The main focus of this review is to introduce readers to the fascinating class of lipid molecules known as norsteroids, exploring their distribution across various biotopes and their biological activities. The review provides an in-depth analysis of various modified steroids, including A, B, C, and D-norsteroids, each characterized by distinct structural alterations. These modifications, which range from the removal of specific methyl groups to changes in the steroid core, result in unique molecular architectures that significantly impact their biological activity and therapeutic potential. The discussion on A, B, C, and D-norsteroids sheds light on their unique configurations and how these structural modifications influence their pharmacological properties. The review also presents examples from natural sources that produce a diverse array of steroids with distinct structures, including the aforementioned A, B, C, and D-nor variants. These compounds, sourced from marine organisms like sponges, soft corals and starfish, as well as terrestrial entities such as plants, fungi, and bacteria. The exploration of these steroids encompasses their biosynthesis, ecological significance, and potential medical applications, highlighting a crucial area of interest in pharmacology and natural product chemistry. The review emphasizes the importance of researching these steroids for drug development, particularly in addressing diseases where conventional medications are inadequate or for conditions lacking sufficient therapeutic options. Examples of norsteroid synthesis are provided to illustrate the practical applications of this research.

The rest-breaking agent, hydrogen cyanamide (HC), can substitute insufficient chill unit accumulation in Vitis vinifera and induce uniform bud-break; however, due to its toxicity it is being banned. In South Africa, red seedless grapes, including V. vinifera Crimson Seedless (CS), are the largest table grape export group; therefore, replacing HC in V. vinifera CS is crucial. This study aimed to confirm the molecular triggers induced by HC and assess the bud-break-enhancing abilities of commercial plant biostimulants. Forced bud-break assay experiments using V. vinifera CS single-node cuttings and a small-scale field trial were performed. Results demonstrated that increased chill unit accumulation (CUA), reduced HC efficacy. Bud-break started between 10 and 20 days after treatment, irrespective of final CUA. The small-scale field trial found that HC3 % resulted in a slightly delayed bud-break rate, whilst biostimulants were similar to the negative control. The treatment of dormant grapevine compound buds with nitric oxide (NO), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and hypoxia trigger dormancy-release to a certain extent, supporting the molecular models proposed for HC action. NO, H2O2, and hypoxia, in combination with PBs, may potentially replace HC; however, this needs to be confirmed in future experiments.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disorder characterized by the deficiency of insulin production and is one of the concerning health problems worldwide, especially in developing countries. Considering the systemic toxicity associated with current antidiabetic medications and their limited efficacy, there is an urgent need to discover new plant-based natural antidiabetics. Since time immemorial, medicinal plants have played an important role in the management of health disorders. In recent years, herbal medicine has experienced exponential growth in popularity worldwide, owing to its natural origin and fewer side effects, appealing to both developing and developed nations. Ecuador has a rich cultural history in ethnobotany that plays a crucial role in their people's lives. Several Ecuadorian medicinal plants have hypoglycemic or an-ti-hyperglycemic properties that are rich with bioactive phytochemicals. These medicinal plants were extensively used in traditional medicine preparation in Ecuador for many decades to treat diabetes because of their cost-effectiveness, available traditional knowledge, and low toxicity. Many Ecuadorian medicinal plants are reported to have antidiabetic properties that reduce blood sugar levels, and oxidative stress, regulate intestinal function, improve insulin resistance, inhibit α-amylase and α-glucosidase, lower gluconeogenic enzymes, stimulate glucose uptake mechanisms, and play an important role in glucose and lipid metabolism, yet there is a substantial lack of integrated approach between the existing ethnomedicinal practice and pharmacological research. Therefore, this review aims to discuss and explore the traditional medicinal plants used in Ecuador for treating DM and their bioactive phytochemicals, which are mainly responsible for their anti-diabetic properties.

As the global arid climate intensifies and the groundwater becomes increasingly scarce, drought stress has become a major challenge to plant growth and development worldwide, especially causing yield reduction and extinction of cultivated crops. In a large number of drought resistance studies, DNA methylation has been found dynamically associated with response to drought stress in plants by regulating gene expression and developments in plants, but the specific mechanisms are not yet clear. In this article, the current advances of research have been summarized on DNA methylation response to drought stress in various plant species, in terms of methylation detection methods, mechanisms of pattern changes (DNA de novo methylation, DNA maintenance methylation, and DNA demethylation), and its response to drought stress. With Most of the studies showed significant changes in genome or gene promoter methylation levels in plants subjected to drought stress, but the identification of the genes and pathways involved is still in the minority. The aim is to provide references for in-depth research on the response of plants to drought stress through epigenetics, and to uncover drought resistance genes regulated by DNA methylation, specific signaling pathways, and molecular mechanisms of action.

Alhagi pseudalhagi in the arid zone of the Atyrau region and an analysis of their current state with an assessment of raw material reserves were studied. Botanical characteristics, ontogenetic spectrum, morphological indicators, productivity, areas of thickets and reserves of raw materials of above-ground organs were assessed. The structural parameters of these coenopopulations in the Zhangyr and Coneu Rivers valleys, the vicinity of Imankara Mountain, and the Taisoigan sands were studied. It was established that the species composition of the populations includes 63 species from 54 genera and 30 families. The most common species include 49 taxa, category II – 17 taxa, category III – 7 species, category IV–V – 2 species. The maximum similarity in species composition was noted between populations in the Zhangyr and Coneu Rivers valleys. The maximum morphometric indicators were observed among the population of the river valley. Coneu and the minima are located on the Taisoigan sands. Analysis of the age spectrum made it possible to determine that the populations in the Zhangyr and Coneu Rivers valleys are characterized as young, in the area of Imankara Mountain and on the Taisoigan sands - as stable and middle-aged.

Water plays a vital role in the healthy growth of pears. Early detection of water stress can play a significant role in the timely management of water deficiency for pear yield. Most current methods are labour-intensive, time-consuming, only provide point measurements, and could be destructive. In this research, a real-time non-destructive method using a push-broom hyperspectral system (400-1000nm) was used to collect hyperspectral image data and detect the water stress of the pear seedling leaves. To build a reliable prediction model, machine learning techniques were used. The Successive Projections Algorithm (SPA) was applied for optimal wavelength selection. In particular, CNN was applied to obtain the features of key wavelengths. Both the CNN features and key wavelengths were put into RR-MLR, BLR and ENN for analysis. The training accuracy of the three modellings all reach the accuracy above 70% after about 100 epochs, while combination of CNN features outperformed the mere main spectra analysis. This research demonstrated that hyperspectral imaging coupled with machine learning techniques could be applied to predict the water content of pear leaves predict non-destructively.

Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM), as one of the core technologies in intelligent robotics, has gained substantial attention in recent years. Addressing the limitations of SLAM systems in dynamic environments, this research proposes a system specifically designed for plant factory transportation environments, named GY-SLAM. GY-SLAM incorporates a lightweight target detection network GY based on YOLOv5, which utilizes GhostNet as the backbone network. This integration is further enhanced with CoordConv coordinate convolution, CARAFE up-sampling operators, and SE attention mechanism, leading to simultaneous improvements in detection accuracy and model complexity reduction. While improving mAP@0.5 by 0.514%, the model simultaneously reduces the number of parameters by 43.976%, computational cost by 46.488%, and model size by 41.752%. Additionally, the system constructs pure static octree maps and grid maps. Tests conducted on the TUM dataset and a proprietary dataset demonstrate that GY-SLAM significantly outperforms ORB-SLAM3 in dynamic scenarios in terms of system local-ization accuracy and robustness. It shows a remarkable 92.58% improvement in RMSE for Absolute Trajectory Error (ATE). Compared to YOLOv5s, the GY model brings a 41.5944% improvement in detection speed and a 17.7975% increase in SLAM operation speed to the system, indicating strong competitiveness and real-time capabilities. These results validate the effectiveness of GY-SLAM in dynamic environments and provide substantial support for the automation of logistics tasks by robots in specific contexts.

The flowering of Amorphophallus bulbifer plays an important role in its reproduction. The flowers and leaves of A. bulbifer cannot grow at the same time. However, the physiological and molecular mechanisms involved in flower bud and leaf bud formation are still unclear. In this study, the flower buds and leaf buds of A. bulbifer in the early stage of growth were used as research materials, transcriptome and metabolome analyses were carried out, and the soluble sugar and starch contents of A. bulbifer corms were determined. Transcriptome analysis revealed 5 542 differentially expressed genes (DEG) between flower buds and leaf buds, 3 107 of which were upregulated and 2 435 of which were downregulated. Enrichment analysis of the KEGG pathway showed that these differential genes were enriched mainly in the plant hormone signal transduction, DNA replication and fatty acid elongation pathways. Plant hormone signal transduction, DNA replication and fatty acid elongation pathways. A total of 5 296 significant differentially abundant metabolites were screened out by nontargeted metabolomics analysis. The differentially abundant metabolites were functionally classified in the HMDB, and 118 were successfully matched, including 17 that were highly expressed in flower buds. The differentially abundant metabolites in the flower buds were mainly enriched in pathways such as amino acid metabolism, isoquinoline alkaloid biosynthesis and pyrimidine metabolism. Targeted metabolomics analysis revealed that the contents of ABA, ZT and iPA in flower buds were significantly greater than those in leaf buds, while the opposite trend was observed for IAA. The analysis of soluble sugar and starch contents showed that the starch and soluble sugar contents in flower buds were significantly greater than those in leaf buds. The results of this study showed that flower bud development in A. bulbifer was regulated by amino acids, starch, ABA, ZT, iPA, IAA and other hormones. These findings could lead to valuable genetic resources for further study of A. bulbifer flowering and provide a deeper understanding of the molecular basis of A. bulbifer flowering.

Type IVc Pili (T4cP), also known as Tad or Flp pili, are long thin microbial filaments, which are made-up of small-sized pilins. These appendages serve different functions in bacteria including attachment, biofilm formation, surface sensing, motility, and host colonization. Despite their relevant role in diverse microbial lifestyles, knowledge about T4cP in bacteria that establish symbiosis with legumes, collectively referred to as rhizobia, is still limited. Sinorhizobium meliloti contains two clusters of T4cP-related genes: flp-1 and flp-2, which are located on the chromosome and pSymA megaplasmid, respectively. Bundle-forming pili associated to flp-1 have been involved in competitive nodulation of alfalfa plants but the role of flp-2 remains elusive. In this work, we have performed a comprehensive bioinformatic analyses of T4cP genes in the highly competitive S. meliloti strain GR4 and investigated the role of its flp clusters in pilus biogenesis, motility and in the interaction with alfalfa. Single and double flp cluster mutants were constructed in the wild-type genetic background as well as in a flagellaless derivative strain. Our data demonstrate that both chromosomal and pSymA flp clusters are functional in pili biogenesis, and contribute to surface translocation and nodule formation efficiency of GR4. In this strain, the presence of flp-1 in the absence of flp-2 reduces competitiveness for nodule occupation.

The implementation of phytoremediation strategies under arid and semi-arid climate requires the use of appropriate plant species capable of withstanding multiple abiotic stresses. In this study, we assessed the combined effects of organo-mineral amendments and microbial inoculants on chemical and biological properties of mine tailings, as well as on growth of native plant species under drought stress conditions. Plants were cultivated in pots containing 1 kg of a mixture of mine tailings and topsoil (i.e. pre-mined superficial soil) in a 60:40 ratio, 6% marble sludge and 10% sheep manure. Moreover, a consortium of four drought-resistant rhizobacteria was inoculated. Three irrigation levels were applied: well-watered, moderate water deficit, and severe water deficit, corresponding to 80%, 45%, and 30% of field capacity, respectively. The addition of topsoil and organo-mineral amendments to mine tailings significantly improved their chemical and biological properties, which were further enhanced by bacterial inoculation and plants’ establishment. Water stress negatively impacted enzymatic activities in amended tailings, resulting in a significant decrease of acid and alkaline phosphatases, urease, and dehydrogenase activities. Similar results were obtained for bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes abundance. PGPR inoculation positively influenced the availability of phosphorus, total nitrogen, and organic carbon, while increased alkaline phosphatase, urease (by about 10%) and dehydrogenase activities (by 50%). The rhizosphere of P. harmala showed the highest enzymatic activity and number of culturable microorganisms, especially in inoculated treatments. Severe water deficit has nega-tively affected plant growth, leading to a 40% reduction in shoot biomass of both Atriplex halimus and Pennisetum setaceum compared to well-watered plants. Peganum harmala showed greater tolerance to water stress, as corroborated by the lower decreases observed in root and shoot length and dry weight compared to well-watered plants. The use of bioinoculants mitigated the negative effects of drought on P. harmala shoot biomass, resulting in an increase of up to 75% in the aerial biomass in plants exposed to severe water deficit. In conclusion, the results suggest that the combination of organo-mineral amendments, PGPR inoculation and P. harmala represents a promising approach to enhance the phytoremediation of metal-polluted soils under semi-arid conditions.

Woody and non-woody plant species conservation is one of the ecosystem services provided by agroforestry (AF) systems across the agricultural landscapes. Little attention has been paid in as-sessing the plant diversity conservation of AF systems. The study was, thus, aimed to investigate plant species diversity, structure, and composition of three AF systems in Gedeo zone of south eastern Rift–valley Agricultural landscape of Ethiopia. The study was conducted in three agroforestry systems, namely, enset based, coffee–enset based (C-E based AF) and coffee-fruit trees–enset based (C-Ft-E based AF) agroforestry systems. Twenty farms representative of each AF system were randomly selected and inventory of the floristic diversity was employed in a 10×10 meter sample plot per farm. A total of 52 perennial woody and non–woody plant species belonging to 30 families were recorded. Of all species identified 33 (63.5%) were native, of which two species were registered as endemic. The highest proportion of native species was recorded in enset based AF (93.3%) and the least were in C–Ft–E based AF (59%). According to IUCN Red List and local criteria, 13 species were recorded as of interest for conservation in all AF systems. The woody species Prunus africana was identified as both vulnerable by IUCN Red List and rare for 25% of species that least occurred. The Shannon diversity index and richness showed that C–Ft–E based AF systems were significantly different from the two remaining AF systems. However, the species abundance and evenness did not show significant differences between the three AF systems. In general, retaining such number of woody and non–woody perennial plant species richness under AF systems of the present study underlines their potential for biodiversity conservation.

