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Drought and Heat Stress Signalling Responses in Plants
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Drought and Heat Stress Signalling Responses in Plants

A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant, Algae and Fungi Cell Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2022) | Viewed by 14351

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Andrei Smertenko

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Biological Chemistry, Plant Sciences Building, Room 281, Washington State University, Washington, WA, USA
Interests: drought; heat; organelles; peroxisomes; signaling; cytoskeleton; cytokinesis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Editorial Board of Cells welcomes the submission of research and review manuscripts for the Special Issue “Drought and Heat Stress Signaling Responses in Plants”. The heat waves of summer 2021 demonstrated the devastating effects of high temperatures on ecosystems at all levels, with especially damaging impacts on plant health. Drought further exacerbates the detrimental effects of heat waves by compromising plant adaptation mechanisms. The reduction of plant health affects food production and economic prosperity. It has been shown that while drought alone results in 19–50% yield losses, depending on geographical location, the combination of heat and drought can cause complete yield losses or devalue the produce. Considering the rise of annual average temperature and increasing demand for water resources from the growing population, the combination of drought and heat poses an existential threat to our lives. Hence, it is imperative to combine efforts in dissecting mechanisms of plant responses to these stresses on all levels. Understanding changes of cellular dynamics under heat and drought is essential as the perception of stress factors, the integration of this information with other environmental and developmental cues, and mounting emergency and long-term responses starts at the cellular level. We anticipate this Issue will provide novel insights into molecular and cellular mechanisms of drought and heat responses, serving as a useful resource for the scientific community, industry, and everybody who cares about developing strategies and tools for improving plant resiliency. 

Dr. Andrei Smertenko
Guest Editor

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. Cells is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2700 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.

