The problem of plant stress

Plants are constantly influenced by external conditions that are not always positive for their growth and vegetation. Due to their sedentary lifestyle, they cannot escape from the stressors (Mosa et al. 2017). Stress in plants is caused by abiotic and biotic factors, with damage from biotic stress factors becoming the main cause of pre-harvest and post-harvest losses (Day & Raichaudhuri 2022). Abiotic stress refers to negative environmental changes such as extreme temperatures, salinization of soils, presence of heavy metals in the soil, drought or conversely waterlogging (Bolaji Umar et al. 2022). Fungal diseases, viral and bacterial diseases are among the most important biotic stressors of plants (McIntosh 1998). Diseases caused by biotic stress are of great economic importance and account for large annual losses (Oldach et al. 2001).

There are a number of pressures on food production, with rapid population growth, urbanisation and changes in consumption patterns having a negative impact on the ability of food systems to provide quality food and to enable food production with respect for the environment. Current production patterns are contributing to extreme events associated with climate change, land degradation and biodiversity loss (FAO 2023). The current situation is not helped by the overuse of plant protection chemicals, which has led to the development of resistance in many types of pests and diseases to biotic stress (Varshney & Tuberosa 2013). The current situation calls for a systems approach to address the full range of these problems (FAO 2023).

In nature, overlapping stressors commonly occur and plants must deal with multiple stressors at once (Kmet’a & Kurjak 2014). For this reason, they must have developed defense mechanisms during evolution to help them maintain their homeostasis during stress (Gill et al. 2016; Anu et al. 2018). These protective mechanisms include many substances that plants produce as part of their secondary metabolism. In this regard, the most important are polyphenolic substances that have antioxidant activity. Antioxidant activity plays a crucial role in combating the stress response because during the stress response of plants, oxidative stress is generated, which produces so-called free radicals. Polyphenolic substances scavenge these free radicals and thus eliminate oxidative stress and the eventual devastation of the cell (Zendehbah et al. 2014). However, if the stress persists for a long time, the plant’s defence mechanisms become exhausted. If the stress is prolonged and intense, the plant is irreversibly damaged and in extreme cases may die (Lichtenthaler 1998; Mosa et al. 2017). These are all reasons to focus on further understanding the impact of stress on plant physiological processes and breeding new genotypes that will better tolerate negative environmental influences (Thomason et al. 2018).

Image source: https://www.agrilearner.com/biotic-and-abiotic-stress/

Citation:

ANU, A., E. AJILA, V. M. NISHAD, S. M. SANDHYA a A. S. WILLIAM ARPUTHA SUNDAR, 2018. Health Benefits of Polyphenolic Compounds. INDO AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES [online]. 5(11), 11564–11569 [cit. 2023–10–25]. ISSN 2349–7750.

BOLAJI UMAR, O., L. AMUDALAT RANTI, A. SHEHU ABDULBAKI, A. LUKMAN BOLA, A. KHADIJAT ABDULHAMID, M. RAMAT BIOLA a K. OLUWAGBENGA VICTOR, 2022. Stresses in Plants: Biotic and Abiotic. In: ANSARI, Mahmood-ur-Rahman, ed. Current Trends in Wheat Research [online]. IntechOpen, 2022–5–11 [cit. 2023–10–24]. ISBN 978–1–83968–593–4. Avaible from: doi:10.5772/intechopen.100501

DEY, S. a A. RAICHAUDHURI, 2022. Abiotic Stress in Plants. In: NGUI KIMATU, Josphert, ed. Advances in Plant Defense Mechanisms [online]. IntechOpen, 2022–12–14 [cit. 2023–10–24]. ISBN 978–1–80355–801–1. Avaible from: doi:10.5772/intechopen.105944

FAO, 2023. Food Systems. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [online]. [cit. 2023–11–09]. Avaible from: https://www.fao.org/food-systems/en/

GILL, R., N. TUTEJA, N. TUTEJA a S. S. GILL, GILL, S. S. a N. A. ANJUM, ed., 2016. Abiotic Stress Signaling in Plants– An Overview. In: Abiotic Stress Response in Plants [online]. 1. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, s. 43 [cit. 2023–10–18]. Avaible from: Proquest

KMEŤ, J. a D. KURJAK, 2014. Od semenáčikov po dospelé strom. In: Vliv abiotických a biotických stresorů na vlastnosti rostlin. 1. Praha: Česká zemědělská univerzita v Praze, s. 13–18. ISBN 978–80–213–2475–6.

LICHTENTHALER, HARTMUT K., 1998. The Stress Concept in Plants: An Introduction. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences [online]. 851(1 STRESS OF LIFE), 187–198 [cit. 2023–10–18]. ISSN 0077–8923. Avaible from: doi:10.1111/j.1749–6632.1998.tb08993.x

MCINTOSH, R.A., 1998. Breeding wheat for resistance to biotic stresses. Euphytica [online]. 100(1/3), 19–34 [cit. 2023–10–18]. ISSN 00142336. Avaible from: doi:10.1023/A:1018387402918

MOSA, Kareem A., Ahmed ISMAIL a Mohamed HELMY, 2017. Plant Stress Tolerance [online]. 1. Cham: Springer International Publishing [cit. 2023–10–24]. SpringerBriefs in Systems Biology. ISBN 978–3–319–59377–7. Avaible from: doi:10.1007/978–3–319–59379–1

OLDACH, K., L. SERAZETDINOVA, D. BECKER a H. LORZ, 2001. Molecular Breeding for Improved Biotic Stress Resistance. In: BEDÖ, Z. a L. LÁNG, ed. Wheat in a Global Environment [online]. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, s. 311–316 [cit. 2023–10–18]. Developments in Plant Breeding. ISBN 978–90–481–5618–4. Avaible from: doi:10.1007/978–94–017–3674–9_39

SINGH BAKALA, H., K. SINGH MANDAHAL, ANKITA, L. KAUR SARAO a P. SRIVASTAVA, 2022. Breeding Wheat for Biotic Stress Resistance: Achievements, Challenges and Prospects. In: ANSARI, Mahmood-ur-Rahman, ed. Current Trends in Wheat Research [online]. IntechOpen, 2022–5–11 [cit. 2023–10–25]. ISBN 978–1–83968–593–4. Avaible from: doi:10.5772/intechopen.97359

THOMASON, K., M. A. BABAR, J. E. ERICKSON, M. MULVANEY, Ch. BEECHER, G. MACDONALD a A. ZHANG, 2018. Comparative physiological and metabolomics analysis of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) following post-anthesis heat stress. PLOS ONE [online]. 2018–6–13, 13(6) [cit. 2023–10–26]. ISSN 1932–6203. Avaible from: doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0197919

VARSHNEY, R. a R. TUBEROSA, 2013. Translational Genomics in Biotic Stress Resistance: An introduction. In: Translational Genomics for Crop Breeding, Volume 1 : Biotic Stress [online]. 1. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, s. 1 [cit. 2023–10–18]. ISBN 9781118728345. Avaible from: databáze Proquest

ZENDEHBAD, S. H. a S. MALLA, 2014. FLAVONOIDS AND PHENOLIC CONTENT IN WHEAT GRASS PLANT (TRITICUM AESTIVUM). International Journal of Applied Pharmaceutics [online]. 7(4), 184–187 [cit. 2023–10–26]. ISSN 0974–2441.