Jul 2026· Physiologia Plantarum : An International Journal for Plant Biology· Vol 178· 0 citations· 197 references
Medicine
TL;DR
This review synthesizes current insights into the molecular and physiological roles of phyto‐oxylipins, emphasizing their potential in integrating plant defense mechanisms to enhance crop productivity amid abiotic and biotic challenges.
Abstract
Phyto‐oxylipins, oxidized derivatives of unsaturated fatty acids, serve as crucial mediators in plant responses to biotic and abiotic stresses, which are becoming increasingly frequent and severe under changing climatic conditions. These signaling molecules, produced enzymatically or spontaneously, orchestrate a wide range of physiological and molecular responses that enhance plant resilience. By scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) and upregulating antioxidant enzymes, phyto‐oxylipins help mitigate oxidative damage, thus preserving cellular integrity and sustaining growth under environmental stress. Additionally, they interact intricately with key phytohormones such as jasmonic acid (JA), abscisic acid, and salicylic acid (SA), forming a dynamic hormonal network that regulates stress‐responsive genes and adaptive processes. Beyond stress mitigation, phyto‐oxylipins promote wound healing, programmed cell death, and cell wall reinforcement, essential for maintaining plant structural integrity. Recognizing these molecules as central regulators of stress adaptation offers promising avenues for developing climate‐resilient crops. This review synthesizes current insights into the molecular and physiological roles of phyto‐oxylipins, emphasizing their potential in integrating plant defense mechanisms to enhance crop productivity amid abiotic and biotic challenges.
Biotic stresses (pest feeding, pathogenic fungal/bacterial/viral infection) and diverse abiotic stresses (extreme temperature, drought, waterlogging, saline–alkali soil, heavy metal pollution, nutrient deficiency, UV-B, ozone) severely restrict crop growth and global agricultural yield. Lipids act as core membrane structural constituents and vital secondary signaling messengers, executing multi-layered adaptive balancing functions during cell-type interactive stress acclimation, rather than uniform whole-plant lipid responses. They sustain membrane structural integrity across distinct cell populations, serve as synthetic precursors of bioactive signaling molecules, and trigger cascaded transcriptional and metabolic reprogramming upon environmental stimuli to rebalance physiological status among different cell types. This review systematically summarizes cell-type interactive lipid-mediated plant defense and acclimation balance mechanisms across biotic and abiotic stress contexts. We elaborate the biological functions of fatty acids, phospholipids, galactolipids, sphingolipids and their derivatives (jasmonate, salicylic acid, phosphatidic acid, oxylipin) in stress signal transduction and antioxidant defense and strictly distinguish two categories of lipid changes under all stress types: active adaptive lipid remodeling and passive stress-induced lipid oxidative damage. Key contents include stress-triggered cell-type-specific membrane lipid remodeling, the hierarchical transcriptional regulatory network mediated by WRI1, LEC1, PHR, MADS and other transcription factors governing oil metabolism, as well as crosstalk between lipid metabolism and compartmentalized reactive oxygen species (reactive oxygen species (ROS)) signaling. We further compare conserved lipid-regulatory modules and species-specific divergent responses across model plants and economic oilseed crops, integrating state-of-the-art targeted/untargeted lipidomics, single-cell spatial lipidomics and multi-omics joint breeding strategies to improve multi-stress tolerance in oilseed crops. By consolidating global research progress up to 2025, including the two latest 2026 cross-species meta-analysis reviews, this review provides systematic theoretical support and operable multi-level technical frameworks for genetic engineering targeting conserved lipid pathways to breed stress-resilient high-oil crop germplasm, and highlights reliable lipid stress biomarker screening as a promising translational research direction.
Biotic and abiotic stressors, including climate crises, are affecting plants’ metabolic and developmental processes, which negatively influence crop performance and the overall resilience of agroecosystems. In response to these stressors, plants have evolved multifaceted defense mechanisms at morphological, physiological, and molecular levels. With the advent of nanotechnology, an emerging field in plant sciences, particularly in agriculture, offers sustainable solutions for the greater benefit of mankind. The potential of nanotechnology as nano-fertilizers in agriculture is immense, offering advantages such as high efficiency, eco-friendliness, and cost-effectiveness. Nanoparticles are crucial in modulating plant physiological and biochemical responses, including activating antioxidant defense mechanisms and regulating hormones. They can mitigate excessive reactive oxygen species production under severe stress, help regulate phytohormone signaling, and minimize excessive stress. However, understanding the intricate interactions between nanoparticles and phytohormone synthesis is still in its early stages. For sustainable agricultural production, it’s an urgent requirement to grasp these interactions and to track their regulatory functions to manage abiotic stress-related situations. This review explores the current status and future potential of genomic engineering to enhance abiotic stress tolerance, and the interplay between phytohormones and nanoparticles in alleviating plant stress responses in agriculture. Finally, we identify critical knowledge gaps to inform the development of future climate-smart cultivars and sustainable agricultural practices.
