April 09, 2025 | Plant, Cell and Environment |
Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China National Botanical Garden, and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences conducted a comprehensive review on how fruit crops respond to abiotic stresses such as drought, extreme temperatures, and high salinity. These environmental challenges, increasingly intensified by climate change, threaten the long-term goal of achieving high-yield and high-quality fruit production.
The review summarizes key physiological and molecular responses of fruit crops to abiotic stress, including changes in photosynthesis, osmotic balance, reactive oxygen species (ROS) regulation, metabolism, and protein homeostasis. It also examines how fruit crops perceive environmental cues and initiate stress response pathways at the molecular level.
Recent progress in understanding the regulatory mechanisms underlying these responses is discussed, with emphasis on potential strategies to enhance stress resilience. These include targeted genetic or breeding approaches aimed at improving stress tolerance traits. The review further highlights current challenges in identifying key regulatory nodes involved in multi-stress responses and the development of stress-resilient cultivars.
The findings provide insights into the complex adaptations of fruit crops to environmental stress and offer directions for future research and breeding efforts to improve fruit crop sustainability under changing climate conditions.
