Morphological, physiological, and biochemical responses of three different soybean (Glycine max L.) varieties under salinity stress conditions.

Salinity is one of the most detrimental factors for the growth performance and productivity of crops worldwide. Therefore, understanding crop responses or growth potentials and their effectiveness in salinity mitigation is highly important for the selection of salinity-tolerant plant varieties. In this study, the effects of salinity at various stress levels (0 mM, 50 mM, 100 mM, and 150 mM NaCl) on the morphological, physiological, and biochemical parameters of three soybean varieties ('Afigat', 'Gishama', and 'Pawi-2') were investigated. The results showed that salinity significantly reduced morphological traits including plant height, number of leaves per plant, stem thickness, shoot and root length, and fresh and dry weight. This reduction was more prominent in the 'Afigat' variety for all of these traits except shoot and root length. The concentrations of chlorophyll a and b decreased with increasing salinity. In addition, salinity significantly increased leaf electrolyte leakage (EL), lipid peroxidation, proline accumulation, and phenol and flavonoid content. The 'Pawi-2' variety was more tolerant than the other studied varieties in terms of membrane stability (less EL and a low malondialdehyde content) and proline, phenol, and flavonoid accumulation. Therefore, 'Pawi-2' may be considered as the most salt-tolerant variety in comparison with the other studied soybean varieties. Further complementary studies in field conditions including anatomical parameters are needed to confirm these findings.

Characterization and quantification of peptaibol produced by novel Trichoderma spp: Harnessing their potential to mitigate moisture stress through enhanced biochemical and physiological responses in black pepper (Piper nigrum L.).

Trichoderma spp. is primarily applied to manage biotic stresses in plants. Still, they also can mitigate abiotic stresses by the stimulation of antioxidative protective mechanisms and enhanced synthesis of secondary metabolites. The study optimized the conditions to enhance peptaibol production by novel Trichoderma spp, characterized and quantified peptaibol- alamethicin using HPLC and LC MS-MS. The present study investigated these isolates efficacy in enhancing growth and the associated physio-biochemical changes in black pepper plants under moisture stress. Under in vitro conditions, out of 51 isolates studied, six isolates viz., T. asperellum (IISR NAIMCC 0049), T. erinaceum (IISR APT1), T. harzianum (IISR APT2), T. harzianum (IISR KL3), T. lixii (IISR KA15) and T. asperellum (IISR TN3) showed tolerance to low moisture levels (5, 10 and 20%) and higher temperatures (35 and 40 °C). In vivo evaluation on black pepper plants maintained under four different moisture levels (Field capacity [FC]; 75%, 50%, and 25%) showed that the plants inoculated with Trichoderma accumulated greater quantities of secondary metabolites viz., proline, phenols, MDA and soluble proteins at low moisture levels (50% and 25% FC). In the present study, plants inoculated with T. asperellum and T. harzianum showed significantly increased growth compared to uninoculated plants. The shortlisted Trichoderma isolates exhibited differences in peptaibol production and indicated that the peptide might be the key factor for their efficiency as biocontrol agents. The present study also demonstrated that Trichoderma isolates T. harzianum and T. asperellum (IISR APT2 & NAIMCC 0049) enhanced the drought-tolerant capabilities of black pepper by improving plant growth and secondary metabolite production.

Characterization of the Clostridioides difficile 630Δerm putative Pro-Pro endopeptidase CD1597.

