Interplay of Abiotic and Biotic Stresses in Plant Physiology

In ecosystems ranging from natural landscapes to agricultural and urban settings, annual (crop species) and perennial (forest tree) plants frequently encounter a combination of abiotic and biotic stresses. These include droughts paired with pathogen attacks, heatwaves alongside salinity, or nutrient deficiencies with herbivory. Each combination uniquely exacerbates physiological challenges for plants, forming complex interaction networks that affect growth, metabolism, and developmental processes. Despite advances in understanding individual stress responses—highlighting adaptations like transcriptional responses, physiological adjustments, biochemical pathways, and structural modifications—the interaction between multiple stressors introduces compounded effects. These effects, often nonlinear, arise from intricate signaling crosstalk and resource allocation trade-offs, necessitating deeper investigation into their cumulative impact on plant physiology.

This Research Topic aims to dissect the multi-layered biological responses and adaptation strategies plants deploy against multifactorial stress, with an urgent need highlighted by escalating climate change impacts. As extreme weather events and ecological stresses become more prevalent, understanding how plants manage combined stressors becomes critical for ensuring ecosystem resilience, optimizing crop productivity, and improving urban and agroforestry systems under future environmental conditions.

To better understand these complex interactions, this Research Topic invites contributions that delve into but are not limited to the following areas:
• Molecular mechanisms and gene networks underlying plant responses to multifactorial stresses.
• Ecophysiological adaptations of plants in various environments under multifactorial stress.
• The role of phenotypic plasticity in plant acclimation and resilience.
• Modeling approaches to predict plant behavior under complex stress scenarios.
• Utilizing high-throughput technologies for detecting and assessing multifactorial stresses in both fields and controlled environments.
• Breeding techniques for developing plant varieties resilient to multiple stresses.

This initiative encourages a collaborative approach to expand our knowledge and develop innovative solutions for managing plant health and productivity in the face of increasing global environmental challenges.

Contributions to this Research Topic must present novel insights and avoid reiterating findings already known in other species, in accordance with the scope guidelines. Submissions should emphasize originality, particularly in the context of multifactorial stresses and their compounded effects, to ensure the exploration of innovative and complex phenomena that advance our understanding of plant-environment interactions.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: abiotic and biotic stress, ecosystems, agriculture, plant physiology

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.