Plants, as sessile organisms, have limited means to cope with environmental changes. Consequently, they have developed complex regulatory systems to ameliorate abiotic stresses im-posed by environmental changes. One such system is the ubiquitin proteasome pathway, which utilizes E3 ligases to target proteins for proteolytic degradation via the 26S proteasome. Plants ex-press a plethora of E3 ligases that are categorized into four major groups depending on their structure. They are involved in many biological and developmental processes in plants, such as DNA repair, photomorphogenesis, phytohormones signaling, and biotic stress. Moreover, many E3 ligase targets are proteins involved in abiotic stress responses, such as salt, drought, heat, and cold. In this review, we will provide a comprehensive overview of E3 ligases and their substrates that have been connected with abiotic stress in order to illustrate the diversity and complexity of how this pathway enables plant survival under stress conditions.

Generating new strategies to improve plant performance and yield in crop plants becomes increasingly relevant with ongoing and predicted global climate changes. E3 ligases that function as key regulators within the ubiquitin proteasome pathway often are involved in abiotic stress responses, development, and metabolism in plants. The aim of this research was to transiently downregulate an E3 ligase that uses BTB/POZ-MATH proteins as substrate adaptors in a tissue-specific manner. Interfering with the E3 ligase at the seedling stage and in developing seeds results in increased salt-stress tolerance and elevated fatty acid levels, respectively. This novel approach can help to improve specific traits in crop plants to maintain sustainable agriculture.

The chloroplast genomes of 13 Lepidium species were analyzed to explore how structural conservation and SSR (Simple Sequence Repeat) dynamics balance genomic stability with adaptive divergence. While genome size and GC content remained highly conserved, reflecting strong functional constraints on photosynthetic machinery, repetitive elements exhibited striking lineage-specific diversity. Mid-length, AT-rich SSRs dominated across species, with conserved motifs (e.g., pentanucleotide TCCAT) likely underpinning structural integrity. In contrast, clade-specific innovations, such as absent octanucleotide repeats in Lepidium cordatum and Lepidium draba or unique pentanucleotide expansions, highlight adaptive plasticity in non-essential regions. These findings reveal a dual evolutionary strategy: chloroplast genomes maintain core functions through conserved architecture while permitting localized SSR-driven innovations, potentially enhancing ecological resilience. This interplay underscores how genomic stability and plasticity coexist to enable adaptation in dynamic environments, offering new insights into the evolutionary mechanisms shaping plant organelle genomes.