Clostridioides difficile is the leading cause of antibiotic-associated infections worldwide. Within the host, C. difficile can transition from a sessile to a motile state by secreting PPEP-1, which releases the cells from the intestinal epithelium by cleaving adhesion proteins. PPEP-1 belongs to the group of Pro-Pro endopeptidases (PPEPs), which are characterized by their unique ability to cleave proline-proline bonds. Interestingly, another putative member of this group, CD1597, is present in C. difficile. Although it possesses a domain similar to other PPEPs, CD1597 displays several distinct features that suggest a markedly different role for this protein. We investigated the proteolytic activity of CD1597 by testing various potential substrates. In addition, we investigated the effect of the absence of CD1597 by generating an insertional mutant of the cd1597 gene. Using the cd1597 mutant, we sought to identify phenotypic changes through a series of in vitro experiments and quantitative proteomic analyses. Furthermore, we aimed to study the localization of this protein using a fluorogenic fusion protein. Despite its similarities to PPEP-1, CD1597 did not show proteolytic activity. In addition, the absence of CD1597 caused an increase in various sporulation proteins during the stationary phase, yet we did not observe any alterations in the sporulation frequency of the cd1597 mutant. Furthermore, a promoter activity assay indicated a very low expression level of cd1597 in vegetative cells, which was independent of the culture medium and growth stage. The low expression was corroborated by our comprehensive proteomic analysis of the whole cell cultures, which failed to identify CD1597. However, an analysis of purified C. difficile spores identified CD1597 as part of the spore proteome. Hence, we predict that the protein is involved in sporulation, although we were unable to define a precise role for CD1597 in C. difficile.

Gamma Irradiation and Exogenous Proline Enhanced the Growth, 2AP Content, and Inhibitory Effects of Selected Bioactive Compounds against α-Glucosidase and α-Amylase in Thai Rice.

Exogenous proline can improve the growth, aroma intensities, and bioactive compounds of rice. This study evaluated the effects of gamma irradiation under proline conditions on the 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (2AP), phenolic, and flavonoid contents of rice. Moreover, the bioactive compounds of gamma-irradiated rice under proline conditions that inhibited α-glucosidase and α-amylase were evaluated by in silico study. A low gamma dose (40 Gy) induced the highest rice growth under 5 mM proline concentration. The highest 2AP content was stimulated at a gamma dose of 5－100 Gy under 10 mM proline concentration. At 500 and 1,000 Gy gamma dose, the highest flavonoid and phenolic contents of rice were stimulated. 1-(2-Hydroxy-5-methylphenyl)-ethanone, which had the highest binding affinity (-7.9 kcal/mol) against α-glucosidase, was obtained at 500 and 1,000 Gy gamma dose under 5 and 10 mM proline concentrations. Meanwhile, 6-amino-1,3,5-triazine-2,4(1H,3H)-dione, which had the highest binding affinity (-6.3 kcal/mol) against α-amylase, was obtained under 10 mM proline concentration in non-gamma-irradiated rice. The results indicate that using a combination of gamma irradiation and exogenous proline is suitable for producing new rice varieties. Moreover, the bioactive compounds that were obtained in new rice varieties exhibited health benefits, especially for diabetes mellitus treatment (inhibition of α-glucosidase and α-amylase).

Exploring the adaptive mechanisms and strategies of various populations of Sporobolus ioclados in response to arid conditions in Cholistan desert.

This study explored the drought resistance mechanisms of different populations of Sporobolus ioclados (Poaceae), locally known as "Sawri," "Drabhri" and "Dhrbholi" native to Africa and the Indian Subcontinent. These populations were grown in conventional nursery practices at Khawaja Fareed Government College in Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan, and subsequently subjected to four distinct levels of drought within carefully monitored experimental settings. The experiment was conducted in a two-factorial design involving populations and drought treatments and was repeated three times. The physiological and morphological responses of S. ioclados, including plant height, number of roots, root length, flag leaf area, stomatal features, proline concentration and nitrogen content, displayed significant variability in response to the imposed drought stress. Drought resulted in increases in proline concentration and nitrogen content. The number of roots decreased, while the length and width of the stomata increased in various populations. A combination of advanced statistical techniques, such as ANOVA, PCA, HCA, and DFA, provided a comprehensive understanding of the mechanism of plant adaptation and the extent of population diversity within the species. The Yazman and Nwab Wala populations exhibited the highest rates of photosynthesis and stomatal conductance, while S. ioclados demonstrated notable drought tolerance at the T4 level of drought stress. A negative correlation was found between proline levels, nitrogen contents, and photosynthesis, suggesting that proline has a protective role in drought. The diverse adaptation strategies indicated by S. ioclados populations have revealed the potential of this species for afforestation and climate change mitigation in dry environments.

