In recent years, the harmful effects of drought stress have been be mitigated by using bioactive compounds such as antioxidants and osmolytes. In this research, pot experiments were carried out to ...investigate the effects of ascorbic acid, glutathione and proline on alleviating the harmful effect of drought stress in chickpea plants during season 2017. Chickpea plant seeds were soaked in ascorbic acid (0.75 mM), glutathione (0.75 mM), proline (0.75 mM) singly and/or in sequence combinations for 4 h and then planted in pots. The pots were irrigated with water after seven days (to serve as control), after 14 days (moderate drought stress) and after 28 days (severe drought stress). The sequence combination of antioxidants and proline under drought stress has not been studied yet. The results showed significantly decreased in plant growth, yielding characteristics, photosynthetic pigments and soluble protein content in response to moderate and severe drought stress. Moreover, treatment with antioxidants caused increment the antioxidant enzyme activity, non-enzymatic antioxidant (ascorbic acid and glutathione) contents and endogenous proline in stressed and unstressed plants. In conclusion, The sequence combination of antioxidants and proline caused improvement in plant growth under drought stress by up-regulating the antioxidant defense system and osmolyte synthesis.
Since ancient times, seaweeds have been employed as source of highly bioactive secondary metabolites that could act as key medicinal components. Furthermore, research into the biological activity of ...certain seaweed compounds has progressed significantly, with an emphasis on their composition and application for human and animal nutrition. Seaweeds have many uses: they are consumed as fodder, and have been used in medicines, cosmetics, energy, fertilizers, and industrial agar and alginate biosynthesis. The beneficial effects of seaweed are mostly due to the presence of minerals, vitamins, phenols, polysaccharides, and sterols, as well as several other bioactive compounds. These compounds seem to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, antimicrobial, and anti-diabetic activities. Recent advances and limitations for seaweed bioactive as a nutraceutical in terms of bioavailability are explored in order to better comprehend their therapeutic development. To further understand the mechanism of action of seaweed chemicals, more research is needed as is an investigation into their potential usage in pharmaceutical companies and other applications, with the ultimate objective of developing sustainable and healthier products. The objective of this review is to collect information about the role of seaweeds on nutritional, pharmacological, industrial, and biochemical applications, as well as their impact on human health.
Low temperature is an important abiotic variable that inhibits plant growth and yield by restricting plant distribution on land. Cold-tolerant plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) improve ...nutrient absorption and availability in plants through biochemical and physiological mechanisms. Furthermore, they increase the tolerance of plants to cold stress. Different strains of bacteria were isolated from the roots of
Suaeda nudiflora
. These isolates were identified using 16SrDNA as
Lysinibacillus fusiformis
strain YJ4 and
Lysinibacillus sphaericus
strain YJ5 and were used to study their role in alleviating the harmful effect of cold stress. The two bacterial strains have the ability to solubilize phosphorus and to produce gluconic acid, phytohormones, catechol and hydroxymate siderophores. The present study aimed to study the effect of inoculating maize seeds with PGPR and its use to alleviate the adverse effects of cold stress. The results showed that cold stress (4 °C) reduces germination, growth criteria, photosynthetic pigments (i.e., chl a, chl b, and carotenoids), photosynthetic rate, membrane stability index, phytohormones (auxin and gibberellin), and mineral contents (N, P, K, and Ca) while increasing conductivity, malondialdehyde (MDA), lignin, cell viability, osmolytes (proline, glycine betaine, and soluble sugars), phenolic content, abscisic acid, 1‑aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) content and the antioxidant defense system in maize plants. Besides, the lignification, osmolytes, phenolic content, phytohormones, the enzymatic antioxidant defenses (i.e., superoxide dismutase, catalase, and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase), and mineral contents of maize plants increased after inoculation with
L. fusiformis
and
L. sphaericus
alone or in combination as compared to normal and cold stress conditions. In conclusion, the inoculation with
L. fusiformis
and
L. sphaericus
in maize plants induced resistance of osmotic and oxidative stress caused due to exposure to cold stress by upregulation of osmolytes, phenolics, phytohormones, and antioxidant enzymes. Also,
L. sphaericus
strains is more effective in tolerance to cold stress than
L. fusiformis
.
