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Agronomy
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Valorization of Plant-Genetic Resources and Microbial Communities to Cope with...
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Valorization of Plant-Genetic Resources and Microbial Communities to Cope with Biotic/Abiotic Stress

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Farming Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2022) | Viewed by 10588

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Nikolaos Nikoloudakis

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural Science, Biotechnology and Food Science, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol 3036, Cyprus
Interests: plant science; agricultural biotechnology; genotyping; plant biodiversity; flow cytometry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Iakovos Pantelides

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural Sciences, Biotechnology and Food Science, Limassol 3036, Cyprus
Interests: basic and applied aspects of plant-microbe interactions; biological control of plant diseases; plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria; rhizosphere microbiome in suppressive soils
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The imminent climate change is expected to have a severe impact on crop production yields, thus posing a threat to food security. Parallelly, unfavorable environments can effectuate qualitative shifts, inflicting a severe downgrade in crops’ nutrient value. 

As sessile organisms, plants need to adapt to an ever-changing environment and cope with simultaneous biotic stresses caused by pathogens or pests and adverse environmental conditions, such as heat, drought, salinity, or humidity (due to the higher evaporation rates). To survive, plants have evolved an array of sophisticated physiological and biochemical responses that may have a profound direct effect on plants per se but can also affect the assembly of the plant microbiome and hence plant–microbe equilibria.

Although plant responses to biotic/abiotic stresses have been widely documented across model plants, still the role of diverse genetic resources and the interplay with microbial communities is an issue that remains largely uncharted, despite its significance. Hence, there is a need to highlight these effects (at the molecular to phenotypic level), as well as to identify specific genetic resources and microbial communities that could counterbalance the quantitative and qualitative decrease of food supply.

In this Special Issue, we would like to present a multidiscipline forum and warmly welcome contributions (original research, opinions, perspectives and reviews), with a particular focus on the responses to stressor factors affecting the quality of crops and reducing the valorization of arable crops, vegetables, and fruits. Moreover, we especially consider studies that highlight the comparative analysis of plant genetic resources or/and plant-associated microbial communities that are anticipated to outperform in these adverse stimuli, thus contributing to food security.

Dr. Nikolaos Nikoloudakis
Asst. Prof. Iakovos Pantelides
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • abiotic/biotic stress
  • antioxidants
  • carbon dioxide
  • carotenoids
  • crop nutrient value
  • drought
  • flavonoids
  • genetic recourses
  • humidity
  • plant microbiome
  • plant-associated microbial communities
  • salinity
  • vitamins