The study covered the leaves of 25 varieties of highbush blueberry Vaccinium corymbosum L. Determinations were performed for phenolic acid (chlorogenic, neochlorogenic, cryptochlorogenic, 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic and 4,5-dicaffeoylquinic acids), flavonoid (catechin, rutin, isoquercetin), arbutin and hydroquinone content. The content of phenolic acids and flavonoids in the test material suggests that highbush blueberry leaves can be a potentially good material for dietary supplement production, although the relatively high arbutin content (exceeding 4% in the case of the Bonus, Chantiklee and Herbert varieties) limits this possibility to herbal medicinal products applied in case of health issues for a limited time, similar to other over-the-counter arbutin products (bearberry Arctostaphylos uva-ursi and lingonberry Vaccinium vitis-idaea leaves).

This paper described a crystallization procedure of the “1-Octadecanol/n-Nonadecane” binary system, an accurate description of the phase change process and the associated analysis of the cooling and melting of this binary system between 20 and 70 degrees Celsius. The introduction section mainly describes the scientific background and principle of plant cuticle wax layer and the former studies on the crystallization of n-Alkanes and n-Alkanols. The experiment part introduces the experimental chemicals, instruments and specific experimental operating procedures required for the preparation of the “1-Octadecanol/n-Nonadecane” binary system. In the following sections, the thermal properties of this binary system are studied. According to the DSC diagram, phase diagrams and absorption spectrum, the specific phase transition and enthalpy of each phase transition were studied. The cooling and heating phase diagrams were plotted. The influence of the different compositions of these two chemicals was analyzed and discussed. The last part is the conclusion of this thesis, which summarizes the experimental research results of the complete text and points out the needed further research.

In order to address the issues of weight, cost and sustainability issues associated with the application of glass fibre in structural composites, plant fibres are proposed as an alternative to reduce and replace the usage of glass fibres. Despite this, there is still a gap in comprehensive research on plant fibre composites, especially with regard to their durability in real structural applications. This research investigates the fatigue and impact properties of pultruded hybrid polyester composites reinforced with glass fibre and kenaf, tailored for structural applications. Utilising kenaf fibres in mat form, unidirectional glass fibre direct roving yarns and unsaturated polyester resin as key components, pultruded kenaf/glass hybrid profiles were meticulously fabricated. Comparative cost and weight analyses were conducted between pultruded hybrid and non-hybrid profiles. The study showed that the pultruded kenaf/glass alternative laminates exhibit commendable fatigue and impact resistance, making them suitable for use in moderately loaded structural applications. Moreover, the use of kenaf as a hybrid alternative shows significant cost and weight reductions. This research provides a basis for the development of sustainable and efficient structural materials and highlights the significant role of material design in shaping the future of engineering applications.

The Sakha people have a long history of use of medicinal plants in traditional medicine and healing practices. This article explores the use and naming practices found with 10 plants that grow in far northeastern Russia, in the Arctic and Subarctic zones of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). A field survey of 2500 participants was used to identify the most widely used medicinal plants, their names, and uses. Findings were double-checked with published resources. A small set of criteria are used in naming practices. These practices are based on the plant’s appearance, its habit, or in some way are related to their use, indexing the disease, or the diseased organ, or the result of healing. We find robust knowledge and practice of traditional medicine across the Sakha population, and deep knowledge of plants among Sakha herbalists, healers and shamans.

Brassicaceae are well known as non-arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) host plants. This study was aimed to examine effects of two Brassica; cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. cv. cabitata) and mustard (B. juncea Coss.) on three AM species (Acaulospora, Entrophospora and Glomus) and to examine effect of root incorporation into soil on root AM infectivity in maize growing in iron toxicity soil. Experiment 1, cabbage and mustard crop reduced spore density of Acaulospora, but there was no effect on spore density of Entrophospora. While, mustard crop had more effect on Glomus spore density than cabbage crop. Experiment 2, AM spore from two conditions; without and with 6 weeks of root residues (cabbage, mustard and maize) incorporation was examined for its infectivity in maize roots. At D21, without root incorporated, the infectivity of Acaulospora, Entrophospora and Glomus were not different. By contrast, cabbage and mustard root incorporation depressed infec-tivity of Acaulospora but, there was no effect on Entrophospora. Whereas, cabbage root incorporation only depressed infectivity of Glomus. However, AM infectivity was recovered at D42. These results suggested that Brassica root incorporated into soil was the actual effect on the viability of AM spore resulting in reduction of AM infectivity at the early stage.

Paleogenomics focuses on the recovery, manipulation, and analysis of ancient DNA (aDNA) from historical or long-dead organisms to reconstruct and analyze their genomes. The aDNA is commonly obtained from remains found in paleontological and archaeological sites, conserved in museums and in other archival collections. Herbarium collections represent a great source of phenotypic and genotypic information, and their exploitation allowed to infer and to clarify previously unsolved taxonomic and systematic relationships. Moreover, Herbarium specimens offered a new source to study phenological traits in plants and to disentangle biogeography and evolutionary scenarios of species. More recently, advances in the molecular technologies went in parallel with the decreasing costs of the next-generation sequencing (NGS) approaches, that paved the way to the utilization of aDNA for whole-genome studies. Although many studies have been carried out combining modern analytic techniques and Herbarium specimens, this research field is still relatively unexplored, due to the need of improving strategies for aDNA manipulation and exploitation. The higher susceptibility of aDNA to degradation and contamination during the Herbarium conservation and manipulation, and the occurrence of biochemical post-mortem damages, can result in the more challenging reconstruction of the original DNA sequence. Here, we review the methodological approaches that have been developed for the exploitation of historical Herbarium plant materials, such as the best practices for aDNA extraction, amplification and genotyping. We also focus on some strategies to overcome the main problems related to the utilization of Herbarium specimens for their exploitation in plant evolutionary studies.

Plant-derived diterpene synthases (PdiTPSs) play a critical role in the formation of structurally and functionally diverse diterpenoids. However, the specificity or promiscuity of PdiTPSs remains unclear. In order to gain more understanding of this, the sequences of 199 functionally characterized PdiTPSs and their corresponding 3D structures were collected and manually corrected. Then, the correlations among sequences, domains, structures and their corresponding products were comprehensively analyzed. However, those features alone was insufficient for ef-fective product-specific classification of PdiTPSs as these methods could not establish a clear mapping between the enzymes and products. Nevertheless, local structural analysis can identify residues that have been experimentally proven to influence product outcomes through mutagenesis, and these residues exhibit conservation in spatial positioning and physicochemical properties. And aromatic residues surrounding the substrate exhibited selectivity towards its chemical structure. Specifically, tryptophan (W) was preferentially located around the linear substrate geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (GGPP), while phenylalanine (F) and tyrosine (Y) were preferentially located around the initial cyclized diterpene intermediate. This analysis revealed the functional space of residues surrounding the substrate of PdiTPSs, most of which have not been experimentally explored. These findings provide guidance for screening specific residues for mutation studies to change the catalytic products of PdiTPSs.

This study aimed to verify the responsiveness of common bean plants subjected to re-inoculation of Rhizobium in topdressing applied at different stages in edaphoclimatic conditions of the Cerrado. A randomized block design was used, with four replications: T1=uninoculated control; T2=inoculation via seed (VS); T3=VS + reinoculation at the V4 stage; T4=VS + reinoculation at the R5 stage; T5=VS + reinoculation at the R6 stage; T6=VS + reinoculation in at V4 and R5 stages; T7=VS + re-inoculation at V4 and R6 stage; T8=VS + reinoculation at R5 and R6 stages; T9=VS + reinoculation at V4, R5, and R6 stages, and T10=mineral nitrogen fertilization. Nodulation and morphological variables were evaluated at the R7 stage and agronomic variables at R9 at harvest. The use of reinoculation, in addition to inoculation, positively influenced the bean nodulation process. The morphological characteristics of the plants showed good development with the supply of N performed by inoculation and reinoculation, equivalent to the addition of mineral nitrogen fer-tilizer. Reinoculation from R5 to R7 stagesproved ineffective in supplying N to the common bean crop. Inoculation associated with reinoculation at the V4 stage provided higher yields and could replace mineral nitrogen fertilizer.

Since 2017, a fishing moratorium has been enforced in Lake Honghu as part of Chang-Jiang’s biodiversity conservation strategy. However, given that the lake is a semi-closed aquatic ecosystem, and no longer serves as a habitat for certain fishes of the mid-lower Chang-Jiang basin, the efficacy of this moratorium remains uncertain. To address the question from a trophic ecology perspective, a stomach content analysis was performed on captured anchovies C. brachygnathus, a current predominant species in Lake Honghu, from November 2020 to October 2021. Results showed that copepods, shrimps, and macrophytes were the main components of this anchovy's diet, and had size-related shifts in diets. The dominance of C. brachygnathus, a pelagic-littoral omnivore in this lake, implies a lacustrine environment shift triggered by continued human disturbances. The utilization of macrophytes as the main food items by large-sized anchovies of Lake Honghu partially contributed to the rapid degradation of submerged vegetation. This highlights the need to remove large-sized individuals of C. brachygnathus and Carassius auratus, another benthic-omnivorous dominant fish, in order to effectively restore the aquatic vegetation and ecosystem of Lake Honghu. The current implementation of fishing moratoriums in subtropical shallow floodplain lakes such as Lake Honghu should be reviewed critically.

As required by the EU legislation and the national risk management duties, the pesticide residues were determined by four specialized laboratories in 9,924 samples taken from 119 crops of economic importance and imported foodstuffs during 2017-2021 in Hungary. The screening method applied covered 622 pesticide residues as defined for enforcement purposes. The limit of detection ranged between 0.002-0.008 mg/kg. The 1.0% violation rate was lower than in the European Union for all commodities. No residue was detectable in 45.9% of the samples. For detailed analyses of the results, eight commodities (apple, cherry, grape, nectarine/peach, sweet peppers, and strawberry) were selected as they were analyzed over 195 samples and contained most frequently residues. Besides testing their conformity with national MRLs, applying 0.3MRL action limits for pre-export control, we found that 73% of the sampled lots would be compliant with ≥90% probability based on second independent sampling. Multiple residues (2-23) in one sample were detected in 36-50% of the tested lots. Noting the provisions of integrated pest management and the major pests and diseases of selected crops, normally 3-4, exceptionally 7-9 active ingredients of different mode of actions should be sufficient for their effective and economic protection.

The concept of omics-based technological approaches has promoted translational research by integrating knowledge from diverse areas to understand their dynamics by exploring the molecular mechanisms underlying various processes paving the way for further improvements in the crops quality by providing sound knowledge on controlling plant diseases. This area is not profoundly investigated a decade back and hence this knowledge has become exceedingly important in modern times as it has got potential for being utilized in crop improvement programs. In this review, the contributions of different omics technologies including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics in understanding and materializing the ways involved in the plant pathogen interaction (PPI) is discussed. Furthermore, opportunities, challenges, and perspectives of omics linked to signaling mechanisms have also been highlighted that are significantly linked to plant-microbe interactions.

Information regarding physiological and molecular plant responses to the treatment with new biofertilizers is limited. In this study a fast-composting soil amendment (FCA), obtained from solid waste by means of a Fenton reaction, was tested to evaluate the effects on the growth of Lactuca sativa L. var. longifolia seedlings. Growth rate, leaves and roots biomass, chlorophyll concentration and total soluble proteins of seedlings treated with the 2% FCA soil amendment showed significant increase in comparison with control seedlings. Leaf proteomic analysis revealed that the FCA soil amendment induced the up-regulation of proteins belonging to photosynthesis machinery, carbohydrate metabolism and promoted the up-regulation of the water stress response. Root proteomics indicated that FCA strongly induced the organs morphogenesis and developments; root cap development, lateral root formation, post-embryonic root morphogenesis were the main biological processes enriched by the treatment. Overall, our data suggest that addition of FCA formulation to the base soils might ameliorate plant growth by inducing carbohydrates primary metabolism and the differentiation of a robust root system.

In the new antibiotic era, the exponential increase of multiresistant bacterial strains become the main global health problem. Many researchers focused their efforts to explore novel or combined strategies for combating bacterial resistance. The good knowledge of molecular mechanisms of resistance and bacterial virulence factors as key targets gives us a good scenario to resolve the problem. One particularly attractive and promising way is to attack the main regulatory “network” of bacterial virulence determinants known as Quorum sensing (QS). The inhibition of QS signals will be a novel way for screening more effective Quorum sensing inhibitors (QSIs) and will put a key role in next-generation antimicrobials in the resistance battle. This determined the aim of the present review: comprehensive clarification of the regulatory mechanisms of quorum-sensing signaling pathways in Chromobacterium violaceum and discovery of potential plant quorum sensing inhibitors.

Plant Factory Transplanter (PFT) is a key component of the plant factory system. Its operation status directly affects the quality and survival rate of planted seedlings, which in turn affects the overall yield and economic efficiency. To monitor the operation status and transplanting quality of a transplanting machine in a timely manner, the primary task is to use a computerized and easy-to-use method to monitor the transplanting units. Inspired by the latest developments in augmented reality and robotics, a DT model-based and data-driven online monitoring method for plant factory transplanting equipment is proposed. First, a data-driven and virtual model approach is combined to construct a multi-domain digital twin of the transplanting equipment. Then, taking the vibration frequency domain signal above the transplanting manipulator and the image features of the transplanting seedling tray as input variables, the evaluation method and configuration method of the PFT digital twin system are proposed. Finally, the effect of the transplanter is evaluated, and the cycle can be repeated to optimize the transplanter to achieve optimal operation parameters. The results show that the digital twin model can effectively use the sensor data to identify the mechanical vibration characteristics and avoid affecting transplanting quality due to mechanical resonance. At a transplanting rate of 3000 plants/h, the transplanting efficiency can be maintained at a high level and the vibration signal of X, Y, Z-axis above the transplanting manipulator is relatively calm. In this case, Combined the optimal threshold method with the traditional Wiener algorithm, the identification rate of healthy potted seedlings can reach 94.3%. Through comprehensively using the optimal threshold method and 3D block matching filtering algorithm for image threshold segmentation and denoising, the recognition rate of healthy seedlings has reached over 96.10%. In addition, the developed digital twin can predict the operational efficiency and optimal timing of the detected transplanter, even if the environmental and sensor data are not included in the training. The proposed digital twin model can be used for damage detection and operational effectiveness assessment of other plant factory equipment structures.

