Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
5.1
3.5
Journals
Genes
Special Issues
Physiological and Molecular Responses of Crops in Abiotic Stress Tolerance
share announcement

Physiological and Molecular Responses of Crops in Abiotic Stress Tolerance

A special issue of Genes (ISSN 2073-4425). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Genetics and Genomics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 March 2024) | Viewed by 4732

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Peng Chen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Guangxi Key Laboratory of Agro-Environment and Agric-Products Safety, Key Laboratory of Plant Genetics and Breeding, College of Agriculture, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
Interests: crops; molecular mechanism of growth and development regulation; abiotic stress in plants
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Muzammal Rehman

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Guangxi Key Laboratory of Agro-Environment and Agric-Products Safety, Key Laboratory of Plant Genetics and Breeding, College of Agriculture, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
Interests: bast fiber crops; crop cultivation; abiotic stress physiology in plants; plant nutrition; polluted soil management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Samavia Mubeen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Guangxi Key Laboratory of Agro-Environment and Agric-Products Safety, Key Laboratory of Plant Genetics and Breeding, College of Agriculture, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
Interests: stress physiology; molecular biology; bioremediation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In times of climate change, crops are vulnerable to environmental constraints such as drought, heat waves, heavy metals, salinity, flooding, etc., that hinder crop growth, and development, resulting in yield loss. Crops have developed complex mechanisms for stress tolerance that includes various physiological, biochemical and molecular changes at different growth stages. This Special Issue aims to highlight the advanced breakthroughs in crop responses to abiotic stresses and tolerance mechanisms/strategies. Scientists and academics from all over the world are welcome to share original research, review articles, and short communications in the field of crop stress physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology, with particular emphasis on the physiological and molecular approaches or strategies for stress tolerance. Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Physiological and biochemical responses of crops to environmental stresses;
  • Molecular mechanisms of crop stress tolerance;
  • Genome-wide transcriptome and proteome analysis of crops under stress;
  • Metabolomics and metabolite profiling of crops under stress;
  • Metabolic engineering and synthetic biology of crop stress tolerance;
  • Strategies for improving crop stress tolerance;
  • Integration of modern biotechnology and traditional breeding for crop stress tolerance;
  • Omics-based approaches for improving crop stress tolerance.

Prof. Dr. Peng Chen
Dr. Muzammal Rehman
Dr. Samavia Mubeen
Guest Editors

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. Genes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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
  • adaptation mechanisms
  • crop growth and development
  • tolerance

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

22 pages, 8976 KiB  
Article
Integrated Transcriptomics and Metabolomics Analysis of Two Maize Hybrids (ZD309 and XY335) under Heat Stress at the Flowering Stage
by Pu Zhao, Lei Sun, Siqi Zhang, Bo Jiao, Jiao Wang and Chunhong Ma
Genes 2024, 15(2), 189; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes15020189 - 30 Jan 2024
Viewed by 927
Abstract
High temperature around flowering has a serious impact on the growth and development of maize. However, few maize genes related to flowering under heat stress have been confirmed, and the regulatory mechanism is unclear. To reveal the molecular mechanism of heat tolerance in [...] Read more.
High temperature around flowering has a serious impact on the growth and development of maize. However, few maize genes related to flowering under heat stress have been confirmed, and the regulatory mechanism is unclear. To reveal the molecular mechanism of heat tolerance in maize, two maize hybrids, ZD309 and XY335, with different heat resistance, were selected to perform transcriptome and metabolomics analysis at the flowering stage under heat stress. In ZD309, 314 up-regulated and 463 down-regulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected, while 168 up-regulated and 119 down-regulated DEGs were identified in XY335. By comparing the differential gene expression patterns of ZD309 and XY335, we found the “frontloaded” genes which were less up-regulated in heat-tolerant maize during high temperature stress. They included heat tolerance genes, which may react faster at the protein level to provide resilience to instantaneous heat stress. A total of 1062 metabolites were identified via metabolomics analysis. Lipids, saccharides, and flavonoids were found to be differentially expressed under heat stress, indicating these metabolites’ response to high temperature. Our study will contribute to the identification of heat tolerance genes in maize, therefore contributing to the breeding of heat-tolerant maize varieties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physiological and Molecular Responses of Crops in Abiotic Stress Tolerance)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 7976 KiB  
Article
Transcriptome and Physiological Analysis Highlight Lignin Metabolism of the Fruit Dots Disordering during Postharvest Cold Storage in ‘Danxiahong’ Pear
by Ruiwei Duan, Xiangzhan Zhang, Yudong Liu, Lei Wang, Jian Yang, Long Wang, Suke Wang, Yanli Su and Huabai Xue
Genes 2023, 14(9), 1785; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes14091785 - 11 Sep 2023
Viewed by 1019
Abstract
Pear (Pyrus L.) is one of the most important fruits in the world. Fruit dots are an important trait that affects pear quality. Abnormal fruit dots usually reduce the merchantability of pears. In this research, during cold storage, ‘Danxiahong’ pear fruit exhibited [...] Read more.
Pear (Pyrus L.) is one of the most important fruits in the world. Fruit dots are an important trait that affects pear quality. Abnormal fruit dots usually reduce the merchantability of pears. In this research, during cold storage, ‘Danxiahong’ pear fruit exhibited protrudent fruit dots on the peels. Microscopy system measurement showed that fruit dots size and height on the abnormal fruit peel were bigger and higher than the normal ones. Likewise, scanning electron microscopy observations indicated that the abnormal fruit peel, in contrast to the normal pear peel, exhibited an abnormal cell structure and fruit dots. Physiological analysis showed that the lignin content in abnormal fruit peel was significantly higher than in normal fruit peel. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analysis revealed that the top-enriched pathways were mainly associated with lignin synthesis and metabolism. The transcripts of lignin biosynthesis-associated genes were analyzed, and the results showed that the expression of a cascade of structural genes, including PpyPAL, PpyCCR, PpyC3H, PpyC4H, PpyHCT, PpyCAD, PpyLAC, and PpyPOD, was significantly induced in the protrudent peels. Furthermore, the expression of regulatory genes involved in lignin biosynthesis, especially the NAC-MYB-based gene regulatory network, was significantly upregulated in the abnormal peels. Real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) analysis confirmed the induction of lignin biosynthesis genes. Overall, this research revealed that the abnormal fruit surface was caused by fruit dots disorder during cold storage. This research provides insights into the fine regulation pathways in the prevention of fruit dots protrusion, especially in modulating lignin synthesis and metabolism during postharvest storage. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physiological and Molecular Responses of Crops in Abiotic Stress Tolerance)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 3620 KiB  
Article
Systematic Analysis of Galactinol Synthase and Raffinose Synthase Gene Families in Potato and Their Expression Patterns in Development and Abiotic Stress Responses
by Quankai Jing, Airu Chen, Zhaoyan Lv, Zhihao Dong, Lixia Wang, Xiaoke Meng, Yue Feng, Yu Wan, Chengyun Su, Yanjie Cui, Wenjuan Xu, Hualan Hou and Xiaobiao Zhu
Genes 2023, 14(7), 1344; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes14071344 - 26 Jun 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1179
Abstract
Raffinose family oligosaccharides (RFOs) are very important for plant growth, development, and abiotic stress tolerance. Galactinol synthase (GolS) and raffinose synthase (RFS) are critical enzymes involved in RFO biosynthesis. However, the whole-genome identification and stress responses of their coding genes in potato remain [...] Read more.
Raffinose family oligosaccharides (RFOs) are very important for plant growth, development, and abiotic stress tolerance. Galactinol synthase (GolS) and raffinose synthase (RFS) are critical enzymes involved in RFO biosynthesis. However, the whole-genome identification and stress responses of their coding genes in potato remain unexplored. In this study, four StGolS and nine StRFS genes were identified and classified into three and five subgroups, respectively. Remarkably, a total of two StGolS and four StRFS genes in potato were identified to form collinear pairs with those in both Arabidopsis and tomato, respectively. Subsequent analysis revealed that StGolS4 exhibited significantly high expression levels in transport-related tissues, PEG-6000, and ABA treatments, with remarkable upregulation under salt stress. Additionally, StRFS5 showed similar responses to StGolS4, but StRFS4 and StRFS8 gene expression increased significantly under salt treatment and decreased in PEG-6000 and ABA treatments. Overall, these results lay a foundation for further research on the functional characteristics and molecular mechanisms of these two gene families in response to ABA, salt, and drought stresses, and provide a theoretical foundation and new gene resources for the abiotic-stress-tolerant breeding of potato. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physiological and Molecular Responses of Crops in Abiotic Stress Tolerance)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