Shibani Mohapatra, Bhaskar Sarma, Y. K. Mohanta et al.· Discover Sustainability· 0 citations
Overall, BRs represent promising targets for improving crop stress resilience; however, optimizing BR-mediated strategies and validating their long-term performance under diverse field conditions will be essential for their successful application in sustainable agriculture.
R. Jan, Shahzad Iqbal, Sajad Ali et al.· Plants· 0 citations
Abiotic stresses such as salinity, heavy metal toxicity, drought, and extreme temperatures severely limit plant growth and agricultural productivity by disrupting cellular homeostasis and inducing excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation. Hydrogen-rich water (HRW), has emerged as a promising eco-friendly strategy for enhancing plant stress tolerance. This review synthesizes current knowledge on HRW-mediated stress alleviation, offering an integrated framework of antioxidant regulation, hormonal crosstalk, and signal transduction. HRW confers protection through selective scavenging of cytotoxic radicals while preserving signaling ROS, upregulates enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants to maintain redox balance, regulates ion homeostasis and osmolyte accumulation, and protects chloroplast and mitochondrial integrity. Furthermore, HRW modulates gene expression and stress-responsive pathways via interactions with phytohormones and gaseous signaling networks. This integrated approach distinguishes the present work by bridging previously dispersed mechanistic insights across multiple stress types. Despite promising findings, challenges remain regarding hydrogen perception mechanisms, application standardization, and field-level validation. Advancing these areas will support the integration of HRW into sustainable agricultural practices for improved crop resilience.
Lei Huang, Yingqi Hu, Yi Wang et al.· Frontiers in Plant Science· 0 citations
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and phytohormones are essential components of a precisely coordinated signalling network that regulates plant growth, development and adaptation to environmental changes. This review synthesises current knowledge to elucidate the specific oxidative modification mechanisms by which ROS target core signalling components, biosynthetic enzymes, as well as transport proteins throughout all hormonal pathways and distils cross-pathway principles that define a coherent redox-guided regulatory architecture. We further delineate the reciprocal regulation where phytohormones modulate ROS homeostasis to coordinate plant growth and stress tolerance, establishing bidirectional circuits that enable dynamic resource allocation and we discuss translational opportunities for precision editing of redox-sensitive nodes in crops. Understanding the interplay between ROS and phytohormones not only enhances our knowledge of plant adaptive strategies but also provides a conceptual framework for developing crops with optimised yield and stress tolerance through molecular breeding and hormone-based agrochemical interventions.
Wen Shi, Lingyan Wang, Weizhong Liu et al.· Plant, Cell and Environment· 0 citations
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) serve as both critical signalling molecules and potent cytotoxins. Generated predominantly in chloroplasts, mitochondria, peroxisomes, and the apoplast, ROS arise as by-products of aerobic metabolism and are further induced under environmental stresses. This dual nature positions ROS at the interface of plant stress responses, development, and immunity. At low concentrations, ROS act as secondary messengers regulating processes such as seed germination, root hair elongation, stomatal closure, and systemic acquired acclimation. They mediate complex interactions with phytohormones, including abscisic acid (ABA), ethylene (ET), auxins (IAA), and cytokinins, modulating developmental and stress responses. Conversely, excessive ROS accumulation under drought, salinity, extreme temperatures, or pathogen attack leads to oxidative damage, impairing macromolecules and triggering programmed cell death. Plants counteract this through robust antioxidant systems comprising enzymatic (SOD, CAT, APX) and non-enzymatic (ascorbate, glutathione, carotenoids) components. Beyond localized responses, ROS can function as systemic signals through self-propagating RBOH-dependent ROS waves, coordinating whole-plant acclimation and defence, while MAPK cascades act as intracellular effectors that transduce ROS signals into transcriptional and physiological responses. This review elucidates the multifaceted roles of ROS in plant physiology, emphasizing their context-dependent effects as either beneficial regulators or detrimental agents, thus underscoring their identity as both boon and bane. ROS are double-edged molecules vital for signalling, yet harmful at high levels. ROS hormone crosstalk fine-tunes growth, stress responses, and developmental transitions. ROS guides key processes like seed germination, root growth, and programmed cell death. ROS waves enable systemic stress signalling, integrating MAPK, calcium, and retrograde pathways. Antioxidant systems maintain ROS balance, safeguarding plant health under stress. ROS are double-edged molecules vital for signalling, yet harmful at high levels. ROS hormone crosstalk fine-tunes growth, stress responses, and developmental transitions. ROS guides key processes like seed germination, root growth, and programmed cell death. ROS waves enable systemic stress signalling, integrating MAPK, calcium, and retrograde pathways. Antioxidant systems maintain ROS balance, safeguarding plant health under stress.
Aditi Mishra, Anjali Bhardwaj, U. Bhatt et al.· Discover Plants· 0 citations
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