Heat stress is one of the major concerns for wheat production worldwide. Morphological parameters such as germination, leaf area, shoot, and root growth are affected by heat stress, with affected physiological parameters including photosynthesis, respiration, and water relation. Heat stress also leads to the generation of reactive oxygen species that disrupt the membrane systems of thylakoids, chloroplasts, and the plasma membrane. The deactivation of the photosystems, reduction in photosynthesis, and inactivation of Rubisco affect the production of photo-assimilates and their allocation, consequently resulting in reduced grain yield and quality. The development of thermo-tolerant wheat varieties is the most efficient and fundamental approach for coping with global warming. This review provides a comprehensive overview of various aspects related to heat stress tolerance in wheat, including damages caused by heat stress, mechanisms of heat stress tolerance, genes or QTLs regulating heat stress tolerance, and the methodologies of breeding wheat cultivars with high heat stress tolerance. Such insights are essential for developing thermo-tolerant wheat cultivars with high yield potential in response to an increasingly warmer environment.

The presence of cadmium (Cd) in agricultural soils poses a serious risk to crop growth and food safety. Cadmium uptake and transport in plants occur through the various transporters of nutrient ions that have similar physical and chemical properties to Cd, indicating that the genetic manipulation of these transporters and agronomic improvement in the Cd-antagonistic nutrients could be a good approach for reducing Cd uptake and accumulation in crops. In this review, we discuss the interactions between Cd and some micronutrients, including zinc (Zn) and manganese (Mn), focusing on their influence on the expression of genes encoding Cd-related transporters, including ZIP7, NRAMP3, and NRAMP4. Genetic improvements in enhancing the specificity and efficiency of transporters and agronomic improvements in optimizing micronutrient nutrition can inhibit the Cd uptake and transport by these transporters. This comprehensive review provides a deep insight into genetic and agronomic improvement for fighting against Cd contamination and enhancing sustainable agricultural production.

Cadmium (Cd) contamination in agricultural soils poses a significant risk to crop production and food safety. This study explored the role and mechanisms of manganese (Mn) in mitigating Cd toxicity using two rice genotypes: ZS97B (Cd-tolerant) and MY46 (Cd-sensitive). A hydroponic experiment was conducted under two Mn levels (0 and 100 µM) and three Cd levels (0, 5, 10 µM). Exposure to 10 µM Cd significantly inhibited plant growth and induced physiological disorders, with more severe effects observed in MY46 than in ZS97B. The addition of Mn markedly alleviated Cd toxicity, as reflected by increased antioxidant enzyme activities and reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) contents in both roots and shoots. Gene expression analysis showed that Mn addition up-regulated genes related to antioxidant enzymes and down-regulated key Cd uptake and transport genes, including OsNramp1, OsYSL2, OsMTP9, and OsHMA3. These changes contributed to enhanced antioxidant capacity and reduced Cd accumulation in rice plants under Cd stress. Our findings demonstrate that appropriate Mn application can effectively reduce Cd accumulation and alleviate toxicity in rice grown in Cd-contaminated environments.

The presence of cadmium (Cd) in agricultural soils poses a serious risk to crop growth and food safety. Cd uptake and transport in plants occur through various transporters of nutrient ions which have the similar physical and chemical properties to Cd, indicating genetic manipulation of these transporters and agronomic improvement of the Cd-antagonistic nutrients could be a good approach for reducing Cd uptake and accumulation in crops. In this review, we discussed the interaction of Cd and some micronutrients, including zinc (Zn) and manganese (Mn), focusing on their influence on the expression of genes encoding Cd related transporters, including ZIP7, NRAMP3 and NRAMP4. Genetic improvement in enhancing the specificity and efficiency of transporters, and agronomic improvement in optimizing micronutrient nutrition can inhibit Cd uptake and transporters by these transporters. This comprehensive review provides a deep insight into genetic and agronomic improvement for fighting against Cd contamination and enhancing sustainable agricultural production.

Improving phosphorus use efficiency (PUE) in crops is critical for sustainable agriculture. Although the transcriptional regulation of phosphate starvation responses, centered on regulators such as the PHR1 and SPX proteins, is well established, the post-transcriptional mechanisms remain incompletely understood. This gap hinders a comprehensive view of how plants adapt to low-P conditions. This review synthesizes current knowledge on the gene regulatory networks involved in low-P adaptation in barley, with a specific focus on the emerging role of RNA processing. It highlights the limited knowledge of how alternative splicing contributes to this response. AS provides a rapid and energy-efficient means of fine-tuning gene expression, expanding proteome diversity and enabling more sophisticated adaptation mechanisms than the relatively binary “on/off” mode of transcriptional control. Several core regulators of AS, including serine–arginine-rich proteins and hnRNPs, have been identified, with the former discussed in detail and illustrated with key examples. Building on the advanced mechanistic insights into AS gained from model crops such as rice, this review proposes a predictive framework to prioritize research targets and experimental strategies. Such an approach can accelerate the discovery of analogous mechanisms in barley, thereby bridging a critical knowledge gap and advancing strategies to improve PUE in this important cereal crop.