Aug 2026· International Journal of Plant Biology· Vol 17, pp. 74· 0 citations· 129 references
TL;DR
Overall, biostimulants show strong potential to improve abiotic stress resilience in horticultural crops, but broader adoption is constrained by variable efficacy, limited mechanistic validation, and inconsistent regulatory frameworks.
Abstract
Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of abiotic stresses, including salinity, drought, heat, and heavy metal toxicity, which strongly threaten productivity, quality, and market value in horticultural crops. Although plant biostimulants have been widely reviewed in agronomic crops, their role in horticultural systems remains less comprehensively synthesized, particularly across different crop groups, stress types, application methods, and molecular response mechanisms. This review addresses this gap by systematically compiling current evidence on the use of biostimulants to improve abiotic stress resilience in horticultural crops, with particular emphasis on morphological, physiological, biochemical, and recently emerging molecular responses, especially transcriptomic evidence with supporting metabolomic information where available. Publications were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection using two searches covering 2016–2025 for morphological/physiological responses and 2021–2025 for molecular/genetic responses. Of 780 records initially identified, 134 studies met the inclusion criteria. Across these studies, the most frequently evaluated biostimulants were seaweed extracts, humic and fulvic substances, protein hydrolysates, and microbial inoculants, particularly PGPR and AMF. Biostimulant application consistently improved stress tolerance by enhancing antioxidant capacity, osmotic adjustment, nutrient use efficiency, cell wall strengthening, and hormonal regulation. Foliar applications were frequently used for rapid mitigation of drought- and heat-induced canopy-level physiological responses, whereas soil/root-zone application was more common for salinity and heavy metal stress. Emerging molecular evidence, dominated by transcriptomic studies and supported by limited metabolomic data, indicates that biostimulants may induce molecular priming through stress-responsive gene networks and associated metabolic adjustments. Overall, biostimulants show strong potential to improve abiotic stress resilience in horticultural crops, but broader adoption is constrained by variable efficacy, limited mechanistic validation, and inconsistent regulatory frameworks. Future research should prioritize multi-environment validation and functional genetics to support more reliable and targeted biostimulant use.
The synthesis shows that selected crop–strain systems improve root architecture, photosynthesis, antioxidant regulation, osmotic adjustment, nutrient acquisition, ion homeostasis, hormonal balance, and stress-responsive gene expression, and biochar co-application should not be interpreted as a carrier formulation without direct validation.
Xueping Su, Fang Qin, Cheng Huang et al.· Journal of Fungi· 0 citations
This review systematizes current knowledge on the types of CAS, their interactions, and their impacts on plant physiological, molecular, and microbiological processes, and extrapolates from established mechanisms to propose how microbes may mitigate combined stresses.
O. Lastochkina, A. Avalbaev, A. Lubyanova et al.· Applied Biochemistry and Mic...· 0 citations
Salinity stress in wheat (
Triticum aestivum
L.) represents a major challenge for agricultural sustainability, grain quality, and global food security, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions increasingly affected by soil salinization and climate variability. This systematic review aimed to synthesize current knowledge on the physiological, biochemical, molecular, microbiological, and technological mechanisms underlying salinity tolerance in wheat and to evaluate how these complementary processes can be integrated to improve grain quality, stress resilience, and the development of climate-resilient wheat production systems under saline environments. Using a PRISMA-guided selection framework, literature published between 2018 and 2025 was systematically screened across major scientific databases, resulting in the identification of 408 records, from which 142 peer-reviewed studies were retained following predefined screening, eligibility, and quality-assessment criteria. Bibliometric mapping with VOSviewer was further applied to identify dominant research themes linking salinity physiology, grain-quality dynamics, microbiome-assisted mitigation, and advanced breeding technologies. The reviewed evidence indicates that salinity-induced reductions in wheat productivity are primarily associated with ionic toxicity, osmotic imbalance, oxidative stress, photosynthetic impairment, and disruption of metabolic and nutritional homeostasis, ultimately affecting grain protein accumulation, starch biosynthesis, mineral balance, and technological quality traits. Current mitigation approaches increasingly emphasize integrated strategies involving organic amendments, beneficial rhizosphere microorganisms, ion-homeostasis regulation, and precision agronomic management. In parallel, advances in genomics-assisted breeding, multi-omics integration, CRISPR/Cas genome editing, high-throughput phenotyping, remote sensing, and AI-assisted predictive breeding are improving candidate-gene prioritization and genotype-to-phenotype prediction under saline environments. This review integrates PRISMA-based screening with bibliometric analysis to provide a structured and mechanistic synthesis linking salinity stress physiology, grain-quality responses, microbiome-assisted approaches, sustainable soil-management practices, and precision breeding technologies. By adopting a cross-scale perspective, this review concludes that integrating physiological, microbiome-assisted, agronomic, and advanced breeding approaches is essential for developing climate-resilient wheat production systems under increasing soil salinity.
