Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable agriculture, under the pressure of climate change, stands outs an important concern among developed countries across the globe. The annual increase in agricultural production for the growing human population threatens food security; expected crop productivity will need to increase by approximately 60–100% by 2050 to meet the demands of the world's population. In particular, the limitation of water resources, leading to drought stress, is a major threat, as it reduces crop yields and product quality; many physiological processes are affected, from seed germination and seedling establishment to photosynthesis and plant senescence.

Plant hormones play an important role in the physiological response of the plants to abiotic stress, with abscisic acid and gibberellic acid, for example, being the primary regulators of seed dormancy and germination. Other plant hormones, such as salicylic acid and cytokinin, initiate defense signal transduction pathways, leading to the production of primary and secondary metabolites. Thus, natural plant hormones and related synthetic plant growth regulators (PGRs) are promising tools that, through agonizing or antagonizing stress-related pathways, can fine-tune plants’ protective responses against various abiotic or biotic stressors. PGRs often modulate plant defense and can protect the plant from environmental threats by regulating ROS activity, chlorophyll metabolism, or specifically regulating genes related to photosynthesis or senescence. For this Special Issue, we invite submissions of articles that focus on the potential use of PGRs in stress management strategies to improve plant survival under adverse environmental conditions, as well as practical applications for their use in agriculture and biotechnology.

Some of the main aspects of this Special Issue may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Design and biosynthesis of new PGRs that contribute to plant adaptation in limiting conditions;
• Molecular interactions, metabolomic studies and plant hormone crosstalk mechanisms;
• Priming with PGR-based agents for abiotic or biotic stress protection;
• Physiological aspects of using PGRs (plant growth and development, photosynthesis or transport processes, etc.);
• Environmental factors that affect plant growth and possible regulatory strategies using PGRs.

Prof. Dr. Miroslav Strnad
Dr. Ondřej Plíhal
Guest Editors

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• plant hormone
• biostimulant
• abiotic stress
• biotic stress
• priming
• climate change
• physiological adaptation