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Agronomy
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Role of Biological Amendments in Abiotic Stress Tolerance of Crops
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Role of Biological Amendments in Abiotic Stress Tolerance of Crops

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Farming Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 June 2021) | Viewed by 35794

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Vijay Joshi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Texas A&M Agri Life Research, Texas A&M University, Uvalde, TX, USA
Interests: plant physiology; metabolic pathways; plant nutrition; nitrogen use efficiency; abiotic stress tolerance; systems biology; plant genetics; vegetable; crop production; organic farming
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The biological amendments have gained considerable popularity over the past decade due to their potential in enhancing plant productivity, quality, and tolerance to environmental stresses.  The global market of such sustainable and eco-friendly products that alleviate the impacts of environmental stresses on productivity is growing exponentially. However, the efficacy of such products varies considerably in a grower’s field in different crops. Systematic approaches assessing the reliability and performance of such products would determine their potential for long-term use in commercial agriculture. The biological amendments not only activate a range of molecular and biochemical pathways in plants but also influence soil composition to confront environmental stress. The present Special Issue focuses on studies that would validate the performance of biological amendments in enhancing abiotic stress tolerance in the horticultural and field crops. Although the list is not exclusive, we welcome studies involving biological amendments such as microorganisms (Azotobacter, Rhizobium, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi), amino acids, organic acids, protein hydrolysates, seaweed and plant extracts, humic substances, and nanoparticles applied exogenously to the plant or soil. The abiotic stresses would involve any environmental factors that negatively affect crop productivity, such as drought (water deficit), flooding, extreme temperatures (cold, frost and heat), salinity, nutrients (minerals, metal), and other environmental conditions. We encourage contributions that utilize physiological, molecular, or biochemical cues to assess the efficacy of the products and provide insights into the mechanisms that enable biological amendments to contribute to crop performance during abiotic stress. The new knowledge shared through this Special Issue would help in improving our understanding of the functional significance of such amendments and their rapid adoption to enhance productivity during specific environmental stress. Research papers, communications, and review articles are all welcome.

Dr. Vijay Joshi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • abiotic stress
  • microorganisms
  • amino acids
  • organic acids
  • humic substances
  • nanoparticles
  • drought
  • salinity
  • heat
  • nutrients

