT) that are constitutively present such as high amounts of polyols, LEA proteins, HSPs, a powerful antioxidant system, thylakoidal oligogalactolipids, etc. This strategy allows them to be always ready to survive drastic changes in their water content. However, several studies indicate that at least some protective mechanisms require a minimal time to be induced, such as the induction of the antioxidant system, the activation of non-photochemical quenching including the de-epoxidation of violaxanthin to zeaxanthin, lipid membrane remodeling, changes in the proportions of polyols, ultrastructural changes, marked polysaccharide remodeling of the cell wall, etc. Although DT in lichens is achieved mainly through constitutive mechanisms, the induction of protection mechanisms might allow them to face desiccation stress in a better condition. The proportion and relevance of constitutive and inducible DT mechanisms seem to be related to the ecology at which lichens are adapted to. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Stress and Desiccation Tolerance in Plants)

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25 pages, 37150 KiB

Open AccessReview

Drought Stress Impacts on Plants and Different Approaches to Alleviate Its Adverse Effects

by Mahmoud F. Seleiman, Nasser Al-Suhaibani, Nawab Ali, Mohammad Akmal, Majed Alotaibi, Yahya Refay, Turgay Dindaroglu, Hafiz Haleem Abdul-Wajid and Martin Leonardo Battaglia

Plants 2021, 10(2), 259; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10020259 - 28 Jan 2021

Cited by 863 | Viewed by 48971

Abstract

Drought stress, being the inevitable factor that exists in various environments without recognizing borders and no clear warning thereby hampering plant biomass production, quality, and energy. It is the key important environmental stress that occurs due to temperature dynamics, light intensity, and low rainfall. Despite this, its cumulative, not obvious impact and multidimensional nature severely affects the plant morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular attributes with adverse impact on photosynthetic capacity. Coping with water scarcity, plants evolve various complex resistance and adaptation mechanisms including physiological and biochemical responses, which differ with species level. The sophisticated adaptation mechanisms and regularity network that improves the water stress tolerance and adaptation in plants are briefly discussed. Growth pattern and structural dynamics, reduction in transpiration loss through altering stomatal conductance and distribution, leaf rolling, root to shoot ratio dynamics, root length increment, accumulation of compatible solutes, enhancement in transpiration efficiency, osmotic and hormonal regulation, and delayed senescence are the strategies that are adopted by plants under water deficit. Approaches for drought stress alleviations are breeding strategies, molecular and genomics perspectives with special emphasis on the omics technology alteration i.e., metabolomics, proteomics, genomics, transcriptomics, glyomics and phenomics that improve the stress tolerance in plants. For drought stress induction, seed priming, growth hormones, osmoprotectants, silicon (Si), selenium (Se) and potassium application are worth using under drought stress conditions in plants. In addition, drought adaptation through microbes, hydrogel, nanoparticles applications and metabolic engineering techniques that regulate the antioxidant enzymes activity for adaptation to drought stress in plants, enhancing plant tolerance through maintenance in cell homeostasis and ameliorates the adverse effects of water stress are of great potential in agriculture. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Stress and Desiccation Tolerance in Plants)

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