Our study determined that druse synthesis in a xerophytic plant species constitutes an adaptation to drought, not to herbivory. Under drought stress conditions, higher druse abundance correlated with increased growth rates. In contrast, the presence of herbivory did not induce druse synthesis, and its presence influenced the response to drought stress. Our findings highlight the role of druses in the adaptive response to drought and reveal how interactions with other common stressors, such as herbivory, can modify this response.

Semi-arid regions have abundant light and heat, concentrating agricultural activities. However, high temperatures and drought conditions pose significant constraints on crop productivity. Our study found that an optimal Se application enhanced the acquisition traits in eggplants, thereby maximising photosynthetic gains and achieving a ‘high input – rapid return’ model in terms of leaf construction costs and photosynthetic efficiency. Our findings suggest that Se application can serve as a crucial strategy to enhance crop productivity in semi-arid environments.

Although the rise in temperature has been intensively studied, the associated effect of air humidity and vapour pressure deficit (VPD) on trees must be clarified. We investigated the impact of these factors on Norway spruce (Picea abies) saplings and discovered that the higher temperature alone does not affect trees, while the interaction with VPD rise improved tree functioning. These findings suggest that aside from temperature, the impact of air humidity should be considered by predicting trees’ response to global warming.

The existence of C₃- and C₄-types of photosynthesis enables plant to better adapt to different environment conditions including diverse temperature regimes. The current study revealed differences between C₃-plant barley and C₄-plant maize in mechanisms limiting activity of photosystems I and II. These results increased the biophysical component that is underrepresented in the general understanding of distinctions between C₃- and C₄-types of photosynthesis.

We applied a systems biology approach to gain a deep insight into the regulatory mechanisms of barley (Hordeum vulgare) under drought and waterlogging stress conditions. The identified gene modules, enriched pathways, and regulatory networks provide valuable insights into the complex molecular responses of barley to drought and waterlogging stresses. This comprehensive analysis significantly contributes to our understanding of the genetic and regulatory mechanisms underlying stress responses in barley.

Drying wheat (Triticum durum) seeds attached to their spikes improved seed germination (desiccation tolerance), mean germination time, and seedling length at the milk stage of seed development compared with seed dried detached from spikes. The improvement of seed germination of spiked-dried seeds was associated with high accumulation of GABA metabolites, lower MDA content, higher expression of dehydrin genes (dhn, wcor, and dreb).

Fluoride pollution is gradually becoming an environmental concern around the globe. Previous studies have shown the toxic effects of fluoride on rice (Oryza sativa) growth. Our study derived a roadmap for the cultivation of two indica rice varieties (Khitish, which is more resistant to long-term fluoride stress, and MTU1010, which is more susceptible to fluoride stress) in fluoride-marginalized lands. The different response to fluoride stress between the two varieties may be explained by differential reprogramming of protective metabolites and sulfur assimilation.

This article belongs to the Collection Functional Genomics for Developing Climate Resilient Crops.

Rice (Oryza sativa) is an important food crop globally. With a constant need to enhance rice traits in a changing climate, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats and CRISPR-associated Protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) offers cutting-edge and precise genome-editing tool to modify rice genome to provide resilience to abiotic and biotic stresses. This review focuses on the application of CRISPR/Cas9 in rice breeding to create rice varieties that have enhanced tolerance to stresses, herbicide resistance, and higher productivity.

This article belongs to the Collection Functional Genomics for Developing Climate Resilient Crops.

We investigated the effects of various synthetic compounds on wheat (Triticum aestivum) cvs GW-11 and GW-496 under terminal heat stress. Compounds like salicylic acid (100 ppm) and putrescine (4 mM) significantly improved physiological traits, including canopy temperature depression and chlorophyll content. Notably, salicylic acid application led to a 19.5-% increase in grain yield, attributed to enhanced grains per spike and 1000-grain weight. The findings suggest that foliar application of these compounds can effectively mitigate heat stress and enhance wheat productivity.

Variable adaptability to complete submergence was observed among Lotus and Trifolium species, while Melilotus albus and Trifolium michelianum did not survive. Lotus species demonstrated superior recovery growth from submergence compared to Trifolium species, particularly Lotus tenuis, making it suitable for flood-prone areas. The better performance of Lotus species after submergence was due to their ability to maintain higher stomatal conductance, increased chlorophyll concentration in young leaves, and quicker recovery of PSII efficiency.

Remote sensing of action of stressors on plants is an important step of their protection. We showed that action of salinization stimulated spatial heterogeneity in the photochemical reflectance index, which was calculated on basis of the leaf reflectance at 530 and 575 nm, and in reflectance at 530 nm in pea (Pisum sativum) leaves. It means that measurements of the spatial heterogeneity of these parameters can be used as indicator of the action of salinization in the plant remote sensing.

Our study unravels that unilateral high intensity blue light (HBL) triggered backlit lodging of etiolated cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) hypocotyls. Unilateral HBL stimulates the change of turgor pressure of hypocotyl lit-side guard cells in cotton seedlings to absorb water from backlit side cells, which resulted in the backlit side cells shrinking and backlit lodging. Abscisic acid signaling can inhibit both HBL-induced stomatal opening and backlit lodging, indicated that the backlit lodging phenomenon attributed to HBL-induced stomatal opening.

Plants often experience variations in light intensity, referred to as light stress, which affects their plant growth and development and, thus, diminishes their productivity and yield. We conclude that application of plant hormone, brassinosteroid, regulates a complex mechanism to improve light stress tolerance in one month old tomato plants.

Extreme temperatures, as a result of global warming, cause significant reduction in agricultural yields. We introduced a chaperone from Artemia urmiana that helps other proteins to function properly in extreme environments into Arabidopsis thaliana. Our results indicated that the transgneic Arabidopsis plants were more tolerant to heat stress than the wild-type.