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 2939 KiB  
Article
Rhizobia Contribute to Salinity Tolerance in Common Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)
by Clabe Wekesa, George O. Asudi, Patrick Okoth, Michael Reichelt, John O. Muoma, Alexandra C. U. Furch and Ralf Oelmüller
Cells 2022, 11(22), 3628; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/cells11223628 - 16 Nov 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2086
Abstract
Rhizobia are soil bacteria that induce nodule formation on leguminous plants. In the nodules, they reduce dinitrogen to ammonium that can be utilized by plants. Besides nitrogen fixation, rhizobia have other symbiotic functions in plants including phosphorus and iron mobilization and protection of [...] Read more.
Rhizobia are soil bacteria that induce nodule formation on leguminous plants. In the nodules, they reduce dinitrogen to ammonium that can be utilized by plants. Besides nitrogen fixation, rhizobia have other symbiotic functions in plants including phosphorus and iron mobilization and protection of the plants against various abiotic stresses including salinity. Worldwide, about 20% of cultivable and 33% of irrigation land is saline, and it is estimated that around 50% of the arable land will be saline by 2050. Salinity inhibits plant growth and development, results in senescence, and ultimately plant death. The purpose of this study was to investigate how rhizobia, isolated from Kenyan soils, relieve common beans from salinity stress. The yield loss of common bean plants, which were either not inoculated or inoculated with the commercial R. tropici rhizobia CIAT899 was reduced by 73% when the plants were exposed to 300 mM NaCl, while only 60% yield loss was observed after inoculation with a novel indigenous isolate from Kenyan soil, named S3. Expression profiles showed that genes involved in the transport of mineral ions (such as K+, Ca2+, Fe3+, PO43−, and NO3−) to the host plant, and for the synthesis and transport of osmotolerance molecules (soluble carbohydrates, amino acids, and nucleotides) are highly expressed in S3 bacteroids during salt stress than in the controls. Furthermore, genes for the synthesis and transport of glutathione and γ-aminobutyric acid were upregulated in salt-stressed and S3-inocculated common bean plants. We conclude that microbial osmolytes, mineral ions, and antioxidant molecules from rhizobia enhance salt tolerance in common beans. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drought and Heat Stress Signalling Responses in Plants)
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26 pages, 3884 KiB  
Article
Drought Tolerance Strategies and Autophagy in Resilient Wheat Genotypes
by Kahleen Hickey, Magnus Wood, Tom Sexton, Yunus Sahin, Taras Nazarov, Jessica Fisher, Karen A. Sanguinet, Asaph Cousins, Helmut Kirchhoff and Andrei Smertenko
Cells 2022, 11(11), 1765; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/cells11111765 - 27 May 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2837
Abstract
Drought resiliency strategies combine developmental, physiological, cellular, and molecular mechanisms. Here, we compare drought responses in two resilient spring wheat (Triticum aestivum) genotypes: a well-studied drought-resilient Drysdale and a resilient genotype from the US Pacific North-West Hollis. While both genotypes utilize higher [...] Read more.
Drought resiliency strategies combine developmental, physiological, cellular, and molecular mechanisms. Here, we compare drought responses in two resilient spring wheat (Triticum aestivum) genotypes: a well-studied drought-resilient Drysdale and a resilient genotype from the US Pacific North-West Hollis. While both genotypes utilize higher water use efficiency through the reduction of stomatal conductance, other mechanisms differ. First, Hollis deploys the drought escape mechanism to a greater extent than Drysdale by accelerating the flowering time and reducing root growth. Second, Drysdale uses physiological mechanisms such as non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) to dissipate the excess of harvested light energy and sustain higher Fv/Fm and ϕPSII, whereas Hollis maintains constant NPQ but lower Fv/Fm and ϕPSII values. Furthermore, more electron donors of the electron transport chain are in the oxidized state in Hollis than in Drysdale. Third, many ROS homeostasis parameters, including peroxisome abundance, transcription of peroxisome biogenesis genes PEX11 and CAT, catalase protein level, and enzymatic activity, are higher in Hollis than in Drysdale. Fourth, transcription of autophagy flux marker ATG8.4 is upregulated to a greater degree in Hollis than in Drysdale under drought, whereas relative ATG8 protein abundance under drought stress is lower in Hollis than in Drysdale. These data demonstrate the activation of autophagy in both genotypes and a greater autophagic flux in Hollis. In conclusion, wheat varieties utilize different drought tolerance mechanisms. Combining these mechanisms within one genotype offers a promising strategy to advance crop resiliency. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drought and Heat Stress Signalling Responses in Plants)
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23 pages, 6646 KiB  
Article
Overexpression of HVA1 Enhances Drought and Heat Stress Tolerance in Triticum aestivum Doubled Haploid Plants
by Harsha Samtani, Aishwarye Sharma and Paramjit Khurana
Cells 2022, 11(5), 912; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/cells11050912 - 07 Mar 2022
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3009
Abstract
Plant responses to multiple environmental stresses include various signaling pathways that allow plant acclimation and survival. Amongst different stresses, drought and heat stress severely affect growth and productivity of wheat. HVA1, a member of the group 3 LEA protein, has been well known [...] Read more.