Khadija Manhou, R. Moussadek, H. Dakak et al.· Frontiers in Sustainable Foo...· 0 citations
Wheat is a major staple crop, and improving its productivity and grain quality is essential to meet rising global food demand. Biostimulants have attracted growing interest because they can enhance nutrient use efficiency, improve tolerance to environmental stresses, and support crop performance without acting as conventional fertilizers, yet a focused synthesis of their effects on wheat remains limited. Following a systematic search of Scopus and Web of Science (2000–2026), this review synthesizes 52 primary studies on microbial and non-microbial biostimulants in common and durum wheat, addressing grain yield, nutritional quality, and resilience to drought, salinity, heavy metals, and temperature extremes. Across studies, 88% reported significant positive effects and none reported a consistent negative effect; grain yield increases ranged from +6% to +123%, with parallel improvements in grain protein and micronutrient biofortification, notably zinc and iron. Microbial biostimulants, especially bacteria and microbial consortia, produced the largest but most variable gains, whereas non-microbial products gave more moderate and consistent responses. Benefits were greatest under low nitrogen, drought, and saline conditions and in nutrient-poor soils, and were modulated by wheat genotype and product dose. Biostimulants are promising tools for sustainable wheat production, though standardized field trials and reporting are still needed.
A. Di Serio, Alfredo Lorenzo, Lisa Antonucci et al.· Agronomy· 0 citations
Climate change intensifies abiotic stresses that limit crop productivity, requiring innovative strategies to enhance resilience without compromising sustainability. Nanoparticles (NPs) have emerged as potential modulators of plant stress responses by influencing molecular regulation, physiological adaptation, and stress resilience. However, current evidence remains fragmented because studies are dispersed across different NP types, crop species, abiotic stress conditions, and omics platforms, with most investigations conducted under controlled experimental conditions and few integrating molecular responses with agronomic performance. In this study, we synthesize evidence from plant physiology, omics (including transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and soil microbiome analyses), and agronomic studies to provide an integrated conceptual synthesis linking NPs' physicochemical properties with multi-omics reprogramming and yield-related outcomes under abiotic stress. Collectively, the available evidence indicates that NP size, surface charge, composition, and redox activity strongly influence uptake behavior, intracellular interactions, and signaling intensity, thereby shaping coordinated system-level responses rather than isolated modifications in individual genes, proteins, or metabolites. Across abiotic stresses, NPs modulate stress responses through effects on redox homeostasis, hormonal signaling, ion transport, metabolic flexibility, and rhizosphere interactions. However, their effects vary with NP properties, application conditions, plant species, and stress environments, ranging from stress mitigation to growth inhibition. These responses can improve photosynthetic stability, reproductive performance, and resource allocation, contributing to partial recovery of growth and yield under certain stress conditions. Conversely, excessive or poorly controlled NP exposure disrupts redox balance and growth, underscoring the importance of narrow efficacy windows. We further identify key limitations in the existing literature, including dose and crop specificity, short-term experimental designs, limited field validation, and limited mechanistic linkage between multi-omics responses and agronomic performance, highlighting the need for synchronized multi-omics validation. We contend that future advancements require a transition from proof-of-concept demonstrations to predictive, system-level approaches that integrate multi-omics with developmental stage, environmental context, and yield stability. By reframing NPs as context-dependent modulators of stress resilience rather than universal growth enhancers, this review provides a conceptual foundation for their responsible evaluation and potential application in climate-resilient agriculture.
Rayyan Khan, Nisar Uddin, A. Srivastava et al.· Microbiology Research· 0 citations
Combined stress more strongly inhibited plant height, stem diameter, fresh weight, net photosynthetic rate, and transpiration rate than single stresses, and insights into alfalfa adaptation to multiple abiotic stresses are provided.
Lihe Su, Yongcheng Chen, Xudong Zhang et al.· Journal of Agricultural and...· 0 citations