Crop

We have identified and analyzed 28 SUMO-pathway proteins from pigeonpea. Enhanced transcripts of pathway genes and increased SUMO conjugation under drought signifies the role of SUMO in regulating stress. Being a protein-rich and nutrient-dense legume crop, pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan) holds a vital position in a vegetarian meal. It is a resilient crop capable of striving in harsh climates and provides a means of subsistence to small-holding farmers. Nevertheless, extremes of water scarcity and drought conditions, especially during seedling and reproductive stages, remains a major issue severely impacting the growth and overall productivity of pigeonpea...

California contains a broad geography over which climate conditions can be suitable for cultivating multiple varieties of winegrapes. However, climate change is projected to make winegrape cultivation more challenging across many of California's winegrowing regions. In order to understand the potential effects of climate change on winegrapes, this study models variety-specific phenology for six winegrape varieties and quantifies the change in phenology and viticulturally-important agroclimate metrics over 12 of California's American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) by the mid-21st century...

Medicinal plants are integral to traditional medicine systems world-wide, being pivotal for human health. Harvesting plant material from natural environments, however, has led to species scarcity, prompting action to develop cultivation solutions that also aid conservation efforts. Biotechnological tools, specifically plant tissue culture and genetic transformation, offer solutions for sustainable, large-scale production and enhanced yield of valuable biomolecules. While these techniques are instrumental to the development of the medicinal plant industry, the challenge of inherent regeneration recalcitrance in some species to in vitro cultivation hampers these efforts...

For plant protection products applied as seed treatments, the risk to birds and mammals possibly feeding on such treated seeds needs to be addressed in the EU, in order to register these products for commercial use. For this purpose, the European Food Safety Food Authority (EFSA) has provided guidance on how to execute such a risk assessment. The risk assessment follows a tiered approach. In the Tier 1 risk assessment of the EFSA guidance (2023), it is assumed that birds or mammals have ad libitum access to treated seeds and exclusively feed on treated seeds...

Genetically modified (GM) crops are the most important agricultural commodities that can improve the yield of African smallholder farmers. The intricate circumstances surrounding the introduction of GM agriculture in Africa, however, underscore the importance of comprehending the moral conundrums, regulatory environments, and public sentiment that exist today. This review examines the current situation surrounding the use of GM crops in Africa, focusing on moral conundrums, regulatory frameworks, and public opinion...

In response to the escalating demand for sustainable agricultural methodologies, the utilization of microbial volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as antagonists against phytopathogens has emerged as a viable eco-friendly alternative. Microbial volatiles exhibit rapid diffusion rates, facilitating prompt chemical interactions. Moreover, microorganisms possess the capacity to emit volatiles constitutively, as well as in response to biological interactions and environmental stimuli. In addition to volatile compounds, these bacteria demonstrate the ability to produce soluble metabolites with antifungal properties, such as APE Vf, pyoverdin, and fragin...

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of certain moulds, prevalent in 60-80% of food crops and many processed products but challenging to eliminate. Consuming mycotoxin-contaminated food and feed can lead to various adverse effects on humans and livestock. Therefore, testing mycotoxin residue levels is critical to ensure food safety. Gold standard analytical methods rely on liquid chromatography coupled with optical detectors or mass spectrometers, which are high-cost with limited capacity. This study reported the successful development of a microfluidic "lab-on-a-chip" device to enrich and detect zearalenone in food samples based on the fluorescence quenching effect of quantum dots and selective affinity of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs)...

MD2 pineapple ( Ananas comosus ) is the second most important tropical crop that preserves crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM), which has high water-use efficiency and is fast becoming the most consumed fresh fruit worldwide. Despite the significance of environmental efficiency and popularity, until very recently, its genome sequence has not been determined and a high-quality annotated proteome has not been available. Here, we have undertaken a pilot proteogenomic study, analyzing the proteome of MD2 pineapple leaves using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), which validates 1781 predicted proteins in the annotated F153 (V3) genome...

BACKGROUND: Tillage practices can substantially affect soil properties depending on crop stage. The interaction between tillage and crop growth on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) communities remains unclear. We investigated the interactions between four tillage treatments (CT: conventional tillage, RT: reduced tillage, NT: no tillage with mulch, and SS: subsoiling with mulch), maintained for 25 years, and two wheat growth stages (elongation stage and grain filling stage) on AMF diversity and community composition...

