Plants continuously face multiple abiotic stresses, including drought, salinity, heat, cold, and heavy metal, that challenge cellular homeostasis and threaten global crop productivity. Recent research reveals that these stress responses are not isolated but interconnected through shared hormonal, redox, and transcriptional networks. This review provides an integrative synthesis of current advances in stress signaling, emphasizing how perception, transduction, and memory layers are hierarchically organized across distinct stress types. We outline key regulatory hubs—such as ABA-centered hormonal crosstalk, chloroplast-nucleus redox communication, and epigenetic priming—that coordinate systemic tolerance. Furthermore, we highlight emerging evidence for stress-specific modules that operate under combined stresses (e.g., drought–heat, salinity–cold), providing a unified framework for understanding how plants integrate multi-dimensional signals. This synthesis offers a conceptual perspective linking signaling architecture to adaptive outcomes, aiming to inform future strategies for engineering multi-stress-resilient crops.

Alkylresorcinols (ARs) are beneficial for human health and can be used as biomarkers for whole-grain cereal intake. In previous studies, ARs content in whole-grain flour was determined by milling the seeds into powder, thus destroying their structure. In this paper, we adopted a non-destructive extraction approach. Chloroform and ethyl acetate extraction methods were carried out to extract lipids from the seed surface and whole-grain flour of 36 wheat varieties in China, respectively. GC-MS analysis identified chemical compounds in which ARs were the major compounds for all the samples. The average total content of ARs (624.223 µg/g) in whole grains was much higher than that on seed surfaces (4.934 µg/g), with a positive correlation (r = 0.863, p < 0.001) between these two parameters. The results suggested that the total ARs content on the seed surface can be used to predict their content in whole-grain flour. Without affecting the seed germination rate and damaging seed structure, we demonstrate that a non-destructive extraction approach is an appropriate and useful method, facilitating the development of rapid screening methods suitable for use in wheat breeding.

L-type lectin receptor-like kinases (L-LecRLKs) play key roles in plant responses to environmental stresses and the regulation of growth and development. However, comprehensive studies of the L-LecRLK gene family in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) are still limited. In this study, 248 L-LecRLK candidate genes were identified in wheat, which is the largest number reported in any species to date. Phylogenetic analysis grouped these genes into four clades (I–IV), with Group IV exhibiting significant monocot-specific expansion. Gene duplication analysis revealed that both whole-genome/segmental and tandem duplications contributed to family expansion, while Ka/Ks ratio analysis suggested that the genes have undergone strong purifying selection. The TaL-LecRLK genes displayed diverse exon-intron structures and conserved motif compositions. Promoter analysis revealed a cis-element associated with hormone signaling and abiotic stress responses. Transcriptome profiling showed that TaL-LecRLKs exhibit tissue- and stage-specific expression patterns. RNA-Seq data revealed that, under drought and heat stress conditions, TaL-LecRLK35-3D and TaL-LecRLK67-6B exhibited synergistic expression patterns, whereas TaL-LecRLK67-6A demonstrated antagonistic expression. A qRT-PCR further demonstrated that six TaL-LecRLKs may function through ABA-independent regulatory mechanisms. These findings provide valuable gene candidates for stress-resistant wheat breeding and shed light on the evolution and functional diversity of L-LecRLKs in plants.