Physiological and Genotype-Dependent Responses of Cereal Crops to Abiotic Stress Across Developmental Stages

Cereal crop physiology and genetics are central to understanding how wheat, rice, maize, barley, sorghum, and other staple crops respond to increasingly frequent drought, heat, salinity, cold, waterlogging, and nutrient-related stresses. Abiotic stress effects vary substantially among genotypes and developmental stages, influencing germination, seedling establishment, vegetative growth, flowering, grain filling, and final yield. Current research has identified important roles for photosynthetic regulation, water-use efficiency, osmotic adjustment, antioxidant metabolism, hormonal signaling, and stress-responsive gene networks, but the relationships among these mechanisms remain incompletely resolved. Although controlled-environment and field studies have generated extensive evidence, differences in experimental conditions, stress timing, stress intensity, and trait assessment often limit comparisons across studies. Integrative investigations linking genotype, physiological performance, developmental plasticity, and productivity are therefore needed to clarify the mechanisms that determine cereal crop adaptation and resilience.This Research Topic aims to investigate the physiological and genotype-dependent mechanisms underlying cereal crop responses to abiotic stress across developmental stages. It seeks to identify traits and genetic factors associated with stress tolerance, determine how stress timing and severity influence plant function and yield formation, and establish relationships between responses at biochemical, cellular, organ-, and whole-plant levels. Contributions may address how physiological traits predict performance under stress, whether tolerance mechanisms are maintained across developmental transitions, and how genotype-by-environment interactions shape crop productivity. The Research Topic also aims to support the identification of robust phenotyping approaches and candidate traits for breeding cereal varieties with improved resilience.To gather further insights into cereal crop responses to abiotic stress under controlled and field conditions, across developmental stages from germination and seedling establishment to reproductive development and grain filling, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:- Physiological and biochemical responses to drought, heat, salinity, cold, waterlogging, and nutrient stress- Genotype-dependent variation in stress perception, signaling, tolerance, and recovery- Photosynthesis, respiration, transpiration, and water-use efficiency under stress- Root system architecture, nutrient acquisition, and root–shoot coordination- Hormonal regulation, carbohydrate metabolism, osmotic adjustment, antioxidant defense, and redox homeostasis- Effects of abiotic stress on growth, reproductive development (flowering, pollen viability, spikelet fertility), and yield formation- Abiotic stress effects on the uptake of macro- and microelements in plants and grains- Developmental-stage-specific responses and stress memory- Integrative approaches linking phenotype, physiology, genotype, and gene expression- Controlled-environment, greenhouse, pot, and field-based evaluations of cereal stress responses- Phenotyping, modelling, and breeding strategies for improving cereal crop resilience Topic editors: Marta Jańczak-Pieniążek, Yuxiang Zeng Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/86144/physiological-and-genotype-dependent-responses-of-cereal-crops-to-abiotic-stress-across-developmental-stages