The word “stressed out” doesn’t generally come to mind when we think about plants. After all, they are excused from handling existential issues and paying expenses. However, environmental changes both living (biotic) and nonliving (abiotic) generate significant stressors for plants. Therefore, it is crucial to develop new techniques to increase plant immunity and tolerance to climate change.
The cellular defense against pathogens is signaled when a plant’s cell-surface immunological receptors pick up molecular cues indicating biotic invaders (such as bacteria, fungi, insects, or others). These receptor complexes are made up of partner proteins.
Abiotic stresses that harm plant cells also produce some of these molecular markers. They contain cellular debris or damage-inducible peptides, which are signs of plant harm.
Prior to a recent study led by Eliza Loo of the Nara Institute of Science and Technology, the controlling principles and mechanisms of this immune signaling in response to abiotic stress were unclear.
The findings, which were released in a brand-new MPMI special focus issue, demonstrate how immune signaling can also improve plant tolerance to abiotic stresses like excessive salt.
The findings broaden our view of how plants sense and adapt to environmental changes, in particular salt and osmotic stress threatening crop production in agriculture. It also raises a new idea that immune receptors monitor plant-inhabiting microbes, thereby regulating plant adaptation to the environment beyond biotic interactions.
Yusuke Saijo
Corresponding author Yusuke Saijo comments, “Immune receptor pre-activation allows plants to increase the amplitude and gene repertoire of salt-inducible gene expression reprogramming when exposed to high salinity,” which helps enhance salt tolerance.
Surprisingly, scientists discovered that even in plants exposed to non-pathogenic microorganisms, immune receptors and signaling elements conferred salt tolerance. This shows that plants may perceive abiotic stresses and begin adaptive responses in response to changes in cues provided by plant-inhabiting microorganisms along with changes in environmental conditions, and they can also learn a variety of stress-tolerance strategies.
“The findings broaden our view of how plants sense and adapt to environmental changes, in particular salt and osmotic stress threatening crop production in agriculture. It also raises a new idea that immune receptors monitor plant-inhabiting microbes, thereby regulating plant adaptation to the environment beyond biotic interactions,” explains Saijo.
The wellbeing of plants and their capacity to withstand shocks are crucial for maintaining the world’s food supply. This establishes the groundwork for future research in plant sciences that links biotic and abiotic stress signals.
Promoting plant health and, eventually, human health requires an understanding of the intricate interactions that exist between plants and their immediate surroundings.
