Various abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, extreme temperatures, flooding, and chemical toxicity significantly contribute to crop losses and decreases in food productivity. Reductions in crop productivity and crop failure due to abiotic stresses cost hundreds of millions of dollars each year. Minimizing these losses is a major concern for all nations as they try to meet the increasing demand for food. In recent years, some techniques have been proposed, alongside traditional breeding and biotechnological methods, to reduce the negative effects of abiotic stresses on agricultural production. One approach, known as molecular priming, enables crop plants to be protected against abiotic stresses by stimulating endogenous plant defense responses using a number of natural and synthetic chemical compounds.
Plants exposed to abiotic stresses exhibit a characteristic set of cellular and metabolic responses, many of which are conserved in all organisms. Plants have evolved complex defense systems to cope with and combat severe environmental stress. Abiotic stresses cause the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and trigger oxidative stress responses. These ROS have a dual role in cell as both toxic byproducts of aerobic metabolism and signal molecules by triggering signal transduction pathways during plant acclimation to stress. The enhancement of natural defenses in plants can be accomplished by the application of many priming agents, resulting in stress mitigation. These agents, which have a common feature of inducing antioxidant defenses, trigger stress signals and activate defense mechanisms in a compound-specific manner. These agents are non-toxic to plants and the environment when applied at low concentrations. To combat abiotic stresses through molecular priming, new priming agents and techniques are incessantly developed and implemented. The use of genomic technologies in the agricultural sector is often either prevented or restricted, therefore the application of molecular priming, an environmentally friendly technique, could be the optimal strategy to employ.
Many types of compounds such as plant hormones (e.g., GA3, ABA), reactive oxygen-nitrogen-sulfur species (e.g., H 2 O 2 , NO), biostimulants (e.g., plant extracts, bacteria), small organic molecules (e.g., acetic acid, ascorbic acid), inorganic compounds (e.g. K, Ca), and metals (e.g., Cu nanoparticles) have the potential to act as priming agent against a range of abiotic stresses. This Research Topic aims to identify novel research findings on the role of molecular priming compounds in the abiotic stress tolerance of plants. Authors are invited to submit original research, reviews/mini-reviews, methods and perspective/opinion/hypothesis, on topics that include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Research on novel compounds and techniques that can be used in priming experiments at the molecular level;
• Research on the physiological, biochemical, and genetic background of the molecular priming phenomenon in abiotic stress tolerance;
• Identification and functional analysis of genes involved in the metabolic pathway and regulatory network of molecular priming compounds in abiotic stress conditions.
Various abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, extreme temperatures, flooding, and chemical toxicity significantly contribute to crop losses and decreases in food productivity. Reductions in crop productivity and crop failure due to abiotic stresses cost hundreds of millions of dollars each year. Minimizing these losses is a major concern for all nations as they try to meet the increasing demand for food. In recent years, some techniques have been proposed, alongside traditional breeding and biotechnological methods, to reduce the negative effects of abiotic stresses on agricultural production. One approach, known as molecular priming, enables crop plants to be protected against abiotic stresses by stimulating endogenous plant defense responses using a number of natural and synthetic chemical compounds.
Plants exposed to abiotic stresses exhibit a characteristic set of cellular and metabolic responses, many of which are conserved in all organisms. Plants have evolved complex defense systems to cope with and combat severe environmental stress. Abiotic stresses cause the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and trigger oxidative stress responses. These ROS have a dual role in cell as both toxic byproducts of aerobic metabolism and signal molecules by triggering signal transduction pathways during plant acclimation to stress. The enhancement of natural defenses in plants can be accomplished by the application of many priming agents, resulting in stress mitigation. These agents, which have a common feature of inducing antioxidant defenses, trigger stress signals and activate defense mechanisms in a compound-specific manner. These agents are non-toxic to plants and the environment when applied at low concentrations. To combat abiotic stresses through molecular priming, new priming agents and techniques are incessantly developed and implemented. The use of genomic technologies in the agricultural sector is often either prevented or restricted, therefore the application of molecular priming, an environmentally friendly technique, could be the optimal strategy to employ.
Many types of compounds such as plant hormones (e.g., GA3, ABA), reactive oxygen-nitrogen-sulfur species (e.g., H 2 O 2 , NO), biostimulants (e.g., plant extracts, bacteria), small organic molecules (e.g., acetic acid, ascorbic acid), inorganic compounds (e.g. K, Ca), and metals (e.g., Cu nanoparticles) have the potential to act as priming agent against a range of abiotic stresses. This Research Topic aims to identify novel research findings on the role of molecular priming compounds in the abiotic stress tolerance of plants. Authors are invited to submit original research, reviews/mini-reviews, methods and perspective/opinion/hypothesis, on topics that include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Research on novel compounds and techniques that can be used in priming experiments at the molecular level;
• Research on the physiological, biochemical, and genetic background of the molecular priming phenomenon in abiotic stress tolerance;
• Identification and functional analysis of genes involved in the metabolic pathway and regulatory network of molecular priming compounds in abiotic stress conditions.