Plants undergo continuous exposure to various biotic and abiotic stresses in their natural environment. To survive under such conditions, plants exhibit stress tolerance or stress avoidance through acclimation and adaptation mechanisms that ultimately reestablish cellular and organismal homeostasis or reduce episodic shock effects. These abilities involve intricate and complex mechanisms of perception, transduction, and transmission of stress stimuli, allowing optimal response to environmental conditions. The perception of stimuli and their expansion in cells involves signaling molecules such as intracellular calcium and reactive oxygen species, which intensify the action of particular signaling pathways. To date, the molecular mechanisms that are involved in each stress have been revealed comparatively independently, and so our understanding of convergence points between biotic and abiotic stress signaling pathways remains rudimentary. However, recent studies have revealed several molecules, including transcription factors and kinases, as promising candidates for common players that are involved in crosstalk between stress signaling pathways.

We invite investigators to contribute original research articles as well as review, mini review, and opinion articles that will stimulate the continuing efforts to understand the molecular players underlying stress response in plants and the development of strategies to elucidate these responses. We are interested in articles that explore all aspects of stress signaling.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Understanding of plant responses to abiotic and biotic stress conditions
• Identification of novel players involved in plant responses to stress conditions
• Biotechnological approaches to study plant stress responses at different levels
• Biotechnological strategies to increase plant tolerance to abiotic stress
• Biotechnological strategies to increase plant resistance to biotic stress
• Molecular interaction and crosstalk among different stress conditions