{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,19]],"date-time":"2026-10-19T08:44:33Z","timestamp":1792399473627,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"Wiley","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,19]],"date-time":"2026-10-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1792368000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/termsAndConditions#vor"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,19]],"date-time":"2026-10-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1792368000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Plant Cell &amp;amp; Environment"],"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Plants in the field rarely encounter single stresses, and simultaneous stresses impose conflicting physiological demands that cannot be satisfied at once. Responses to such combinations are frequently non\u2010additive and cannot be predicted from single\u2010stress responses, a result that crosstalk models struggle to accommodate because they describe which pathways interact without specifying which prevails. This review proposes that peptide signalling functions as a control layer governing signal prioritisation. Under this hypothesis, secreted peptides act above the shared modules of cytosolic calcium, reactive oxygen species, and mitogen\u2010activated protein kinase cascades, and determine which competing input is permitted to dominate their behaviour. Evidence for this proposal spans several peptide families. CEP, CLE and RALF signalling illustrate systemic demand signalling, developmental stabilisation, and receptor complex reorganisation respectively, and the same logic extends to PEP, IDA and PSK signalling across immune, developmental, and drought contexts. Combined drought and nitrogen limitation, resolved through ABA and CEP, provides a worked case in which a global signal sets operating boundaries within which a local signal refines the response, supported by evidence now extending from Arabidopsis into cereals. We derive falsifiable predictions tested against hormone\u2010pathway negative controls and graded drought intensities rather than single treatments, which allows loss of prioritisation to be distinguished from general signalling fragility. We also identify a trade\u2010off constraining crop application, since enhancing peptide\u2010mediated nutrient foraging may reduce drought resilience. Substantial gaps remain in detecting peptide signals directly and in ranking peptide families under field conditions. Reframing plant signalling as a decision system rather than an input\u2010output relay offers a testable foundation for improving stress resilience and nutrient use efficiency in crop breeding.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1111\/pce.70976","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,19]],"date-time":"2026-10-19T08:15:47Z","timestamp":1792397747000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Peptide Signalling as a Control Layer for Signal Prioritisation in Plant Stress Networks"],"prefix":"10.1111","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1553-2248","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Baber","family":"Ali","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science Western Sydney University Penrith NSW Australia"},{"name":"Division of Plant Sciences, Research, School of Biology Australian National University Acton ACT Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-1228-4668","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Peter","family":"Poczai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Botany and Mycology Unit, Finnish Museum of Natural History &amp; Department of Organismal and Evolutionary Biology University of Helsinki Helsinki Finland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4060-1316","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nijat","family":"Imin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science Western Sydney University Penrith NSW Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_14_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1249","DOI":"10.3390\/biology15151249","article-title":"Transcriptional Regulation, Epigenetic Memory, and Crispr\u2010Based Engineering of Combined Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Cereal Crops","volume":"15","author":"Ali B.","year":"2026","journal-title":"Biology"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1538","DOI":"10.3390\/plants15101538","article-title":"Classical Phytohormones and Peptide Plant Hormones in Abiotic Stress Tolerance: Crosstalk, Physiological Integration, and Crop Improvement","volume":"15","author":"Ali B.","year":"2026","journal-title":"Plants"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8195","DOI":"10.1111\/pce.70746","article-title":"CEP\u2010CEPR1 Signalling in Cereal Crops: Integrating Nitrogen Demand, Root System Architecture, and Drought Resilience","volume":"49","author":"Ali B.","year":"2026","journal-title":"Plant, Cell & Environment"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_5_1","article-title":"Engineering Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Cereal Crops: Current Advances and Future Directions","author":"Ali B.","year":"2026","journal-title":"Cereal Research Communications"},{"key":"e_1_2_14_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3189","DOI":"10.1093\/plphys\/kiad254","article-title":"Integration of Multiple Stress Signals in Plants Using Synthetic Boolean Logic Gates","volume":"192","author":"Anderson C. 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