Drought is a global problem and is most prevalent in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Global climate change further aggravates the problem and, in contemporary era, drought is accompanied by extreme temperatures. Improving crop yield productivity is key to meeting the food security demands of an ever-increasing population, however, the climate change-associated increase in drought affects arable land.
Plants respond to drought stress conditions by initiating both rapid and long-term tolerance mechanisms which are classified into (1) escape, (2) avoidance and (3) tolerance mechanisms.
Avoidance and tolerance strategies have key roles in maintaining the tissue water potential for ensuring maximal yield productivity. Successful strides were recently unraveling their underlying mechanisms, regulating the occurrence and functioning of stomata being one of the keys.
Drought tolerance is a complex attribute and is rigorously considered as the ability to cope with reduced water potential of the tissue. So far genomic, biochemical and physiological studies have been carried to elucidate and understand the mechanisms and possible crosstalk between different regulatory molecules using model crop plants like Arabidopsis. The involvement of microRNAs, transcription factors, phytohormones, mineral ions has been postulated with certain solid experimental findings. However, the identification of candidate genes involved in drought stress tolerance and their interaction with other cellular components for triggering the downstream tolerance mechanisms is far from being complete. Alteration in the cellular protein and metabolite profiles, ion transporters, ROS eliminating and redox homeostasis maintaining pathways have enormous contributions in improving the drought stress tolerance of crops.
This special issue is aimed to bring together high-quality Original Research, Reviews and Short Communication highlighting the development and adaptation to desiccation, root dynamics, management of turgor and turgor-dependent processes, molecular and genetic responses of plants to drought and seed abortion. The interdisciplinary perspectives towards improved genetic understandings for developing more climate-resilient agriculture shall also be addressed.
- Drought and the regulation of plant development.
- Drought and photosynthetic regulation.
- Root dynamics and drought stress.
- Molecular and physiological regulation of drought tolerance mechanisms.
- Role of secondary metabolites and phytohormones in drought stress tolerance.
- microRNAs and drought stress signaling.
- Role of mineral elements and beneficial microbes in plant drought tolerance.
- Other related aspects.
Deadline: August 2020
Guest editors
Dr. Mohammad Abass Ahanger
ahangerma@gmail.com
Northwest A&F University, China
Dr. Parvaiz Ahmad
parvaizbot@yahoo.com
Department of Botany, S.P. College, India
Pr. Kadambot H.M. Siddique
kadambot.siddique@uwa.edu.au
University of Western Australia