Understanding the Molecular Mechanisms of Plant Responses to Abiotic Stress

Plant responses to environmental stress are governed by complex molecular and biochemical signal transduction processes, which act in coordination to determine tolerance or sensitivity at the whole plant level. Upon exposure to abiotic stress, plants express a sophisticated coordinated response to reprogram interconnected defense networks and metabolic pathways, by alterations in the transcription, translation, and post-translational modification of defense-related genes and proteins. Traditionally, physiological and phenotypic responses were the major ones to be collected in plant stress biology. However, modern studies include the identification of key genes that influence stress tolerance and plant growth under the imposing stress and the verification of gene functions using knock out mutants or overexpression lines. In addition, genomics has become a necessary tool for the understanding of plant stress responses at the whole genome levels. The identification of stress-tolerant plant resources and the investigation of the functional role of the genetic variants is also a valuable tool in this research field. Recently, the advent of CRISPR/Cas genome editing technology, enables these variations to be introduced in crops for improved stress tolerance traits.

With this Research Topic article collection, we seek to expand our knowledge on different mechanisms that enable plants to perceive environmental variations and transduce the external stimuli into intracellular signaling, followed by an adaptive response to stress. In particular, we aim to shed light on specific molecular signaling mechanisms involved in these processes. Original Research Articles and comprehensive Reviews describing the molecular mechanisms of abiotic stress signaling in plants and its crosstalk with other metabolic signaling pathways are welcome. All contributions should closely match the scope of this Research Topic. Submission to this Research Topic is limited to authors previously contacted by the Topic Editors.

Through the understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in plant signaling in response to abiotic stress and crop performance characters under stress conditions, we hope to open new ways for the breeding of superior crops.