Lipid Regulation in Plants: A Spatiotemporal Approach to Environmental Stress Adaptation

In the field of plant biology, environmental stressors such as drought, salinity, and extreme temperatures pose a significant threat to cellular homeostasis. These stresses target lipid homeostasis, affecting membrane integrity, promoting lipid oxidation, and activating lipid-derived signaling pathways. Studies have shown that heat stress increases membrane fluidity and lipid peroxidation, leading to severe membrane damage and senescence. Concurrently, plants respond by generating signaling lipids, such as phosphatidic acid, phosphoinositides, sphingolipids, and oxylipins, which trigger protective mechanisms. Despite advances, there is a pressing need for further exploration into how lipid metabolism is regulated under stress to bolster plant resilience against environmental challenges.

This Research Topic aims to deepen our understanding of how lipid metabolism orchestrates plant stress adaptation. Central to this investigation is the regulation of lipid biosynthesis, transport, storage, and turnover during stress conditions. As plants strive to maintain membrane integrity, storage lipids serve as crucial reserves, while lipid signaling orchestrates stress-responsive mechanisms. The breakdown and recycling of damaged lipids through pathways like autophagy and β-oxidation ensure cellular stability. By exploring these avenues, we can formulate strategies to enhance plant adaptation and resilience.

The scope of this Research Topic limits itself to spatiotemporal dynamics of lipid metabolism responses under environmental stress. To gather further insights in this area, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

• Membrane lipid remodeling and its impact on stress tolerance
• Lipid signaling and stress communication
• Organelle-specific lipid responses under stress
• Lipid biosynthesis, degradation, and turnover
• Regulatory networks controlling lipid metabolism
• Advances in lipidomics for high-resolution lipid analysis
• Lipid-based strategies for crop improvement

We aim to foster collaboration and advance understanding of lipid-based stress responses in plants, bridging fundamental research and agricultural applications. We welcome original research, reviews, and perspectives that enhance our knowledge of spatiotemporal regulation of lipid metabolism under stress, providing new strategies for crop resilience.

Article types and fees

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

• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• ... 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:

• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review

Keywords: Lipid metabolism, Environmental stress, Plant resilience, Lipid signaling, Membrane integrity, Stress adaptation, Lipidomics, Crop improvement

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.