Fungal diseases such as the devastating rice blast pose severe threats to crop production worldwide. Biological control of crop diseases caused by fungal pathogens is an environment-friendly approach for safeguarding crop production. But the insufficient availability of microbial agents effective against various fungal diseases has hampered the development of green production in crops. In this study, we identified a broad-spectrum antifungal bacterium, Streptomyces graminearus STR-1, showing antagonistic activity to diverse fungal pathogens including Magnaporthe oryzae , Rhizoctonia solani , Fusarium graminearum , Ustilaginoidea virens , and Bipolaris maydis ...

Mungbean is an important source of plant protein for consumers and a high-value export crop for growers across Asia, Australia and Africa. However, many commercial cultivars are highly vulnerable to biotic stresses, which rapidly reduce yield within the season. Fusarium oxysporum is a soil-borne pathogen that is a growing concern for mungbean growers globally. This pathogen causes Fusarium wilt by infecting the root system of the plant resulting in devastating yield reductions. To understand the impact of Fusarium on mungbean development and productivity and to identify tolerant genotypes, a panel of 23 diverse accessions was studied...

Abiotic stress caused by soil salinization remains a major global challenge that threatens and severely impacts crop growth, causing yield reduction worldwide. In this study, we aim to investigate the damage of salt stress on the leaf physiology of two varieties of rice (Huanghuazhan, HHZ, and Xiangliangyou900, XLY900) and the regulatory mechanism of Hemin to maintain seedling growth under the imposed stress. Rice leaves were sprayed with 5.0 μmol·L-1 Hemin or 25.0 μmol·L-1 ZnPP (Zinc protoporphyrin IX) at the three leaf and one heart stage, followed by an imposed salt stress treatment regime (50...

Following the commodity risk assessments of Acer palmatum plants grafted on A. davidii from China, in which Crisicoccus matsumotoi (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) was identified as a pest of possible concern, the European Commission requested the EFSA Panel on Plant Health to conduct a pest categorisation of C. matsumotoi for the territory of the European Union. Recent taxonomic revision of the genus Crisisoccus concluded that C. matsumotoi is a synonym of C. seruratus ; therefore, the categorisation will use the current valid name C...

Infective second-stage juveniles (J2) of Meloidogyne spp. migrate towards host roots, which depends on several factors, including root exudates and soil temperature. Although Meloidogyne enterolobii is a highly virulent nematode that affects major agricultural crops worldwide, there is limited ecological data about it. The objective of this study was to determine the J2 migration pattern vertically in 14-cm long segmented soil columns towards tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum ) and marigold ( Tagetes patula ) roots, each grown at two soil temperatures (20 or 26ºC)...

Weeds that compete with valuable crops can also host plant-parasitic nematodes, acting as a source of nematode inoculum in a field and further damaging crops. The host status of 10 weed species commonly found in North Carolina, USA, was determined for the root-knot nematodes Meloidogyne enterolobii and M. incognita race 4 in the greenhouse. Each weed species was challenged with 5,000 eggs/plant of either M. enterolobii or M. incognita race 4, with five replicate plants per treatment in two separate greenhouse trials...

Saline and alkaline stress is one of the major abiotic stresses facing agricultural production, which severely inhibits the growth and yield of plant. The application of plant growth regulators can effectively prevent crop yield reduction caused by saline and alkaline stress. Exogenous melatonin (MT) can act as a signaling molecule involved in the regulation of a variety of physiological processes in plants, has been found to play a key role in enhancing the improvement of plant tolerance to abiotic stresses...

Tanacetum falconeri is a significant flowering plant that possesses cytotoxic, insecticidal, antibacterial, and phytotoxic properties. Its chemodiversity and bioactivities, however, have not been thoroughly investigated. In this work, several extracts from various parts of T. falconeri were assessed for their chemical profile, antioxidant activity, and potential for enzyme inhibition. The total phenolic contents of T. falconeri varied from 40.28 ± 0.47 mg GAE/g to 11.92 ± 0...

BACKGROUND: Land uses such as crop production, livestock grazing, mining, and urban development have contributed to degradation of drylands worldwide. Loss of big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) on disturbed drylands across the western U.S. has prompted massive efforts to re-establish this foundational species. There has been growing interest in avoiding the severe limitations experienced by plants at the seed and seedling stages by instead establishing plants from containerized greenhouse seedlings ("tubelings")...

BACKGROUND: Brassica napus, a hybrid resulting from the crossing of Brassica rapa and Brassica oleracea, is one of the most important oil crops. Despite its significance, B. napus productivity faces substantial challenges due to heavy metal stress, especially in response to cadmium (Cd), which poses a significant threat among heavy metals. Natural resistance-associated macrophage proteins (NRAMPs) play pivotal roles in Cd uptake and transport within plants. However, our understanding of the role of BnNRAMPs in B...

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