22 pages, 3512 KiB  
Article
Effects of Salinity Stress on Growth and Physiological Parameters and Related Gene Expression in Different Ecotypes of Sesuvium portulacastrum on Hainan Island
by Yong Wang, Wei Ma, Haijiang Fu, Liting Li, Xueyu Ruan and Xueyan Zhang
Genes 2023, 14(7), 1336; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes14071336 - 25 Jun 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1180
Abstract
We conducted a study to examine the growth and physiological changes in 12 different ecotypes of Sesuvium portulacastrum collected from Hainan Island in China. These ecotypes were subjected to different concentrations (0, 200, 400, and 600 mmol/L) of sodium chloride (NaCl) salt stress [...] Read more.
We conducted a study to examine the growth and physiological changes in 12 different ecotypes of Sesuvium portulacastrum collected from Hainan Island in China. These ecotypes were subjected to different concentrations (0, 200, 400, and 600 mmol/L) of sodium chloride (NaCl) salt stress for 14 days. We also analyzed the expression of metabolic genes related to stress response. Under low salt stress, indicators such as plant height in region K (0 mmol/L: 45% and highest at 200 mmol/L: 80%), internode length (0 mmol/L: 0.38, 200 mmol/L: 0.87, 400 mmol/L: 0.25, and 600 mmol/L: 1.35), as well as leaf area, relative water content, fresh weight, and dry weight exhibited an overall increasing trend with the increase in salt concentration. However, as the salt concentration increased, these indicators showed a decreasing trend. Proline and malondialdehyde contents increased with higher salt concentrations. When the NaCl concentration was 400 mmol/L, MDA content in the leaves was highest in the regions E (196.23%), F (94.28%), J (170.10%), and K (136.08%) as compared to the control group, respectively. Most materials demonstrated a significant decrease in chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and total chlorophyll content compared to the control group. Furthermore, the ratio of chlorophyll a to chlorophyll b (Rab) varied among different materials. Using principal component analysis, we identified three ecotypes (L from Xinglong Village, Danzhou City; B from Shuigoupo Village, Lingshui County; and J from Haidongfang Park, Dongfang City) that represented high, medium, and low salt tolerance levels, respectively, based on the above growth and physiological indexes. To further investigate the expression changes of related genes at the transcriptional level, we employed qRT-PCR. The results showed that the relative expression of SpP5CS1, SpLOX1, and SpLOX1 genes increased with higher salt concentrations, which corresponded to the accumulation of proline and malondialdehyde content, respectively. However, the relative expression of SpCHL1a and SpCHL1b did not exhibit a consistent pattern. This study contributes to our understanding of the salt tolerance mechanism in the true halophyte S. portulacastrum, providing a solid theoretical foundation for further research in this field. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physiological and Molecular Responses of Crops in Abiotic Stress Tolerance)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-4
Back to TopTop