MeJA helps plants to cope with biotic and abiotic stress, and the role of MeJA in the defense responses and growth protection of plant provides a direct way of alleviating the stresses in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, MeJA induces the accumulation of secondary metabolites and promotes the combination of plants with other induction factors.

Plant canopies exhibit vertical variations in leaf structural, biochemical and physiological traits to adapt to availability of light and other resource gradients. We studied these variations for top and bottom canopy leaves of barley and rape seed crops. We find that although top leaves have higher photosynthetic capacity due to higher leaf mass, nitrogen and pigment content, the bottom canopy contributes the most to total photosynthesis.

Grapevine species used as rootstocks differ in susceptibility to drought induced embolism formation and refilling upon rewatering. We evaluated if these rootstock traits influence those of a common Cabernet Sauvignon scion, and conclude that the scion behaved similarly when grafted onto these rootstocks. Understanding water relations between rootstock and scion can help define novel water management strategies under drought.

Ubiquitin-conjugating (UBC) enzymes (E2s) have diverse functions in plant growth and development. In this study, we identified SbUBC genes in sorghum and analysed their response to abiotic stress. The aim of the work was to give references to understand the function of SbUBC genes generally and serve as a reference for studies of UBC genes in other plants.

Accurate and fast phenotyping is paramount necessity in stress-tolerant crop improvement programmes. A high-resolution chlorophyll fluorescence imaging technique was used to investigate the combined effect of salinity and partial submergence stresses in rice. The images of different chlorophyll fluorescence parameters were able to characterise the tolerant and susceptible genotypes distinctly under dual abiotic stress.

Effect of enhanced UV-B radiation on terrestrial organisms and ecosystems has caused concern. Here, physiological responses of two dominant species in BSCs to enhanced UV-B radiation were compared, and the results indicated that enhanced and prolonged UV-B lead to deleterious effects to both species. The findings imply the structure and function of BSCs may influence by increased UV-B radiation.

In previous research, a gene encoding a durum wheat lipid transfer protein, TdLTP4, was characterised as induced by abiotic and biotic stresses. Here we report that the promoter PrTdLTP4 is an abiotic stress-inducible, age-dependent, and is tissue specific in the heterologous transgenic Arabidopsis. Taken together these data provide evidence that PrTdLTP4 could be an excellent tool for future crop improvement.

Few studies assess the range in drought tolerance that exists among individuals of the same species, yet this is critical in accurately predicting the effect of climate change on plants. This may be the result of the labour intensive process of assessing drought tolerance, which typically requires multiple measurements per individual. Here we present an alternative approach for large-scale analysis that reduces the number of measurements, thereby improving efficiency and increasing our ability to assess a broader range of individuals.