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Special Issue "Role of Brassinosteroids in Plant Responses to Biotic and Abiotic Stresses"

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A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Physiology and Metabolism".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2023 | Viewed by 1562

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Vladimir N. Zhabinskii

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Guest Editor

Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Minsk, Belarus
Interests: steroids; brassinosteroids; synthesis; biological activity

Dr. Andrzej Bajguz

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Guest Editor

Department of Biology and Plant Ecology, Faculty of Biology, University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland
Interests: adaptation to heavy metal stress; brassinosteroids; phytoecdysteroids; phytohormones
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Dear Colleagues,

Plants experience various biotic and abiotic stresses that negatively affect crop yield. Drought, high or low temperatures, increased acidity, salinity, pesticide load, diseases are stress factors that cause changes in plant development. Preventing crop loss due to these factors means minimizing the loss of genetic potential and thereby increasing the yield and quality of crops. Achieving this goal involves understanding the physiological and molecular mechanisms of plant resistance to the damaging effects of biotic and abiotic factors: one of the fundamental problems of biology. Hormonal factors and, first of all, brassinosteroids play a key role in increasing the stress resistance of plants. This Special Issue of Plants welcomes original research and review studies on the role of brassinosteroids in the plant response to biotic and abiotic stresses, including but not limited to the following subtopics: influence on photosynthetic machinery, cross-talk with other phytohormones, effects on the production of secondary metabolites, application for improving crop production.

Dr. Vladimir N. Zhabinskii
Dr. Andrzej Bajguz
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

phytohormones
brassinosteroids
biotic stress
abiotic stress

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 3045 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Exogenous Application of 24-Epibrassinolide Confers Saline Stress and Improves Photosynthetic Capacity, Antioxidant Defense, Mineral Uptake, and Yield in Maize

Mahmoud F. Seleiman

Awais Ahmad

ElKamil Tola

Bushra Ahmed Alhammad

Khalid F. Almutairi

Rangaswamy Madugundu

and

Khalid A. Al-Gaadi

Plants 2023, 12(20), 3559; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12203559 - 13 Oct 2023

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Abstract

Salinity is one of the major environmental stresses threatening crop production, the natural ecosystem, global food security, and the socioeconomic health of humans. Thus, the development of eco-friendly strategies to mitigate saline stress and/or enhance crop tolerance is an important issue worldwide. Therefore, this study was conducted during the summer of 2022 to investigate the potential of 24-Epibrassinolide (EBL) for mitigating saline stress and improving photosynthetic capacity, antioxidant defense systems, mineral uptake, and yield in maize (Zea mays L.) grown under a controlled hydroponic system. Three saline stress levels—S1 (control/no added NaCl), S2 (60 mM NaCl), and S3 (120 mM NaCl)—were continuously applied with nutrient solution, whereas exogenous EBL (i.e., control, 0.1 µM and 0.2 µM) was applied as exogenous application three times (i.e., 40, 55, 70 days after sowing). The experiment was designed as a split-plot in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) in which saline stress was the main factor and EBL treatment was the sub-factor. Results showed that saline stress significantly affected plant growth, physiological performance, biochemistry, antioxidant activity, and yield attributes. However, the exogenous application of EBL at 0.2 µM significantly mitigated the salt stress and thus improved plant performance even under 120 mM NaCl saline stress. For instance, as compared to untreated plants (control), 0.2 µM EBL application improved plant height (+18%), biomass (+19%), SPAD (+32%), Fv/Fm (+28%), rate of photosynthesis (+11%), carboxylation efficiency (+6%), superoxide dismutase (SOD +14%), catalase (CAT +18%), ascorbate peroxidase (APX +20%), K⁺ (+24%), 100-grain weight (+11%), and grain yield (+47%) of maize grown under salt stress. Additionally, it resulted in a 23% reduction in Na⁺ accumulation in leaves and a 25% reduction in for Na⁺/K⁺ ratio under saline stress as compared to control. Furthermore, the Pearson’s correlation and principal component analysis (PCA) highlighted the significance of exogenous EBL as saline stress mitigator in maize. Overall, our results indicated the protective effects of EBL application to the alleviation of saline stress in crop plants. However, further exploration of its mechanism of action and crop-specific response is suggested prior to commercial use in agriculture. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Role of Brassinosteroids in Plant Responses to Biotic and Abiotic Stresses)

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16 pages, 1598 KiB

Open AccessArticle

28-Homobrassinolide Primed Seed Improved Lead Stress Tolerance in Brassica rapa L. through Modulation of Physio-Biochemical Attributes and Nutrient Uptake

Abdel-Rhman Z. Gaafar

and

Faish Ullah Haider

Plants 2023, 12(20), 3528; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12203528 - 11 Oct 2023

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Abstract

Brassinosteroids (BRs) influence a variety of physiological reactions and alleviate different biotic and abiotic stressors. Turnip seedlings were grown with the goal of further exploring and expanding their function in plants under abiotic stress, particularly under heavy metal toxicity (lead stress). This study’s objective was to ascertain the role of applied 28-homobrassinolide (HBL) in reducing lead (Pb) stress in turnip plants. Turnip seeds treated with 1, 5, and 10 µM HBL and were grown-up in Pb-contaminated soil (300 mg kg⁻¹). Lead accumulation reduces biomass, growth attributes, and various biochemical parameters, as well as increasing proline content. Seed germination, root and shoot growth, and gas exchange characteristics were enhanced via HBL treatment. Furthermore, Pb-stressed seedlings had decreased total soluble protein concentrations, photosynthetic pigments, nutrition, and phenol content. Nonetheless, HBL increased chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b levels in plant, resulting in increased photosynthesis. As a result, seeds treated with HBL2 (5 µM L⁻¹) had higher nutritional contents (Mg⁺², Zn⁺², Na⁺², and K⁺¹). HBL2-treated seedlings had higher DPPH and metal tolerance indexes. This led to the conclusion that HBL2 effectively reduced Pb toxicity and improved resistance in lead-contaminated soil. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Role of Brassinosteroids in Plant Responses to Biotic and Abiotic Stresses)

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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Title: Effect of lactone- and ketone-brassinosteroids on barley plants under salt stress
Authors: Ol’ga K. Murgan1, Elena D. Danilova1, Liliya V. Kolomeichuk1, Ilya E. Zlobin1,2, Mariya V. Serafimovich1, Vladimir A. Khripach3, Raisa P. Litvinovskaya3, Vladimir N. Zhabinskiǐ3, Vladimir V. Kuznetsov
Affiliation: 1 Department of Plant Physiology, Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Biological Institute, National Research Tomsk State University, Lenin Avenue 36, Tomsk 634050, Russia 2 K.A. Timiryazev Institute of Plant Physiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Botanicheskaya Street 35, Moscow 127276, Russia 3 Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Kuprevich Street 5/2, 220084 Minsk, Belarus
Abstract: Salinity is one of the dominant abiotic stressor that limits the growth and productivity of agricultural crops. The most environmentally friendly ways to increase plant resistance is the use of phytohormones, in particular brassinosteroids (BS). At the moment, the physiological effects of lactone-containing BS has been well studied, while the effects of the group of ketone-containing brassinosteroids has not been studied enough. This study compared the effects of lactone-containing BS – 28-homobrassinolide and ketone-containing 28-homocastasterone on barley plants subjected to salt stress. Germinated barley seeds were soaked in solutions of 28-homobrassinolide or 28-homocastasterone. The plants were transferred to hydroponic conditions with the addition of sodium chloride and grown for two weeks. The water and oxidative status of plants, as well as their ability to accumulate compatible osmolytes, were analyzed.