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Abiotic stress tolerance in crops vs climate change: outlook of physiological, biochemical and molecular mechanisms

Extreme temperatures or availability of water and nutrients represent critical challenges for maintaining crop productivity, and with the accelerating impact of climate change, these abiotic stresses are increasingly detrimental to agriculture. To combat this, it is essential to enhance crop resilience by understanding the physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms governing plant response to environmental constraints. In recent years, high-quality research exploring molecular signalling, oxidative stress, and antioxidant defence, was integrated with ‘omics’ strategies for understanding stress tolerance in crops. Cornerstone discoveries resulted from the studies of gene regulation under single/multi-stress tolerance, and innovative strategies based on ‘New Genomic Techniques’ and Artificial Intelligence are expected to improve our capacity in stress mitigation. Contributions leveraging wild species and genetic resources for developing resistant varieties are also expected. Time will therefore reveal whether we are witnessing a new green and sustainable knowledge revolution in agriculture to face the impellent climate change.

Collection Editors
Dr Mohd. Kamran Khan (Selcuk University, Turkey)
Dr Enrico Francia (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy)

Last Updated: 17 Jul 2025

CP25028Exploring morpho-physiological, biochemical, and molecular strategies of finger millet (Eleusine coracana) for drought stress tolerance: a review

Srikanth K 0009-0002-8604-6415, Asish Binodh, Ravikesavan Rajasekaran 0000-0002-4250-5854, Alagarsamy Senthil and Narayanan Manikanda Boopathi

Finger millet (Eleusine coracana) is a climate-resilient crop and thrives in drought-prone environments through diverse strategies. Morphologically, its robust root system and reduced leaf area enhance water use efficiency. Physiologically, it maintains chlorophyll, photosynthesis, and water content under stress. Biochemically, osmolytes and antioxidant enzymes mitigate oxidative damage, while molecularly, stress-response genes like EcDehydrin7 and EcbZIP60 aid adaptation. This review highlights finger millet’s multifaceted drought tolerance mechanisms, underscoring its potential for breeding resilient crops to address global water scarcity challenges.

This article belongs to the collection: Abiotic Stress Tolerance vs Climate Change.

CP23219Additive main effects and multiplicative interaction for grain yield of rice (Oryza sativa) genotypes for general and specific adaptation to salt stress locations

S. L. Krishnamurthy 0000-0002-9389-2997, B. M. Lokeshkumar, Suman Rathor, A. S. Warraich, N. M. Vinaykumar and P. C. Sharma

Salt tolerant varieties with stable performance can be used to address productivity in salt-affected land. Five rice (Oryza sativa) genotypes (RP 5989-2-4-8-15-139-62-6-9, CSR RIL-01-IR 75, CSR-2748-4441-193, CSR-2748-4441-195, and CSR 2711-17) were highly stable across salt-affected environments with yielded 5% more than the national control genotype (CSR23). These high yielding genotypes identified could be used as potential parental lines for breeding varieties for salt-affected conditions to enhance the productivity of salt-affected soils.

This article belongs to the collection: Abiotic Stress Tolerance vs Climate Change.

CP24025Improving heat tolerance in betel palm (Areca catechu) by characterisation and expression analyses of heat shock proteins under thermal stress

Osama Alam 0000-0002-6329-8428, Adeel Khan, Wasi Ullah Khan, Waqas Ahmad Khan, Mushtaq Ahmad and Latif Ullah Khan

We investigate the role of some genes in betel palm under thermal stress, an increasing problem for the plant’s survival as climate change progresses. This gene family plays a fundamental role in tolerating heat stress. We identified 34 genes, of which eight exhibited enhanced expression under heat stress. The role of this gene family in betel palm’s heat tolerance mechanisms is revealed, providing valuable insights into the plant’s ability to withstand heat stress in a changing climate.

This article belongs to the Collection Abiotic Stress Tolerance vs Climate Change.

CP23183Role of RNA interference in drought stress management: physiological, biochemical and molecular approach

Naveen Sihag 0000-0001-9113-7333, Tushadri Singh 0009-0001-0582-7096, Sonia Sheoran, Omvir Singh, Rekha Malik, Lokendra Kumar and Jogendra Singh

Plants respond to various abiotic stress (drought) tolerance through physiological, biochemical and molecular mechanisms. RNA interference (RNAi) plays a crucial role in regulating molecular response to stress. This review discusses, in addition to RNAi, the fine tuning of miRNAs using CRISPR/Cas9 to enhance the precision of gene expression regulation and increase plant tolerance to drought stress.

This article belongs to the collection Abiotic Stress Tolerance vs Climate Change.