‘Arrayana’ mandarin fruits have a short postharvest life and are sensitive to chilling injury (CI) during cold storage. Brassinosteroids (BR) have been used as a sustainable technology to alleviate CI in fruits and improve postharvest quality. This study evaluated the effect of applying the 24-epibrasinolide analogue (EBR), at doses of 5 mg L-1; DI-31 analogue, at 5 and 10 mg L-1; and control, on the main physical and biochemical characteristics of 'Arrayana' mandarin stored at 4°C for 40 days and, subsequently, 7 days at room temperature (shelf life). The application of EBR and DI-31 analogues reduced the appearance of CI in the exocarp of 'Arrayana' mandarin fruits by reducing electrolyte leakage, maintaining membrane integrity, and increasing antioxidant activity and phenol content at the end of cold storage and shelf life. This was especially pronounced with 5 mg L-1 of EBR. Similarly, the BR maintained the postharvest quality of mandarins by reducing weight loss, respiratory intensity and chlorophyll degradation; increasing β-carotene; and maintaining titratable acidity, and soluble solids. Our research reports for the first time CI tolerance in Arrayana mandarin using natural (EBR) and spirostanic (DI-31), analogues and illustrates the tolerance functionality of the DI-31 analog on CI in fruit postharvest.

Deficient minerals in overabundant populations could act as an attractant to cull sika deer (Cervus nippon). Because selective culling of female deer is reported to be effective in reducing sika deer populations, it is particularly important to clarify the differences in mineral requirements between male and female. Here, using global plant trait data and a published list of sika deer food plants in Japan, we estimated whether food plants provide sika deer sufficient sodium (Na), calcium (Ca), and magnesium (Mg), and compared the results between male and female. An analysis of 191 food plant species suggested that food plants can provide sufficient Mg, whereas sufficient Na and Ca is not always provided, especially when the intake is small or the deer large. Na deficiency was more intense for lactating females than males, suggesting that Na can be an effective attractant for selectively culling female deer. In summary, this study demonstrated that sika deer in Japan might require extra Na and Ca sources in addition to food plants, and therefore these minerals could be useful for developing effective culling methods.

The FTF (Fusarium Transcription Factor) gene family is composed of two members (FTF1 and FTF2) with high sequence homology. Both genes encode Zn(II)2Cys6 binuclear zinc finger transcription factors involved in the modulation of virulence in the F. oxysporum species complex (FOSC). While FTF1 is a multicopy gene exclusive of highly virulent strains of FOSC and is located in the accessory genome, FTF2 is a single copy gene, located in the core genome, and well conserved in all filamentous ascomycete fungi, except yeast. The involvement of FTF1 in the colonization of the vascular system and regulation of the expression of SIX effectors has been stablished. To address the role of FTF2 we generated and characterized null FTF2 mutants in a F. oxysporum f. sp. phaseoli weakly virulent strain and analyzed them together with the equivalent mutants formerly obtained in a highly virulent strain. The results obtained highlight a role for FTF2 as a negative regulator of the production of macroconidia and demonstrate that it is required for full virulence and positive regulation of SIX effectors. In addition, gene expression analyses provide compelling evidence that FTF2 is involved in the regulation of hydrophobins likely required for plant colonization.

Stripe rust ​​(caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici) is one of the most devastating diseases of wheat and causes large-scale epidemics and severe yield loss. Applying fungicides during early epidemic development is crucial to controlling the disease but is often challenged by resource-limited human visual scouting. Deep learning has the potential to process images and videos captured from affordable devices to empower high-throughput phenotyping for early detection of stripe rust for timely application of fungicides and improve control efficiency. Here, we developed RustNet, a neural network-based image classifier, for efficiently monitoring fields for stripe rust. RustNet was built on a ResNet-18 architecture pre-trained with ImageNet Large-Scale Visual Recognition Challenge (ILSVRC) dataset using transfer learning. RGB images and videos of multiple wheat fields with different wheat types (winter and spring wheat), conditions (irrigated and non-irrigated), and locations were acquired using smartphones or unmanned aerial vehicles near the canopy. A semi-automated image labeling approach was conducted to improve labeling efficiency by combining automated machine labeling and human correction. Cross-validations across multiple categories (sensor platforms, wheat types, and locations) achieved Area Under Curve from 0.72 to 0.87. Independent validation on a published dataset from Germany achieved accuracies ranging from 0.79 to 0.86. The visualization of the last convolutional layer of RustNet demonstrated the identification of pixels with stripe rust. RustNet is freely available at https://zzlab.net/RustNet.

Due to a lack of knowledge about arthropod biodiversity in Egyptian organic agro-ecosystems; the study aimed to introduce information on the diversity, richness, and distribution of insect and mite species in two organic agro-ecosystems, also, to investigate the impact of plant-arthropod interactions. Samples collected from two organic farms, i) Shampoliah farm, Fayoum (GCS 29°21'07.4"N 30°44'17.8"E), and ii) SEKEM farm, Sharkia (GCS 18 30°22'56.1"N 31°39'17.4"E). Results shown 39 species recorded in Shampoliah farm, and 35 species in SEKEM of mite, insect, medicinal, and weed species. When 14 species shared among two sites. Study has measured the H', D and 1/D indices within each location, and the similarity/dissimilarity between locations. The study hypothesized the possible plant-arthropod interactions that explain why diversity differs from an ecosystem to another; due to; plant size, plant morphological characters, soil fertilization, plant nutritional content, and the prey-predator interactions. The added hypothesis; is to show that the importance of natural habitat is supporting natural enemies and distribution of arthropods, which could vary dramatically with the type of pest species, IPM, and landscape type considered.

The objective of this work was to determine the antimicrobial properties of an allium-based antimicrobial formulation named VEG’LYS (https://phytoauxilium.com/) on the growth of plant pathogenic microorganisms such as fungi, oomycetes, and bacteria. Two anthracnose-related species of the fungal genus Colletotrichum, C. gloeosporioides, and C. fragariae, the oomycete Phytophthora cactorum and the bacterium Xanthomonas fragariae associated with strawberry plants and two fungi Alternaria dauci and Botrytis cinerea, associated with carrot plants were tested in vitro. In in planta experiments, A. dauci and B. cinerea were used.. VEG’LYS inhibited the growth of all plant pathogens tested. We found that both curative and preventive in planta treatments with VEG’LYS inhibited the growth of A. dauci and B. cinerea in carrot. Furthermore, after spraying VEG’LYS on carrot plants the expression of the Pathogenesis-related (PR) 10 gene correlated with the magnitude of infection both in treated and untreated plants. Additionally, it has been shown, that the field application of VEG’LYS on strawberry plants results in a reduction of bacterial and fungal pathogens of strawberry fruits stored in refrigerator. In summary, VEG’LYS is a potential resistance inducer that seems to be suitable for use in both curative and preventive treatments to reduce the diseases and rotting of fruits and vegetables caused by different plant pathogens.

Food security has become a major concern worldwide in recent years due to ever increasing population. Providing food for the growing billions without disturbing environmental balance is incessantly required in the current scenario. In view of this, sustainable modes of agricultural practices offer better promise and hence are gaining prominence recently. Moreover, these methods have taken precedence currently over chemical-based methods of pest restriction and pathogen control. Adoption of Biological Control is one such crucial technique that is currently in the forefront. Over a period of time, various biocontrol strategies have been experimented with and some have exhibited great success and promise. This review highlights the different methods of plant-pathogen control, types of plant pathogens, their modus operandi and various biocontrol approaches employing a range of microorganisms and their byproducts. The study lays emphasis on the use of upcoming methodologies like microbiome management and engineering, phage cocktails, genetically modified biocontrol agents and microbial volatilome as available strategies to sustainable agricultural practices. More importantly, a critical analysis of the various methods enumerated in the paper indicates the need to amalgamate these techniques in order to improve the degree of biocontrol offered by them.

Phenotypic plasticity in response to adverse conditions determines plant productivity and survival. The aim of this study was to test if two highly productive Populus genotypes, characterized by different in vitro etiolation patterns, differ also in their responses to hormones gibberellin (GA) and abscisic acid (ABA), and to a GA biosynthesis inhibitor paclobutrazol (PBZ). The experiments on shoot cultures of ‘Hybrida 275’ (abbr. H275; Populus maximowiczii × P. trichocarpa) and IBL 91/78 (Populus tremula × P. alba) were conducted either by modulating the physical in vitro environment or by adding specific chemicals to the nutrient medium. Our results show that there are significant differences between the studied genotypes in environmental and hormonal regulation of growth responses. The genotype H275, which responded to darkness with PBZ-inhibitable shoot elongation, was unable to recover its growth after treatment with ABA. In contrast, the genotype IBL 91/78, whose shoot elongation was not affected either by darkness or PBZ treatment, recovered so well after the ABA treatment that, when rooted subsequently, it developed longer shoots and roots than without ABA treatment. Our results indicate that GA catabolism and repressive signaling provide an important pathway to control growth and physiological adaptation in response to immediate or impending adverse conditions. These observations can help breeders define robust criteria for identifying genotypes with high resistance and productivity and highlight where genotypes exhibit susceptibility to stress.

Ralstonia solanacearum is a pathogen that causes bacterial wilt producing severe damage in staple solanaceous crops. Traditional control has low efficacy and/or environmental impact. Recently, the bases of a new biotechnological method by lytic bacteriophages vRsoP-WF2, vRsoP-WM2 and vRsoP-WR2 with specific activity against R. solanacearum were established. However, some aspects remain unknown, such as the survival and maintenance of the lytic activity after submission to a preservation method as the lyophilization. To this end, viability and stability of lyophilized vRsoP-WF2, vRsoP-WM2 and vRsoP-WR2 and their capacity for bacterial wilt biocontrol have been determined against one pathogenic Spanish reference strain of R. solanacearum in susceptible tomato plants in different conditions and making use of various cryoprotectants. The assays carried out have shown satisfactory results with respect to the viability and stability of the bacteriophages after the lyophilization process, maintaining high titres throughout the experimental period, also with respect to the capacity of the bacteriophages for the biological control of bacterial wilt, controlling this disease in more than 50% of the plants. The results offer good prospects for the use of lyophilization as a conservation method for the lytic bacteriophages of R. solanacearum in view of their commercialization as biocontrol agents.

There is great interest in developing biodegradable biopolymer-based packaging materials whose functional performance is enhanced by incorporating active compounds into them, such as light blockers, plasticizers, crosslinkers, diffusion blockers, antimicrobials, antioxidants, and sensors. However, many of these compounds are volatile, chemically unstable, water-insoluble, matrix incompatible, or have adverse effects on film properties, which makes them difficult to directly incorporate into the packaging materials. These challenges are being overcome by incorporating the bioactive compounds into nanoparticles, which are then introducing into the packaging materials. The presence of these nanoencapsulated active compounds in biopolymer-based coatings or films can greatly improve their functional performance. This article reviews the different kinds of nanocarriers available for loading active compounds into these types of materials, and then discusses their impact on the optical, mechanical, thermal, barrier, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties of the packaging materials. Furthermore, this article highlights the different kinds of bioactive compounds that can be incorporated into biopolymer-based packaging.

This paper discusses the bioethics of intellectual property (IP) and intellectual property rights (IPR) applicable to biotechnology-based IP. It outlines some of the laws that are related to IPR in Zimbabwe and globally. The paper additionally highlights gaps, opportunities and concerns with the laws. Finally, the paper highlights some initiatives already underway in Zimbabwe targeted at promoting entrepreneurship, commercialization and industrialization while proposing strategies that can be used to further promote the generation and granting of biotechnology-related IP and IPR in Zimbabwe.

The wide use of cadmium (Cd) in industry causes great environmental health problems to humans and animals. The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effects of Xylopia aethiopica fruit ethanol extract (XAFEE) on cadmium-induced inflammation and dyslipidemia in male albino rats. Thirty albino rats weighing 120–180 g were randomly selected into six groups (n = 5): control rats (administered distilled water only), Cd alone group (10 mg/ kg bw), Cd + 150 mg/kgbw XAFEE, Cd + 300 mg/kgbw XAFEE, 150 mg/kgbw XAFEE and 300 mg /kgbw XAFEE groups after 2-week acclimatization. The experiment lasted for 21 days, after which blood sample was collected by cardiac puncture. Changes in tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), interleukin 10 (IL-10), total cholesterol (TC), triacylglycerol (TAG), phospholipids and free fatty acids (FFAs) concentrations in serum were determined. The results of the present study indicated that Cd exposure remarkably increased (p < 0.05) the TC, TAG, phospholipids, FFAs and TNF-α concentrations, and significantly decreased IL-10 concentration (p < 0.05). These findings suggest that inflammatory changes and alterations in lipid metabolism might be one of the mechanisms underlying the subtle effects of Cd toxicity, “dyslipidemia.” XAFEE expressed protective role against toxic influence of Cd on affected parameters in rats. The results raised the possibility of Xylopia aethiopica fruit being considered as a condiment in soup, local drinks, supplements or herbs preparations in areas where there are chances of Cd exposure, occupationally or environmentally.

The wide use of cadmium (Cd) in industry causes great environmental health problems to humans and animals. The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effects of Xylopia aethiopica fruit ethanol extract (XAFEE) on cadmium-induced inflammation and dyslipidemia in male albino rats. Thirty albino rats weighing 120–180 g were randomly selected into six groups (n = 5): control rats (administered distilled water only), Cd alone group (10 mg/ kg bw), Cd + 150 mg/kgbw XAFEE, Cd + 300 mg/kgbw XAFEE, 150 mg/kgbw XAFEE and 300 mg /kgbw XAFEE groups after 2-week acclimatization. The experiment lasted for 21 days, after which blood sample was collected by cardiac puncture. Changes in tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), interleukin 10 (IL-10), total cholesterol (TC), triacylglycerol (TAG), phospholipids, free fatty acids (FFAs) and HDL-TAG concentrations in serum were determined. The results of the present study indicated that Cd exposure remarkably increased (p < 0.05) the TC, TAG, phospholipids, FFAs, HDL-TAG, TNF-α concentrations, and significantly decreased IL-10 concentration (p < 0.05). These findings suggest that inflammatory changes and alterations n lipid metabolism might be one of the mechanisms underlying the subtle effects of Cd toxicity, “dyslipidemia.” XAFEE expressed protective role against toxic influence of Cd on affected parameters in rats. The results raised the possibility of Xylopia aethiopica fruit being considered as a condiment in soup, local drinks, supplements or herbs preparations in areas where there are chances ofCd exposure, occupationally or environmentally.

