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Special Issue "Recent Advances in Molecular Breeding for Drought and Salt Stress Tolerance in Crops"

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A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Plant Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2024 | Viewed by 6953

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Prof. Dr. Zhaoshi Xu

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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; stress signal transduction; wheat; soybean
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Dear Colleagues,

Abiotic stresses, especially drought and salt, significantly affect plant growth and crop quality and yield. Plants have evolved defense systems and sophisticated mechanisms that help them adapt to changing environments. These systems include plant hormones and related signaling compounds that play important roles in the regulation of plant responses to various environmental stresses. Elucidating the molecular mechanisms involved in plant stress tolerance is critical to relieving the effects of environmental stresses on plant growth.

With the recent advances in high-throughput sequencing technologies, isolation of multiple genes and analysis of the gene regulation network have gained significant traction. This Special Issue aims to expand the current knowledge on abiotic stress recognization, transduction, and regulation networks in plants.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

Abiotic stresses, including: drought; salt; heat; cold; dry, hot wind; and hormones.
Gene isolation, functional identification, and tolerant mechanisms.
Stress signal transduction pathway, including receptor–signal recognization, transduction, and regulation networks.
Abiotic stress responses, gene–abiotic stress interactions, diverse signaling molecules.
Multiomics analysis.

Prof. Dr. Zhaoshi Xu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

drought
salt
heat
cold
gene regulation
genomic research
multiomics
epigenetics
stress signal transduction

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Open AccessArticle

Physiological and Transcriptional Responses of Apocynum venetum to Salt Stress at the Seed Germination Stage

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Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(4), 3623; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24043623 - 11 Feb 2023

Viewed by 924

Abstract

Apocynum venetum is a semi-shrubby perennial herb that not only prevents saline–alkaline land degradation but also produces leaves for medicinal uses. Although physiological changes during the seed germination of A. venetum in response to salt stress have been studied, the adaptive mechanism to salt conditions is still limited. Here, the physiological and transcriptional changes during seed germination under different NaCl treatments (0–300 mmol/L) were examined. The results showed that the seed germination rate was promoted at low NaCl concentrations (0–50 mmol/L) and inhibited with increased concentrations (100–300 mmol/L); the activity of antioxidant enzymes exhibited a significant increase from 0 (CK) to 150 mmol/L NaCl and a significant decrease from 150 to 300 mmol/L; and the content of osmolytes exhibited a significant increase with increased concentrations, while the protein content peaked at 100 mmol/L NaCl and then significantly decreased. A total of 1967 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were generated during seed germination at 300 mmol/L NaCl versus (vs.) CK, with 1487 characterized genes (1293 up-regulated, UR; 194 down-regulated, DR) classified into 11 categories, including salt stress (29), stress response (146), primary metabolism (287), cell morphogenesis (156), transcription factor (TFs, 62), bio-signaling (173), transport (144), photosynthesis and energy (125), secondary metabolism (58), polynucleotide metabolism (21), and translation (286). The relative expression levels (RELs) of selected genes directly involved in salt stress and seed germination were observed to be consistent with the changes in antioxidant enzyme activities and osmolyte contents. These findings will provide useful references to improve seed germination and reveal the adaptive mechanism of A. venetum to saline–alkaline soils. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Molecular Breeding for Drought and Salt Stress Tolerance in Crops)

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Open AccessArticle

Molecular Characterization and Drought Resistance of GmNAC3 Transcription Factor in Glycine max (L.) Merr.

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Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(20), 12378; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms232012378 - 16 Oct 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1031

Abstract

Soybean transcription factor GmNAC plays important roles in plant resistance to environmental stresses. In this study, GmNAC3 was cloned in the drought tolerant soybean variety “Jiyu47”, with the molecular properties of GmNAC3 characterized to establish its candidacy as a NAC transcription factor. The yeast self-activation experiments revealed the transcriptional activation activity of GmNAC3, which was localized in the nucleus by the subcellular localization analysis. The highest expression of GmNAC3 was detected in roots in the podding stage of soybean, and in roots of soybean seedlings treated with 20% PEG6000 for 12 h, which was 16 times higher compared with the control. In the transgenic soybean hairy roots obtained by the Agrobacterium-mediated method treated with 20% PEG6000 for 12 h, the activities of superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase and the content of proline were increased, the malondialdehyde content was decreased, and the expressions of stress resistance-related genes (i.e., APX2, LEA14, 6PGDH, and P5CS) were up-regulated. These expression patterns were confirmed by transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana with the overexpression of GmNAC3. This study provided strong scientific evidence to support further investigation of the regulatory function of GmNAC3 in plant drought resistance and the molecular mechanisms regulating the plant response to environmental stresses. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Molecular Breeding for Drought and Salt Stress Tolerance in Crops)