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 2847 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Trichoderma citrinoviride Treatment under Salinity Combined to Rhizoctonia solani Infection in Strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.)
by Askim Hediye Sekmen Cetinel, Azime Gokce, Erhan Erdik, Barbaros Cetinel and Nedim Cetinkaya
Agronomy 2021, 11(8), 1589; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11081589 - 10 Aug 2021
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3375
Abstract
Trihoderma citrinoviride protects plants from diseases by functioning as antagonists of many pathogenic fungi or by triggering the antioxidant defense system in plants. In the present study, to uncover the possible alleviative role of Trichoderma against salinity and Rhizoctonia solani infection, strawberry plants [...] Read more.
Trihoderma citrinoviride protects plants from diseases by functioning as antagonists of many pathogenic fungi or by triggering the antioxidant defense system in plants. In the present study, to uncover the possible alleviative role of Trichoderma against salinity and Rhizoctonia solani infection, strawberry plants were pretreated Trichoderma citrinoviride and then subjected to salinity, R. solani and combined salinity and R. solani. The effect of T. citrinoviride on the alleviation of the effects of salt stress and Rhizoctonia solani infection was investigated by analysing leaf dry weight, PSII efficiency, and the activity of some antioxidant enzymes in the leaves of strawberry plants. T. citrinoviride improved competitive capability against salinity and R. solani infection. It showed 79% inhibition of the growth of pathogen R. solani. T. citrinoviride reduced 63% of the severity of disease in the leaves. Trichoderma pretreatment maximized plant dry weight. The T. citrinoviride-pretreated plants showed higher levels of PSII efficiency (Fv/Fm). Decreased lipid peroxidation and H2O2 accumulation compared to untreated seedlings under salt stress and R. solani infection was observed. Trichoderma-pretreated and –untreated plants respond differently to salt stress and R. solani infection by means of antioxidant defense. As compared to untreated seedlings, treated seedlings showed significantly lower activities of antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POX), cell wall peroxidase (CWPOX) under salt stress and R. solani infection, indicating that treated seedlings might sense lower stress as compared to untreated seedlings. The study reports the effective adaptive strategy and potential of T. citrinoviride in alleviating the negative impact of salt stress and R. solani infection in strawberry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Role of Biological Amendments in Abiotic Stress Tolerance of Crops)
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16 pages, 2196 KiB  
Article
Influences of Priming on Selected Physiological Attributes and Protein Pattern Responses of Salinized Wheat with Extracts of Hormophysa cuneiformis and Actinotrichia fragilis
by Arafat Abdel Hamed Abdel Latef, Abbu Zaid and Eman A. Alwaleed
Agronomy 2021, 11(3), 545; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11030545 - 13 Mar 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2673
Abstract
Biological effects of extracts obtained from the seaweeds Hormophysa cuneiformis (J.F.Gmelin) P.C.Silva and Actinotrichia fragilis (Forsskål) Bùrgesen were investigated using wheat for the improvement of growth and amelioration of the negative effects of soil salinity. Exposure of plants to salt stress resulted in [...] Read more.
Biological effects of extracts obtained from the seaweeds Hormophysa cuneiformis (J.F.Gmelin) P.C.Silva and Actinotrichia fragilis (Forsskål) Bùrgesen were investigated using wheat for the improvement of growth and amelioration of the negative effects of soil salinity. Exposure of plants to salt stress resulted in an overall decrease in growth, chlorophyll a and b, carotenoids and soluble sugars, as well as nutrient uptake (i.e., K, Ca and Mg) and K+/Na+ ratio. At the same time, increases were found in proline, total free amino acids, phenolic compounds, malondialdehyde (MDA), Na+ ions, as well as the activities of peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD). Priming wheat seeds with H. cuneiformis and A. fragilis extracts mitigated the negative impacts of salinity by enhancing growth and all the above attributes except MDA and Na+. Treatments with H. cuneiformis or A. fragilis extracts resulted in an increased intensity of the polypeptide bands with 200, 159, 120, 40, and 22 KDa which were already apparent in the control. A. fragilis showed higher effectiveness than H. cuneiformis extracts under both control and stressed regimes. Our results highlight “biofertilizer” properties of two seaweeds and furnish mechanistic insight into their salinity-improvement action, which is pertinent for both applied and basic research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Role of Biological Amendments in Abiotic Stress Tolerance of Crops)
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13 pages, 2875 KiB  
Article
Activated Yeast Extract Enhances Growth, Anatomical Structure, and Productivity of Lupinus termis L. Plants under Actual Salinity Conditions
by Ragab S. Taha, Mahmoud F. Seleiman, Bushra Ahmed Alhammad, Jawaher Alkahtani, Mona S. Alwahibi and Ayman H. A. Mahdi
Agronomy 2021, 11(1), 74; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11010074 - 31 Dec 2020
Cited by 40 | Viewed by 3996
Abstract
Salinity is one of the most severe environmental stresses that negatively limits anatomical structure, growth and the physiological and productivity traits of field crops. The productivity of lupine plants is severely restricted by abiotic stress, particularly, salinity in arid and semiarid regions. Activated [...] Read more.
Salinity is one of the most severe environmental stresses that negatively limits anatomical structure, growth and the physiological and productivity traits of field crops. The productivity of lupine plants is severely restricted by abiotic stress, particularly, salinity in arid and semiarid regions. Activated yeast extract (AYE) can perform a vital role in the tolerance of environmental stress, as it contains phytohormones and amino acids. Thus, field experiments were conducted to explore the potential function of active yeast extract (0, 50, 75, and 100 mL AYE L−1) in mitigating the harmful impacts of salinity stress (EC = 7.65 dS m−1) on anatomical structure, growth, and the physiological and productivity traits of two lupine cultivars: Giza 1 and Giza 2. The different AYE treatments resulted in a substantial improvement in studied attributes, for example the growth, anatomical, physiological characteristics, and seed yields of treated lupine cultivars compared with untreated plants. Among the AYE doses, 75 mL L−1 significantly improved plant growth, leaf photosynthetic pigments, total soluble sugars, total protein, and seed yields, and exposed the best anatomical attributes of the two lupine cultivars grown under saline stress. The exogenous application of 75 mL AYE L−1 was the most influential, and it surpassed the control results by 45.9% for 100-seed weight and 26.9% for seed yield per hectare. On the other hand, at a concentration of 75 mL L−1 AYE there was a decrease in the alkaloids and endogenous proline under the studied salinity stress conditions. Promoted salinity stress tolerance through sufficient AYE dose is a hopeful strategy to enhance the tolerance and improve productivity of lupine into salinity stress. Furthermore, the response of lupine to salinity stress appears to rely on AYE dose. The results proved that Giza 2 was more responsive to AYE than Giza 1, showing a better growth and higher yield, and reflecting further salinity tolerance than the Giza 1 cultivar. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Role of Biological Amendments in Abiotic Stress Tolerance of Crops)
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Review

