Global agricultural production systems face multiple challenges in fulfilling their sustainable yield goals while demand for food is constantly increasing. Environmental stressors such as salinity, drought, heavy metals, etc., have demonstrated negative impacts on plant growth and development, and thereby limited crop productivity. For example, metals can persist in soil for many years as they are non-biodegradable and their excess concentration in the soil can enter the food chain causing health concerns. Meanwhile, agricultural drought and salinity restrict soil moisture, a crucial constituent of agroecosystems due to its potential to reduce crop production by up to 50% globally.
To overcome these abiotic stresses, plants have adapted various tolerance mechanisms. These responses to abiotic stresses depend on many factors such as the severity and duration of the stress, the developmental stage of the plant, as well as its age, species, and genotype. The responses and tolerance mechanisms plants have against abiotic stress are also complex in the sense that they develop at multiple levels including morphological, physiological, biochemical, cellular, and molecular levels. Abiotic factors cause nutrient deficiencies, as the physiochemical properties of the soil can lead to reduced mobility and absorption of individual nutrients. During abiotic stress, plants experience either low or excessive availability of nutrients, which alters their biochemical composition and minimizes growth and yield. Thus, the management of plant nutrients is very helpful to improve plant tolerance to abiotic stress. Better plant nutrition can effectively alleviate the adverse effects of various stressors by a number of mechanisms. In addition, many phytohormones, such as abscisic acid, jasmonates, cytokinin, gibberellic acid, brassinosteroids, and ethylene are accumulated in plant tissues under unfavorable conditions. These phytohormones cause metabolic and morphogenetic changes to alleviate the negative effects, allowing the plant to adapt to difficult conditions.
This Research Topic aims to summarize recent developments regarding the exogenous application of phytohormones and organo-mineral fertilizers to alleviate the phytotoxic impacts of abiotic stresses on plants. It will explore various aspects of crops’ morphological, physio-biochemical, and metabolic mechanisms for resisting environmental stresses with a view to providing a functional characterization of the stress-related genes associated with adaptation mechanisms.
We welcome submissions of the following article types: Original Research, Methods, Reviews and Mini Reviews, Opinions, and Perspectives, on themes that include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Effect of abiotic stresses on crops growth, metabolic changes, and productivity;
• Crop nutrient cycling under abiotic stress conditions;
• Regulatory roles of various organo-mineral nutrients on soil fertility against abiotic stresses;
• Mechanisms influencing water and nutrient availability in crop plants in the era of climate change;
• Effect of soil on plant root systems and nutrients availability;
• Nutrients-based regulation in the key genes and novel pathways involved in stress tolerance;
• Phytohormones regulation under abiotic stress;
• Cross talk between beneficial nutrients and phytohormones;
• Molecular breeding approaches for understanding and management of abiotic stress response.
Global agricultural production systems face multiple challenges in fulfilling their sustainable yield goals while demand for food is constantly increasing. Environmental stressors such as salinity, drought, heavy metals, etc., have demonstrated negative impacts on plant growth and development, and thereby limited crop productivity. For example, metals can persist in soil for many years as they are non-biodegradable and their excess concentration in the soil can enter the food chain causing health concerns. Meanwhile, agricultural drought and salinity restrict soil moisture, a crucial constituent of agroecosystems due to its potential to reduce crop production by up to 50% globally.
To overcome these abiotic stresses, plants have adapted various tolerance mechanisms. These responses to abiotic stresses depend on many factors such as the severity and duration of the stress, the developmental stage of the plant, as well as its age, species, and genotype. The responses and tolerance mechanisms plants have against abiotic stress are also complex in the sense that they develop at multiple levels including morphological, physiological, biochemical, cellular, and molecular levels. Abiotic factors cause nutrient deficiencies, as the physiochemical properties of the soil can lead to reduced mobility and absorption of individual nutrients. During abiotic stress, plants experience either low or excessive availability of nutrients, which alters their biochemical composition and minimizes growth and yield. Thus, the management of plant nutrients is very helpful to improve plant tolerance to abiotic stress. Better plant nutrition can effectively alleviate the adverse effects of various stressors by a number of mechanisms. In addition, many phytohormones, such as abscisic acid, jasmonates, cytokinin, gibberellic acid, brassinosteroids, and ethylene are accumulated in plant tissues under unfavorable conditions. These phytohormones cause metabolic and morphogenetic changes to alleviate the negative effects, allowing the plant to adapt to difficult conditions.
This Research Topic aims to summarize recent developments regarding the exogenous application of phytohormones and organo-mineral fertilizers to alleviate the phytotoxic impacts of abiotic stresses on plants. It will explore various aspects of crops’ morphological, physio-biochemical, and metabolic mechanisms for resisting environmental stresses with a view to providing a functional characterization of the stress-related genes associated with adaptation mechanisms.
We welcome submissions of the following article types: Original Research, Methods, Reviews and Mini Reviews, Opinions, and Perspectives, on themes that include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Effect of abiotic stresses on crops growth, metabolic changes, and productivity;
• Crop nutrient cycling under abiotic stress conditions;
• Regulatory roles of various organo-mineral nutrients on soil fertility against abiotic stresses;
• Mechanisms influencing water and nutrient availability in crop plants in the era of climate change;
• Effect of soil on plant root systems and nutrients availability;
• Nutrients-based regulation in the key genes and novel pathways involved in stress tolerance;
• Phytohormones regulation under abiotic stress;
• Cross talk between beneficial nutrients and phytohormones;
• Molecular breeding approaches for understanding and management of abiotic stress response.