Forest health is dependent on the variability of microorganisms interacting with the host tree/holobiont. Symbiotic microbiota and pathogens engage in a permanent interplay, which influences the host. Thanks to the development of NGS technologies, a vast amount of genetic information on the virosphere of temperate forests has been gained the last seven years. To estimate the qualitative/quantitative impact of NGS in forest virology, we have summarized viruses affecting major tree/shrub species and their fungal associates, including fungal plant pathogens, mutualists and saprotrophs. The contribution of NGS methods is extremely significant for forest virology. Reviewed data about viral presence in holobionts, allowed us to address the role of the virome in the holobionts. Genetic variation is a crucial aspect in hologenome, significantly reinforced by horizontal gene transfer among all interacting actors. Through virus-virus interplays synergistic or antagonistic relations may evolve, which may drastically affect the health of the holobiont. Novel insights of these interplays may allow practical applications for forest plant protection based on endophytes and mycovirus biocontrol agents. The current analysis is conceived in light of the prospect that novel viruses may initiate an emergent infectious disease and that measures for avoidance of future outbreaks in forests should be considered.

Background:Boom in nanotechnology in current era has sketched unforeseen transformations in number of fields, such as medicine, health care, food, space, agriculture, etc. The synthesis of nanoparticles with different chemical compositions, sizes, shapes and controlled disparities is an important area of research in this field. Over the last decade, the biosynthesis of metal nanoparticles has received considerable attention due to their unusual and fascinating properties, with various applications, over their bulk counterparts.Hypothesis: The nanoparticle can have huge application in the field of food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries and thus become a major area of research. Green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) using plant extracts offers an eco-friendly and promising substitute to the conventional methods of chemical synthesis. Conclusion: In the arena of nanoparticle phytosynthesis, novel materials have been produced that are eco-friendly, cost-effective and stable. In the current situation, nanotechnology inspires progress in all spheres of life, and therefore the phytosynthetic path of nanoparticle synthesis has emerged as a safe and best alternative to conventional methods. This review summarizes the recent work in the field of zinc nanoparticle phytosynthesis and critically discusses the mechanism proposed behind it.

Plant height is significantly correlated with grain traits, which is a component of wheat yield. The purpose of this study is to investigate the main QTLs that control plant height and grain-related traits in multiple environments. In this study, we constructed a high-density genetic linkage map using the Wheat50K SNP Array to map quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for these traits in 198 recombinant inbred lines (RILs). The two ends of the chromosome were identified as re-combination-rich areas in all chromosomes except chromosome 1B. The middle area of the chro-mosomes was identified as the recombination-barren area. Both the genetic map and the physical map showed a significant correlation when p=0.001, with a correlation coefficient between 0.63 and 0.99. However, there was almost no recombination between 1RS and 1BS. In terms of plant height, 1RS contributed to the reduction of plant height by 3.43cm. In terms of grain length, 1RS contributed to the elongation of grain by 0.11mm. A total of 43 QTLs were identified, including 8 QTLs for Plant height(PH), 11 QTLs thousand grain weight(TGW), 15 QTLs for grain length(GL),and 9 QTLs for grain width(GW), which explained 1.36%–33.08% of the phenotypic variation. Seven were environment-stable QTLs, including two loci Qph.nwafu-4B and Qph.nwafu-4D that determined plant height. The explanation rates of phenotypic variation were 7.39%-12.26% and 20.11%-27.08%, respectively. One QTL, Qtgw.nwafu-4B, which influenced TGW, showed an explanation rate of 3.43%-6.85% for phenotypic variation, two co-segregating KASP markers were developed, the physical locations corresponding to KASP_AX-109316968 and KASP_AX-109519968 were 25.888344 MB and 25.847691 MB. Another QTL, Qgw.nwafu-4D, which determined grain width, had an explanation rate of 3.43%-6.85%. Three loci that affected the grain length were Qgl.nwafu-5A, Qgl.nwafu-5D.2 and Qgl.nwafu-6B, illustrating the explana-tion rates of phenotypic variation as 6.72%-9.59%, 5.62%-7.75%, and 6.68%-10.73%, respectively. Two QTL clusters were identified on chromosomes 4B and 4D.

Responses to water stress were measured for sugar maple (Acer saccharum subsp. saccharum Marshall) sources from Oklahoma (Caddo sugar maple), Missouri, Tennessee, Ontario and a black maple (Acer saccharum subsp. nigrum F. Michx.) source from Iowa. Seedling sources were selected for differences in temperature and precipitation of their geographic origins. Seedlings were preconditioned through moist (watered daily) or dry (watered every 4-7 days) cycles and then exposed to prolonged water stress. Dry preconditioned sugar maple seedlings from Oklahoma, Missouri, and Tennessee, sources from warmer and/or drier climates with greater relative evapotranspiration potentials, declined less rapidly in net photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, and water use efficiency (WUE) as water stress increased than dry preconditioned seedlings from Ontario and Iowa having origins in cooler, moister climates. Under imposed water stress the Ontario and Iowa sourced seedlings increased their root to shoot ratios and decreased their specific leaf area, mechanisms for drought avoidance. However, no corresponding changes in these values occurred for Oklahoma, Missouri, and Tennessee sources. Results from this study suggest greater tolerance of water stress in the Oklahoma, Missouri and Tennessee ecotypes from the western and southern range of sugar maple resulted primarily with WUE rather than other water stress coping mechanisms.

The vision of the community around Geothermal Power Plant (GPP) is the development of GPP should be based on sustainable development principles, without jeopardizing the quality of life and justice for communities surrounding the power plant. This research aims to: (i) identifying issues that arise as an impact of the development of GPP in the rural Tompaso, and (ii) finding solutions to the issues to minimize the conflict that arises from further GPP development in rural Tompaso and its surroundings. This study is based on the competitive intelligence (CI) research method. The results show that the development of GPP in Tompaso has a negative impact on the natural environment and social environment. The technical solutions offered include: (i) bioremediation by cultivating plants that absorb arsenic; (ii) biosulfurization and desulfurization for reducing air pollution, especially sulfur; (iii ) floods and extreme drought are managed by improving infrastructure and reforestation; (iv) social conflicts (land acquisition, working days, labor recruitment and settlement security) are solved by intensifying program dissemination to the community and involving local communities in decision making. The recommended policy is providing incentives to the local community through strategic programs for the development of human and natural resources.

Organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis have been widely applied as the two main regeneration pathways in plant tissue culture. However, recalcitrance is still a main restriction in the clonal propagation of many woody species, especially in conifers. They undergo a “phase change” that leads to significant loss of organogenic and embryogenic capacity, thus reducing the responsive tissues or organs to juvenile material, and narrowing the competence window. In this sense, in vitro regeneration of mature conifer trees has been a long-cherished goal in many laboratories worldwide. In this work, apical shoot buds were used as explants for both organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis in order to cloning mature trees of Aleppo pine. Reinvigorated axillary shoots were submitted to somatic embryogenesis induction through the manipulation of culture media, including the use of auxins such as 2,4-D and NAA, cytokinins (BA and kinetin) and phytosulfokine (50, 100 and 200 nM). Although somatic embryos could not be obtained, embryogenic-like tissue was produced followed by the appearance of actively proliferating non-embryogenic calli and differences between treatments were found, especially when phytosulfokine was added to the induction media. Organogenic system produced reinvigorated shoots from both BA treatments tested (22 and 44 µM), from juvenile somatic trees and adult trees, and ex-vitro acclimatized plants were developed.

The world’s population is increasing and so are agricultural activities to match the growing demand for food. Conventional agricultural practices generally employ artificial fertilizers to increase crop yields, but these have multiple environmental and human health effects. For decades, environmentalists and sustainability researchers have focused on alternative crop fertilization mechanisms to address these challenges, and biofertilizers have constantly been researched, recommended, and even successfully-adopted for several crops. Biofertilizers are microbial formulations made of indigenous plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) which can naturally improve plant growth either directly or indirectly, through the production of phytohormones, solubilization of soil nutrients, and production of iron-binding metabolites; siderophores. Biofertilizers, therefore, hold immense potential as tools for sustainable crop production especially in the wake of climate change and global warming. Despite the mounting interest in this technology, their full potential has not yet been realized. This review updates our understanding of the PGPR biofertilizers and sustainable crop production. It evaluates the history of these microbial products, assesses their present state of utilization, and also critically propounds on their future prospects for sustainable crop production. Such information is desirable to fully evaluate their potential and can ultimately pave the way for their increased adoption for crop production.

Understanding the detailed timing of crop phenology and their variability enhances grain yield and quality by providing precise scheduling of irrigation, fertilization, and crop protection mechanisms. Advances in information and communication technology (ICT) provide a unique opportunity to develop agriculture-related tools that enhance wall-to-wall upscaling of data outputs from point-location data to wide-area spatial scales. Because of the heterogeneity of the worldwide agro-ecological zones where crops are cultivated, it is unproductive to perform plant phenology research without providing means to upscale results to landscape-level while safeguarding field-scale relevance. This paper presents an advanced, reproducible, and open-source software for plant phenology prediction and mapping (PPMaP) that inputs data obtained from multi-location field experiments to derive models for any crop variety. This information can then be applied consecutively at a localized grid within a spatial framework to produce plant phenology predictions at the landscape level. This software supports the development of process-oriented and temperature-driven plant phenology models by intuitively and interactively leading the user through a step-by-step progression to the production of spatial maps for any region of interest. Maize (Zea mays L.) was used to demonstrate the robustness, versatility, and high computing efficiency of the resulting modeling outputs of the PPMaP. The framework is implemented in R, providing a flexible and easy‐to‐use GUI interface. Since this allows appropriate scaling to the larger spatial domain, the software can effectively be used to determine the spatially explicit length of growing period (LGP) of any variety.

The proposal of novel drugs and approaches for effective treatment of the novel coronavirus is a necessity after the quick outbreak of the disease. Since the commencement of the coronavirus spread, enormous efforts have been made to protect, alleviate and cure the disease, though no specific treatment has been approved. While there have been convincing results in the use of chemical drugs and interferon therapy, such therapeutic approaches have various drawbacks and lack the required performance for the treatment of the new coronavirus. Medicinal plant species can provide a solution as a source of natural antiviral compounds by the accumulation of secondary metabolites and lectins as well as acting as a platform to express the viral immunogenic proteins. This study reviews the advantages and the results of previous research for the treatment of the novel coronavirus disease and previous generations of similar coronaviruses. Several plant-derived anti coronavirus compounds have been nominated that could be targeted for further research due to the similarity of the coronavirus disease in 2003 and the current coronavirus. This review regards plant species such as Scutellaria baicalensis (Baikal skullcap), and Utrica dioica (Stinging nettle) as suitable candidates for the new coronavirus antiviral research. Furthermore, the use of plants such as Nicotiana tabacum (Tobacco) for the expression of the coronavirus viral antigens can be a target for the future vaccinal research of the new coronavirus due to the efficiency of expression and intrinsic antiviral properties.

The operation feasibility of small hydropower plants in mountainous sites is subjected to the run-of-river flow which is also depending on a high variability in precipitation and snow cover. Moreover, the management of this kind of systems has to be performed with some particular operation conditions of the plant (e.g. turbine minimum and maximum discharge) but also some environmental flow requirements. In this context, a technological climate service is conceived in tight connection with end users, perfectly answering the needs of the management of small hydropower systems in a pilot area, and providing forecast of river streamflow together with other operation data. This paper presents an overview of the service but also a set of lessons learnt related to features, requirements and considerations to bear in mind from the point of view of climate services developers. In addition, the outcomes give insight into how this kind of services could change the traditional management (normally based on the past experience), providing a probability range of future river flow based on future weather scenarios according to the range of future weather possibilities. This highlights the utility of the co-generation process to implement climate services for water and energy fields but also that seasonal climate forecast could improve the business as usual of this kind of facilities.

Maize (Zea mays L.) production in West and Central Africa is constrained by drought, low soil-N and Striga infestation. Breeders in the region have developed and commercialized extra-early and early-maturing hybrids (E-EH and EH), which combine high yield potentials with tolerance/resistance to the three stresses. Hybrids of both maturity groups are new to the farmers; thus, the urgent need to recommend appropriate agronomic practices for these hybrids. We investigated the responses of four hybrids belonging to extra-early and early-maturity groups to plant density (PD) and nitrogen (N) application in five agroecologies. The EHs consistently out-yielded the E-EHs in all the five agroecologies. The hybrids showed no response to N-fertilizer application above 90 kg ha-1. All interactions involving N had no significant effect on all traits except in few cases. The E-EHs and EHs had similar response to PD; their grain yield decreased as PD increased. Contrarily, flowering was delayed and expression of some other agronomic traits such as plant and ear aspects became poorer with increased PD. Optimal yield was obtained at approximately 90 kg N ha-1 and 66,666 plants ha-1. Most of the measured traits indicated high repeatability estimates (i.e. ≥ 60) across the N levels, PDs and environments. Evidently, the hybrids were intolerant of high PD.

