Journal updates

The Stress Biology Excellent Young Scholar Award aims to recognize promising scientists in the early stages of their careers in any field of stress biology. Applicants include PhD students and researchers with up to 5 years’ experience since receiving their PhD. The award provides 20,000 (RMB) to each winner. A maximum of 5 winners will be selected and awarded each year.

All junior investigators are encouraged to apply for this award. Eligible applicants for the 2023 Stress Biology Excellent Young Scholar Award should be: 1) the first author or corresponding author of a research article submitted to Stress Biology before December 31, 2023; and 2) current PhD students or researchers with no more than 5 years’ experience since receiving their PhD (should be calculated back from the end of 2022 and exclude career breaks).

Crop plants are constantly infected by diverse pathogens including fungi, bacteria, viruses and nematodes, considerably reducing crop production and thus threatening food security globally. During long evolution, plants have evolved a multi-layered immune system to fight against pathogens, mainly pattern-triggered immunity (PTI) and effector-triggered immunity (ETI) that mount natural disease resistance in plants. Crop disease resistance has long been considered as an important measure to secure stable yield and food production along with high yield potential. Crop breeding for disease resistance usually uses resistance (R) genes that trigger ETI and provide robust resistance. However, high disease resistance may also decrease other agronomic traits of plants, leading to yield penalty due to the growth–defense tradeoff. Therefore, exploiting of more efficient disease resistance genes/alleles and breeding strategies with balancing high disease resistance and yield potential has been a long demand in crop breeding.

This special issue aims to publish state-of-the-art research on gene discovery, molecular mechanisms, defense-growth tradeoffs of plant immunity and pathogen pathogenicity in crops, as well as advanced molecular breeding and genome editing in crop breeding. We welcome submissions of original research papers, reviews and short communications to the special issue. There is no publication fee for all accepted articles.

Guest editor: Zuhua He, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, China

Co-guest editors: Jian-Min Zhou, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, CAS, China

Guo-Liang Wang, Ohio State University, USA

Submission deadline: 30 September 2024

Salicylic acid (SA) is a naturally occurring versatile plant hormone with essential roles in plant growth, development, and stress response. SA has been demonstrated to improve resistance to many pathogens such as viruses, fungi and bacteria, and tolerance to major abiotic stresses such as salinity, drought, osmotic, metal, heat and chilling, and radiation stress.

For establishing resistance to the pathogen, accumulation of SA triggers a number of immune responses, like massive transcriptional reprogramming, cell wall strengthening, and production of secondary metabolites and antimicrobial proteins. For improving tolerance to abiotic stress, SA was reported to stimulate expression of a number of genes encoding chaperone, heat shock proteins (HSPs), antioxidants, and secondary metabolites sinapyl alcohol dehydrogenase (SAD), cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD), and cytochrome P450. SA was also known to have a regulatory role in mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade.

This special issue aims to publish studies that focus on the following topics, but not limited to:

1. The regulation of SA biosynthesis and signaling pathways.
2. The crosstalk between SA and other hormones.
3. Molecular mechanism underling SA-mediated plant defense against phytopathogens.
4. SA-mediated plant tolerance to abiotic stress, such as drought, salinity, and temperature stress.
5. The application of SA-based strategies for crop improvement and stress mitigation.
6. Techniques for the quantification and analysis of SA-mediated signaling pathways.

Reviews, original research papers, short communications and highlights can be submitted to the special issue. Publication fee will be waived for all accepted articles. 

Guest editor: Dr. Jian Chen,  Jiangsu University, China

Co-guest editor: Dr. Huan Chen, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

Submission deadline: 30 September 2024

Recent advances in single-cell RNA sequencing technology have enabled transcriptomic analysis at a single-cell resolution and thus allowed fine dissection of gene expression and regulation at the cellular level. However, comprehending such single-cell data in the context of tissues requires the application of approaches for spatial analysis of gene expression at the genome level. In addition, obtaining intricate gene regulatory networks in a cell requires multi-omics analyses by assessing two or more modalities of omics information.

