“…The impact of water deficit, heat stress, and/or their combination on reproductive processes in major crops has been the subject of intense research efforts, and improving the tolerance of reproductive tissues to these stress conditions is a major goal of breeders and the agricultural biotech industry worldwide (e.g., Bheemanahalli et al., 2019; Da Costa et al., 2022; Fang et al., 2010; Gaur et al., 2019; Ishimaru et al., 2022; Jagadish et al., 2015; Jin et al., 2013; Lawas et al., 2018; Lippmann et al., 2019; Mahrookashani et al., 2017; Oury, Caldeira, et al., 2016; Prasad et al., 2008; Rang et al., 2011; Reichardt et al., 2020; Rivero et al., 2022; Su et al., 2013). As the development and maturation of reproductive tissues, the fertilization process, embryogenesis, and seed maturation involve the coordination of multiple developmental, stress response, and/or programmed cell death (PCD) pathways, under controlled conditions, it was hypothesized that any stress, such as heat stress (HS), water deficit (WD), or their combination (WD + HS), could alter the balance between development and stress response pathways and impair the entire reproductive process (Begcy et al., 2019; Bheemanahalli et al., 2019; Chaturvedi et al., 2021; del Olmo et al., 2019; Djanaguiraman et al., 2018; Endo et al., 2009; Fábián et al., 2019; Hedhly et al., 2020; Jin et al., 2013; Lohani et al., 2020; Lu et al., 2022; Ma et al., 2014; Mareri & Cai, 2022; Oury, Tardieu, et al., 2016; Santiago et al., 2021; Santiago & Sharkey, 2019; Sinha et al., 2021; Su et al., 2013; Sze et al., 2021; Zhang et al., 2021).…”