Rising temperatures and heat waves pose a substantial threat to crop productivity by disrupting essential physiological and reproductive processes. While plants have a genetically inherited capacity to acclimate to high temperatures, the thermotolerance capacity of many crops remains limited. This limitation leads to yield losses, which are further intensified by the increasing intensity of climate change. In this review, we explore how thermopriming enhances plant resilience by preparing plants for future heat stress (HS) events and summarize the mechanisms underlying the memory of HS (thermomemory) in different plant tissues and organs. We also discuss recent advances in priming agents, including chemical, microbial and physiological interventions, and their application strategies to extend thermotolerance beyond inherent genetic capacity. Additionally, this review examines how integrating priming strategies with genetic improvements, such as breeding and genome editing for thermotolerance traits, provides a holistic solution to mitigate the impact of climate change on agriculture. By combining these approaches, we propose a framework for developing climate-resilient crops and ensuring global food security in the face of escalating environmental challenges.This article is part of the theme issue 'Crops under stress: can we mitigate the impacts of climate change on agriculture and launch the 'Resilience Revolution'?'.

• Keywords
• crop resilience, global warming, heat stress, priming, thermomemory, thermotolerance,
• MeSH
• Climate Change * MeSH
• Heat-Shock Response MeSH
• Thermotolerance * MeSH
• Hot Temperature MeSH
• Crops, Agricultural * physiology   genetics   MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Review MeSH

Plants can acquire an improved resistance against pathogen attacks by exogenous application of natural or artificial compounds. In a process called chemical priming, application of these compounds causes earlier, faster and/or stronger responses to pathogen attacks. The primed defense may persist over a stress-free time (lag phase) and may be expressed also in plant organs that have not been directly treated with the compound. This review summarizes the current knowledge on the signaling pathways involved in chemical priming of plant defense responses to pathogen attacks. Chemical priming in induced systemic resistance (ISR) and systemic acquired resistance (SAR) is highlighted. The roles of the transcriptional coactivator NONEXPRESSOR OF PR1 (NPR1), a key regulator of plant immunity, induced resistance (IR) and salicylic acid signaling during chemical priming are underlined. Finally, we consider the potential usage of chemical priming to enhance plant resistance to pathogens in agriculture.

• Keywords
• Arabidopsis thaliana, biotic stress, chemical priming, defense priming, induced systemic resistance, pathogen attack, priming, systemic acquired resistance,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Review MeSH

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) plants are simultaneously encountered by environmental stressors, most importantly salinity stress. Salinity is the major hurdle that can negatively impact growth and crop yield. Understanding the salt stress and its associated complex trait mechanisms for enhancing salt tolerance in rice plants would ensure future food security. The main aim of this review is to provide insights and impacts of molecular-physiological responses, biochemical alterations, and plant hormonal signal transduction pathways in rice under saline stress. Furthermore, the review highlights the emerging breakthrough in multi-omics and computational biology in identifying the saline stress-responsive candidate genes and transcription factors (TFs). In addition, the review also summarizes the biotechnological tools, genetic engineering, breeding, and agricultural practicing factors that can be implemented to realize the bottlenecks and opportunities to enhance salt tolerance and develop salinity tolerant rice varieties. Future studies pinpointed the augmentation of powerful tools to dissect the salinity stress-related novel players, reveal in-depth mechanisms and ways to incorporate the available literature, and recent advancements to throw more light on salinity responsive transduction pathways in plants. Particularly, this review unravels the whole picture of salinity stress tolerance in rice by expanding knowledge that focuses on molecular aspects.

• Keywords
• agricultural practices, bioinformatics, biotechnological tools, breeding, multi-omics, rice, salinity stress, transcription factors,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Review MeSH

Among all reactive oxygen species (ROS), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) takes a central role in regulating plant development and responses to the environment. The diverse role of H2O2 is achieved through its compartmentalized synthesis, temporal control exerted by the antioxidant machinery, and ability to oxidize specific residues of target proteins. Here, we examine the role of H2O2 in stress acclimation beyond the well-studied transcriptional reprogramming, modulation of plant hormonal networks and long-distance signalling waves by highlighting its global impact on the transcriptional regulation and translational machinery.

