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Review
. 2025 Jun 3:16:1542519.
doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1542519. eCollection 2025.

Abiotic stress responses in forage crops and grasses: the role of secondary metabolites and biotechnological interventions

Udit Nandan Mishra  1 , Jyoti Chauhan  2 , Rajesh Kumar Singhal  3 , Hirdayesh Anuragi  4 , Prajjal Dey  5 , Dalpat Lal  6 , Saurabh Pandey  7 , N K Gupta  8 , Jajati Keshari Nayak  9 , Aparna Tripathi  10 , Mahendra Singh  3 , Monika Yadav  3 , Radha Sivarajan Sajeevan  11
Affiliations
Review

Abiotic stress responses in forage crops and grasses: the role of secondary metabolites and biotechnological interventions

Udit Nandan Mishra et al. Front Plant Sci. .

Abstract

Forage crops and grasses play crucial roles in global agriculture, serving as primary sources of livestock feed. However, various abiotic stresses, such as drought, salinity, extreme temperatures, and heavy metals, frequently challenge their productivity, quality, and resilience. In response to these stressors, plants activate defense mechanisms, including the production of secondary metabolites (SMs). This review exclusively examines the diverse impacts of abiotic stresses on forage crops and grasses' physiological processes, growth, development, yield, and quality. We delve into the synthesis, types, and role of SMs in mediating stress responses, conferring adaptation and resilience to adverse environmental conditions in forage crops and grasses. Furthermore, we examine the regulatory mechanisms governing SM production in response to abiotic stress. This is crucial for developing strategies to enhance stress tolerance and improve forage productivity and quality. Finally, the review discusses emerging biotechnological interventions for improving forage crop performance under abiotic stress. Different omics technologies, gene editing, and pathway engineering offer promising avenues that enable the precise manipulation of key regulatory genes and metabolic pathways, with enhanced SM biosynthesis to engineer resilient crops tailored to specific environmental challenges. This review obtains a strong correlation of SMs with improving fodder and forage crop tolerance to varying degrees of stresses by regulating antioxidant activity, osmotic homeostasis, and membrane stability, ultimately enhancing plant viability, productivity, and quality under diverse stress conditions. Further, unraveling the intricate interplay between abiotic stresses, SMs, and biotechnological interventions is pivotal for advancing forage crop resilience and ensuring global food security amid changing environmental conditions.

Keywords: biotechnological interventions; growth and development; metabolic pathways; secondary metabolites; stress tolerance.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Biosynthesis and compartmentalization of SMs. SMs, secondary metabolites.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Roles and responses of SMs under different abiotic stresses. SMs, secondary metabolites.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Enhancing stress sensing through candidate gene identification and bioengineering strategies.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Graphical representation of abiotic stress signaling and role of biotechnological interventions in forage crop improvement through SM production. SM, secondary metabolite.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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