Bioprospecting the roles of Trichoderma in alleviating plants' drought tolerance: Principles, mechanisms of action, and prospects.

Drought-induced stress represents a significant challenge to agricultural production, exerting adverse effects on both plant growth and overall productivity. Therefore, the exploration of innovative long-term approaches for addressing drought stress within agriculture constitutes a crucial objective, given its vital role in enhancing food security. This article explores the potential use of Trichoderma, a well-known genus of plant growth-promoting fungi, to enhance plant tolerance to drought stress. Trichoderma species have shown remarkable potential for enhancing plant growth, inducing systemic resistance, and ameliorating the adverse impacts of drought stress on plants through the modulation of morphological, physiological, biochemical, and molecular characteristics. In conclusion, the exploitation of Trichoderma's potential as a sustainable solution to enhance plant drought tolerance is a promising avenue for addressing the challenges posed by the changing climate. The manifold advantages of Trichoderma in promoting plant growth and alleviating the effects of drought stress underscore their pivotal role in fostering sustainable agricultural practices and enhancing food security.

Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.)-A Review of Its Botany, Phytochemistry, Pharmacological Activities, and Biotechnological Development.

An urgent demand for natural compound alternatives to conventional medications has arisen due to global health challenges, such as drug resistance and the adverse effects associated with synthetic drugs. Plant extracts are considered an alternative due to their favorable safety profiles and potential for reducing side effects. Sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is a valuable plant resource and a potential candidate for the development of pharmaceutical medications. A single pure compound or a combination of compounds exhibits exceptional medicinal properties, including antiviral activity against both DNA and RNA viruses, antibacterial effects against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, antifungal properties, antioxidant activity, antidiabetic potential, neuroprotective qualities, and anticancer properties. The plant contains various phytochemical constituents, which mostly consist of linalool, eucalyptol, estragole, and eugenol. For centuries, community and traditional healers across the globe have employed O. basilicum L. to treat a wide range of ailments, including flu, fever, colds, as well as issues pertaining to digestion, reproduction, and respiration. In addition, the current research presented underscores the significant potential of O. basilicum-related nanotechnology applications in addressing diverse challenges and advancing numerous fields. This promising avenue of exploration holds great potential for future scientific and technological advancements, promising improved utilization of medicinal products derived from O. basilicum L.

Evaluating the underlying physiological and molecular mechanisms in the system of rice intensification performance with Trichoderma-rice plant symbiosis as a model system.

The system of rice intensification (SRI) is an extensively-researched and increasingly widely-utilized methodology for alleviating current constraints on rice production. Many studies have shown physiological and morphological improvements in rice plants induced by SRI management practices to be very similar to those that are associated with the presence of beneficial microbial endophytes in or around rice plants, especially their roots. With SRI methods, grain yields are increased by 25-100% compared to conventional methods, and the resulting plant phenotypes are better able to cope with biotic and abiotic stresses. SRI management practices have been shown to be associated with significant increases in the populations of certain microorganisms known to enhance soil health and plant growth, e.g., Azospirillum, Trichoderma, Glomus, and Pseudomonas. This article evaluates the effects of applying Trichoderma as a model microbe for assessing microbial growth-promotion, biological control activity, and modulation of gene expression under the conditions created by SRI practices. Information about the molecular changes and interactions associated with certain effects of SRI management suggests that these practices are enhancing rice plants' expression of their genetic potentials. More systematic studies that assess the effects of SRI methods respectively and collectively, compared with standard rice production methods, are needed to develop a more encompassing understanding of how SRI modifications of crops' growing environment elicit and contribute to more robust and more productive phenotypes of rice.

Red Mangrove (Rhizophora stylosa Griff.)-A Review of Its Botany, Phytochemistry, Pharmacological Activities, and Prospects.

Mangroves are ecologically significant plants in marine habitats that inhabit the coastlines of many countries. Being a highly productive and diverse ecosystem, mangroves are rich in numerous classes of phytochemicals that are of great importance in the field of pharmaceutical industries. The red mangrove (Rhizophora stylosa Griff.) is a common member of the Rhizophoraceae family and the dominant species in the mangrove ecosystem of Indonesia. R. stylosa mangrove species are rich in alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolic acids, tannins, terpenoids, saponins, and steroids, and are widely used in traditional medicine for anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antioxidant, and antipyretic effects. This review aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the botanical description, phytochemical profiles, pharmacological activities, and medicinal potentials of R. stylosa.

Preparation and Evaluation of Zeolite Nanoparticles as a Delivery System for Helicoverpa armigera Nucleopolyhedrovirus (HaNPV) against the Spodoptera litura (Fabricius, 1775) Larvae.

Synthetic insecticides frequently cause pest resistance and destroy non-target organisms. Thus, virus formulation is an issue that deserves considerable attention in developing virus-based insecticides. The hindrance of using nucleopolyhedrovirus alone as a virus-based insecticide is due to slow lethal time, though its mortality remains high (100%). This paper reports the formulation of zeolite nanoparticles as a delivery system to accelerate lethal time in controlling Spodoptera litura (Fabr.). Zeolite nanoparticles were prepared using the beads-milling method. The statistical analysis was carried out by a description exploration method with six replications. The occlusion bodies' concentration in the virus formulation was 4 × 107 OBs in 1 mL medium. Zeolite nanoparticles formulation sped up the lethal time significantly (7.67 days) compared to micro-size zeolite (12.70 days) and only nucleopolyhedrovirus (8.12 days) and received acceptable mortality (86.4%). The zeolite nanoparticles delivery system provides an alternative formulation for nucleopolyhedrovirus with a significantly improved speed of killing the virus while maintaining suitable efficacy of the virus preparation in terms of the prevalence of mortality.

Nanotechnology-Based Bioactive Antifeedant for Plant Protection.

The productivity of vegetable crops is constrained by insect pests. The search for alternative insect pest control is becoming increasingly important and is including the use of plant-derived pesticides. Plant-derived pesticides are reported as effective in controlling various insect pests through natural mechanisms, with biodegradable organic materials, diverse bioactivity, and low toxicity to non-target organisms. An antifeedant approach for insect control in crop management has been comprehensively studied by many researchers, though it has only been restricted to plant-based compounds and to the laboratory level at least. Nano-delivery formulations of biopesticides offer a wide variety of benefits, including increased effectiveness and efficiency (well-dispersion, wettability, and target delivery) with the improved properties of the antifeedant. This review paper evaluates the role of the nano-delivery system in antifeedant obtained from various plant extracts. The evaluation includes the research progress of antifeedant-based nano-delivery systems and the bioactivity performances of different types of nano-carrier formulations against various insect pests. An antifeedant nano-delivery system can increase their bioactivities, such as increasing sublethal bioactivity or reducing toxicity levels in both crude extracts/essential oils (EOs) and pure compounds. However, the plant-based antifeedant requires nanotechnological development to improve the nano-delivery systems regarding properties related to the bioactive functionality and the target site of insect pests. It is highlighted that the formulation of plant extracts creates a forthcoming insight for a field-scale application of this nano-delivery antifeedant due to the possible economic production process.