Hypervalent iodine-mediated cyclization of bishomoallylamides to prolinols.

A change in mechanism was observed in the hypervalent iodine-mediated cyclization of N-alkenylamides when the carbon chain between the alkene and the amide increased from two to three atoms. In the latter case, cyclization at the amide nitrogen to form the pyrrolidine ring was favored over cyclization at the amide oxygen. A DFT study was undertaken to rationalize the change in mechanism of this cyclization process. In addition, reaction conditions were developed, and the scope of this cyclization studied.

An integrative characterisation of proline cis and trans conformers in a disordered peptide.

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) often contain proline residues, which undergo cis/trans isomerisation. While molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have the potential to fully characterise the proline cis and trans sub-ensembles, they are limited by the slow timescales of isomerisation and force field inaccuracies. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy can report on ensemble-averaged observables for both the cis-proline and trans-proline states, but a full atomistic characterisation of these conformers is challenging. Given the importance of proline cis/trans isomerisation for influencing the conformational sampling of disordered proteins, we employed a combination of all-atom MD simulations with enhanced sampling (metadynamics), NMR, and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) to characterise the two sub-ensembles of the ORF6 C-terminal region (ORF6CTR) from SARS-CoV-2 corresponding to the proline-57 (P57) cis and trans states. We performed MD simulations in three distinct force fields: AMBER03ws, AMBER99SB-disp, and CHARMM36m, which are all optimised for disordered proteins. Each simulation was run for an accumulated time of 180-220 µs until convergence was reached, as assessed by blocking analysis. A good agreement between the cis-P57 populations predicted from metadynamic simulations in AMBER03ws was observed with populations obtained from experimental NMR data. Moreover, we observed good agreement between the radius of gyration predicted from the metadynamic simulations in AMBER03ws and that measured using SAXS. Our findings suggest that both the cis-P57 and trans-P57 conformations of ORF6CTR are extremely dynamic and that interdisciplinary approaches combining both multi-scale computations and experiments offer avenues to explore highly dynamic states that cannot be reliably characterised by either approach in isolation.

Efficacy of galcanezumab in proline-rich transmembrane protein 2 (PRRT2)-associated familial hemiplegic migraine: A case series.

BACKGROUND: Familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM) is a rare subtype of migraine with aura. Variants in calcium voltage-gated channel subunit alpha1 A (CACNA1A), ATPase Na+/K+ transporting subunit alpha 2 (ATP1A2), and sodium voltage-gated channel alpha subunit 1 (SCN1A) genes have a well-established association with the development of FHM. Recent studies suggest that other genes may also have a significant role in the pathogenesis of FHM, including proline-rich transmembrane protein 2 (PRRT2). To our knowledge, there are currently no documented reports of the use of monoclonal antibodies targeting calcitonin gene-related peptide in FHM caused by a specific identified genetic mutation - and in particular not in FHM associated with PRRT2 mutations. The aim of our work is to describe the efficacy of galcanezumab as a prophylaxis treatment on patients from an Italian family consisting of six patient carriers of a PRRT2 pathogenic variant. METHODS: Inclusion criteria for treatment eligibility consisted of a confirmed diagnosis of genetically confirmed FHM as defined by the International Classification of Headache Disorders, third edition, number of headache days/month ≥4, and at least two previously failed migraine prophylaxis treatments. We evaluated clinical data of patients treated with galcanezumab regarding number of headache days/month, frequency of aura, disability caused by HM using the Migraine Disability Assessment (MIDAS), attack severity through a numerical rating scale (NRS), acute medications intake, and response to acute medications at baseline (t0) and after 3 (t1) and 6 (t2) months of treatment. RESULTS: Three out of six family members met inclusion criteria for treatment with galcanezumab. The average number of headache days/month, acute medications, and MIDAS significantly decreased in all treated patients, as well as the average NRS score. Aura frequency reduced by ≥50% compared to the baseline in all three patients. No adverse events related to galcanezumab were reported. CONCLUSION: Galcanezumab is a valid and well-tolerated treatment option in PRRT2-associated FHM.