• Keywords
• Chromatin remodeling, Oxidative posttranslational modifications, Redox signalling, Stress priming,
• MeSH
• Hydrogen Peroxide pharmacology   MeSH
• Reactive Oxygen Species metabolism   MeSH
• Plant Proteins metabolism   MeSH
• Plants * drug effects   metabolism   MeSH
• Plant Development drug effects   MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Review MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Hydrogen Peroxide MeSH
• Reactive Oxygen Species MeSH
• Plant Proteins MeSH

To cope with biotic and abiotic stress conditions, land plants have evolved several levels of protection, including delicate defense mechanisms to respond to changes in the environment. The benefits of inducible defense responses can be further augmented by defense priming, which allows plants to respond to a mild stimulus faster and more robustly than plants in the naïve (non-primed) state. Priming provides a low-cost protection of agriculturally important plants in a relatively safe and effective manner. Many different organic and inorganic compounds have been successfully tested to induce resistance in plants. Among the plethora of commonly used physicochemical techniques, priming by plant growth regulators (phytohormones and their derivatives) appears to be a viable approach with a wide range of applications. While several classes of plant hormones have been exploited in agriculture with promising results, much less attention has been paid to cytokinin, a major plant hormone involved in many biological processes including the regulation of photosynthesis. Cytokinins have been long known to be involved in the regulation of chlorophyll metabolism, among other functions, and are responsible for delaying the onset of senescence. A comprehensive overview of the possible mechanisms of the cytokinin-primed defense or stress-related responses, especially those related to photosynthesis, should provide better insight into some of the less understood aspects of this important group of plant growth regulators.

• Keywords
• ROS, chlorophyll fluorescence, cytokinin, photosynthesis, priming, stomata, stress,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Review MeSH

Although epigenetic modifications have been intensely investigated over the last decade due to their role in crop adaptation to rapid climate change, it is unclear which epigenetic changes are heritable and therefore transmitted to their progeny. The identification of epigenetic marks that are transmitted to the next generations is of primary importance for their use in breeding and for the development of new cultivars with a broad-spectrum of tolerance/resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses. In this review, we discuss general aspects of plant responses to environmental stresses and provide an overview of recent findings on the role of transgenerational epigenetic modifications in crops. In addition, we take the opportunity to describe the aims of EPI-CATCH, an international COST action consortium composed by researchers from 28 countries. The aim of this COST action launched in 2020 is: (1) to define standardized pipelines and methods used in the study of epigenetic mechanisms in plants, (2) update, share, and exchange findings in epigenetic responses to environmental stresses in plants, (3) develop new concepts and frontiers in plant epigenetics and epigenomics, (4) enhance dissemination, communication, and transfer of knowledge in plant epigenetics and epigenomics.

• Keywords
• abiotic stress, biotic stress, epigenetic, methodology, stress memory, transgenerational memory,
• MeSH
• Acclimatization genetics   MeSH
• Epigenesis, Genetic MeSH
• Epigenomics methods   MeSH
• Adaptation, Physiological genetics   MeSH
• Stress, Physiological genetics   MeSH
• DNA Methylation MeSH
• Gene Expression Regulation, Plant MeSH
• Plant Breeding methods   MeSH
• Inheritance Patterns MeSH
• Crops, Agricultural genetics   MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Review MeSH

Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide with a yearly increase in global application. Recent studies report glyphosate residues from diverse habitats globally where the effect on non-target plants are still to be explored. Glyphosate disrupts the shikimate pathway which is the basis for several plant metabolites. The central role of phytohormones in regulating plant growth and responses to abiotic and biotic environment has been ignored in studies examining the effects of glyphosate residues on plant performance and trophic interactions. We studied interactive effects of glyphosate-based herbicide (GBH) residues and phosphate fertilizer in soil on the content of main phytohormones, their precursors and metabolites, as well as on plant performance and herbivore damage, in three plant species, oat (Avena sativa), potato (Solanum tuberosum), and strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa). Plant hormonal responses to GBH residues were highly species-specific. Potato responded to GBH soil treatment with an increase in stress-related phytohormones abscisic acid (ABA), indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), and jasmonic acid (JA) but a decrease in cytokinin (CK) ribosides and cytokinin-O-glycosides. GBH residues in combination with phosphate in soil increased aboveground biomass of potato plants and the concentration of the auxin phenylacetic acid (PAA) but decreased phaseic acid and cytokinin ribosides (CKR) and O-glycosides. Chorismate-derived compounds [IAA, PAA and benzoic acid (BzA)] as well as herbivore damage decreased in oat, when growing in GBH-treated soil but concentrations of the cytokinin dihydrozeatin (DZ) and CKR increased. In strawberry plants, phosphate treatment was associated with an elevation of auxin (IAA) and the CK trans-zeatin (tZ), while decreasing concentrations of the auxin PAA and CK DZ was observed in the case of GBH treatment. Our results demonstrate that ubiquitous herbicide residues have multifaceted consequences by modulating the hormonal equilibrium of plants, which can have cascading effects on trophic interactions.

• Keywords
• cascading herbicide effects, environmental pollutants, plant defense, plant ecology, plant physiological regulation, shikimate pathway,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

Alterations of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) levels have a profound impact on numerous signaling cascades orchestrating plant growth, development, and stress signaling, including programmed cell death. To expand the repertoire of known molecular mechanisms implicated in H2O2 signaling, we performed a forward chemical screen to identify small molecules that could alleviate the photorespiratory-induced cell death phenotype of Arabidopsisthaliana mutants lacking H2O2-scavenging capacity by peroxisomal catalase2. Here, we report the characterization of pakerine, an m-sulfamoyl benzamide from the sulfonamide family. Pakerine alleviates the cell death phenotype of cat2 mutants exposed to photorespiration-promoting conditions and delays dark-induced senescence in wild-type Arabidopsis leaves. By using a combination of transcriptomics, metabolomics, and affinity purification, we identified abnormal inflorescence meristem 1 (AIM1) as a putative protein target of pakerine. AIM1 is a 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase involved in fatty acid β-oxidation that contributes to jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA) biosynthesis. Whereas intact JA biosynthesis was not required for pakerine bioactivity, our results point toward a role for β-oxidation-dependent SA production in the execution of H2O2-mediated cell death.

• Keywords
• H2O2 signaling, abnormal inflorescence meristem 1, catalase2-deficient Arabidopsis, chemical genetics, photorespiration,
• MeSH
• Arabidopsis cytology   drug effects   genetics   metabolism   MeSH
• Cell Death drug effects   MeSH
• Cell Respiration drug effects   genetics   MeSH
• Cyclopentanes metabolism   MeSH
• Photosynthesis drug effects   genetics   MeSH
• Stress, Physiological MeSH
• Hydroponics methods   MeSH
• Salicylic Acid metabolism   MeSH
• Plant Leaves cytology   drug effects   metabolism   MeSH
• Meristem cytology   drug effects   metabolism   MeSH
• Multienzyme Complexes genetics   metabolism   MeSH
• Oxylipins metabolism   MeSH
• Hydrogen Peroxide antagonists & inhibitors   pharmacology   MeSH
• Arabidopsis Proteins genetics   metabolism   MeSH
• Gene Expression Regulation, Plant * MeSH
• Plant Cells drug effects   metabolism   MeSH
• Seeds drug effects   MeSH
• Signal Transduction MeSH
• Gene Expression Profiling MeSH
• Sulfonamides chemical synthesis   pharmacology   MeSH
• Transcriptome MeSH
• Computational Biology methods   MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Names of Substances
• AIM1 protein, Arabidopsis MeSH Browser
• CAT2 protein, Arabidopsis MeSH Browser
• Cyclopentanes MeSH
• jasmonic acid MeSH Browser
• Salicylic Acid MeSH
• Multienzyme Complexes MeSH
• Oxylipins MeSH
• Hydrogen Peroxide MeSH
• Arabidopsis Proteins MeSH
• Sulfonamides MeSH