More important than ever: understanding how plants cope with stress.

In view of the unprecedented rate of current climate change, plants are exposed to an avalanche of adverse environmental conditions that will challenge their ability to cope with abiotic and biotic stresses. These changes are bound to affect crop plants as well, and thus, have the potential to jeopardize food security on a global scale. Hence, it will be critical to understand the molecular defence and adaptation mechanisms that enable plants to thrive in an increasingly hostile environment. In this Subject Collection, The FEBS Journal presents a collection of reviews and original articles dealing with aspects of plant defence systems and mechanisms of pathogenicity.