Nanoparticle-based toxicity in perishable vegetable crops: Molecular insights, impact on human health and mitigation strategies for sustainable cultivation.

With the advancement of nanotechnology, the use of nanoparticles (NPs) and nanomaterials (NMs) in agriculture including perishable vegetable crops cultivation has been increased significantly. NPs/NMs positively affect plant growth and development, seed germination, plant stress management, and postharvest handling of fruits and vegetables. However, these NPs sometimes cause toxicity in plants by oxidative stress and excess reactive oxygen species production that affect cellular biomolecules resulting in imbalanced biological and metabolic processes in plants. Therefore, information about the mechanism underlying interactions of NPs with plants is important for the understanding of various physiological and biochemical responses of plants, evaluating phytotoxicity, and developing mitigation strategies for vegetable crops cultivation. To address this, recent morpho-physiological, biochemical and molecular insights of nanotoxicity in the vegetable crops have been discussed in this review. Further, factors affecting the nanotoxicity in vegetables and mitigation strategies for sustainable cultivation have been reviewed. Moreover, the bioaccumulation and biomagnification of NPs and associated phytotoxicity can cause serious effects on human health which has also been summarized. The review also highlights the use of advanced omics approaches and interdisciplinary tools for understanding the nanotoxicity and their possible use for mitigating phytotoxicity.

Genome-wide identification and characterization of Puccinia striiformis-responsive lncRNAs in Triticum aestivum.

Wheat stripe rust (yellow rust) caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst) is a serious biotic stress factor limiting wheat production worldwide. Emerging evidence demonstrates that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) participate in various developmental processes in plants via post-transcription regulation. In this study, RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was performed on a pair of near-isogenic lines-rust resistance line FLW29 and rust susceptible line PBW343-which differed only in the rust susceptibility trait. A total of 6,807 lncRNA transcripts were identified using bioinformatics analyses, among which 10 lncRNAs were found to be differentially expressed between resistance and susceptible lines. In order to find the target genes of the identified lncRNAs, their interactions with wheat microRNA (miRNAs) were predicted. A total of 199 lncRNAs showed interactions with 65 miRNAs, which further target 757 distinct mRNA transcripts. Moreover, detailed functional annotations of the target genes were used to identify the candidate genes, pathways, domains, families, and transcription factors that may be related to stripe rust resistance response in wheat plants. The NAC domain protein, disease resistance proteins RPP13 and RPM1, At1g58400, monodehydroascorbate reductase, NBS-LRR-like protein, rust resistance kinase Lr10-like, LRR receptor, serine/threonine-protein kinase, and cysteine proteinase are among the identified targets that are crucial for wheat stripe rust resistance. Semiquantitative PCR analysis of some of the differentially expressed lncRNAs revealed variations in expression profiles of two lncRNAs between the Pst-resistant and Pst-susceptible genotypes at least under one condition. Additionally, simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were also identified from wheat lncRNA sequences, which may be very useful for conducting targeted gene mapping studies of stripe rust resistance in wheat. These findings improved our understanding of the molecular mechanism responsible for the stripe rust disease that can be further utilized to develop wheat varieties with durable resistance to this disease.

Impact of key parameters involved with plant-microbe interaction in context to global climate change.

Anthropogenic activities have a critical influence on climate change that directly or indirectly impacts plant and microbial diversity on our planet. Due to climate change, there is an increase in the intensity and frequency of extreme environmental events such as temperature rise, drought, and precipitation. The increase in greenhouse gas emissions such as CO2, CH4, NOx, water vapor, increase in global temperature, and change in rainfall patterns have impacted soil-plant-microbe interactions, which poses a serious threat to food security. Microbes in the soil play an essential role in plants' resilience to abiotic and biotic stressors. The soil microbial communities are sensitive and responsive to these stressors. Therefore, a systemic approach to climate adaptation will be needed which acknowledges the multidimensional nature of plant-microbe-environment interactions. In the last two scores of years, there has been an enhancement in the understanding of plant's response to microbes at physiological, biochemical, and molecular levels due to the availability of techniques and tools. This review highlights some of the critical factors influencing plant-microbe interactions under stress. The association and response of microbe and plants as a result of several stresses such as temperature, salinity, metal toxicity, and greenhouse gases are also depicted. New tools to study the molecular complexity of these interactions, such as genomic and sequencing approaches, which provide researchers greater accuracy, reproducibility, and flexibility for exploring plant-microbe-environment interactions under a changing climate, are also discussed in the review, which will be helpful in the development of resistant crops/plants in present and future.

