Non-Thermal Plasma-Mediated Redox Signaling and Microbiome Interactions for Abiotic Stress Adaptation: Molecular Insights and Future Prospects for Sustainable Agriculture

Abstract

Crop production is continually exposed to a wide range of abiotic stresses that negatively affect growth and yield, posing a severe threat to global food security. Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) promote nutrient assimilation, activate antioxidant enzymes, and stimulate phytohormone production to mitigate abiotic stress. However, the effective application of PGPB in the field depends on host colonization, soil specificity, and susceptibility to competitive microbial communities. Recently, non-thermal plasma (NTP) has emerged as a revolutionary tool for sustainable agriculture, making it a priority to develop efficient, low-cost, and eco-friendly strategies to enhance seed vitality and manage abiotic stress. Plasma-generated reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) have been shown to mediate intracellular redox homeostasis and the antioxidant defense signaling network. Furthermore, plasma stimulates MAPK cascades and stress-responsive genes such as LEA1, SnRK2, P5C, and the SOS pathway, ionic balance, and membrane stability, ultimately supporting plant stress adaptation to drought, salinity, and heavy metals. Plasma-induced RONS signaling activates PGPB functional traits such as root colonization, biofilm formation, nutrient mobilization, and plant growth-promoting activities. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying NTP-PGPB microbial multiple stress adaptation and the long-term ecological stability and biosafety of microbial communities remain inadequately resolved. Consequently, future integration of multi-omics approaches, synthetic microbial communities, and field-scale validation is required to explore the mechanistic advances of plasma-modulated microbiome interactions to enable agricultural applications.