Transcriptome Profiling of a Salt Excluder Hybrid Grapevine Rootstock 'Ruggeri' throughout Salinity.

Salinity is one of the substantial threats to plant productivity and could be escorted by other stresses such as heat and drought. It impairs critical biological processes, such as photosynthesis, energy, and water/nutrient acquisition, ultimately leading to cell death when stress intensity becomes uncured. Therefore, plants deploy several proper processes to overcome such hostile circumstances. Grapevine is one of the most important crops worldwide that is relatively salt-tolerant and preferentially cultivated in hot and semi-arid areas. One of the most applicable strategies for sustainable viticulture is using salt-tolerant rootstock such as Ruggeri (RUG). The rootstock showed efficient capacity of photosynthesis, ROS detoxification, and carbohydrate accumulation under salinity. The current study utilized the transcriptome profiling approach to identify the molecular events of RUG throughout a regime of salt stress followed by a recovery procedure. The data showed progressive changes in the transcriptome profiling throughout salinity, underpinning the involvement of a large number of genes in transcriptional reprogramming during stress. Our results established a considerable enrichment of the biological process GO-terms related to salinity adaptation, such as signaling, hormones, photosynthesis, carbohydrates, and ROS homeostasis. Among the battery of molecular/cellular responses launched upon salinity, ROS homeostasis plays the central role of salt adaptation.

Diversity in blueberry genotypes and developmental stages enables discrepancy in the bioactive compounds, metabolites, and cytotoxicity.

Eight blueberry cultivars at three developmental stages were investigated for metabolite profiling, antioxidant, and anticancer activities. Cultivars- and developmental stages-variations were determined in total phenolic, flavonoid, DPPH, and FRAP antioxidant assays. The anticancer capacity was equal against A549, HepG2, and Caco-2 cancer cells, whereas the inhibition rate was dose-, incubation period-, cultivar-, and developmental stages-dependent. The untargeted metabolite profiling by UPLC-TOF-MS analysis of two contrast cultivars, 'Vernon' and 'Star', throughout the developmental stages revealed 328 metabolites; the majority of them were amino acids, organic acids, and flavonoids. The multivariate statistical analysis identified five metabolites, including quinic acid, methyl succinic acid, chlorogenic acid, oxoadipic acid, and malic acid, with positively higher correlations with all anticancer activities. This comprehensive database of blueberry metabolites along with anticancer activities could be targeted as natural anticancer potentials. This study would be of great value for food, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical industries as well as plant biotechnologists.

Meloidogyne incognita population control and nutritional status and productivity of Thompson seedless grapevines managed with different treatments.

A two-year field trial was conducted in a vineyard (northern Egypt)cultivated with Thompson seedless grapevines to evaluate the effectiveness of four "alternative" (biological/chemical) treatments, Bacillus megaterium, boric acid, calcium nitrate and chitosan, against the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita (Mi), compared to that of the nematicide oxamyl. The influence of these treatments on plant nutritional status and fruit yield and quality was also assessed. All treatments significantly inhibited Mi reproduction parameters in both seasons, decreasing the numbers of nematode galls and egg masses (roots) and of second-stage juveniles (soil). Oxamyl application resulted in the highest reductions in Mi-reproduction parameters, followed by boric acid, which also showed the highest relative nematicidal efficacy (respect to oxamyl). In the 1st season, the highest fruit yield (10.34 kg/grapevine) was recorded from boric acid-treated plants, followed by that from oxamyl-treated plants (7.50 kg/grapevine); in the subsequent season (2019), oxamyl use led to the highest yield, followed by boric acid + chitosan use (10.04 and 8.62 kg/grapevine, respectively). In both seasons, application of boric acid alone and combined with chitosan enhanced the total soluble solids (TSS)/total acidity ratio in grape juice. All treatments led to higher nutrient contents (leaf petioles) and chlorophyll levels (leaves) as well as enhanced fruit size and weight. We conclude that the tested treatments can be safely applied for nematode management in Thompson seedless grapevines, with positive effects on fruit yield and quality.