Plants are continuously exposed to abiotic and biotic stresses, often in combination, requiring tightly coordinated metabolic and structural adaptations. A key component in these responses is the plant cell wall, a dynamic extracellular matrix that undergoes extensive remodeling to maintain integrity under stress conditions. Both abiotic and biotic factors trigger modifications in cell wall composition and structure, which in turn influence signaling pathways and defense mechanisms. While hormonal signaling has long been recognized in stress adaptation, increasing evidence points to a crucial role for small signaling peptides (SSPs) in modulating stress responses. SSPs, typically less than 100 amino acids in length, function through diverse mechanisms, including transcriptional regulation and direct interaction with cell wall components. In this review, we examine the interplay between environmental stress, cell wall remodeling, and SSP-mediated signaling. We provide an overview of stress-specific cell wall modifications and outline how SSPs are involved in these stress responses. Through exploratory analyses of published transcriptomic datasets, we illustrate how SSP-precursor expression patterns may indicate potential roles in cell wall-mediated stress responses. We conclude that SSP signaling represents an integral part of responses to abiotic and biotic stress and propose directions for future functional studies on the roles of SSPs in cell wall remodeling.
Debnath et al. (Thu,) studied this question.