Dear Colleagues,

Plants are vulnerable to various biotic and abiotic stresses in their environment. These environmental stresses include drought, salinity, heat/cold stress, nutrient deficiency, heavy metal pollution, UV radiation, toxic gases, and pesticides, as well as the action of multiple organisms, for instance bacteria, fungi, viruses, and herbivores. Plants respond to these stressful conditions by changing the quantity and quality of the metabolites produced with a process which starts at the gene level and ends with the production of metabolites. Under a hostile environment, plant metabolism plays a key role in signaling pathways, physiological modulation, and defense responses. Simultaneously, environmental stresses induce fine adjustments of the biosynthesis, concentration, transport, and storage of primary and secondary metabolites in feedback. Appropriate activation of early metabolic responses aids in the restoration of biochemical and energetic imbalances caused by stress, which is critical for plant adaptation and survival.

This Special Issue of Metabolites is devoted to original research and review articles on the responses of plant metabolism to the action of different biotic and abiotic stress factors, as well as the status of primary and secondary metabolites in plants. This Special Issue covers a wide range of topics related to the biochemistry, functionality, and biological activity of particular metabolites. We especially welcome research and review articles that focus on (but are not limited to) the following topics:

• Induction of metabolite biosynthesis in plants subjected to biotic and abiotic stresses;
• Modification and production of plant metabolites using biotechnology techniques;
• Stress-resistance-related metabolites in plants;
• In vitro production of plant metabolites;
• Biological activities of focused plant metabolites;
• Plant metabolite biosynthesis;
• Integrative and comprehensive tools for exploring stress-resistance-related metabolites in plants;
• Application of specialized plant metabolites to promote crop production and resilience;
• Specialized plant metabolites as bioactive molecules in pharmacology and medicine;
• Induction of metabolite biosynthesis in plants by biofertilizers/biostimulants in response to biotic and abiotic stresses.

Dr. Mohamed Ait-El-Mokhtar
Dr. Raja Ben-Laouane
Dr. Abdelilah Meddich
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Metabolites is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• biotic and abiotic stresses
• plant primary and secondary metabolites
• plant stress response
• plant metabolomics
• biologically active plant metabolites
• phytochemical composition of plant metabolites
• biotechnological production of plant metabolites
• biostimulants for plant stress mitigation