Thanks to the rapid advances in single-cell transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics technologies in the post-genome era, multi-omics data integrative analysis at a single-cell level has become an indispensable strategy for uncovering the underlying biological mechanisms. These approaches have provided unprecedented opportunities to explore the heterogeneity of tissues and to reveal cellular and molecular mechanisms of diverse biological processes such as tissue development, tissue regeneration, and tissue degeneration in response to biotic and abiotic stresses in plants. 

This special issue aims to publish high-quality studies on the topics related to single-cell and spatial multi-omics characterizations of cells, including:

I. Communication between cells;

II. Evolution of various cells in plant response to stresses;

III. Mechanisms of acquired resistance of plant response to stresses:

IV. Innovation of new omics technology or improvement of current technology:

V. Novel methods for single-cell-based experiments or data analysis.

Original research articles, reviewers and short communications can be submitted to the special issue. There is no publication fee for all accepted articles.

Guest editor: Dr. Xuwu Sun, Henan University, China

Co-guest editors: Dr. Kunpeng Jia, Henan University, China

Dr. Vincent Ninkuu, Henan University, China

Submission deadline: 30 September 2024

Plant biostimulants encompass a diverse array of substances and microorganisms, such as chitosan, protein hydrolysates, humic acids, phytophormones, seaweed extracts, and beneficial bacteria and fungi. In addition to their significant positive effects on plants' physiological functions, nutrient absorption, growth and development, exogenous applications of biostimulants have been demonstrated to play a crucial role in enhancing the plant's ability to withstand abiotic stresses like drought, extreme temperatures, salinity, and heavy metals, and biotic stresses such as diseases and pests. Biostimulants trigger defense/tolerance signals that are essential for the plant's resilience against both biotic and abiotic stresses. Hence, one of the key advantages of utilizing biostimulants is their potential to decrease the need for excessive fertilizer and toxic chemical applications, thus improving environmental safety in agricultural production.

The investigation into the effect of biostimulants on enhancing plant resistance and tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses has garnered significant attention, leading to remarkable advancements in recent decades. Despite this progress, there is still considerable ambiguity surrounding the precise mechanisms through which biostimulants operate to improve plant resilience against these stresses. To gain a comprehensive understanding, further evidence is needed to fully elucidate the intricacies of biostimulant action in bolstering plant resistance/tolerance to both abiotic and biotic stresses.

This special issue focuses on studies that investigate how biostimulants affect plant resistance/tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses. Researches on the new formulation, preparation, nano-functionalization, and application of biostimulants to improve plant resistance/tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses are also welcome. Original research papers, reviews, and short communications can be submitted to the special issue. Publication fee will be waived for all accepted articles.

Guest editor: Dr. Zhenggao Xiao, Jiangnan University, China

Co-guest editor: Prof. Dr. Sergio Rasmann, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland

Submission deadline: 31 August 2024

Plants and pathogens are in a constant arms race to coexist or compete for survival in nature. To survive and propagate, plants have developed sophisticated and multi-layered immune systems to defend themselves upon perception of pathogens including bacteria, fungi, viruses and other microorganisms that infect plants and cause diseases. Pathogenic microbes have evolved a wide range of strategies to subvert host defense responses and promote their proliferation. Understanding the mechanisms underlying pathogen adaptation and plant defense responses is critical in ensuring global food security and maintaining the ecological balance in the natural environment. With the rapid development of new biotechnological approaches such as genome editing, single-cell sequencing and cryo-electron microscopy, great progress has been achieved in understanding of the plant-pathogen interactions over the past decades.

This special issue aims to publish studies focusing on the recent advances in molecular aspects of plant-pathogen interactions. Topics include but not limited to:

1) strategies used by pathogens evading or subverting host defenses,

2) molecular mechanisms underlying multi-level defense against pathogens from model plants to crops, and

3) exploration of environmental impacts on plant-microbe interactions for sustainable agriculture.

Original research papers, review articles and short communications can be submitted to the special issue. Publication fee will be waived for all accepted articles.