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 5360 KiB  
Article
Feeding the Microbes: A Strategy to Control Verticillium Wilt
by Paraskevi Ziazia, Eirini G. Poulaki, Danai Gkizi, Luis Lozano, Mario Serrano and Sotirios E. Tjamos
Agronomy 2021, 11(10), 1946; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy11101946 - 28 Sep 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2719
Abstract
Verticillium dahliae is one of the most devastating soilborne pathogens for horticulture production. The pathogen has a broad host range and currently there is no effective chemical disease management, therefore, novel sustainable integrated disease management strategies should be considered. In this respect, we [...] Read more.
Verticillium dahliae is one of the most devastating soilborne pathogens for horticulture production. The pathogen has a broad host range and currently there is no effective chemical disease management, therefore, novel sustainable integrated disease management strategies should be considered. In this respect, we questioned whether the soil application of common microbiological growth media can influence the plant—microbe interactions and, subsequently, offer protection against V. dahliae. Indeed, the addition of Nutrient Broth (NB) and Potato Dextrose (PD) in non-sterilized soil reduced Verticillium wilt symptoms in eggplants. The addition of NB in sterilized soil did not reduce the disease symptoms compared to controls, however the addition of PD enhanced plant protection against V. dahliae. Following the results of a split root bioassay in eggplants, the possibility that NB and PD triggered the plant defense mechanisms against V. dahliae was excluded, since NB and PD did not reduce wilt symptom. Therefore, PD may be used as an easy food source for V. dahliae, detouring the pathogen from the root system of plants, while NB may affect the soil microbiome by enhancing antagonism in rhizosphere, or antagonistic interaction between V. dahliae and rhizospheric microbiome. Subsequently, several bacterial strains were isolated from the NB-treated rhizosphere and examined for their biocontrol activity against V. dahliae. Among the examined strains, a Pseudomonas putida strain, Z13, significantly reduced Veticillium severity and incidence under greenhouse conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Valorization of Plant-Genetic Resources and Microbial Communities to Cope with Biotic/Abiotic Stress)
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25 pages, 2849 KiB  
Article
The Evaluation and Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources Collected in Lithuania
by Denise F. Dostatny, Aleksandra Korzeniewska, Grzegorz Bartoszewski, Ryszard Rawski, Karolina Kaźmińska and Bronislovas Gelvonauskis
Agronomy 2021, 11(8), 1586; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy11081586 - 10 Aug 2021
Viewed by 2595
Abstract
The present work compiles the results of three-year expeditions organized between 2011 and 2013 aimed at plant crop collection in the area of Lithuania, an Eastern European country. Accessions of fruit trees, vegetables, cereals, forage, industrial, fibrous, medical, and spice crops as well [...] Read more.
The present work compiles the results of three-year expeditions organized between 2011 and 2013 aimed at plant crop collection in the area of Lithuania, an Eastern European country. Accessions of fruit trees, vegetables, cereals, forage, industrial, fibrous, medical, and spice crops as well as accompanying segetal plants were collected in 5 ethnographic regions of Lithuania. In total, 1010 samples of seeds, bulbs, and plant grafts were obtained. The majority of the collected samples belonged to the Cucurbitaceae, Fabaceae, Solanaceae, Alliaceae, and Rosaceae families. The accessions were described and deposited in the long-term storage in Lithuanian and Polish Gene Banks. Almost all collected cucumbers, pumpkins, squashes, and oat plants were morphologically characterized in field experiments. Cucurbita pepo accessions showed high morphological diversity, while limited diversity of cucumber accessions was observed. Oat plants were characterized by high morphological diversity and resistance to diseases present in some of the investigated accessions. Further characterization of collected apple trees and other accessions is underway. Obtaining germplasm in the area of Lithuania fulfills a gap in current plant crop collections. Collected material could be valuable for pre-breeding evaluation and further breeding programs as well as the study of genetic diversity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Valorization of Plant-Genetic Resources and Microbial Communities to Cope with Biotic/Abiotic Stress)
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11 pages, 269 KiB  
Article
Varietal Response to Sour Bunch Rot in Polish Grapevine Genetic Resources
by Jerzy Lisek and Anna Lisek
Agronomy 2021, 11(8), 1537; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy11081537 - 31 Jul 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1660
Abstract
The aim of this study was to assess the resistance to sour rot of twenty-eight valuable cultivars of grapevine for wine production and twenty-five cultivars of table grapevine with diverse geographic and genetic origins, and to explain the causes of varied resistance based [...] Read more.
The aim of this study was to assess the resistance to sour rot of twenty-eight valuable cultivars of grapevine for wine production and twenty-five cultivars of table grapevine with diverse geographic and genetic origins, and to explain the causes of varied resistance based on the features related to the morphology, biology and ecology of assessed genotypes. The study was conducted for six years in the grapevine field collection of the National Institute of Horticultural Research in Skierniewice (Poland, latitude 51.9627 N, longitude 20.1666 E). Sour rot was severe in three seasons with abundant rainfall during the berry ripening stage. The number of wine and table cultivars in particular classes of resistance (mean value for three years) was as follows: very little or little—9 (wine) and 9 (table), medium—9 (wine) and 3 (table), high or very high—10 (wine) and 13 (table). The severity of bunch sour rot was positively correlated with single berry weight (moderate or weak correlation), bunch density and single bunch weight (very weak or weak correlation), and negatively correlated with thickness of berry skin (strong correlation) and the time of the beginning of veraison (weak correlation). Cultivars that were characterized by such agrobiological and ecological features as easy detachment of the berry from the pedicel, sensitivity to berry skin cracking, frequent damage to the skin by insects, and sensitivity to sunburn, were more heavily exposed to sour rot. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Valorization of Plant-Genetic Resources and Microbial Communities to Cope with Biotic/Abiotic Stress)
17 pages, 6094 KiB  
Article
Leaf Age-Dependent Effects of Boron Toxicity in Two Cucumis melo Varieties
by Theocharis Chatzistathis, Dimitrios Fanourakis, Sasan Aliniaeifard, Anastasios Kotsiras, Costas Delis and Georgios Tsaniklidis
Agronomy 2021, 11(4), 759; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy11040759 - 13 Apr 2021
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 2456
Abstract
Boron (B) is an essential nutrient for plant growth and development, exhibiting extremely narrow margins between deficiency and toxicity. B toxicity is devastating for productivity and apparent for a continuously increasing part of agricultural land, under the influence of on-going climate change. In [...] Read more.
Boron (B) is an essential nutrient for plant growth and development, exhibiting extremely narrow margins between deficiency and toxicity. B toxicity is devastating for productivity and apparent for a continuously increasing part of agricultural land, under the influence of on-going climate change. In this study, the effects of increased B supply (by using H3BO3) were addressed by examining critical physiological responses of young and mature leaves, which were devoid of toxicity symptoms, in two melon varieties (Armenian cucumbers, cantaloupes). B was primarily translocated through the transpiration stream, and secondarily via the active cell membrane transport system. The B distribution pattern was independent of leaf age, and remained rather unchanged under increased B supply. Armenian cucumbers, exhibiting higher leaf B levels, underwent an enhanced adverse impact on (root and shoot) growth, photosynthetic pigment content, cellular membrane integrity, and also exhibited attenuated antioxidant defense stimulation. Notably, and unlike other abiotic stressors, no evidence of B toxicity-induced systemic reaction was apparent. B toxicity greatly enhanced the transcription of the genes coding for borate influx and efflux channels, an effect that was mostly evident in mature leaves. In conclusion, shoot physiological responses to B toxicity are highly localized. Moreover, the obstruction of the diffusion and the B translocation to the aerial organs under increased B supply is genotype-dependent, governing plant physiological responses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Valorization of Plant-Genetic Resources and Microbial Communities to Cope with Biotic/Abiotic Stress)
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