Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue follows the publication of the first and second editions on “Regulations by Small RNA in Plant Development and Beyond” and "Molecular Bases of Stress Adaptation in Plants: The Contribute of Regulation by Small RNAs in Plant Development and Stress Response", which presented 18 high-quality papers.

Phytohormones and small RNAs (sRNAs) are crucial signalling molecules that enable plant growth and development through the induction of fine transcriptional reprogramming mechanisms. In addition to being essential for controlling plant growth and developmental processes, the interaction among different phytohormone signalling cascades and sRNAs is pivotal to triggering and tuning plant responses to multiple environmental changes. Accordingly, emerging experimental evidence has shown that small RNAs, particularly microRNAs (miRNAs), respond to, or exhibit overlapping regulatory roles with more than one phytohormone. Another aspect making hormones and small RNAs the key players of two interconnected signalling systems relies on the fact that many sRNAs can regulate their targets over long distances by moving cell-to-cell or systemically within the plant’s vasculature. This fascinating feature explains how these tiny regulatory molecules could be looked at as ‘RNA hormones’.

Although some sRNAs have been shown to act as mediators of phytohormone response pathways by influencing their metabolism, distribution, and perception, more research efforts are needed to provide an in-depth understanding of the sRNA-hormone modules that operate in plants, especially in presence of stress pressure.

Research studies submitted to this Special Issue should provide high-novelty results outlining the functional link between sRNAs and hormonal networks that promote specific plant growth and development in response to environmental stimuli. Review papers that discuss and clarify recent advances on plant adaptation molecular mechanisms controlled by the sRNA and hormone cross talk are welcome as well.

Dr. Giorgio Gambino
Dr. Chiara Pagliarani
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• Small RNA
• Hormonal pathways
• Abiotic stress
• Biotic stress
• Environmental adaptation
• Signalling cascades
• Plant development