Exogenous putrescine application imparts salt stress-induced oxidative stress tolerance via regulating antioxidant activity, potassium uptake, and abscisic acid to gibberellin ratio in Zinnia flowers.

This research was conducted to investigate the efficacy of putrescine (PUT) treatment (0, 1, 2, and 4 mM) on improving morphophysiological and biochemical characteristics of Zinnia elegans "State Fair" flowers under salt stress (0, 50, and 100 mM NaCl). The experiment was designed in a factorial setting under completely randomized design with 4 replications. The results showed that by increasing the salt stress intensity, the stress index (SSI) increased while morphological traits such as plant height decreased. PUT treatments effectively recovered the decrease in plant height and flower quality compared to the not-treated plants. Treatment by PUT 2 mM under 50 and 100 mM salt stress levels reduced the SSI by 28 and 35%, respectively, and increased plant height by 20 and 27% compared to untreated plants (PUT 0 mM). 2 mM PUT treatment also had the greatest effect on increasing fresh and dry biomass, number and surface area of leaves, flower diameter, internodal length, leaf relative water content, protein contents, total chlorophyll contents, carotenoids, leaf potassium (K+) content, and K+/Na+ ratio in treated plants compared to untreated control plants. The treatment of 2 mM PUT decreased the electrolyte leakage, leaf sodium (Na+) content, H2O2, malondialdehyde, and proline content. Furthermore, PUT treatments increased the activity of defense-related enzymes including catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and phenylalanine ammonium lyase (PAL), and reduced the abscisic acid (ABA) content while increased the level of gibberellin (GA) content compared to untreated samples under all different levels of salinity stress. In this research, enhancing the plant's antioxidant system, increasing K+ absorption, K+/Na+ ratio, and reducing the ABA/GA ratio are likely the most important mechanisms of PUT treatment, which improved growth, and maintained the visual quality of zinnia flowers under salt stress conditions.

Instability of natural deep eutectic solvents (NADESs) induced by Amadori rearrangement and its effects on cryopreservation of yeast cells.

Natural deep eutectic solvents (NADESs) showing higher cryoprotective effects are attracting concerns, because during the storage, system browning always occurs in aldose/amino acid-based NADESs, which generated brown substances remarkably weaken the cryoprotective effects. In this study, proline/glucose-based (PG) and proline/sorbitol-based (PS) NADESs were prepared, of which storage stability, browning profile, brown substance, and cryoprotective effects were investigated. Results showed that PG at molar ratios of 1:1, 2:1, and 3:1, as well as PS at 1:1, and 2:1 can form NADESs, among which only the PG-based ones could get browning after storage. The predominant brown substance was identified as 1-deoxy-1-L-proline-d-fructose (C11H19O7N, 278 m/z), which was subsequently verified to show cytotoxicity and decrease Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells viability after cryopreservation, suggesting that the brown substance could take a negative effect on cryopreservation. This study may help to attract more concerns to the storage and cryopreservation stabilities of the NADESs in food-related applications.

Individual and combinatorial application of nanosilica and carbon nanoparticles alleviate nickel stress in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.): Impacts on gene expression, AsA - GSH cycle, cellular fractionation, and proline metabolism.

