Guest Editors
Prof. Dr. Rachid Lahlali, Department of Plant Protection, Ecole Nationale d’Agriculture de Meknès, MOROCCO
Prof. Dr. Essaid Ait Barka, Research Unit Induced Resistance and Plant Bioprotection, University of Reims，FRANCE
Summary
In the realm of agriculture, plants constantly face a myriad of challenges that threaten their growth, productivity, and ultimately, food security. Among these challenges, abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, extreme temperatures, and soil nutrient deficiencies, as well as biotic stresses including pests, pathogens, and weeds, stand out as significant contributors to yield losses worldwide. Understanding the complex interplay between these abiotic and biotic stresses is crucial for developing effective and sustainable strategies to mitigate their impact on crop plants.
Abiotic stresses exert direct physiological effects on plants, disrupting various cellular processes and metabolic pathways. For instance, drought stress induces stomatal closure, leading to reduced water uptake and photosynthetic efficiency. Similarly, salinity stress disrupts ion homeostasis, causing ion toxicity and osmotic imbalance. On the other hand, biotic stresses such as pest infestations and pathogen infections trigger defense responses in plants, including the activation of signaling pathways and the production of defense compounds.
Therefore, understanding the mechanisms underlying plant responses to these stresses requires comprehensive characterization at the molecular, biochemical, and physiological levels. Advances in omics technologies, including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, have provided valuable insights into the molecular pathways involved in stress perception, signal transduction, and stress tolerance mechanisms in plants. For this research topic, we welcome reviews, perspectives, original research, opinions, and methods that highlight the latest exciting progress in understanding systems biology and the molecular, physiological, and biochemical responses of plants to abiotic and biotic stresses. Potential subjects for this topic include, but are not limited to:
· Crop performance under biotic and abiotic stress
· The effect of climate change on plant growth and development
· Physiology and management of biotic and abiotic stresses
· Signal transduction pathways and networks in plants, from signal perception to physiological responses
· Plant acclimation mechanisms
· Plant defense activators and biostimulants for coping with biotic and abiotic stresses
· Postharvest fruit disorders and mitigation strategies
· Alternative strategies to control plant pathogens (fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes, mycoplasma…)
· Abiotic stresses affecting plant performance, such as heat, drought, cold, and salinity, and their management strategies
· Cutting-edge technologies and AI tools to monitor and understand plant biotic and abiotic stresses both in the laboratory and in the field
Keywords
abiotic stress, biotic stress, plant performance, drought, heat, salinity, cold stress, plant pathogens, plant defense mechanisms, biological control, biostimulants
Login
Register
Submit a Paper
Propose a Special lssue