The potential of nanotechnology for the development of sustainable agriculture has been promising. The initiatives to meet the rising food needs of the rapidly growing world population are mainly ...powered by sustainable agriculture. Nanoparticles are used in agriculture due to their distinct physicochemical characteristics. The interaction of nanomaterials with soil components is strongly determined in terms of soil quality and plant growth. Numerous research has been carried out to investigate how nanoparticles affect the growth and development of plants. Nanotechnology has been applied to improve the quality and reduce post-harvest loss of agricultural products by extending their shelf life, particularly for fruits and vegetables. This review assesses the latest literature on nanotechnology, which is used as a nano-biofertilizer as seen in the agricultural field for high productivity and better growth of plants, an important source of balanced nutrition for the crop, seed germination, and quality enrichment. Additionally, post-harvest food processing and packaging can benefit greatly from the use of nanotechnology to cut down on food waste and contamination. It also critically discusses the mechanisms involved in nanoparticle absorption and translocation within the plants and the synthesis of green nanoparticles.
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•Nanotechnology, an emerging and exciting new field of science, is currently being used in various areas•Nanotechnology becomes a potent and novel technique to enhance the agricultural food sector•Nanotechnology enhancing food production
Fly ash, a result of coal burning in thermal power plants, is sustainably used in agriculture and has been regarded as a problematic solid waste worldwide. The presence of some desired nutrients ...(macro and micro) and its porosity makes it a marvelous soil amendment for plant growth and development. The present study was done to evaluate the effect of different fly ash levels on pumpkin crop (
Cucurbita moschata
). Pot experiment in randomized block design was conducted with different fly ash supplement treatments to analyze the impact of fly ash on growth, chlorophyll, carotenoid, biochemical parameters, and pumpkin crop yield. The results show variation in soil’s physical and chemical properties after the application of fly ash (30 and 50%). Also, the lower levels (10–30%) of fly ash amended soil significantly (
P
≤ 0.05) enhanced the growth (plant height, plant fresh and dry biomass, no. of leaves, and average area of the leaf), chlorophyll content, and biochemical contents (protein, carbohydrate, mineral, and leaf water content) in pumpkin crop. The proline content was also observed to enhance by the increasing levels of fly ash to soil. The yield parameters in terms of a number of flowers and fruits, fruits’ length and diameter, and fresh and dry weight of fruits were also significantly increased in amended soil with 10–30% fly ash. On the other hand, the higher doses, i.e., 40% and 50% of fly ash showed a negative effect and reduced the growth, chlorophyll, carotenoid, biochemical content, proline, and yield in pumpkin crop. We concluded that the lower level of fly ash (up to 30%) could be used as fertilizer in agricultural fields for the improvement of vegetable as well as other food crops in a sustainable manner but the higher level of fly ash (40 and 50%) is toxic to the plant.
Phytoremediation is an important solution to soil pollution management. The goal of this study is to determine the biosorption ability of the two selected fungi (
Aspergillus niger
and
Penicillium ...chrysosporium
) under heavy metal stress on faba bean plants. The fungal strains produced phytohormones, siderophore, ACC deaminase, and secondary metabolites. The biosorption capacity of
A. niger
and
P. chrysosporium
was 0.09 and 0.06 mg g
−1
and 0.5 and 0.4 mg g
−1
in media containing Cd and Pb, respectively. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy of the fungal cell wall show primary functional groups like hydroxyl, amide, carboxyl, phosphoryl, sulfhydryl, and nitro. Therefore,
A. niger
and
P. chrysosporium
were inoculated to soils, and then the faba bean seeds were sown. After 21 days of sowing, the plants were irrigated with water to severe as control, with 100 mg L
−1
of Cd and 200 mg L
−1
of Pb. The results show that Cd and Pb caused a significant reduction in morphological characteristics, auxin, gibberellins, photosynthetic pigments, minerals content, and antioxidant enzymes as compared to control plants but caused a substantial boost in abscisic acid, ethylene, electrolyte leakage, lipid peroxidation, glutathione, proline, superoxide dismutase, secondary metabolites, and antioxidant capacity. In inoculated plants, metal-induced oxidative stress was modulated by inhibiting the transport of metal and decreased electrolyte leakage and lipid peroxidation. Finally, the inoculation of endophytic fungi contributed actively to the absorption of heavy metals and decreased their content in soil and plants. This could be utilized as an excellent technique in the fields of heavy metal–contaminated sustainable agriculture.
Plants have a large diversity of metabolites in order to carry out the complicated plant metabolic pathway in a coordinated manner under normal as well as stressful conditions. These metabolites are ...further subdivided into primary metabolites which are responsible the for main metabolic pathways that are critical for the survival of plants and secondary metabolites which are not necessary for the main metabolic pathway for growth and development but are involved in developing the ability of the plants to interact with the surrounding adverse environment. Plants produce a diversity of secondary metabolites (PSMs) that serve as defense compounds against herbivores and microorganisms. In addition, some PSMs attract animals for pollination and seed dispersal. Pathogens gain entry into host cell, reproduce there and use biological machinery of host plants which is threat to global crop production. Integrated management strategies based upon minimizing population and use of resistant cultivars can address this potential problem. In the developing world, farmers are less likely to adopt these approaches instead they prefer the use of chemical pesticides. Reckless use of chemical pesticides is destroying our ecosystem, which is why ecofriendly alternatives, like plant-based metabolites to control pathogens, must be explored. Studies conducted on different plant metabolites reported that these metabolites can potentially combat plant pathogens. In this study, we also discuss some of the plant secondary metabolites including alkaloids, flavonoids and phenolics, and antioxidant enzymes like peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, and chitinase.