Vegetable microgreens: The gleam of next generation super foods, their genetic enhancement, health benefits and processing approaches.

Considering the well-being cognizance of masses, the microgreens have emerged as the potential therapeutic functional foods for improving the overall health by dietary supplementation. Microgreens have delicate texture, distinctive flavors and exceptional volume of various nutrients accounting for higher neutraceutical benefits compared to their mature counterparts. Mounting interest in microgreens owes not only to their nutritional significance but also to their fascinating organoleptic traits. Many factors like rapid shrinkage of the land resources, lifestyle modification, healthy diet habits, the functional importance of food etc. cumulatively have resulted in increased interest in the microscale production of vegetables for the ready-to-eat market. Augmenting the production of secondary metabolites could provide more nutritional benefits, sensory attributes, and resistance to pests while, sharing many characteristics with sprouts, they are not associated with any foodborne illness. Their production by manipulation of agronomic practices like seeds, growing media, and light quality and biofortification with nutrients may result in nutrient-rich produce. These high-value crops typically characterized by short postharvest life and several pre a-harvest treatments can effectively maintain the shelf life of microgreens. Further, several genetic improvement tools can enhance the availability of bioactive compounds with minimum antinutritional factors. In this review, the comparative overview of the nutritional significance of microgreens with sprouts and their mature counterparts has been discussed. Further, the advances or manipulations in production technologies, the involvement of breeding programmes, and efficient post-harvest technologies to promote cost-effective production and future strategies for maintaining the shelf life and quality of microgreens have been argued.

Stress induced production of plant secondary metabolites in vegetables: Functional approach for designing next generation super foods.

Plant secondary metabolites are vital for human health leading to the gain the access to natural products. The quality of crops is the result of the interaction of different biotic and abiotic factors. Abiotic stresses during plant growth may reduce the crop performance and quality of the produce. However, abiotic stresses can result in numerous physiological, biochemical, and molecular responses in plants, aiming to deal with these conditions. Abiotic stresses are also elicitors of the biosynthesis of plant secondary metabolites in plants which possess plant defense mechanisms as well as human health benefits such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidative properties etc. Plants either synthesize new compounds or alter the concentration of bioactive compounds. Due to increasing attention towards the production of bioactive compounds, the understanding of crop responses to abiotic stresses in relation to the biosynthesis of bioactive compounds is critical. Plants alter their metabolism at the genetic level in response to different abiotic stresses resulting the changes in secondary metabolite production. Transcriptional factors regulate genes responsible for secondary metabolite biosynthesis in several plants under stress conditions. Understanding the signaling pathways involved in the secondary metabolite biosynthesis has become easy with the use of molecular biology. Therefore, aim of writing the review is to focus on secondary metabolite production in vegetable crops, their health benefits and transcription regulation under various abiotic stresses.

Acute toxicity of textile dye Methylene blue on growth and metabolism of selected freshwater microalgae.

Microalgae are ecologically important species in aquatic ecosystems due to their role as primary producers. The inhibition of growth of microalgae due to dye pollution results in an upheaval in the trophic transfer of nutrients and energy in aquatic ecosystems. Therefore, this investigation aimed to evaluate the toxicity of a textile dye Methylene blue (MB) on two microalgae viz. Chlorella vulgaris and Spirulina platensis. An exposure of the unialgal populations of both the microalgae towards graded concentrations of the dye showed a concentration-dependent decrease in specific growth rate, pigment and protein content. In the toxicity study of 24 -96-h, following the OECD guidelines 201, the EC50 values of C. vulgaris and S. platensis ranged from 61.81 to 5.43 mg/L and 5.83 to 1.08 mg/L respectively revealing that S. platensis exhibited a higher level of susceptibility towards the dye as compared to C. vulgaris and the latter is more tolerant to the dye toxicity even at higher concentrations. The findings indicate that the response to dye is a species-specific phenomenon. Given the differences in the cell structure and enzymatic pathways in Spirulina platensis (a prokaryote) and Chlorella vulgaris (an eukaryote), the tolerance levels can differ. After 96-h exposure of C. vulgaris to MB (100 mg/L), the chlorophyll-a, b and carotenoid content were reduced 2.5, 5.96 and 3.57 times in comparison to control whereas in S. platensis exposure to MB (10 mg/L), the chlorophyll-a and carotenoid content were reduced 3.59 and 5.08 times in comparison to control. After 96-h exposure of C. vulgaris and S. platensis to the dye (20 mg/L), the protein content was found to be 4.34 and 2.75 times lower than the control. The protein content has decreased in accordance with the increase in dye concentration.