Increasingly, architects are looking towards nature to design more sustainable, efficient cities to reduce the environmental impact of urban life. At the moment, plants are incorporated into urban design for conservation or aesthetic reasons. Here, I argue plants can be rationally designed into synthetic systems based on chemical and other functional traits to increase the stability of urban infrastructure, protect native biodiversity, and promote human health while meeting key UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Over half of adult Americans now have diabetes or prediabetes and worse, this epidemic is now world-wide and shows no signs of slowing, with rates of both diabetes and diabetes-related health complications still rising. When advising patients with diabetes on food choices, many providers rely on nutrition guidelines provided by the American Diabetes Association (ADA), and these guidelines influence other recommendations across the globe. Given the alarming trends in diabetes, it is paramount to review the treatment guidelines to ensure they are based on rigorous and accepted scientific methods. Our review included the evidence cited by the ADA in support of its claims and recommendations for eating patterns to combat diabetes (see Description of Eating Patterns, Supplemental Appendix), as presented in the most current edition of the annual ADA’s Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes (2018 Standards). Our review also includes sources cited in the latest edition of the ADA’s Nutrition Therapy Recommendations for Adults with Diabetes (2014 Recommendations), which also informed the 2018 Standards. In October 2018 low carbohydrate was named as a recommended eating pattern by the ADA and European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD)⁵but only citations from the 2014 and early 2018 ADA documents were reviewed.

The antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiproliferative, and enzyme inhibitory properties of five extracts from aerial parts of Salvia pachyphylla were examined to assess the prospective of this plant as a source of natural products with therapeutic potential. Those properties were analyzed performing a set of standard assays. The extract obtained with dichloromethane showed the most variety of components, as yielded promising results in all completed assays. Furthermore, the extract obtained with ethyl acetate exhibited that greatest antioxidant activity as well as the best xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity. Remarkably, both extracts obtained with n-hexane or dichloromethane revealed significant antimicrobial activity against the Gram-positive bacteria; also, they showed greater antiproliferative activity against three representative cell lines of the most common types of cancers in women worldwide, and against a cell line that exemplifies cancers that typically develop drug resistance. Despite that other extracts were less active, such as the methanolic or aqueous, their results are promising for the isolation and identification of novel bioactive molecules.

Plants are such important keys of biological part of our environment, supply the human life and creatures. Understanding how the plant’s functions react with our surroundings, helps us better to make plant growth and development of food products. It means the plant phenotyping gives us bio information which needs some tools to reach the plant knowledge. Imaging tools is one of the phenotyping solutions which consists of imaging hardware such as the camera and image analysis software analyses the plant images changings such as plant growth rates. In this paper, we proposed a preprocessing algorithm to eliminate the noise and separate foreground from the background which results the plant image to help the plant image segmentation. The preprocessing is one of important levels has effect on better image segmentation and finally better plant’s image labeling and analysis. Our proposed algorithm is focused on removing noise such as converting the color space, applying the filters and local adaptive binarization step such as Niblack. Finally, we evaluate our algorithm with other algorithms by testing a variety of binarization methods.

Controversy exists on whether animal and plant proteins influence obesity differently. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between total, animal, and plant protein intake with the obesity index and renal function in Korean adults. Study participants included Korean adults aged 60 years or older from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2013-2014. Height, weight, and waist circumference (WC) were measured and the body mass index (BMI) was calculated. One-day 24-hour recall data were used to estimate the daily total, animal, and plant protein intake. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was calculated by using the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) equation. General linear modellings were used to assess the relationships between protein intake, BMI and WC. The mean age was 69.2 ± 0.2 years, 44.2% were male. The total daily protein intake was 1.1 ± 0.02 g/kg/d and 0.9 ± 0.02 g/kg/d for males and females, respectively. Only one third of protein intake was from animal sources. In males, BMI (p < 0.001, p = 0.016, p < 0.001 respectively) and WC (p < 0.001, p = 0.010, p < 0.001, respectively) decreased as daily intake of plant protein (g/kg/d), animal protein (g/kg/d) and total protein (g/kg/d) increased. Similar associations were shown in Korean female. GFR was not associated with protein intake regardless of protein source in both sexes. In Korean adults aged 60 years or older, the protein intake was associated with a favorable obesity index without decrease in renal function. The effect was similar in both male and females, with both animal and plant proteins.

Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) was the first virus to be studied in detail and for many years TMV and other tobamoviruses, particularly tomato mosaic virus (ToMV) and tobamoviruses infecting pepper (Capsicum spp.), were serious crop pathogens. By the end of the twentieth and for the first decade of the twenty-first century tobamoviruses were under some degree of control due to introgression of resistance genes into commercial tomato and pepper lines. However, tobamoviruses remained as important models for molecular biology, biotechnology and bio-nanotechnology. Recently, tobamoviruses have again become serious crop pathogens due to the advent of tomato brown rugose fruit virus, which overcomes tomato resistance against TMV and ToMV, and the slow but apparently inexorable worldwide spread of cucumber green mottle mosaic virus, which threatens all cucurbit crops. This review discusses a range of mainly molecular biology-based approaches for protecting crops against tobamoviruses. These include cross-protection (using mild tobamovirus strains to ‘immunize’ plants against severe strains), expressing viral gene products in transgenic plants to inhibit the viral infection cycle, inducing RNA silencing against tobamoviruses by expressing virus-derived RNA sequences in planta or by direct application of double-stranded RNA molecules to non-engineered plants, gene editing of host susceptibility factors, and the transfer and optimization of natural resistance genes.

The plant productivity-richness relationship (PPR) is one of the most debated and important issues in ecology. There have been distinct stages in the research of this issue, including the discovery of the different PPR shapes, respective tests of influencing processes, and integrative research with vegetation investigation, manipulation experiments, and theoretical analysis. The debate largely focuses on what the dominant shapes and underlying mechanisms are. Recent integrative research works following analyses of respective processes affecting PPR have found that the humped, asymptotic, positive, negative, and irregular shapes of PPR are linked to each other. One shape of PPR may change into another. The balance between positive and negative processes determines the different shapes of PPR. Plant diversity has a globally positive effect on plant productivity.

Global food insecurity and environmental degradation creates the need to develop more sustainable agricultural solutions. Plant synthetic biology emerges as a promising yet risky avenue to develop such solutions. While synthetic biology promises enhanced crop traits, it also harbors risks of extensive environmental damage. Here, we highlight the complexities and risks associated with plant synthetic biology, while presenting the potential of multilevel mathematical modeling to assess and mitigate those risks effectively. Despite its potential, the application of multiscale mathematical models in plants remains underutilized. We advocate for the integration of technological advancements in agricultural data analysis to foster a comprehensive understanding of crops across scales. By reviewing common modeling approaches and methodologies applicable to plants, the paper sets the stage for the creation and utilization of integrated multiscale mathematical models. Leveraging modeling techniques such as parameter estimation, bifurcation analysis, and sensitivity analysis, researchers can identify mutational targets and anticipate pleiotropic effects, enhancing the safety of genetically engineered species. To illustrate the potential of the combination, we outline ongoing efforts to develop an integrated multiscale mathematical model for maize (Zea mays L.), engineered through synthetic biology to enhance resilience against Striga and drought.

Transcriptomes from stem-inoculated Scots pine saplings were analyzed to identify unique and enriched H. annosum transcripts in the early stages of infection. Comparing different time points since inoculation identified 131 differentially expressed H. annosum gene with p values ≤ 0.01. Our research supports the results of previous studies on the Norway spruce – Heterobasidion annosum s.l. pathosystem, indicating the role of carbohydrate- and lignin degradation genes in pathogenesis at different timepoints post inoculation and the role of lipid metabolism genes (including but not limited to the delta-12 fatty acid desaturase gene previously reported to be an important factor). The results of this study indicate that malic enzyme could be a potential gene of interest in the context of H. annosum virulence.

The hot pressing process for 100% coriander-based fiberboards was optimized using an induction RocTool system, which offers rapid mold heating and cooling. The fiberboards were made with deoiled press cake as a proteic binder and extrusion-refined straw as reinforcement. A Doehlert’s experimental design evaluated the influence of pressure (10-50 MPa), molding time (60-300 s), and mold temperature (155-205°C) on fiberboard properties, energy consumption, cost, and environmental impact. The results showed that the RocTool device allows better temperature control during shaping, resulting in exacerbated adhesive properties for proteins. Using the isoresponse curves, optimal hot pressing conditions were 35 MPa, 300 s, and 205°C, corresponding to a 40.6 MPa flexural strength. However, it was observed that to achieve a MDF-like fiberboard with minimal production cost, much less restrictive molding conditions were sufficient, i.e., 32.5 MPa, 170 s, and 160°C. The study revealed that maximum thermopressing conditions emitted 3.87 kg of CO2 eq., while conditions leading to the MDF-like board reduced emissions to 1.45 kg CO2 eq., resulting in a more environmentally-friendly material.

This article presents a comprehensive overview of recent discoveries and advancements in the field of steroid chemistry, highlighting the isolation and characterization of various steroidal compounds from natural sources. The paper discusses a wide range of steroids, including pregnane steroids, steroidal alkaloids, ketosteroids, and novel triterpenoids, derived from marine organisms, fungi, and plants. Significant findings include the isolation of bioactive compounds such as the cytotoxic erectsterates from microorganisms, soft corals, the unusual tetracyclic steroid penicillitone from a fungal culture, and innovative steroidal derivatives with potential anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities. The synthesis of steroids from microorganisms as a tool for pharmaceutical development is also explored, showcasing the role of microbial biotransformation in generating steroidal drugs. Additionally, the paper emphasizes the ecological and medicinal relevance of these compounds, which are often used in traditional medicine and have potential therapeutic applications in treating diseases like cancer and microbial infections. This article serves as a vital resource for researchers interested in the chemical diversity of steroids and their applications in drug discovery and development.

Lindernia dubia (L.) Pennell is a species with invasive behavior outside of its native range of distribution (North America), linked mainly to aquatic habitats. This annual species has been acknowledged as a weed in rice paddies in Europe and Asia. Due to the impacts of this invasive plant, some authors have even listed this species as a global invader. The present work focused on spontaneous plant species occurring in cattail seedlings grown in central Spain for the establishment of constructed wetlands. Weed inventory revealed the presence of L. dubia as a dominant spontaneous species in this crop environment. A suite of mesocosm experiments were designed to study the distribution of L.dubia versus the distribution of the other dominant plant species, and to determine traits associated with its weedy potential. Results showed that L.dubia presents competitive attributes such as morphological variability, early flowering, long seeding time, short growth cycle, small and light seeds and high seed production and germination rate (25 ⁰C), meaning a high reproductive capacity in a cycle of about three months, in non-limiting conditions for plant growth. Data from this work provide a basis for understanding the weedy potential of L.dubia, and for management decisions of a potentially invasive species, little investigated in Europe

The type of fertilization used influences plant compounds and pest infestation. We measured, through chemical stimuli, the preference of Melanaphis sacchari for sorghum plants fertilized by means of conventional fertilization (CF) or organic fertilization (OF). Leaves were collected from sorghum plants fertilized with 200 kg N ha-1 using ammonium sulfate and poultry manure. Extracts were obtained using Soxhlet extraction, and the compounds were identified using a gas chromatograph coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Sorghum extracts were individually tested through bioassays to determine M. sacchari preference. The abundance and number of compounds in sorghum differed depending on the type of fertilization used. M. sacchari showed a preference for the extract from CF sorghum plants (76.66%) over the extract from OF plants (23.34%). Therefore, the type of fertilization can be used as a tactic to prevent higher infestations of M. sacchari. The biological activity of the compounds identified here with M. sacchari should be determined for future pest management strategies using allelochemicals, given that the sugarcane aphid uses chemical signals to locate its host plant.

The intricate relationship between Gray-Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) metrics and machine learning model performance underscores the need for rigorous dataset evaluation and selection protocols to ensure the reliability and generalizability of classification outcomes. This study involved a thorough examination of selected publicly available plant diseases datasets, with an emphasis on how well they performed as measured by GLCM metrics. After first classifying the datasets according to their GLCM metrics, dataset_2 (D2) and dataset_5 (D5) were found, respectively, to be the best-performing dataset in all GLCM analyses. The same datasets were then used to train deep learning models, and their classification performances were assessed. A noteworthy association was observed between the results of training deep learning models and the performance ratings derived from GLCM studies. More specifically, dataset_2 (D2) performed best in both GLCM analysis and deep learning model performance, indicating a strong correlation between the accuracy of classification and the textural qualities that GLCM captured. In the context of plant disease identification, in particular, these results highlight the significance of clearly defined dataset selection criteria in deep learning applications. Scholars can improve the accuracy and dependability of deep learning models for diagnosing plant diseases by giving preference to datasets with favorable GLCM metrics. The research also emphasizes the importance of texture features being taken into account in addition to conventional image features, highlighting the necessity of transparency and rigor in dataset selection procedures.

Botanical living collections within botanical gardens represent a crucial global asset for plant diversity. Particular emphasis should be given to dendrological collections, considering their key role in contribution to biodiversity conservation, support scientific inquiry, enhance educational initiatives and support on involvement of the public. The introduction of plants, especially woody plants, is one of the important problems in botanical science, solved in botanical gardens and arboretums. Establishment and development of the Dendrological collections in Botanical gardens is a way to have a comprehensive representation of diverse plant species from different biogeographical regions and continents. Current paper first time presents establishment, development, current status and future perspective of dendrological collections of Yerevan Botanical Garden in the linkage to introduction of woody plants in Armenia.

Isothermal Nucleic Acid Amplification based-Lateral Flow Testing (INAA-LFT) has emerged as a robust technique for on-site pathogen detection, providing a visible indication of pathogen nucleic acid amplification that rivals or even surpasses the sensitivity of real-time quantitative PCR. The isothermal nature of INAA-LFT ensures consistent conditions for nucleic acid amplification, establishing it as a crucial technology for rapid on-site pathogen detection. However, despite its considerable promise, the widespread application of isothermal INAA amplification-based lateral flow testing faces several challenges. This review provides an overview of the INAA-LFT procedure, highlighting its advancements in detecting plant viruses. Moreover, the review underscores the imperative to address existing limitations and emphasizes ongoing research efforts dedicated to enhancing the applicability and performance of this technology in the realm of rapid on-site testing.