Nanotechnology is grabbing great attention all over the world because of its stimulating use in numerous fields, and the nanosilica (nSi) and carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) application has been examined in various studies. Conversely, the nSi and CNPs combinatorial use is a new method and researched in limited literature. For this purpose, a pot experiment was conducted to examine various growth and biochemical parameters in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) under the toxic concentration of nickel (Ni) i.e., 200 mg kg-1 which were primed with combined application of two NPs of nSi at 3 mM and CNPs i.e., 200 µM respectively. The results showed that the Ni toxicity in the soil showed a significantly (P < 0.05) declined in the growth, gas exchange attributes, sugars, AsA-GSH cycle, cellular fractionation, proline metabolism in H. vulgare. However, Ni toxicity significantly (P < 0.05) increased oxidative stress biomarkers, enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidants including their gene expression in H. vulgare. Although, the application of nSi and CNPs showed a significant (P < 0.05) increase in the plant growth and biomass, gas exchange characteristics, enzymatic and non-enzymatic compounds and their gene expression and also decreased the oxidative stress, and Ni uptake. In addition, individual or combined application of nSi and CNPs enhanced the cellular fractionation and decreases the proline metabolism and AsA-GSH cycle in H. vulgare. These results open new insights for sustainable agriculture practices and hold immense promise in addressing the pressing challenges of heavy metal contamination in agricultural soils.

Enhancing wheat tolerance to salinity using nanomaterials, proline, and biochar-inoculated with Bacillus subtilis.

Salinity negatively impacts crop production by affecting physiological and biochemical processes in plants. This study investigates the effectiveness of Nano-ZnO (NZn), proline (PA), Nano-TiO2 (NTi), Nano-SiO2 (NSi)), and biochar inoculated with Bacillus subtilis (OSBS) in enhancing wheat tolerance to salinity stress. Pot experiments were conducted under saline conditions with varying rates of biochar and foliar applications. Results indicated that 2 % OSBS with NZn and NSi significantly improved wheat growth, leaf area, and nutrient level, reducing the negative impacts of salinity.

Unravelling wheat genotypic responses: insights into salinity stress tolerance in relation to oxidative stress, antioxidant mechanisms, osmolyte accumulation and grain quality parameters.

BACKGROUND: Salt stress is a prominent abiotic stressor that imposes constraints on grain yield and quality across various crops, including wheat (Triticum aestivum). This study focused on assessing the genetic diversity of 20 wheat genotypes categorized as tolerant, moderately tolerant, and sensitive with three genotypes of unknown tolerance. To address salinity stress-related problems, different morpho-physiological, osmoprotectant, biochemical, yield, and grain quality-related parameters were analyzed under control (pH 8.0, EC 3.9) and saline-sodic (pH 9.4, EC 4.02) conditions in field. RESULTS: Findings revealed noteworthy variations among the genotypes in response to salinity stress. Greater accumulation of Na+ and lower K+ content were observed in response to salt stress in the sensitive varieties HD1941 and K9162. Proline, a stress indicator, exhibited significantly (p ≤ 0.05) greater accumulation in response to salinity stress, particularly in the tolerant cultivars KRL210 and KH65. Salt stress induced the most significant decrease (p ≤ 0.05) in spike length, thousand-grain weight, and hectolitre weight coupled with increased protein content in sensitive varieties, resulting in diminished yield. CONCLUSION: Correlation analysis of parameters under salinity stress showed that SOD, proline, and K+ contents can be used as the most efficient screening criteria for salinity stress during early developmental stages. Principal component analysis revealed that DBW187, DBW303, and DBW222 varieties were tolerant to salinity stress and exhibited an effective antioxidant system against salinity. This study will facilitate salt-tolerant wheat breeding in terms of the identification of tolerant lines by screening for limited traits in a wide range of germplasms.

Hydrolyzed collagen supplementation prior to resistance exercise augments collagen synthesis in a dose-response manner in resistance-trained, middle-aged men.

