Anthropogenic activities have aggravated the effects of global climate change on ecosystems. Plants, because of their inability to escape from an adverse environment, suffer to a great extent from stresses, which can negatively impact their growth and development. Global warming is increasingly causing extreme climatic situations such as very high or low temperatures, drought and flooding events, hailstorms, wildfires, extreme precipitation events, and the reduction of fertile soil through desertification and salinization. In addition, warmer temperatures and higher humidity related with the climate change can also increase pest and disease pressure on plants by altering the geographic range, population size, and timing of pest and disease outbreaks. Taken together abiotic stress related with climate change as drought or extreme temperature can exacerbate the spread and severity of various diseases associated with biotic stress increasing the vulnerability of plants to pathogens (some examples include insects, fungi, bacteria or viruses).

Agricultural communities are being affected by climate change. Droughts, heat waves, cold snaps, and flooding are all regarded as severe threats to crop production as they hinder plant growth and development, resulting in yield losses. Plants respond to stress through a complex process that includes changes in physiological and biochemical processes, gene expression, and alterations in the amounts of metabolites and proteins at different developmental stages. This special issue will focus on recent advances in the use of various traditional and modern biotechnological strategies to understand stress adaptation and tolerance mechanisms including (but not limited to) genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, proteomics, miRNA, genome editing, transgenic plants, exogenous application of plant growth regulators, and so on. Abiotic stress is a key constraint to agricultural production around the world. Water deficit, excess precipitation, high and low temperature, and salinity are the most prevalent abiotic stresses. Compaction, mineral availability, and pH-related stressors are among the others. This Research Topic aims to highlight the most recent breakthroughs in plant responses to abiotic stresses and adaptation/tolerance strategies. This special issue provides the advanced toolkit and technologies that are used to investigate and understand plant responses to abiotic stress. The purpose of this special issue is to give a platform for scientists and academics from across the world to promote, share, and discuss new concerns and advancements in the field of abiotic stress in plants. Current updates and recent developments in the physiological, molecular, and genetic perspectives on combined and sequential stress responses and tolerance in field crops are expected in articles. Original research and review articles dealing with abiotic stress are welcomed. In this special issue, potential topics include, but are not limited to: • Physiological, biochemical and molecular responses of plants under abiotic stress. • Systems biology approaches to study abiotic stress in crop plants. • Phenotyping for abiotic stress tolerance in crops. • Physiological and molecular characterization of crop tolerance to abiotic stresses. • Molecular breeding for developing and improving abiotic stress resilience in crops. • Microbial mitigation of abiotic stress responses in crops • Omics technologies for abiotic stress tolerance in plants. • Performance of novel GMO crops under abiotic stress conditions. • CRISPR-Cas Genome editing tools for the Improvement of abiotic stress tolerance in plants. • Crop production in abiotic stress conditions.

In this ready reference, a global team of experts comprehensively cover molecular and cell biology-based approaches to the impact of increasing global temperatures on crop productivity. The work is divided into four parts. Following an introduction to the general challenges for agriculture around the globe due to climate change, part two discusses how the resulting increase of abiotic stress factors can be dealt with. The third part then outlines the different strategies and approaches to address the challenge of climate change, and the whole is rounded off by a number of specific examples of improvements to crop productivity. With its forward-looking focus on solutions, this book is an indispensable help for the agro-industry, policy makers and academia.

Nanotechnology for Abiotic Stress Tolerance and Management in Crop Plants reviews the most recent literature on the role of nanomaterials in achieving sustainability in crop production in stressful environments. This book explores the adverse conditions caused by abiotic stress to crop plants, and the methods by which these conditions can be potentially overcome through developments in nanoscience and nanotechnology. Abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, temperature stress, excessive water, heavy metal stress, UV stress etc. are major factors which may adversely affect the growth, development, and yield of crops. While recent research for ways of overcoming the physiological and biochemical changes brought on by these stresses has focused on genetic engineering of plants, additional research continues into alternative strategies to develop stress tolerant crops, including the use of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Providing an in-depth summary of research on nanomaterials and nano-based devices for field monitoring of crops, this book will serve as an ideal reference for academics, professionals, researchers, and students working in the field of agriculture, nanotechnology, plant science, material science, and crop production. - Presents advancements in our understanding of molecular and physiological interactions between nanoparticles and crop plants - Includes figures and illustrations to help readers visualize and easily understand the role of nanomaterials - Serves as an ideal reference for those studying smart nanomaterials, biosensors, and nanodevices for real-time plant stress measurement

