Zandalinas SI, Mittler R. Plant responses to multifactorial stress combination.
THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2022;
234:1161-1167. [PMID:
35278228 DOI:
10.1111/nph.18087]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 86] [Impact Index Per Article: 43.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2022] [Accepted: 02/26/2022] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Human activity is causing a global change in plant environment that includes a significant increase in the number and intensity of different stress factors. These include combinations of multiple abiotic and biotic stressors that simultaneously or sequentially impact plants and microbiomes, causing a significant decrease in plant growth, yield and overall health. It was recently found that with the increasing number and complexity of stressors simultaneously impacting a plant, plant growth and survival decline dramatically, even if the level of each individual stress, involved in such 'multifactorial stress combination', is low enough not to have a significant effect. Here we highlight this new concept of multifactorial stress combination and discuss its importance for our efforts to develop climate change-resilient crops.
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