Plant responses to multiple environmental stresses include various signaling pathways that allow plant acclimation and survival. Amongst different stresses, drought and heat stress severely affect growth and productivity of wheat. HVA1, a member of the group 3 LEA protein, has been well known to provide protection against drought stress. However, its mechanism of action and its role in other stresses such as heat remain unexplored. In this study, doubled haploid (DH) wheat plants overexpressing the HVA1 gene were analyzed and found to be both drought-and heat stress-tolerant. The transcriptome analysis revealed the upregulation of transcription factors such as DREB and HsfA6 under drought and heat stress, respectively, which contribute toward the tolerance mechanism. Particularly under heat stress conditions, the transgenic plants had a lower oxidative load and showed enhanced yield. The overexpression lines were found to be ABA-sensitive, therefore suggesting the role of HsfA6 in providing heat tolerance via the ABA-mediated pathway. Thus, apart from its known involvement in drought stress, this study highlights the potential role of HVA1 in the heat stress signaling pathway. This can further facilitate the engineering of multiple stress tolerance in crop plants, such as wheat. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drought and Heat Stress Signalling Responses in Plants)
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19 pages, 4010 KiB  
Article
PYL1- and PYL8-like ABA Receptors of Nicotiana benthamiana Play a Key Role in ABA Response in Seed and Vegetative Tissue
by Gaston A. Pizzio, Cristian Mayordomo, Jorge Lozano-Juste, Victor Garcia-Carpintero, Marta Vazquez-Vilar, Sergio G. Nebauer, Kacper P. Kaminski, Nikolai V. Ivanov, Juan C. Estevez, Maria Rivera-Moreno, Armando Albert, Diego Orzaez and Pedro L. Rodriguez
Cells 2022, 11(5), 795; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/cells11050795 - 24 Feb 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2678
Abstract
To face the challenges of climate change and sustainable food production, it is essential to develop crop genome editing techniques to pinpoint key genes involved in abiotic stress signaling. The identification of those prevailing abscisic acid (ABA) receptors that mediate plant-environment interactions is [...] Read more.
To face the challenges of climate change and sustainable food production, it is essential to develop crop genome editing techniques to pinpoint key genes involved in abiotic stress signaling. The identification of those prevailing abscisic acid (ABA) receptors that mediate plant-environment interactions is quite challenging in polyploid plants because of the high number of genes in the PYR/PYL/RCAR ABA receptor family. Nicotiana benthamiana is a biotechnological crop amenable to genome editing, and given the importance of ABA signaling in coping with drought stress, we initiated the analysis of its 23-member family of ABA receptors through multiplex CRISPR/Cas9-mediated editing. We generated several high-order mutants impaired in NbPYL1-like and NbPYL8-like receptors, which showed certain insensitivity to ABA for inhibition of seedling establishment, growth, and development of shoot and lateral roots as well as reduced sensitivity to the PYL1-agonist cyanabactin (CB). However, in these high-order mutants, regulation of transpiration was not affected and was responsive to ABA treatment. This reveals a robust and redundant control of transpiration in this allotetraploid plant that probably reflects its origin from the extreme habitat of central Australia. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drought and Heat Stress Signalling Responses in Plants)
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16 pages, 5119 KiB  
Article
Introgression of SbERD4 Gene Encodes an Early-Responsive Dehydration-Stress Protein That Confers Tolerance against Different Types of Abiotic Stresses in Transgenic Tobacco
by Rajesh Kumar Jha and Avinash Mishra
Cells 2022, 11(1), 62; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/cells11010062 - 27 Dec 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2610
Abstract
Salicornia brachiata is an extreme halophyte that commonly grows on marsh conditions and is also considered a promising resource for drought and salt-responsive genes. To unveil a glimpse of stress endurance by plants, it is of the utmost importance to develop an understanding [...] Read more.
Salicornia brachiata is an extreme halophyte that commonly grows on marsh conditions and is also considered a promising resource for drought and salt-responsive genes. To unveil a glimpse of stress endurance by plants, it is of the utmost importance to develop an understanding of stress tolerance mechanisms. ‘Early Responsive to Dehydration’ (ERD) genes are defined as a group of genes involved in stress tolerance and the development of plants. To increase this understanding, parallel to this expedited thought, a novel SbERD4 gene was cloned from S. brachiata, characterized, and functionally validated in the model plant tobacco. The study showed that SbERD4 is a plasma-membrane bound protein, and its overexpression in tobacco plants improved salinity and osmotic stress tolerance. Transgenic plants showed high relative water, chlorophylls, sugars, starch, polyphenols, proline, free amino acids, and low electrolyte leakage and H2O2 content compared to control plants (wild type and vector control) under different abiotic stress conditions. Furthermore, the transcript expression of antioxidant enzyme encoding genes NtCAT, NtSOD, NtGR, and NtAPX showed higher expression in transgenic compared to wild-type and vector controls under varying stress conditions. Overall, the overexpression of a novel early responsive to dehydration stress protein 4-encoding gene (SbERD4) enhanced the tolerance of the plant against multiple abiotic stresses. In conclusion, the overexpression of the SbERD4 gene mitigates plant physiology by enduring stress tolerance and might be considered as a promising key gene for engineering salinity and drought stress tolerance in crops. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drought and Heat Stress Signalling Responses in Plants)
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