Harnessing Grafting for Stress Resilience in Horticultural Crops: Insights into Physiological, Molecular, and Agronomic Strategies

Horticultural crops face increasing exposure to stressors due to climate change and anthropogenic activities, resulting in notable declines in growth, yield, and quality. Abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, temperature extremes, and heavy metal toxicity critically impair plant performance and elevate susceptibility to biotic stresses, including pests and pathogens. These stressors collectively pose significant threats to food security and economic stability within horticultural systems. Grafting, the strategic union of two plant components, has emerged as a vital countermeasure to these challenges. This technique facilitates improved water and nutrient uptake, hormonal balance, secondary metabolite secretion, and the effective transport of proteins and RNAs, which collectively enhance stress tolerance and recovery in crops. Beyond resilience, grafting also enhances yield quality and nutritional attributes, positioning itself as a pivotal technology for sustainable horticultural production amidst environmental changes.

This Research Topic aims to deepen mechanistic and applied understanding of grafting-mediated stress resilience in horticultural crops. We seek to integrate physiological, molecular, and agronomic lenses to unravel the complexities of rootstock–scion interactions and their role in conferring tolerance against abiotic stresses and biotic challenges alike. Focused investigations will explore hormonal regulation, secondary metabolite synthesis, systemic signaling, and RNA/protein transport involved in stress adaptation. Multi-omics approaches encompassing genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and ionomics are poised to yield comprehensive insights. Agronomic assessments further aim to establish grafting as a means for achieving yield stability, fruit quality, and resource-use efficiency under stress. Bridging fundamental and applied research, this initiative aspires to champion grafting as a sustainable, climate-resilient strategy for enhancing productivity and securing food supplies.

To gather further insights in the scope of grafting-mediated stress resilience, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

• Physiological responses and mechanisms in grafted crops under stress conditions

• Molecular pathways and regulatory networks involved in rootstock–scion communication

• Multi-omics approaches to understanding graft-induced resilience

• Agronomic strategies for optimizing yield and quality in grafted crops

• Translational applications linking grafting with breeding and sustainable horticultural practices

We encourage submissions of original research, comprehensive reviews, and innovative perspectives aligning with our theme.

Article types and fees

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

• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• ... 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
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review

Keywords: Horticulture Crops, Grafting, Plant Physiology, Stress tolerance, Biotic and Abiotic Stress, Molecular signaling

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.