Lead (Pb) is a toxic heavy metal (HM) that harms plant growth and productivity. Phytohormones, such as jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA), and osmoprotectants, such as proline (Pro), play an ...important role in the physiological and biochemical processes of plants. We investigated the effect of exogenous applications of JA, SA, Pro, and their combination on Pb-stress tolerance in maize as well as their effect on physiological, biochemical, and yield traits. Pb exposure severely affected maize plants, reducing growth, yield, photosynthetic pigments, and mineral (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) nutrients, as well as enhancing electrolyte leakage (EL), malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation, osmolytes, and non-enzymatic and enzymatic antioxidants. The application of JA, SA, Pro, and their combination enhanced plant growth and induced pigment biosynthesis, and decreased EL, MDA accumulation, and Pb concentration. All treatments enhanced Pro and total soluble sugar production, glutathione activity, ascorbic acid, phenol, superoxide dismutase, catalase, peroxidase, and mineral nutrients. JA, SA, and Pro application improved physiological processes directly or indirectly, thereby enhancing the ability of maize plants to overcome oxidative damage caused by Pb toxicity. The combination of JA, SA, and Pro was the most efficient treatment for maize plant growth and development, eliminating the negative consequences of Pb stress.
(CMV) is a deadly plant virus that results in crop-yield losses with serious economic consequences. In recent years, environmentally friendly components have been developed to manage crop diseases as ...alternatives to chemical pesticides, including the use of natural compounds such as glycine betaine (GB) and chitosan (CHT), either alone or in combination. In the present study, the leaves of the cucumber plants were foliar-sprayed with GB and CHT-either alone or in combination-to evaluate their ability to induce resistance against CMV. The results showed a significant reduction in disease severity and CMV accumulation in plants treated with GB and CHT, either alone or in combination, compared to untreated plants (challenge control). In every treatment, growth indices, leaf chlorophylls content, phytohormones (i.e., indole acetic acid, gibberellic acid, salicylic acid and jasmonic acid), endogenous osmoprotectants (i.e., proline, soluble sugars and glycine betaine), non-enzymatic antioxidants (i.e., ascorbic acid, glutathione and phenols) and enzymatic antioxidants (i.e., superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, catalase, lipoxygenase, ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione reductase, chitinase and β-1,3 glucanase) of virus-infected plants were significantly increased. On the other hand, malondialdehyde and abscisic acid contents have been significantly reduced. Based on a gene expression study, all treated plants exhibited increased expression levels of some regulatory defense genes such as
and
. In conclusion, the combination of GB and CHT is the most effective treatment in alleviated virus infection. To our knowledge, this is the first report to demonstrate the induction of systemic resistance against CMV by using GB.
About 6% of the total land area in the world and 20% of the irrigated land is suffering from salt stress. Egypt is one of the countries that suffer from salt stress problems. The aim of this study ...was to determine salt stress tolerance of six wheat (
Triticum aestivum
L.) genotypes. These genotypes can be grown all over the world, found in gene banks and have pedigree. These genotypes were grown in pots under greenhouse conditions and subjected to two salt levels (tap water or control and 200 mM). Some morphological and physiological traits were determined. The results revealed that there were significant variations with all morphological and physiological traits as influenced by salt stress and genotypes. All studied morphological traits (shoot and root length and yield attributes) were decreased under salt stress conditions except Sids 13 and Sakha 94 genotypes which showed non-significant effect compared with unstressed plants. Total phenol, total flavonoid and antioxidant activity were significantly increased in shoots of all wheat genotypes under salt stress. Wheat genotypes responded differently to mineral contents under salt stress. The SDS-PAGE of seed proteins gave high level of genetic variability with polymorphism percentage of 65.38%. Furthermore, they revealed some important biochemical markers for salt stress tolerance. The six wheat genotypes were fingerprinted with eight primers using inter-primer binding sites and inter-retrotransposon amplified polymorphism techniques. In conclusion, the techniques marked each genotype successfully with different unique bands and detected molecular genetic markers correlated with salt tolerance in wheat crops.
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