Adverse Environmental Actions on Ornamental Plants: Tuning Growth, Metabolic Reprogramming, and Stress Resistance

With the intensification of global climate change and widespread soil degradation, including salinization and heavy metal pollution, abiotic stress events are becoming increasingly frequent and severe. Globally, the frequency and severity of damage to ornamental plants in gardens is high when they are cultivated in the field or urban environments, and correspondingly the stability of the landscape drops significantly. In urban green spaces, habitat hazards such as soil compaction, salinization, and heavy metal contamination are particularly prominent, leading to restricted growth of ornamental plants and increased costs for conventional cultivation and management. At present, most ornamental plants in gardens are primarily selected and bred for ornamental qualities, resulting in a lack of available stress-resistant germplasm resources. Moreover, the physiological mechanisms and regulatory pathways of their stress resistance have not been fully clarified, making it difficult to support the targeted cultivation of stress-resistant varieties. A deeper understanding of the physiological response patterns and metabolic reprogramming of ornamental plants under abiotic stress will provide a scientific foundation for unraveling the internal mechanisms of stress resistance and for guiding the development of resilient landscaping plants.The present Research Topic seeks to feature and synthesize recent advances in uncovering the multiple regulatory mechanisms deployed by ornamental plants in response to abiotic stress. Its primary objective focuses on the physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms activated in ornamental plants under these adverse environmental conditions, as well as the important contributions of beneficial microorganisms to plant stress resistance and adaptation.• Physiological response characteristics of ornamental plants to abiotic stresses in terms of photosynthetic characteristics, osmotic regulatory substances, and antioxidant systems.• Identification, functional verification, and molecular regulatory mechanisms of significant stress-responsive genes, transciptional factors, and signla moleculars in ornamental plants coping with abiotic stresses.• Mechanisms and strategies for improving abiotic stress tolerance in ornamental plants, encompassing agronomic practices, microbial interventions, and genetic approaches.• Construction of screening index systems for ornamental plant stress-resistant germplasm resources and breeding of superior stress-resistant varieties Topic editors: Jianpan Xin, Hanwen Xiao, Kashif Hayat, Amaresh Chandra, JYOSTNARANI PRADHAN Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/77853/adverse-environmental-actions-on-ornamental-plants-tuning-growth-metabolic-reprogramming-and-stress-resistance