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Open AccessArticle

Exogenous Melatonin Improves Seed Germination of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under Salt Stress

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Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(15), 8436; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23158436 - 29 Jul 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 1742

Abstract

Melatonin (MT) can effectively reduce oxidative damage induced by abiotic stresses such as salt in plants. However, the effects of MT on physiological responses and molecular regulation during wheat germination remains largely elusive. In this study, the response of wheat seeds to MT under salt stress during germination was investigated at physiological and transcriptome levels. Our results revealed that application of MT significantly reduced the negative influence of salt stress on wheat seed germination. The oxidative load was reduced by inducing high activities of antioxidant enzymes. In parallel, the content of gibberellin A3 (GA₃) and jasmonic acid (JA) increased in MT-treated seedling. RNA-seq analysis demonstrated that MT alters oxidoreductase activity and phytohormone-dependent signal transduction pathways under salt stress. Weighted correlation network analysis (WGCNA) revealed that MT participates in enhanced energy metabolism and protected seeds via maintained cell morphology under salt stress during wheat seed germination. Our findings provide a conceptual basis of the MT-mediated regulatory mechanism in plant adaptation to salt stress, and identify the potential candidate genes for salt-tolerant wheat molecular breeding. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Molecular Breeding for Drought and Salt Stress Tolerance in Crops)

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Open AccessArticle

Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Is Involved in Salt Stress Response in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) Seedlings

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Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(14), 7645; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23147645 - 11 Jul 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1262

Abstract

Salt stress impairs plant growth and development, thereby causing low yield and inferior quality of crops. In this study, tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. ‘Micro-Tom’) seedlings treated with different concentrations of sodium chloride (NaCl) were investigated in terms of decreased plant height, stem diameter, dry weight, fresh weight, leaves relative water content and root activity. To reveal the response mechanism of tomato seedlings to salt stress, the transcriptome of tomato leaves was conducted. A total of 6589 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified and classified into different metabolic pathways, especially photosynthesis, carbon metabolism, biosynthesis of amino acids and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway. Of these, approximately 42 DEGs were enriched in the MAPK signaling pathway, most of which mainly included plant hormone, hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), wounding and pathogen infection signaling pathways. To further explore the roles of MAPK under salt stress, MAPK phosphorylation inhibitor SB203580 (SB) was applied. We found that SB further decreased endogenous jasmonic acid, abscisic acid and ethylene levels under salt stress condition. Additionally, in comparison with NaCl treatment alone, SB + NaCl treatment reduced the content of O²⁻ and H₂O₂ and the activities of antioxidant enzyme and downregulated the expression levels of genes related to pathogen infection. Together, the results revealed that MAPK might be involved in the salinity response of tomato seedlings by regulating hormone balance, ROS metabolism, antioxidant capacity and plant immunity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Molecular Breeding for Drought and Salt Stress Tolerance in Crops)

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Improvement of Salinity Tolerance in Water-Saving and Drought-Resistance Rice (WDR)

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Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(6), 5444; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24065444 - 13 Mar 2023

Viewed by 1306

Abstract

Rice is one of the most economically important staple food crops in the world. Soil salinization and drought seriously restrict sustainable rice production. Drought aggravates the degree of soil salinization, and, at the same time, increased soil salinity also inhibits water absorption, resulting in physiological drought stress. Salt tolerance in rice is a complex quantitative trait controlled by multiple genes. This review presents and discusses the recent research developments on salt stress impact on rice growth, rice salt tolerance mechanisms, the identification and selection of salt-tolerant rice resources, and strategies to improve rice salt tolerance. In recent years, the increased cultivation of water-saving and drought-resistance rice (WDR) has shown great application potential in alleviating the water resource crisis and ensuring food and ecological security. Here, we present an innovative germplasm selection strategy of salt-tolerant WDR, using a population that is developed by recurrent selection based on dominant genic male sterility. We aim to provide a reference for efficient genetic improvement and germplasm innovation of complex traits (drought and salt tolerance) that can be translated into breeding all economically important cereal crops. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Molecular Breeding for Drought and Salt Stress Tolerance in Crops)

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