Responses of Crop Plants to Climate Change and Environmental Stresses
Over the past few decades, there has been an exponential increase in global climate change, which has increased potential threats to crop growth, productivity, and yield. Abiotic stresses such as salinity, drought, flooding, heat and cold stress, irradiations, tropospheric ozone, nutritional imbalance, xenobiotic stress, etc. negatively affect plant growth and productivity. Therefore, in the face of these persistent and accelerating changes in climate, it is essential to investigate how crop plants respond to the adverse environment.
Numerous physiological changes are triggered in plant cells when they are exposed to environmental stresses. These reactions can change plant phenology, growth, reproduction, and chemical composition, which lowers the quality of the crops that are harvested. The impact of environmental stresses on plant development and physiological processes, however, differs depending on the intensity of the stress, its associated stresses, genotypes, and growth phases. The main impacts of these stresses on different morphophysiological and biochemical features of plants include reduced photosynthetic activity, altered oxidative metabolism, membrane instability, stomatal conductance, altered root growth, decreased leaf area, and disturbed water relations resulting in diminished growth and yield. However, a variety of environmental factors and plants’ genetic makeup, its ability to respond to stress, etc., all affect a plant's overall stress response. Plant organs and tissues work together in coordination with chemical signals to deal with unfavorable environmental conditions. The expression of particular stress-related genes and the synthesis of stress-related enzymes are all regulated by the activation of molecular networks that are involved in stress detection, signal transduction, and plant stress tolerance. Additionally, plants' enhanced antioxidant defense system significantly contributes to the development of their stress tolerance mechanisms. However, most plant stress tolerance mechanisms are still unknown. In order to minimize the negative impacts of environmental stresses and to maintain sustainable crop production in this constantly changing climate, it is essential to better understand plant stress physiology.
Potential topics for this Collection include, but are not limited to:
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Abiotic stress
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Climate Change
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Crop Physiology
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Food Security
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Plant Stress responses
All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection underrwent desk assessment and peer-review as part of our standard editorial process. Guest Advisors were not involved in peer-reviewing manuscripts unless they were an existing member of the Editorial Board.