Abiotic and biotic stresses caused by nature or by human activities have become a great threat to sustainable agricultural production globally. These stresses include drought, high/low temperature, salinity, nutrient deficiency, heavy metals, crop diseases, and insects. A significant reduction in crop yield is the consequence of increasingly severe stress events every year, with combinations of different stresses causing even greater reductions. Crops were domesticated more than 10,000 years ago, and significant progress has been made in increasing crop yields through breeding. However, the progress in improving stress tolerance without scarificing yield potential has been relatively slow. It is predicted that the global population will reach 9-10 billion by 2050. To meet the demand for food, it is crucial to increase crop yield potential and improve stress tolerance to claim back the lost lands due to climate change caused by soil deterioration and high disease pressure.
Identifying important genes related to stress tolerance and revealing their genetic mechanisms are the basis for crop improvement. Under single or multiple stress, crops are often subjected to osmotic/oxidative stress, photosynthetic and metabolic damage, nutrient imbalance/ion toxicity, physical damage, or fungus/virus attack. Crops have developed a series of genetic mechanisms to deal with these stresses. These mechanisms include osmotic adjustment through compatible solutes in the cytoplasm, reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging system through anti-oxidative enzymes, nutrient homeostasis through ion channels and transporters, and interactive defense system between crops and diseases/pests. Progress in developing tolerant varieties is significantly hampered by the complexity of the physiological and genetic mechanisms of stress tolerance. Differences in stress tolerance exist among species and different genotypes within the same species. The differences are mainly caused by genomic variations. Therefore, identifying genetic determinants of stress tolerance can accelerate marker-assisted selection (MAS) in breeding programs and introgressing tolerance genes into commercial varieties.
In this Research Topic, we encourage the submission of high-quality articles that provide novel insights into genetic mechanisms of stress tolerance in crops, tools, or resources for crop stress research and facilitate the development of improved crops. Original research papers, perspectives, opinions, reviews, modelling approaches, and methods on crop genomics and genetics are most welcome, in particular:
• Genome-wide association study (GWAS) or multi-omics studies on abiotic/biotic stress in crops.
• Identification of novel QTL/genes and their genetic function on crop biotic/abiotic stress tolerance.
• Novel genetic approaches toward increased crop adaptability and yield under abiotic/biotic stress.
• Perspectives, opinions, and reviews on crop abiotic/biotic stress tolerance.
Abiotic and biotic stresses caused by nature or by human activities have become a great threat to sustainable agricultural production globally. These stresses include drought, high/low temperature, salinity, nutrient deficiency, heavy metals, crop diseases, and insects. A significant reduction in crop yield is the consequence of increasingly severe stress events every year, with combinations of different stresses causing even greater reductions. Crops were domesticated more than 10,000 years ago, and significant progress has been made in increasing crop yields through breeding. However, the progress in improving stress tolerance without scarificing yield potential has been relatively slow. It is predicted that the global population will reach 9-10 billion by 2050. To meet the demand for food, it is crucial to increase crop yield potential and improve stress tolerance to claim back the lost lands due to climate change caused by soil deterioration and high disease pressure.
Identifying important genes related to stress tolerance and revealing their genetic mechanisms are the basis for crop improvement. Under single or multiple stress, crops are often subjected to osmotic/oxidative stress, photosynthetic and metabolic damage, nutrient imbalance/ion toxicity, physical damage, or fungus/virus attack. Crops have developed a series of genetic mechanisms to deal with these stresses. These mechanisms include osmotic adjustment through compatible solutes in the cytoplasm, reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging system through anti-oxidative enzymes, nutrient homeostasis through ion channels and transporters, and interactive defense system between crops and diseases/pests. Progress in developing tolerant varieties is significantly hampered by the complexity of the physiological and genetic mechanisms of stress tolerance. Differences in stress tolerance exist among species and different genotypes within the same species. The differences are mainly caused by genomic variations. Therefore, identifying genetic determinants of stress tolerance can accelerate marker-assisted selection (MAS) in breeding programs and introgressing tolerance genes into commercial varieties.
In this Research Topic, we encourage the submission of high-quality articles that provide novel insights into genetic mechanisms of stress tolerance in crops, tools, or resources for crop stress research and facilitate the development of improved crops. Original research papers, perspectives, opinions, reviews, modelling approaches, and methods on crop genomics and genetics are most welcome, in particular:
• Genome-wide association study (GWAS) or multi-omics studies on abiotic/biotic stress in crops.
• Identification of novel QTL/genes and their genetic function on crop biotic/abiotic stress tolerance.
• Novel genetic approaches toward increased crop adaptability and yield under abiotic/biotic stress.
• Perspectives, opinions, and reviews on crop abiotic/biotic stress tolerance.