Maintaining sufficient levels of plant nutrients in the soil and controlling certain heavy metals, which can be toxic to the environment, are critical to ensure sustainable agricultural production. The study aimed to assess the linkage of crop-specific agricultural practices established by farmers in the Kvemo Kartli region (Georgia) with metal accumulation in soils of agricultural lands being subject to influence from polluted irrigation water in the past. In particular, we tried to identify the primary sources of micronutrients, including iron (Fe), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn), and toxic elements such as cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb), and share of the contaminated irrigation water and other factors related to agricultural practices under different land uses, such as intensive and extensive arable farming, vineyards, orchards, and permanent pastures having the least disturbed soil. Based on principal component analysis, five primary sources were identified and categorized according to farmers' interviews and previous studies conducted in the region. The results showed that increased concertation of plant-available Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb were mainly associated with irrigation water and intensive use of fungicides; Fe, Mn, and Ni were closely linked to several factors, such as the mineralogical composition of soils, mineral and organic fertilizers inputs, and atmospheric deposition from diffuse sources, where exhausts from transport are probably the primary source. During our study, we attempted to differentiate irrigation water inputs from fungicides using simulation based on irrigation pattern and irrigation water quality on the one hand and fungicide application rate and their metal content on the other. The simulation revealed that the intensive application of fungicides, especially in vineyards, is more significant in enriching soils with Cu and Zn than irrigation water. Identification of factorial dependences was supported by statistical analysis and application of a number of contamination assessment methods: Contamination Factor (CF), Pollution Load Index (PLI), single-factor Pollution Index (PI), Nemerow’s comprehensive pollution index (PIN), Enrichment Factor (EF), and Geo-Accumulation Index (Igeo). Applied environmental indices indicate that the soils under the former and existing vineyards are the most enriched with Cu and Zn, highlighting the significance of agricultural practices on heavy metals accumulation in soils of agricultural lands.

Owing to the rising demand for vegetable soybean products, there is an increasing need for high-yield soybean varieties to raise the output. However, complex correlation patterns among quantitative traits with genetic interactions bring a challenge for vegetable soybean breeding. Here, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) was applied for six yield-related traits with 188 vegetable soybean accessions. A total of 81 SNPs were identified for pod length, plant height, pods number, pod thickness, pod width, and seed weight per plant by Blink model. Among these significant SNPs, 79 were novel SNPs, while 2 overlapped with previously reported SNPs. A total of 220 genes were found in 100 kb upstream and downstream regions of significant SNPs, of which 17 genes were functional proteins. Among these function proteins, four candidate genes, Glyma.13G109100, Glyma.03G183200, Glyma.09G102200, and Glyma.09G102300 were analyzed as significant haplotype variations, which encode MYB-related transcription factor, auxin-responsive family protein, F-box protein and CYP450, respectively. In addition, the relative expression with four candidate genes in the V030 and V071 (Among them, the plant height, pod number and fresh pod weight of V030 were lower than V071 strains) vegetable soybean were significantly different and these genes could be involved in plant growth and development via various pathways. Therefore, we proposed four genes from vegetable soybean germplasm that could be the key candidate genes for pod yield and plant height and these studies will accelerate the process of high-yield vegetable soybean breeding.

The emergence of multidrug-resistant strains of many pathogens is a serious threat and makes chemotherapy more difficult. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the antibacterial activity of Senna singueana and Cyphostemma junceum plant extracts against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The crude extracts of the selected medicinal plants were prepared and subjected to phytochemical screening using standard methods. Antibacterial activity was determined using the disc diffusion method. Therefore, the highest (15.41%) and lowest (0.91%) percentage yields were obtained from ethanol stem bark extracts and chloroform root extracts of Senna singueana, respectively. The maximum (14±1.0 mm) and minimum (7.5±0.5 mm) zones of inhibition were obtained from chloroform and distilled water leaf extracts of Senna singueana against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, respectively. In addition, the highest (13.5±1.0) zone of inhibition was obtained from Cyphostemma junceun root extract at 125 µg/ml. No inhibition zones were recorded in the root extract of Cyphostemma junceun at 500 µg/ml. More rich secondary metabolites, such as flavonoids, tennins, phenols, glycosides, terpenoids and sapnoids, were screened from distilled water leaf extracts, while flavonoids, tennis, phenols, glycosides, terpenoids, sapnoids and coumarins were screened in ethanol root extracts of Cyphostemma junceum. The leaves, stem bark and root of Senna singueana as well as the root of Cyphostemma junceun have strong antibacterial activity against both bacterial species. Thus, the two plant extracts could be used for healing and killing bacterial agents that can be potential sources for drug development.

This review highlights the potential and limitations of mRNA vaccines with a particular focus on mucosal delivery as an alternative to parenteral administration. The strengths of mRNA vaccines are: a) Versatility: they can be adapted to target a wide range of pathogens; b) Faster development: designed and produced more quickly than traditional vaccines; c) High efficacy: effective in preventing severe disease, as demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Current challenges: a) Delivery: current methods (mainly intramuscular injection) may not be optimal for inducing mucosal immunity; b) Stability: mRNA is fragile and needs to be protected from degradation; c) Safety: potential side effects, including myocarditis, blood clotting, allergic reactions need further investigation. Mucosal delivery could be more effective in preventing the transmission of pathogens and is generally better accepted by the population. Pros: offers the potential to induce local immunity at the site of pathogen entry, potentially providing broader protection; Cons: developing effective delivery systems and adjuvants for mucosal delivery is difficult. Extracellular vesicles as a mucosal delivery system are promising and offer a potentially safe, scalable, and needle-free approach. Future directions: a) Optimizing mRNA constructs: strategies like codon optimization and self-amplifying RNA can improve stability and translation efficiency; b) Rigorous pre-clinical studies are essential before human trials.

Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua. is an important medicinal and edible food in China and the traditional processing method of nine-steaming and nine-drying has been used to process its rhizome. However, the global dynamic changes in secondary metabolites during the processing and whether this method could enhance the accumulation of functional components remain unclear. This study aimed to explore the processing-induced mechanisms involved in the accumulation of secondary metabolites and provide theoretical support for the pharmacological study on P. cyrtonema. Results showed the first 6 processing cycles induced drastic changes in the accumulation of secondary metabolites, while the last 3 did not induce further changes. The accumulation of most secondary metabolites significantly increased after the first 3 cycles and stabilized after 6 cycles. The first 3 cycles led to numerous newly added metabolites while the last 6–9 cycles led to a small number of disappeared metabolites. Processing enhanced the biosynthesis of various secondary metabolites and significantly affected the metabolisms of amino acids. Together, a short period of processing was helpful for enhancing the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. However, the enhancing effects will be reversed or weakened under continuous processing. The processing cycles should be reduced to 3–6 to maintain the enhancing effects.

Helicobacter pylori infections are still an urgent and hot topic. This is related to the involvement of H. pylori in human diseases (including gastric diseases, gastric adenocarcinoma, mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma, and diabetes), the number of which is constantly increasing. At the same time, agents effective against these bacteria are decreasing due to spreading resistance. Our research focused on extracts of the Rubus genus, commonly present in Central and Eastern Europe and very useful in folk medicine. Results have shown that the extract from Rubus idaeus 'Willamette' shoots, and the extract from R. idaeus 'Poranna Rosa' fruits and R. idaeus 'Laszka' R. occidentalis Litacz' fruits prevent the formation of biofilm by H. pylori on intravenous infusions (they reduce living cells, which was detected using triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) as a dye) at concentrations of 6.65 and 16.65 mg/mL, respectively. However, the living bacteria in the formed biofilm are affected by the extract from the shoots of R. idaeus 'Willamette' and the fruit of R. idaeus 'Poranna Rosa' at a concentration of 16.65 mg/ml, and the remaining extracts at a concentration of 33.3 mg/ml. The results of the study of interactions of extracts from Rubus sp. and the 2 antibiotics against H. pylori planktonic bacteria showed doxycycline synergism with all tested extracts, but only the extract of R. occidentalis 'Litacz' with levofloxacin. The remaining tested extracts showed indifference with levofloxacin. However, studies on the interaction between antibiotics and extracts of R. idaeus 'Willamette' shoot showed synergy with doxycycline and levofloxacin, additivity with amoxicillin and clarithromycin, and indifference with metronidazole. The tests were carried out on fragments of intravenous infusions with TTC as a dye. The tested extracts may be elements of broadly understood anti-H. pylori therapy.

Mechanical damage of plant tissues leads to the activation of methanol production and its release in the atmosphere. The gaseous methanol or vapors emitted by the damaged plant induce resistance in neighboring intact plants to bacterial pathogens but create favorable conditions for the viral infection spread. Among Nicotiana benthamiana methanol-inducible genes (MIGs) most are associated with plant defense and intercellular transport. Here we characterize NbMIG21 that encodes a 209-aa protein (NbMIG21p) which does not share any homology with annotated proteins. NbMIG21p was demonstrated to contain nucleolus localization signals (NoLS). Co-localization studies with fibrillarin and coilin, nucleolus and Cajal bodies marker proteins, revealed that NbMIG21p is distributed between these subnuclear structures. Our results show that recombinant NbMIG21 possess DNA-binding properties . Similar to gaseous methanol effect an increased NbMIG21 expression leads to the downregulation of the nuclear import of NLS-containing proteins as was demonstrated on the model GFP-NLS protein. Moreover, upregulated NbMIG21 facilitates tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) intercellular transport. We identified NbMIG21 promoter (PrMIG21) and showed that it is methanol-sensitive thus induction of NbMIG21 expression occurs at the level of transcription. Our findings suggest that methanol-activated NbMIG21 might participate in creating favorable conditions for the viral reproduction and spread.

Anthracnose, caused by the fungus Colletotrichum lindemuthianum, poses a significant and widespread threat to the common bean crop. The use of plant genetic resistance has proven to be the most effective strategy for managing anthracnose disease. The Amendoim Cavalo (AC) Andean cultivar has resistance against multiple races of C. lindemuthianum, which is conferred by the Co-AC gene. Fine mapping of this resistance gene to common bean chromosome Pv01 enabled the identification of Phvul.001G244300, Phvul.001G244400, and Phvul.001G244500 candidate genes for further validation. In this study, we assessed the relative expression of Co-AC candidate genes, as well as other putative genes in vicinity of this locus and known resistance genes, in the AC cultivar following inoculation with the race 73 of C. lindemuthianum. Gene expression analysis revealed significantly higher expression levels of Phvul.001G244500. Notably, Phvul.001G244500 encodes a putative Basic Helix-Loop-Helix transcription factor, suggesting its involvement in the regulation of defense responses. Furthermore, we observed a significant modulation of the expression of defense related genes PR1a, PR1b, and PR2, in a time-course experiment. These findings contribute to the development of improved strategies for breeding anthracnose-resistant common bean cultivars, thereby mitigating the impact of this pathogen on crop yields and ensuring sustainable bean production.

Goji berries, long valued in Chinese medicine and cuisine for their wide range of medicinal benefits, are considered a 'superfruit' and functional food. Out of the nearly 100 Lycium species known for their genetic diversity, L. barbarum and L. chinense currently dominate the market. Due to increasing market demand and concerns about food safety and sustainability, Europe and the Americas are expanding the local goji berry production, using as starting material plants originated from China. European breeding programs are focusing on Lycium to develop varieties adapted to local conditions, especially in response to climate change. By 2023, Romania registered seven goji berry varieties, both from L. barbarum and L. chinense species, without incorporating local germplasm. Advanced genomic studies, including NGS sequencing of five cultivated and three wild goji berry plant genomes, have been conducted to analyse their genetic variation, with a particular focus on the BODYGUARD 3 and 4 genes. This research uncovered significant differences between cultivated and wild genotypes, both in the entire genome and specifically in the BODYGUARD genes, providing crucial insights for goji berry breeders to support the development of goji berry cultivation in Romania.

In the wake of the rapid deployment of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), this study aims to enhance the efficiency, reliability, and safety of SMR operations through a deeper understanding of human factors in their interaction within digital control room systems. Recognizing the pivotal role of human understanding in this new era of nuclear power, we employed electroencephalogram (EEG)-based monitoring to provide an unparalleled real-time view into operators' cognitive states. By interfacing detailed human models, informed by EEG metrics, with specific operational tasks, we recreate potential operational scenarios using an SMR simulator and capture intricate human responses therein. Our results elucidated the intricate relationship between EEG-derived data and human performance shaping factors, indicating a marked correlation between certain EEG patterns and operational efficiencies. Conclusively, these findings underscore the potential of EEG monitoring not only as a diagnostic tool but as an instrumental aid in the design and operation of future SMR digital control rooms. The insights derived offer a roadmap for the development of practical strategies, ensuring more effective and safer SMR operations.

The increased cultivation of Cannabis sativa L. in North America, represented by high Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol-containing (high-THC) cannabis genotypes and low THC-containing hemp genotypes, has been impacted by an increasing number of plant pathogens. These include fungi which destroy roots, stems and leaves, in some cases causing a build-up of populations and mycotoxins in the inflorescences that can negatively impact quality. Viroids and viruses have also increased in prevalence and severity and can reduce plant growth and product quality. Rapid diagnosis of the occurrence and spread of these pathogens is critical. Techniques in the area of molecular diagnostics have been applied to study these pathogens in both cannabis and hemp. These include polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based technologies, including RT-PCR, multiplex RT-PCR, RT-qPCR, and ddPCR, as well as whole genome sequencing (NGS) and bioinformatics. In this study, examples of how these technologies have enhanced the rapidity and sensitivity of pathogen diagnosis on cannabis and hemp will be illustrated. These molecular tools have also enabled studies on the diversity and origins of specific pathogens, specifically viruses and viroids, and these will be illustrated. Comparative studies on the genomics and metabolomics of healthy and diseased plants are urgently needed to provide insight into their impact on quality and composition of cannabis and hemp-derived products. Management of these pathogens will require monitoring of their spread and survival using the appropriate technologies to allow accurate detection, followed by appropriate implementation of disease control measures.

Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) is beneficial microorganisms that inhabit the rhizosphere of plants and play a crucial role in enhancing plant growth and development. This review provides an overview of the significant role of PGPR in sustainable agriculture. The mechanisms that promote plant growth, such as nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, and growth hormones, are discussed. The potential of PGPR in improving plant tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses, reducing the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and enhancing nutrient availability, soil fertility, and uptake is also highlighted. Moreover, the ecological and economic benefits of using PGPR for sustainable agriculture include improving crop productivity, reducing environmental pollution, and ensuring food security.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be diminishing, the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants represents a threat to humans due to its inherent transmissibility, immunological evasion, virulence, and invulnerability to existing therapies. The previous COVID-19 pandemic affected more than 500 million people and caused over 6 million deaths. Vaccines are essential, but in circumstances when vaccination is not accessible or in individuals with compromised immune systems, drugs can give additional protection. Targeting host signaling pathways is recommended due to their genomic stability and resistance barriers. Plant-derived products, which have been used in traditional medicine for treating pathological conditions, offer structurally novel therapeutic compounds including anti-viral. In addition, plant-derived bioactive substances might serve as the ideal basis for developing sustainable/efficient/cost-effective anti-viral alternatives. Epigenetic modifications in the genome can affect gene expression without altering DNA sequence. Host cells can use epigenetic gene regulation as a mechanism to silence incoming viral DNA molecules, while viruses have recruited cellular epi transcriptomic (covalent modifications of RNAs) modifiers to increase the translational efficiency and transcript stability of viral transcripts to enhance viral gene expression and replication. Moreover, viruses manipulate host cells' epigenetic machinery to ensure productive viral infections. Environmental factors, such as natural products, may influence epigenetic modifications. In this review, we are exploring the potential of plant-derived substances as epigenetic modifiers for broad-spectrum anti-viral activity, reviewing modulation processes and anti-viral effects on DNA and RNA viruses, and addressing future research objectives in this rapidly emerging field.

This review article explores the significance of beneficial microorganisms in crop improvement, highlighting their roles in promoting plant growth, enhancing nutrient uptake, and protecting against pathogens. The symbiotic interactions between plants and microorganisms have been extensively studied, revealing the vast potential of these beneficial partnerships in sustainable agriculture. The article discusses various types of beneficial microorganisms, including mycorrhizal fungi, rhizobia, and plant growth-promoting bacteria, elucidating their mechanisms of action and their impact on plant health and productivity. Furthermore, it examines the application of microbial inoculants and biofertilizers in crop production systems, emphasizing their potential to enhance crop yield, nutrient use efficiency, and stress tolerance. The review also explores emerging technologies, such as metagenomics and synthetic biology, in harnessing the full potential of beneficial microorganisms for crop improvement. Overall, we highlight the importance of beneficial microorganisms in sustainable agriculture and provide insights into their promising applications in crop enhancement.

Commercial formulates of beneficial microbes have been used to enrich the rhizosphere microbiome of tomato plants grown in pots located in a glasshouse. These plants have been subjected to attacks by soil-borne parasites, such as root-knot nematodes (RKNs), and herbivores, such as the miner insect Tuta absoluta. The development of both parasites and the symptoms of their parasitism were restricted in these plants with respect to plants left untreated. A mixture, named in the text as Myco, containing plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), opportunistic biocontrol fungi (BCF), and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) was more effective in limiting pest damages than a formulate containing the sole AMF (Ozor). Therefore, Myco-treated plants inoculated with RKNs were taken as a model to further study which biocontrol agent (BCA) was specifically responsible of plant immunization and the molecular pathways exploited to achieve such an immunization. The PGPR contained in Myco were not able to reduce nematode infection, rather, they worsened symptoms on plants, compared with those observed on untreated plants. When plants were treated with suspensions of Bacillus subtilis at concentrations similar to those provided with Myco and then inoculated with RKNs, infection was actually more severe than that on untreated plants. Therefore, it was argued that both BCF and AMFwere the microorganisms that, colonizing roots, synergistically stimulate plant immune system against RKNs. Beneficial fungi lowered the activities of the defense supporting enzymes endochitinases and β-1,3-glucanase to be able to colonize the roots. However, as early as three days after nematode inoculation, these enzyme activities, and the expression of the encoding pathogenesis related genes (PR-2, PR-3) were found to be enhanced in roots with respect to not inoculated plants, thus indicating that plants had been primed against RKNs. Addition of paclobutrazol, which reduced salicylic acid (SA) levels in cells, and of diphenyliodonium chloride, which inhibits superoxides generation, completely abolished the repressive effect of Myco on nematode infection and presumably plant immune reaction. Inhibitors of copper enzymes and of the alternative cyanide-resistant respiration did not significantly alter resistance induction by Myco. When Myco-treated plants were subjected to a moderate water stress and inoculated with nematodes, they retained numbers of developed individuals in the roots similar to those present in regularly watered plants, in contrast to what occurred in roots of untreated stressed plants that hosted very few individuals because of poor nutrient availability.

Nutrients are the driving force of plant and herbivore interactions. Different elements and fertilization levels in soil, or artificially fertilized substrates can have a direct impact on plant defense responses. Meanwhile, nutrient levels mediated by root associated microbes can indirectly affect plant-herbivore interactions. Nutrient uptake promoted by beneficial mycorrhizal fungi or rhizobacteria interacting with roots can stimulate plant tolerance to herbivore attack, as evidenced by herbivore performance, plant nutrient status, plant biomass allocation and compensatory growth. In return, herbivory affects nutrient fluxes between plants and their associated beneficial microbes. Furthermore, aboveground and belowground herbivory can affect the nutrient exchange between plants and soil microbial communities, mainly for carbon-and nitrogen-based resources supporting herbivores´ life cycles. These ecological interactions are governed by jasmonic acid (JA) and key enzymes on the molecular level. This review summarizes the current scientific literature on the role of nutrients in plant-herbivore interactions. This will support efforts to optimize plant defense strategy via managing nutrient variance.

Identification of plants is a challenging task which aims to identify the family, genus, and species level according to morphological features. Automated deep learning-based computer vision algorithms are widely used for identifying plants and can help users to narrow down the possibilities. However, numerous morphological similarities between and within species make the classification difficult. In this paper, we tested a custom convolution neural network (CNN) and vision transformer (ViT) based models using the PyTorch framework to classify plants. We used a large dataset of 88K and 16K images for classifying plants at genus and species levels respectively. Our results show that for classifying plants at the genus level, ViT models perform better compared to CNN-based models ResNet50 and ResNet-RS-420, and other state-of-the-art CNN-based models suggested in previous studies on a similar dataset. The ViT model achieved top accuracy of 83.3% for classifying plants at the genus level. ViT models also perform better for classifying plants at the species level compared to CNN-based models ResNet50 and ResNet-RS-420, with a top accuracy of 92.5%. We show that the correct set of augmentation techniques plays an important role in classification success.

The high-mountain and arctic plants are considered especially sensitive to the climate changes because of close adaptations to the cold environment. Kalmia procumbens, the typical arctic-alpine species reaches southernmost European localities in the Pyrenees and Carpathians. The aim of the study was the assessment and comparison of K. procumbens current potential niche areas in the Pyrenees and Carpathians and their possible reduction due to climate change, depending on the scenario. Realized niches of K. procumbens in the Pyrenees are compact while in the Carpathians dispersed. In both mountain chains, the species occurs in the alpine and subalpine vegetation belts, going down to elevations of about 1500-1600 m, while the most elevated localities in the Pyrenees are at ca 3000 m, about 500 m higher than in the Carpathians. The localities of K. procumbens in the Carpathians have a more continental climate than in the Pyrenees, with lower precipitation and temperatures but higher seasonality of temperature and of precipitation. The species covered a larger area of geographic distribution during Last Glacial, and reduced area during mid Holocene. Due to the climate warming, the strong reduction of potential area of occurrence to 2100 is expected in the Carpathians and moderate reduction in in the Pyrenees.

Phytoalexins are naturally-occurring molecules with antimicrobial activity deriving from the secondary metabolism of plants, which are synthesized in response to physical agents or stresses, phytopathogenic agents (fungi, bacteria and viruses) as well as numerous chemical compounds and biological control agents. Among these, grapevine phytoalexins, which belong to the chem-ical group of stilbenes, exhibit biocidal activity against a large number and a variety of plant pathogens. An important issue in research on these compounds is to be able to stimulate their synthesis in planta and to determine whether the induction of their production can serve as a basis for protecting that plant against its pathogens. Quite a few chemical compounds, derivatives of phytohormones bio-elicitors as well as biocontrol agents have been used to induce the synthesis of stilbene phytoalexins with the aim of conferring protection to grapevine against its main dis-eases (gray mold, downy mildew, powdery mildew and esca). This article reviews the experi-ments that have been carried out in this direction during the last thirty years and shows that the observed protective effects towards pathogens are generally linked to induction and priming of the grapevine phytoalexin response, confirming the interest of using, in a more general way, stimulation of the production of phytoalexins in plants as a basis for crop protection.

Although jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis) has been cultivated for years, information on its N re-quirements is limited. A 6-year study of mature jojoba plants grown under field conditions with an intensive management regime evaluated the effect of N-application rate on plant nutrient status, growth and productivity, and nitrate accumulation in the soil. Five levels of N application were tested: 50, 150, 250, 370 and 500 kg N ha-1. The fertilizers were provided all along the growing season via subsurface drip irrigation system. Leaf N concentration, in both spring and summer, reflected the level of N applied. Diagnostic leaf (youngest leaf that has reached full size) concentration of 1.3% N was identified as the threshold for N deficiency. Increasing rates of N application resulted in higher P levels in young leaves. Plant K status, as reflected by leaf analysis, was not affected by N treatment but was strongly affected by fruit load. Vegetative growth was inhibited when only 50 kg N ha-1 was applied. Soil analysis at the end of the fertilization season showed substantial accumulation of nitrate for the two highest application rates. Considering productivity, N costs, and environmental risk, 150 kg N ha-1 is the recommended dosage for in-tensively grown jojoba. N deficiencies can be identified using leaf analysis and excess N can be detected by soil sampling toward the end of the growing season. These results and tools will fa-cilitate precise N fertilization in intensive jojoba plantations.

Jatropha multifida L. is a plant belong to Euphorbiaceae family used in Benin pharmacopoeia because of its medicinal properties. The objective of this work is to appreciate the therapeutic power of this plant through the evaluation of some of its biological activities. After the preliminary phytochemistry, the polyphenols and flavonoids were quantified and identified by the LC-MS-ESI. The antimicrobial power of the extracts was investigated by agar medium diffusion. The antioxidant power of the extracts was evaluated by the reduction of the DPPH radical, the ABTS radical cation, the feric ion (FRAP) and the lipid peroxidation (LPO). Anti-inflammatory activity was assessed by inhibition of protein (albumin) denaturation. Indeed, different phenolic and flavonoid compounds namely, 2-Hydroxybenzoic acid, o-Coumaroylquinic acid, Apigenin-apiosyl-glucoside, Luteolin-galactoside, Luteolin-glucoside, Luteolin-rhamnoside, Quercetin-glucoside, Quercetin-arabinoside, Dicaffeoyquinic acid, Kaempferol-rhamnoside were identify. The J. mutifida extracts has a bactericidal effect with reference strains of wich CMBs vary from 22.67 mg/ml (S. aureus, S. enteridis, L. monocytogenes and C. albicans) to 47.61 mg/ml (E. coli) and with the meat isolated strains (S. equorum, S. saprophiticus, S. haemoliticus, S. cohnii and S. lentus). Ethanolic extract show the highest DPPH radical scavenging activity (IC₅₀ = 0.72±0.03 mg/ml) while methanolic extract showed the highest ferric ion reduction (46.23±1.10 µgEAA/g). Contrary to the FRAP method, the reducing power with ABTS method of water-ethanolic extract was greater (0.49±0.11 mol ET/g). The same extract show the highest albumin denaturation inhibition power (97.31±0.35%) at 1000µg/ml. J. multifida extracts are rich in bioactive compound with good biological activity

The variability observed in the annual seed production of perennial plants can be seen as an indication of changes in the allocation of resources between growth and reproduction, which can be attributed to fluctuations in the environment. However, a significant knowledge gap exists concerning the impacts of nitrogen addition on the interannual seed production patterns of perennial plant. We hypothesized that the addition of nitrogen would impact the annual variations in the seed production of perennial plants, ultimately affecting their overall reproductive efficiency. A multiyear field experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of varying nitrogen supply levels (e.g., 0, 4, 8 kg N ha−1 yr−1 of N0, N4, and N8) on the vegetative and floral traits, pollinator visitation rates, and seed traits over a period of four consecutive years. The results showed that the N0 treatment exhibited the highest levels of seed production and reproductive efficiency within the initial two years. In contrast, the N4 treatment displayed its highest level of performance in these metrics in the second and third years, whereas the N8 treatment showcased its most favorable outcomes in the third and fourth years. The similar patterns were found in the number of flowers per capitulum and the number of capitula per plant. There exists a positive correlation between aboveground biomass and several factors, encompassing the number of flowers per capitulum, the number of capitula per plant, the volume of nectar per capitulum, and the seed production per plant. This implies that the addition of N affected the maintenance of plant aboveground biomass, flower traits stability and, subsequently, the frequency of seed production, and the reproductive efficiency. Our results suggest that augmenting the nitrogen content in the soil may have the capacity to modify the inherent variability in seed production that is observed across various years. These findings have the potential to enhance our comprehension of the impact of nitrogen addition on the reproductive performance of perennial herbaceous plants, and the underlying mechanisms of biodiversity in the context of global environmental changes.

Vernonia amygdalina is an important nutritional and medicinal plant that is used to treat various diseases such as malaria and diabetes in Nigeria. In this study, we sequenced, assembled, and annotated the complete nucleotide sequence of the chloroplast genome of a V. amygdalina species isolated in Awka, Nigeria. The chloroplast genome is 153 149 bp in length and has a conserved structure that includes the LSC (84261 bp) region, the SSC (13152 bp) region, and the IR (27868 bp) regions. A total of 131 genes were identified, including 86 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. Comparative analysis of the genome revealed species variations in the LSC region associated with the geographical location of the V. amygdalina plant. Phylogenetic analysis of the chloroplast genomes using FastTree showed that V. amygdalina clustered closest to the chloroplast of the Crepidiastrum genus. This study identifies the characteristics of the V. amygdalina chloroplast genome, which will improve our understanding of intraspecies diversity and the identification of potential molecular markers to determine geographical origin.

