Photosynthetic Responses to Biotic and Abiotic Stress

Dear Colleagues,

Plants live in constantly changing environmental conditions that are usually unfavorable or stressful for growth and development, threatening agricultural productivity. These adverse environmental factors can be biotic, imposed by other organisms, or abiotic, arising from an excess or deficit in the physical or chemical environment (e.g., drought, salinity, pesticide contamination, extreme temperatures, high light intensity, nutrient deficiencies, heavy metals, UV radiation, etc.). These stresses are involved in short- or long-term alterations of steady-state photosynthetic activity. Photosynthesis is a highly regulated process, in which the absorbed solar energy as photons by the light-harvesting complexes (LHCs) is transferred to the reaction centers (RCs) where, through charge separation, the electrons flow from photosystem II (PSII) to photosystem I (PSI). The result of this process is the formation of ATP and reducing power (reduced ferredoxin and NADPH) that need to be coordinated with the activity of metabolic processes for carbohydrate synthesis. Under most biotic or abiotic stresses, the absorbed light energy exceeds the rate of its consumption by the Calvin–Benson–Bassham cycle, thus causing an excess of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and consequent cellular damage. ROS–antioxidant interaction provides essential information for the redox state, which influences gene expression associated with biotic and abiotic stress responses, modulating photosynthetic acclimation or cell death to maximize defense against the stress factors. Biotic and abiotic stresses primarily reduce the photosynthetic efficiency of plants, due to their negative effects on the biosynthesis of photosynthetic pigments, photosystem performance, electron transport mechanisms, gas exchange parameters, CO₂ fixation, carbohydrate metabolism, and many others. This Special Issue of Plants will highlight the mechanisms of the photosynthetic responses to biotic and abiotic stress and thus contribute to a better understanding of the photochemistry of plants under stress that can help in the development of realistic interventions for increasing agricultural productivity. Hence, detecting steps or mechanisms where current photosynthetic systems are suboptimal under different environmental conditions and then optimizing these steps for best performance represents a key research target in present photosynthetic improvement efforts.

Prof. Dr. Michael Moustakas
Guest Editor

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