Global climate change has created unprecedented challenges for human civilization due to its widespread adverse consequences, including a reduction in crop yield and threatening food security across the globe. Among the crop plants, legumes have great potential for ameliorating global warming since they can reduce carbon emissions by lowering reliance on the application of chemical fertilizers, by increasing nitrification and carbon sequestration in soil, and by providing protein-rich diets to both humans and livestock. This book identifies the extent of climate-induced stresses on legume plants and focuses on achieving food security through sustainable agricultural practices. This book compiles recent research findings and reviews on climate-related problems, the potential of legumes in ameliorating the impacts of climate change, as well as better management of agricultural land and practices for achieving environmental sustainability and food security. This book will serve as guidelines for scientists, agricultural practitioners, and policymakers working to achieve food security and better management of climate-induced stresses in agricultural interventions. It will also be useful as a reference book for researchers and students of both graduate and postgraduate levels. Furthermore, this book will provide enhanced knowledge about the mechanisms of yield and stress tolerance of legumes as well as developing climate-smart crops and improving cropping systems for a sustainable environment and food security. Features of the book Reviews trends of global climate change and its consequences for food security across the continents Identifies the challenges and scopes of cultivating legumes in achieving food security in the context of global climate change Focuses on the improvements of legume production through conservation approaches in agricultural practices and modern techniques, including omics-based breeding, biotechnology, genetic engineering, and rhizobium technology Discusses the sustainable amelioration options for soils affected by climate-induced stresses Cites examples of applications of rhizobium technologies in reducing greenhouse gas emission Describes pathways associated with yield, resistance, and tolerance of legumes to climate-induced stresses

This volume discusses innovative advancements in soil and crop microbiome technology and methods to support agricultural sustainability and reduce soil degradation. As climate change impacts agricultural productivity and soil health in impacted regions throughout the world, potential alternatives to find balance between soil health and crop yield are increasingly needed. Therefore, this book provides a timely, global perspective with a collection of expert authors to address how microbiomes can be used to achieve agricultural sustainability in threatened and degraded areas, while also covering related matters including soil health, pest management, waste disposal, environmental contamination, biofertilizer production, composting, and microbial engineering. The book is meant to serve as a reference for agriculturalists, environmentalists, graduate and post-graduate students, researchers, and professors of sustainability and agricultural management.

Biotic stresses cause yield loss of 31-42% in crops in addition to 6-20% during post-harvest stage. Understanding interaction of crop plants to the biotic stresses caused by insects, bacteria, fungi, viruses, and oomycetes, etc. is important to develop resistant crop varieties. Knowledge on the advanced genetic and genomic crop improvement strategies including molecular breeding, transgenics, genomic-assisted breeding and the recently emerging genome editing for developing resistant varieties in oilseed crops is imperative for addressing FPNEE (food, health, nutrition. energy and environment) security. Whole genome sequencing of these crops followed by genotyping-by-sequencing have facilitated precise information about the genes conferring resistance useful for gene discovery, allele mining and shuttle breeding which in turn opened up the scope for 'designing' crop genomes with resistance to biotic stresses. The eight chapters each dedicated to an oilseed crop in this volume elucidate on different types of biotic stress agents and their effects on and interaction with the crop plants; enumerate on the available genetic diversity with regard to biotic stress resistance among available cultivars; illuminate on the potential gene pools for utilization in interspecific gene transfer; present brief on the classical genetics of stress resistance and traditional breeding for transferring them to their cultivated counterparts; depict the success stories of genetic engineering for developing biotic stress resistant varieties; discuss on molecular mapping of genes and QTLs underlying biotic stress resistance and their marker-assisted introgression into elite varieties; enunciate on different emerging genomics-aided techniques including genomic selection, allele mining, gene discovery and gene pyramiding for developing resistant crop varieties with higher quantity and quality of yields; and also elaborate some case studies on genome editing focusing on specific genes for generating disease and insect resistant crops.

Biotechnology and Biology of Trichoderma serves as a comprehensive reference on the chemistry and biochemistry of one of the most important microbial agents, Trichoderma, and its use in an increased number of industrial bioprocesses for the synthesis of many biochemicals such as pharmaceuticals and biofuels. This book provides individuals working in the field of Trichoderma, especially biochemical engineers, biochemists and biotechnologists, important information on how these valuable fungi can contribute to the production of a wide range of products of commercial and ecological interest. - Provides a detailed and comprehensive coverage of the chemistry, biochemistry and biotechnology of Trichoderma, fungi present in soil and plants - Includes most important current and potential applications of Trichoderma in bioengineering, bioprocess technology including bioenergy & biofuels, biopharmaceuticals, secondary metabolites and protein engineering - Includes the most recent research advancements made on Trichoderma applications in plant biotechnology and ecology and environment