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Editorial Book
PAID ACCESS | Published on : 09-Aug-2024 | Pages: 88-105 |
Plant productivity and agricultural sustainability are under increasing threat from various biotic and abiotic stresses, including salinity, drought, heat, cold, heavy metal toxicity, and pathogen attack. Conventional agricultural practices relying on synthetic agrochemicals are often associated with environmental degradation and decreased ecosystem sustainability. In this regard, biostimulants and plant signaling molecules have emerged as promising sustainable tools for enhancing plant growth, stress tolerance and crop productivity. Biostimulants are microbial and non-microbial formulations like plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, mycorrhizal fungi, seaweed extracts, humic substances, protein hydrolysates, silicon, and chitosan that enhance plant resilience through several physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms. Signalling molecules such as melatonin, nitric oxide, hydrogen sulfide, salicylic acid, jasmonic acid, and abscisic acid also play a role in regulating plant stress responses by modulating antioxidant defence systems, osmolyte accumulation, hormonal crosstalk, and stress-responsive gene expression. This chapter provides an overview of novel classes of biostimulants and signaling molecules, their mode of action in plant stress management and their potential to be integrated in sustainable and climate-resilient agricultural systems. The future outlook on precision biostimulants, nano-enabled formulations, microbiome engineering and omics-assisted stress management is also highlighted.
Biotic, Abiotic, Breeding methods, Stress tolerance
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