BACKGROUND: Resistance exercise (RE) increases collagen synthesis in young and older men, while hydrolyzed collagen (HC) ingestion improves this response to RE in a dose-response manner in young men. However, the collagen synthesis response to RE with and without HC in middle-aged men is unknown. METHODS: Eight resistance-trained men (age: 49±8 years; height: 1.78±0.02m; mass: 90±4kg) took part in this double-blind, crossover design study, and undertook 4×10 repetitions of lower-limb RE at maximum load, after consuming 0g, 15g, or 30g vitamin C-enriched HC. We analyzed venous blood samples for N-terminal propeptide of type 1 pro-collagen (PINP), ß-isomerized C-terminal telopeptide of type 1 collagen (ß-CTx) and 18 collagen amino acids throughout all three interventions. RESULTS: The serum PINP concentration×time area-under-the-curve (AUC) was higher following 30g (169±28 µg/mL×h) than 15g (134±23 µg/mL×h, P<0.05) HC ingestion, and both 15g and 30g were higher than 0g HC (96±23 µg/mL×h, P<0.05). RE with 0g HC showed no change in serum PINP concentration. The AUCs for glycine, proline, hydroxyproline, alanine, arginine, lysine, serine, leucine, valine and isoleucine were greater with 30g than 15g and 0g HC ingestion (P<0.05), and greater with 15g than 0g HC ingestion (P<0.05). Plasma ß-CTx concentration decreased after RE independently of HC dose. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests connective tissue anabolic resistance to RE in middle-aged men but ingesting 15g HC rescues the collagen synthesis response, and 30g augments that response further. This dose-response is associated with the increased bioavailability of collagen amino acids in the blood, which stimulate collagen synthesis.

Proline-Functionalized Magnetic Nanoparticles as Highly Performing Asymmetric Catalysts.

Amino acids have a crucial role in the field of asymmetric organocatalysis for the production of chiral compounds with high added value and specific biological activity. In particular, proline offers high activity and stereoselectivity for catalyzing aldol reactions in organic solvents. However, proline-based catalysts often lack water-solubility, accessibility, catalytic performance, or recovery in aqueous media. This work reports the design of proline-functionalized poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) nanoparticles with a magnetic core that offer high availability of chiral units in water and high recyclability. A proline-based copolymerizable surfactant is designed and integrated onto the surface of PMMA nanoparticles through a miniemulsion polymerization process without using additional surfactants. The miniemulsion technique allows the incorporation of magnetite to the system to create a magnetically separable catalyst. The chiral nanocatalyst presents a high diastereoselective catalytic activity for the intermolecular aldol reaction between p-nitrobenzaldehyde and cyclohexanone in water.

Be prepared: how does discontinuous hydration in Tabebuia heterophylla seeds induce stress tolerance in seedlings?

Discontinuous hydration and dehydration (HD) cycles refer to controlled imbibition followed by dehydration before seed germination. Here, we investigated whether the level of imbibition before HD cycles affects the physiology of Tabebuia heterophylla seeds and seedlings. Seeds were imbibed for 10 h (T1; phase I of imbibition) or 35 h (T2; phase II), dehydrated, and progressively rehydrated one to four times (HD cycles). Germination and biochemical parameters (membrane integrity; total soluble, reducing, and nonreducing (NRS) sugars; proteins, amino acids, proline, H2O2, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, and glutathione reductase activity) were quantified at the last rehydration step of each cycle. Biometric and biochemical parameters (including pigments) were analysed in seedlings 60 days after germination. HD cycles at T1 led to reduced seed germination and greater plasma membrane damage, higher enzyme activity (catalase and glutathione reductase) and accumulation of NRS, total amino acids, and proline compared to the controls and T2 treatment. Cellular damage became more severe with more HD cycles. HD cycles at T2 synchronized germination regardless of the number of cycles and also had a priming effect. T2 seeds had less NRS, total amino acids, and proline content than T1. HD cycles at T1 produced seedlings with higher carotenoid and total chlorophyll content than controls and T2, while seedlings from HD cycles at T2 had higher amounts of osmoprotectants. HD cycles at T2 benefited seeds and seedlings more than at T1. This suggests that the physiological and biochemical effects of HD cycles in seeds modulate seedling plasticity, depending on water availability, potentially promoting increased tolerance to recurrent droughts that will be intensified with ongoing climate changes.

Flagellin Induced GABA-shunt improves Drought stress tolerance in Brassica napus L.

