Physiological and Molecular Mechanisms of Biological Stimulants in Plant Abiotic Stress Tolerance

Abiotic stresses — including drought, heat, salinity, and heavy metal contamination — represent defining challenges in plant biology by disrupting cellular homeostasis, impairing stress signaling networks, and compromising fundamental developmental processes. How plants perceive, transduce, and adapt to these perturbations remains a central question in the field. Recent advances have revealed that a diverse array of biological stimulants, including plant hormones, amino acids and their derivatives, rare earth elements, and nanomaterials, can serve as powerful tools for dissecting these responses. Acting through complementary mechanisms, they enhance antioxidant activity, adjust osmolyte balance, and reconfigure metabolic networks to modulate plant stress adaptation. Yet the comparative mechanistic basis of these stimulants, their long-term consequences for plant physiology and development, and the full complexity of the molecular networks governing stress adaptation remain active areas of investigation. This Research Topic aims to investigate how biological stimulants influence plant responses to abiotic stresses through physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms. Specifically, it seeks to evaluate their comparative effectiveness, delineate their signaling pathways, and identify the molecular components driving stress adaptation. Special emphasis will be placed on elucidating how these substances regulate gene expression, post-translational protein modification, and metabolic network reconfiguration — ultimately shaping plants’ adaptive responses. By drawing on multidisciplinary tools from physiology, molecular biology, and materials science, the goal is to advance mechanistic understanding of how plants integrate biostimulant signals to mount coordinated and specific stress responses. This Research Topic covers both fundamental and applied aspects of biological stimulants in plant abiotic stress tolerance. Submissions should focus primarily on innovative stimulants and their modes of action, with attention to mechanistic specificity, dose-response relationships, and cross-stress applicability at the cellular and molecular levels. To explore these questions further, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes: • Characterization and comparative effects of emerging biological stimulants under various abiotic stresses• Synergistic strategies for co-application of multiple biological stimulants • Mechanistic exploration of physiological, biochemical, and molecular responses in treated plants• Application of omics technologies to decipher relevant genes, proteins, and metabolic pathways• Identification of key genetic loci modulated by stimulants and their relevance for plant stress resilience • Crosstalk between biostimulant-activated pathways and endogenous abiotic stress signaling networks We invite original research articles, comprehensive reviews, short communications, and methodological reports that contribute to these focal areas. Topic editors: Hongcheng Wang, Ali Baghdadi, Mohammad Danish Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/80630/physiological-and-molecular-mechanisms-of-biological-stimulants-in-plant-abiotic-stress-tolerance