Guest editor: Dr. Yuese Ning, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China

Co-guest editor: Dr. Hailong Guo, Department of Plant Pathology, China Agricultural University, China

Dr. Baoye He, Department of Microbiology and plant pathology, University of California, Riverside, USA

Submission deadline: 30 August 2024

Horticultural crops are an important part of agriculture for ensuring global food security. However, the production of horticultural crops is frequently affected by abiotic stress, such as extreme temperature, drought, salinity, heavy metals and biotic stress, such as diseases and pests, which subsequently results in huge yield losses and reduced quality of products. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms underlying the responses of horticultural crops to stress factors could help in developing novel strategies to cope with these abiotic or biotic stresses.

Great progress has been achieved in the studies of responses of horticultural crops to both abiotic and biotic stresses over the past decades. Further studies are still needed to help better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the interactions of horticultural crops with these abiotic and biotic stresses.

This special issue aims to publish high-quality studies that address mechanisms underlying the responses of horticultural crops to both abiotic and biotic stresses at all levels, including but not limited to:

1. Responses of horticultural crops to abiotic stress;
2. Responses of horticultural crops to pathogens, particularly bacteria, fungi and viruses;
3. Novel biotechnological strategies to improve resistance/tolerance of horticultural crops to abiotic and biotic stress.

Submissions include original research papers, reviews and short communications. Publication fee will be waived for all the accepted articles. 

Guest editor: Dr. Tong Chen, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

Co-guest editors: 

Dr. Yuhua Wang, Nanjing Agricultural University, China;

Dr. Xiaohua Wang, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.

Submission deadline: 30 August 2024

Metal(loid)s are ubiquitously present in variable concentrations in soil, water and air. While essential metals like zinc, copper are the source of life on earth, toxic metal(loid)s do not perform any biological function in plants and therefore pose toxicity to them upon entry. Metal(loid) accumulations cause catastrophic changes in physiological, metabolic and molecular functions of plants. The notable examples of metal(loid)s include cadmium, arsenic, lead and mercury. The presence of metal(loid)s in higher than maximum permissible levels in soil and water has been increasing over the years with the expansion of anthropogenic and agricultural activities. The accumulation of metal(loid)s in edible parts of plants also threatens health of humans.

A number of chemical regulators have been studied over the years and encouraging results have been obtained in terms of stress mitigation in metal(loid) exposed plants. The chemical regulators include phytohormones like salicyclic acid, melatonin, redox-active chemical like thiourea, and others like chitosan etc. In addition, significant progress in knowledge about metal(loid) induced tolerance mechanisms in plants up to gene and protein level has paved way for biotechnological approaches for stress mitigation. To successfully utilize chemical regulators, holistic in depth research about their effects and mechanisms of action at physiological and molecular levels is necessary. There is possibility of integrating one or more chemical regulators or chemical regulator and biotechnological approach in future to achieve even better results and this would require lab-to-field level extensive research.

This special issue aims to publish high quality articles pertaining to amelioration of metal(loid) stress in plants, using chemical regulators or biotechnological approaches. Articles may include reviews, original research articles and short communications. Publication fee will be waived for all accepted articles. The journal follows the peer review policy (this opens in a new tab) of Stress Biology for all the special issue submissions.

Guest Editor: Dr. Sudhakar Srivastava, Assistant Professor, Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi – 221005, India

Co-Guest Editor: Dr. R.D. Tripathi, NASI Senior Scientist & Emeritus Professor (AcSIR), CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow-226 001 (UP), India

Submission deadline: 31 July 2024

Plants are not alone - as human beings accommodate gut microflora in the intestine, they accommodate a microbial community in and on the surface of their tissues and yet ensure their physiological fitness under natural conditions. The community composed of plant-associated microbes, collectively called the plant microbiota, exhibits an immense influence on plant growth and stress responses, and is recognized as an integral part of plant physiology.

Despite our increasing amount of knowledge about who they are, i.e., the taxonomic compositions of plant microbiota from different plant species under different soil and climate conditions, it remains poorly understood how they interact, namely the molecular mechanisms by which plants and associated microbiota communicate and establish the mutual relationship. Past studies have sporadically suggested a crucial role for plant immunity in plant-microbiota interaction, as is in plant-pathogen interactions; however, our understanding of its molecular processes is overly far from complete. In addition, plant microbiota functions the second layer of the plant immune system and directly contributes to pathogen control. Due to the fact that the plant-microbiota interaction is about plants interacting with a taxonomically and functionally diverse set of microbes, here, a community-wide effort to integrate a wide range of insights from multiple perspectives is essential.