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18 pages, 1654 KiB  
Review
Mitigating Soil Salinity Stress with Gypsum and Bio-Organic Amendments: A Review
by Suleiman K. Bello, Abdullah H. Alayafi, Samir G. AL-Solaimani and Kamal A. M. Abo-Elyousr
Agronomy 2021, 11(9), 1735; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11091735 - 29 Aug 2021
Cited by 82 | Viewed by 13897
Abstract
Salinity impedes soil and crop productivity in over 900 million ha of arable lands worldwide due to the excessive accumulation of salt (NaCl). To utilize saline soils in agriculture, halophytes (salt-tolerant plants) are commonly cultivated. However, most food crops are glycophytes (salt-sensitive). Thus, [...] Read more.
Salinity impedes soil and crop productivity in over 900 million ha of arable lands worldwide due to the excessive accumulation of salt (NaCl). To utilize saline soils in agriculture, halophytes (salt-tolerant plants) are commonly cultivated. However, most food crops are glycophytes (salt-sensitive). Thus, to enhance the productivity of saline soils, gypsum (CaSO4·2H2O) as well as bio-organic (combined use of organic materials, such as compost and straw with the inoculation of beneficial microbes) amendments have been continuously recognized to improve the biological, physical and chemical properties of saline soils. CaSO4·2H2O regulates the exchange of sodium (Na+) for calcium (Ca2+) on the clay surfaces, thereby increasing the Ca2+/Na+ ratio in the soil solution. Intracellularly, Ca2+ also promotes a higher K+/Na+ ratio. Simultaneously, gypsum furnishes crops with sulfur (S) for enhanced growth and yield through the increased production of phytohormones, amino acids, glutathione and osmoprotectants, which are vital elicitors in plants’ responses to salinity stress. Likewise, bio-organic amendments improve the organic matter and carbon content, nutrient cycling, porosity, water holding capacity, soil enzyme activities and biodiversity in saline soils. Overall, the integrated application of gypsum and bio-organic amendments in cultivating glycophytes and halophytes is a highly promising strategy in enhancing the productivity of saline soils. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Role of Biological Amendments in Abiotic Stress Tolerance of Crops)
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27 pages, 1968 KiB  
Review
Management of Phosphorus in Salinity-Stressed Agriculture for Sustainable Crop Production by Salt-Tolerant Phosphate-Solubilizing Bacteria—A Review
by Gobinda Dey, Pritam Banerjee, Raju Kumar Sharma, Jyoti Prakash Maity, Hassan Etesami, Arun Kumar Shaw, Yi-Hsun Huang, Hsien-Bin Huang and Chien-Yen Chen
Agronomy 2021, 11(8), 1552; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11081552 - 3 Aug 2021
Cited by 64 | Viewed by 10831
Abstract
Among the environmental factors, soil salinity is one of the most detrimental factors affecting plant growth and productivity. Nutritional-imbalance is also known as one of the negative effects of salinity on plant growth and productivity. Among the essential plant nutrients, phosphorus (P) is [...] Read more.
Among the environmental factors, soil salinity is one of the most detrimental factors affecting plant growth and productivity. Nutritional-imbalance is also known as one of the negative effects of salinity on plant growth and productivity. Among the essential plant nutrients, phosphorus (P) is a nutrient in which the uptake, transport, and distribution in plant is adversely affected by salinity-stress. Salinity-stress-mediated low a P availability limits the crop production. Adding additional P fertilizer is generally recommended to manage P deficit in saline-soils; however, the low-efficiency of available P fertilizer use in salt-affected soils, restricts P availability, and P fertilizers are also a cause of significant environmental concerns. The application of salinity-tolerant phosphate–solubilizing-bacteria (ST-PSB) can be as a greatly effective and economical way to improve the P availability, and recover the P-deficit in saline-land. This review focuses on soil salinization and its effect on P availability, the mechanisms of P solubilization by ST-PSB, ST-PSB diversity, their role in alleviating salinity stress in plants, the current and future scenarios of their use, and the potential application of this knowledge to manage the sustainable environmental system. According to this review, adding ST-PSB to saline soils could be an alternative for alleviating the negative effects of salinity on plants and may ameliorate salinity tolerance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Role of Biological Amendments in Abiotic Stress Tolerance of Crops)
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