{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,10]],"date-time":"2026-08-10T11:32:21Z","timestamp":1786361541627,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"16","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,10]],"date-time":"2026-08-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786320000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Qinghai Provincial Science and Technology Program","award":["2025-ZJ-969T"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2025-ZJ-969T"]}]},{"name":"College Students\u2019 Innovative Training Program","award":["qhnucxcy2026090"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["qhnucxcy2026090"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Plants"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The co-occurrence of soil drought and cadmium (Cd) pollution represents an important combined-stress scenario in degraded alpine grasslands, yet comparative responses of native Elymus forage grasses remain poorly resolved. Seedlings of E. sibiricus cv. Chuancao, E. breviaristatus, and E. nutans cv. Gannan were exposed to a full-factorial hydroponic matrix of four nominal Cd concentrations (0, 5, 10, and 20 mg\u00b7L\u22121) and four PEG-6000 concentrations of 0, 5, 7.5, and 10% (w\/v). Growth, biomass allocation, tissue water status, malondialdehyde (MDA), soluble sugars, antioxidant enzyme activities, and photosynthetic pigments were measured, and stress tolerance coefficient, membership function analysis, and principal component analysis were used for integrated evaluation. Cd \u00d7 PEG interactions affected growth, biomass, MDA, soluble sugars, peroxidase, catalase (CAT), and total chlorophyll, demonstrating trait- and species-dependent non-additive responses. Under the most severe combined treatment, E. breviaristatus maintained comparatively better shoot growth, lower absolute MDA, and relatively stable CAT and pigment traits; E. nutans maintained CAT and chlorophyll concentration but showed severe membrane lipid peroxidation, whereas E. sibiricus was more sensitive in shoot growth and pigment maintenance. Multi-method evaluation ranked E. breviaristatus first for relative multi-trait performance. Because Cd availability, tissue Cd concentrations, and root-to-shoot translocation were not measured, this ranking reflects phenotype-based performance under common external treatments rather than intrinsic Cd tolerance. E. breviaristatus should therefore be regarded as a candidate for subsequent Cd-accumulation, soil-pot, and field validation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/plants15162434","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,10]],"date-time":"2026-08-10T10:23:50Z","timestamp":1786357430000},"page":"2434","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Contrasting Growth and Physiological Response Profiles of Three Native Alpine Elymus Forage Grasses Under Combined Cadmium and PEG-6000-Induced Osmotic Stress"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-9358-0023","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yanshuang","family":"Liu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Sciences, Qinghai Normal University, Xining 810008, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Huichun","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Sciences, Qinghai Normal University, Xining 810008, China"},{"name":"Key Laboratory of Medicinal Animal and Plant Resources on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Xining 810099, China"},{"name":"Academy of Plateau Science and Sustainability, Qinghai Normal University, Xining 810016, China"},{"name":"Qilian Mountain Southern Slope Forest Ecosystem Research Station, Huzhu 810500, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xuzhe","family":"Cui","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Sciences, Qinghai Normal University, Xining 810008, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nian","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Sciences, Qinghai Normal University, Xining 810008, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qunying","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Sciences, Qinghai Normal University, Xining 810008, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lina","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Sciences, Qinghai Normal University, Xining 810008, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mingyuan","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Sciences, Qinghai Normal University, Xining 810008, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Seleiman, M.F., Al-Suhaibani, N., Ali, N., Akmal, M., Alotaibi, M., Refay, Y., Dindaroglu, T., Abdul-Wajid, H.H., and Battaglia, M.L. 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