This special issue aims to collect and integrate studies focusing on plant-microbiota interactions and their regulation by plant immunity to address the questions including but not limited to:

- How does plant immunity regulate microbiota community compositions and function?

- How does plant-associated microbiota affect plant immunity?

- How does plant-associated microbiota overcome plant immunity?

- How does plant-associated microbiota directly regulate pathogens?

- How does plant immunity distinguish pathogenic and commensal/beneficial microbes?

- How do plants coordinate growth and immunity in the presence of plant microbiota?

Original research papers, reviews, and short communications can be submitted to the special issue. There is no publication fee for all accepted articles. 

Guest editor: Prof. Kenichi Tsuda, Huazhong Agricultural University, China

Co-guest editor: Prof. Ryohei Thomas Nakano, Hokkaido University, Japan

Submission deadline: 30 July 2024

The co-ordinated action of transport proteins on cellular membranes is essential to cellular and whole plant function and, ultimately, their adaptive responses to environment. The plasma membrane act as the ultimate gatekeeper for transport between cells, the cell wall, and the external environment while intracellular membranes have key roles in regulating the ionic and metabolic composition of organelles and the cytosol. As membranes also harbor a large number of environmental sensors, they play a critical role in perception and transduction of environmental cues aiming to optimise plant performance under hostile environmental conditions.

This special issue will be dedicated to the roles of membrane transport proteins in plant sensing and adaptive responses to major abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, flooding, oxidative stress, and heavy metal toxicity. The specific priority areas covered by this special issue include:

- Membrane transporters in stress sensing

- Signaling between membranes and organelles

- Intracellular pH and calcium regulation

- Vesicular transport

- Coupling between membranes 

- Membrane transporters in cell fate determination

Original research papers, reviews, and short communications can be submitted to the special issue. All papers should be submitted to the journal through our online journal management system. For pre-submission enquiries please contact the Guest Editors. There is no publication fee for all accepted articles. 

Guest editor: Dr. Sergey Shabala, University of Western Australia, Australia

Co-guest editors:

Dr. Tomoaki Horie, Shinshu University, Japan

Dr. Vadim Demidchik, Belarus State University, Belarus

Submission Deadline: 1 May 2024

Climate change causes more frequent stress conditions including drought, salinity, heat, flooding, and nutrient deficiency that severely reduce crop yield and are major threats to sustainable agriculture and food security worldwide. Plants have evolved multilayered responding mechanisms at the chromatin, genomic, epigenomic, transcriptional, post-transcriptional, proteome and metabolome levels, to cope with these stresses. The availability of whole genome sequences of many plant species has facilitated the analysis of global molecular changes from chromatin to metabolites in response to climate change and the discovery of the key processes in different stress responses and tolerance. Although many candidate genes, gene regulatory networks, genetic variations and quantitative trait loci (QTLs) have been implicated in stress responses, a comprehensive understanding of chromatin dynamics, non-coding RNA-mediated regulation and epigenetic modifications, and the regulation at protein and metabolite levels is still lacking. Furthermore, new approaches are needed for plant biotechnologists and breeders to design climate-resilient crop plants.

This special issue invites papers utilizing different approaches, from chromatin biology to metabolite analysis, to address plant response/adaptation to various stresses caused by the climate change. High-quality studies describing chromatin dynamics, coding and/or non-coding RNA analysis, proteome analysis, metabolome analysis, DNA methylation, histone modifications, integrated multi-omics analysis, discovery and/or characterization of epialleles/epimutations/epiQTLs are welcome. Original research papers, reviews, and short communications can be submitted to the special issue. There is no publication fee for all accepted articles. 

Guest editor:  Prof. Mukesh Jain, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India

Co-guest editor: Dr. Rohini Garg , Shiv Nadar University, India

Submission deadline: 30 March 2024