BACKGROUND: High GABA levels and its conversion to succinate via the GABA shunt are known to be associated with abiotic and biotic stress tolerance in plants. The exact mode of action is still under debate and it is not yet clear whether GABA is a common component of the plant stress defense process or not. We hypothesized that if it is a common route for stress tolerance, activation of GABA-shunt by a biotic stressor might also function in increased abiotic stress tolerance. To test this, Brassica napus plants treated with Flagellin-22 (Flg-22) were exposed to drought stress and the differences in GABA levels along with GABA-shunt components (biosynthetic and catabolic enzyme activities) in the leaf and root samples were compared. In order to provide a better outlook, MYC2, MPK6 and ZAT12, expression profiles were also analyzed since these genes were recently proposed to function in abiotic and biotic stress tolerance. RESULTS: Briefly, we found that Flg treatment increased drought stress tolerance in B. napus via GABA-shunt and the MAPK cascade was involved while the onset was different between leaves and roots. Flg treatment promoted GABA biosynthesis with increased GABA content and GAD activity in the leaves. Better performance of the Flg treated plants under drought stress might be dependent on the activation of GABA-shunt which provides succinate to TCA since GABA-T and SSADH activities were highly induced in the leaves and roots. In the transcript analysis, Flg + drought stressed groups had higher MYC2 transcript abundances correlated well with the GABA content and GABA-shunt while, MPK6 expression was induced only in the roots of the Flg + drought stressed groups. ZAT12 was also induced both in leaves and roots as a result of Flg-22 treatment. However, correlation with GABA and GABA-shunt could be proposed only in Flg + drought stressed group. CONCLUSION: We provided solid data on how GABA-shunt and Fgl-22 are interacting against abiotic stress in leaf and root tissues. Fgl-22 induced ETI activated GABA-shunt with a plausible cross talk between MYC2 and ZAT12 transcription factors for drought stress tolerance in B. napus.

Enhancement of Apple Stress Resistance via Proline Elevation by Sugar Substitutes.

Plants encounter numerous adversities during growth, necessitating the identification of common stress activators to bolster their resistance. However, the current understanding of these activators' mechanisms remains limited. This study identified three anti-stress activators applicable to apple trees, all of which elevate plant proline content to enhance resistance against various adversities. The results showed that the application of these sugar substitutes increased apple proline content by two to three times compared to the untreated group. Even at a lower concentration, these activators triggered plant stress resistance without compromising apple fruit quality. Therefore, these three sugar substitutes can be exogenously sprayed on apple trees to augment proline content and fortify stress resistance. Given their effectiveness and low production cost, these activators possess significant application value. Since they have been widely used in the food industry, they hold potential for broader application in plants, fostering apple industry development.

Impact of Nickel Toxicity on Growth, Fruit Quality and Antioxidant Response in Zucchini Squash (Cucurbita pepo L.).

The impact of trace metal elements (TMEs) on plants is one current pollution problem, the severity of which is increasing with industrial development, population growth and inappropriate agricultural practices. The latter can have irreversible effects on ecosystems, including species extinction, trophic chain contamination and altered human health, particularly in the case of consumed plants such as zucchini squash (Cucurbita pepo L.). This study aims to investigate the effects of nickel on various physiological and biochemical parameters of zucchini growth, with a particular focus on how this toxic metal impacts the quality of fruit that is consumed by humans. To achieve this, plants aged 45 days were grown for one month on solid media loaded with different concentrations of Ni (0, 100, 300 and 500 µM). The results showed that exposure of plants to Ni resulted in significantly altered growth and higher accumulation of Ni in the shoots (1314 µg·g-1 DW) than in roots and fruits. Concerning non-enzymatic antioxidants, the results showed that Ni toxicity significantly increased total polyphenols, especially in shoots at 300 µM Ni, while flavonoid content decreased in the roots and shoots in response to Ni treatment. Our results also show that nickel tolerance in C. pepo is ensured by a combination of several mechanisms such as an increase in the content of proline. This species can survive and tolerate, to different degrees, toxic cations at concentrations up to 500 µM but with visible symptoms of toxicity such as chlorosis of the leaves. Indeed, based on thresholds of hyperaccumulation, we can qualify Cucurbita pepo as a hyperaccumulator species of nickel.