In order to explore the genetic diversity of the extremely small population wild plant Habenaria dentata and protect and optimize its wild resources. The genetic diversity of 133 samples from 6 wild populations of H.dentata was analyzed by ISSR molecular marker technique to provide a scientific basis for the screening of improved germplasm resources. The results show that the average number of alleles (Na) was 1.765, the average number of effective alleles (Ne) was 1.424, the average Nei 's gene diversity index (He) was 0.252, the average Shannon information diversity index (I) was 0.381, and the average percentage of polymorphic loci (PPL) was 76.499%. The variation within populations was 77.34%, and the variation between populations was 22.66%. Gene flow (Nm) was 1.705 8, greater than 1. The results of cluster analysis showed that the six populations were mainly divided into four branches and not classified according to geographical location. There was no significant correlation between geographical location and genetic distance between populations (r=0.557, P>0.05). The genetic diversity of H.dentata is high. Among the six wild populations, the genetic diversity of Mulun population is the highest and this population can be used as a key protection unit.

The advancement of mass spectrometry technologies has revolutionised plant metabolomics research by enabling the acquisition of raw metabolomics data. However, the identification, analysis, and visualisation of these data require specialised tools. Existing solutions lack a dedicated plant-specific metabolite database and pose usability challenges. To address these limitations, we developed PlantMetSuite, a web-based tool for comprehensive metabolomics analysis and visualisation. PlantMetSuite encompasses interactive bioinformatics tools and databases specifically tailored for plant metabolomics data, facilitating upstream-to-downstream analysis in metabolomics and supporting integrative multi-omics investigations. PlantMetSuite can be accessed directly through a user's browser without the need for installation or programming skills. The tool is freely available at https://plantmetsuite.verygenome.com/ and will undergo regular updates and expansions to incorporate additional libraries and newly published metabolomics analysis methods. The tool's significance lies in empowering researchers with an accessible and customisable platform for unlocking plant metabolomics insights.

Plant endophytic fungi and rhizosphere soil fungi are often reported as biocontrol agents against plant pathogens or with plant growth promotion potential. Four treatments were performed in field and greenhouse experiments where cucumber plants were inoculated with Trichoderma harzianum and Fusarium oxysporum in 2022. The roots, stems and leaves of cucumber plants and their rhizosphere soil were collected twice individually from the field and greenhouse for isolation of cucumber endophytic and rhizosphere soil fungi. All 74 genera and 1275 fungal strains were sequenced by rDNA ITS. The PDA media yielded the highest number of genera isolated from cucumber plants, rhizosphere soil and both compared to other media. There were no significant differences among the 4 media for the isolation of cucumber endophytic fungi. The best media for isolating fungi from roots and stems were MRBA and PDA, respectively. PDA and CZA had higher isolation efficiency for the rhizosphere soil fungi than MRBA. The 28 fungal genera had high isolation efficiency, and the endophytic Trichoderma strains were best isolated by MEA. It is suggested that PDA can be used as a basic medium, and different media can be considered for specific fungal genera.

MicroRNAs (MiRNAs) are a class of non-coding single-stranded RNA molecules of approximately 20-24 nucleotides in plants that play an important regulatory role in a variety of biological processes such as plant growth and development and response to various abiotic stresses. For example Drought, Salt, Cold, High temperature, Heavy metals and Nutrition. MiRNAs affect gene expression by manipulating the cleavage, translational expression or DNA methylation of target mRNAs. This review describes the current progress made on the way miRNAs are produced and regulated and the way miRNA/target gene is used in plant responses to abiotic stresses. Studying the molecular mechanism of action of miRNAs downstream target genes can optimize the genetic manipulation of crop growth and development conditions that provide a more theoretical basis for improving crop production.

Plant breeding aims to develop elite crop varieties appropriate for various environments with higher quality and quantity of production. Researchers use quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping and association studies to identify regions in the genome responsible for the variation of the quantitative traits of interest. However, mapped regions do not always translate to functional proteins, which makes it challenging to identify genes associated with traits of interest. The biological functions of proteins are strongly dependent on their 3D structure. Alternatively, if proteins can be directly linked with the phenotypes, the effect of mutations on phenotypic changes can be assessed. Innovation of deep learning models in biology opens new avenues of exploration. AlphaFold is an AI system that predicts the 3D structure of a protein from its amino acid sequence with near experimental accuracy and was used in this study. Point mutations with a significant influence on the 3D structure of a protein can capture the effect on phenotypes through association study, and this provides insights into the regions that are of functional importance. In the current study, 534 plants were selected based on plant vigor, and 154 missense variants that change amino acid sequences, including 5 significant hits from previous study, were included. The changes in protein 3D structure were assessed by association with the phenotype. The analysis identified five significant associations, four of which were also identified in previous study of SNPs GWAS, however, a new fifth association was also identified which was annotated as disease resistance gene in Medicago truncatula. This study helps to associate SNPs that could be missed by GWAS due to stringent Bonferroni corrected p-values by providing a more robust filter for SNPs using features from predicted protein 3D structures.

Plant Cysteine Oxidase (PCO) is a plant O2-sensing enzyme of catalyzing oxidation of cysteine to Cys-sulfinic acid at the N-termini of target proteins. To better understand the Brassica napus PCO gene family, PCO genes in B. napus and related species were analyzed. In this study, 20, 7 and 8 PCO genes were identified in Brassica napus, Brassica rapa and Brassica oleracea, respectively. According to phylogenetic analysis, the PCOs were divided into five groups: PCO1, PCO2, PCO3, PCO4 and PCO5. Gene organization and motif distribution analysis suggested that PCO gene family was relatively conserved during evolution. Expression analysis showed that PCO genes were expressed in different tissues at different developmental stages. Interestingly, most of the Bna/Br/BoPCO5 members were expressed in leaves, roots, flowers, buds and siliques, suggesting an important role in both vegetative and reproductive development. Expression of BnaPCO was induced by various abiotic stress, especially waterlogging stress, which was consistent with the result of cis-element analysis. In this study, the PCO gene family of Brassicaceae was analyzed for the first time, which contributes to a comprehensive understanding of the origin and evolution of PCO genes in Brassicaceae and the function of BnaPCO in regulating plant responses to abiotic stresses.

Olfaction plays a crucial role in many important behavioral activities of insects, such as finding sexual partners, locating hosts, and selecting oviposition sites. Ionotropic receptors (IRs) play a central role in detecting chemosensory information from the environment and guiding insect behaviors and are potential target genes for pest control. Empoasca onukii Matsuda is a major pest of the tea plant Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Ktze, and seriously influences tea yields and quality. In this study, the ionotropic receptor gene EnouIR25a in E. onukii was cloned, and the expression pattern of EnouIR25a was detected in various tissues. Behavioral responses of E. onukii to volatile compounds emitted by tea plants were determined by the olfactometer bioassay and field trials. To further explore the function of EnouIR25a in olfactory recognition of compounds, RNAi (RNA interference) of EnouIR25a was carried out by ingestion of in vitro synthesized dsRNAs. The CDS length of EnouIR25a was 1266 bp and it encoded a 48.87 kD protein. EnouIR25a was enriched in the antennae of E. onukii. E. onukii were more significantly attracted by 1-phenylethanol at concentration of 100 µl/ml. Feeding with dsRNA-IR25a significantly downregulated the expression level of EonuIR25a, after 3 h of treatment, which disturbed the behavioral responses of E. onukii to 1-phenylethanol at concentration of 100µl/ml. The response rate of E. onukii to 1-phenylethanol was significantly decreased after dsRNA-IR25a treatment for 12 h. In summary, the ionotropic receptor gene EnouIR25a was highly expressed in the antennae of E. onukii and was involved in olfactory recognition of the tea plant volatile 1-phenylethanol. The present study may help us to use the ionotropic receptor gene as a target for the behavioral manipulation of E. onukii in the future.

Pyrolyzed waste biomass, or biochar, has been suggested as a means to increase plant growth and to mitigate soil salinization, which is a widespread agricultural issue and can reach extreme levels in urban soils impacted by de-icing salts. Soil mixing is enhanced by reduced biochar particle size; however, biochar properties vary with particle size and recent studies suggest that plant growth responses may be maximized at intermediate particle sizes. We examined the responses of two plant species (cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) and velvetleaf (Abutilon theophrasti)) to biochar amendments that spanned a wide range of particle sizes obtained by sieving, with and without de-icing salt additions. The smallest size fractions of biochar reduced plant growth relative to unamended controls. Plant biomass production was generally maximized at intermediate biochar particle size treatments, with particles sizes of 0.5-2.0 mm showing the best response. Mitigation of salt effects was also improved at intermediate biochar particle sizes in this particles size range. Our results emphasize the importance of optimizing biochar particle size to best enhance plant responses to biochar, with particular reference to saline soils.

The rhizosphere is a rich source of actinomycetes which can produce several potential biologically-active secondary metabolites. The principal goals for this research are to extract, purify and characterize the bioactive secondary metabolites produced by three different strains of actinomycetes isolated from the rhizosphere of rosemary, black locust and olive. The plant growth-promoting effect (PGPE) of the studied strains of actinomycetes on Ocimum basilicum L. (basil) and disease-control effect on necrotic stem lesions of “black leg” caused by Fusarium tabacinum on basil, were in silico evaluated. The cell-free culture filtrates from the studied actinomycetes isolates were evaluated in vitro for their antimicrobial activity against some common phytopathogens. The secondary metabolites obtained from the cell-free culture filtrates have been chemically characterized using high‐resolution electrospray ionization of liquid-chromatography/mass-spectrometric detection (ESI-(HR)Orbitrap-MS). Results of in silico trial showed that all studied isolates demonstrated PGPE on basil seedlings improving some Eco-physiological characteristics and reduced the disease incidence of F. tabacinum. The extracted metabolites from the studied actinomycetes demonstrated antimicrobial activity in Petri-plates assay. The chemical analysis revealed the presence of totally 20 different components. This research emphasizes how valuable the examined isolates are for producing bioactive compounds, indicating their putative antimicrobial activity and their potential employment as fungal-biocontrol agents. In particular, the obtained results revealed the possibility of green-synthesis of some important secondary metabolites such as N-Acetyl-L-histidinol, Rhizocticin A and Eponemycin from actinomycetes. The bioactive metabolites may be successively used to develop novel bio-formulations for both crop protection and/or PGPE.

Plants are constantly exposed to a variety of different environmental stresses, including drought, salinity, and elevated temperatures. These stress cues are assumed to aggravate in the future driven by the global climate change scenario which we are currently experiencing. These stressors have largely detrimental effects on plant growth and development and, therefore, put global food security in jeopardy. For this reason, it is necessary to expand our understanding of the underlying mechanisms by which plants respond to abiotic stresses. Especially boosting our insight into the ways by which plants balance their growth and their defense programs appears to be of paramount importance, as this may lead to novel perspectives that can pave the way to increase agricultural productivity in a sustainable manner. In this review, our aim was to present a detailed overview of different factettes of the crosstalk between the antagonistic plant hormones abscisic acid (ABA) and auxin, two phytohormones that are the main drivers of plant stress responses, on the one hand, and plant growth, on the other.

Due to an increase in the consumption of food, feed, and fuel and to meet global food security needs for the rapidly growing human population, there is a necessity to obtain high-yielding crops that can adapt to future climate changes. Currently, the main feed source used for ruminant livestock production is forage grasses. In temperate climate zones, perennial grasses grown for feed are widely distributed and tend to suffer under unfavorable environmental conditions. Gene editing has been shown to be an effective tool for the development of abiotic stress-resistant plants. The highly versatile CRISPR-Cas system enables increasingly complex modifications in genomes while maintaining precision and low off-target frequency mutations. In this review, we provide an overview of forage grass species that have been subjected to gene editing. We offer a perspective view on the generation of plants resilient to abiotic stresses. Due to the broad factors contributing to these stresses the review focuses on drought, salt, heat, and cold stresses. The application of new genomic techniques (e.g., CRISPR-Cas) allows addressing several challenges caused by climate change and abiotic stresses for developing forage grass cultivars with improved adaptation to the future climatic conditions. Gene editing will contribute towards developing safe and sustainable food systems.

About a decade ago, active optical crop canopy sensors are being used to manage in-season variable nitrogen (N) fertilization in cornfields to match the plant demand that occurs mid season, increasing the efficiency compared to broadcast N applications. There were also initiatives of using ultrasonic sensors to measure plant height on-the-go for N application and crop water demand estimation, but no studies have integrated the optical, ultrasonic and canopy temperature for crop water stress assessment. The objective of this chapter is to evaluate the crop water status using infrared thermometry integrated with optical and ultrasonic sensors. Specifics objectives are: (i) evaluate the corn canopy temperature under different previous crop, N rates and irrigation levels; (ii) test a procedure for water stress assessment in commercial cornfields using the integration of sensors, (iii) correlate plant based sensor measurements (N status, plant height and canopy temperature) with grain yield, soil attributes and detailed topographical features, and (iv) study the spatial dependence of canopy temperature. This study was conducted in one small plot study area and on three producer’s fields in 2010. The small plot experiment consisted of two irrigation levels (70 and 100% of evapotranspiration – ET), two previous crop schemes (corn after corn – CC and corn after soybeans – CS), and four N rates (0, 75, 150, 225 kg N ha^-1). Canopy temperature, optical reflectance and plant height was measured from R2 until R6 in the small plots. At the producer’s fields, three long strips across center pivots were used to have a non-limited N and water crop and then continuous georeferenced sensors measurements were taken during side-dress (V11 growth stage) in about 10 hectares in each field. In the small plot study the crop canopy temperature was influenced by the irrigation levels and N rates. The procedure proposed could be used to identify zones in the producer’s field where water stress can be a yield limiting factor other than N derived. Inside the zones considered that water stress played a major whole, there were low correlations between plant height, plant N status and canopy temperature, indicating that the canopy temperature had more influence from water stress than vegetation cover. Concave and lower elevation areas had higher yields compared to convex and high elevation, showing that the detailed elevation mapping can be beneficial to delineate stables zones that possibly could be used in variable irrigation systems. The spatial dependence of canopy temperature was over 65 meters across producers’ sites, showing that the commercial high clearance applicator’s swath width was adequate to obtain accurate maps. The integration of plant N status, plant height and canopy temperature was beneficial to detect water stressed zones in the field. Opportunities can be foresee also for on-the-go N fertilization using integration of these sensors because is likely that water stress can be confounded with different N supply during the growing season and in different zones in the field.