Assessing the growth dynamics of alfalfa varieties (Medicago sativa cv. Bilensoy 80 and Nimet) response to varied carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations.

Rising atmospheric CO2 levels drive greenhouse effects, elevating temperatures, and diminishing water accessibility in semi-arid regions, affecting agriculture. Alfalfa contributes to climate change mitigation by sequestering carbon, enhancing soil fertility and carbon storage, reducing synthetic nitrogen fertilizer use, preventing soil erosion, supplying high-quality livestock feed, and serving as a bioenergy source. This research examined the effects of elevated CO2 levels in climate change scenarios (600, 800, and 1000 ppm, with control at 400 ppm) on two alfalfa varieties, Medicago sativa cv. Nimet and Bilensoy-80. The experiments were conducted in specialized Climate Change Simulation Greenhouses, allowing control of CO2, water, and temperature variables. Results revealed a positive relationship between higher CO2 concentrations and increased photosynthesis (P ≤ 0.001), promoting the plant growth leaf area (P ≤ 0.001), yields and both leaf (P ≤ 0.05) and stem dry biomass (P ≤ 0.001). At 1000 ppm CO2, a saturation point was reached, halting further photosynthesis. This down-regulation was linked to decreased intercellular CO2 levels, which expedited chlorophyll and breakdown and potentially induced leaf senescence. High CO2 levels led to greater biomass, as anticipated. However, total protein levels, a forage quality indicator, initially decreased with high CO2 concentrations (up to 1000 ppm) due to an inverse relationship with shoot yield. Surprisingly, the 1000 ppm CO2 concentration mitigated this protein reduction in both alfalfa varieties.

Is Tempranillo Blanco Grapevine Different from Tempranillo Tinto Only in the Color of the Grapes? An Updated Review.

Tempranillo Blanco is a somatic variant of Tempranillo Tinto that appeared as a natural, spontaneous mutation in 1988 in a single shoot of a single plant in an old vineyard. It was vegetatively propagated, and currently wines from Tempranillo Blanco are commercially available. The mutation that originated Tempranillo Blanco comprised single-nucleotide variations, chromosomal deletions, and reorganizations, losing hundreds of genes and putatively affecting the functioning and regulation of many others. The most evident, visual change in Tempranillo Blanco is the anthocyanin lost, producing this grapevine variety bunches of colorless grapes. This review aims to summarize from the available literature differences found between Tempranillo Blanco and Tinto in addition to the color of the grapes, in a climate change context and using fruit-bearing cuttings grown in temperature-gradient greenhouses as research-oriented greenhouses. The differences found include changes in growth, water use, bunch mass, grape quality (both technological and phenolic maturity), and some aspects of their photosynthetic response when grown in an atmosphere of elevated CO2 concentration and temperature, and low water availability. Under field conditions, Tempranillo Blanco yields less than Tempranillo Tinto, the lower weight of their bunches being related to a lower pollen viability and berry and seed setting.

Future CO2 , warming and water deficit impact white and red Tempranillo grapevine: Photosynthetic acclimation to elevated CO2 and biomass allocation.

Due to the CO2 greenhouse effect, elevated atmospheric concentration leads to higher temperatures, accompanied by episodes of less water availability in semiarid and arid areas or drought periods. Studies investigating these three factors (CO2 , temperature and water availability) simultaneously in grapevine are scarce. The present work aims to analyze the combined effects of high CO2 (700 ppm), high temperature (ambient +4°C) and drought on the photosynthetic activity, biomass allocation, leaf non-structural carbon composition, and carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio in grapevine. Two grapevine cultivars, red berry Tempranillo and white berry Tempranillo, were used, the latter being a natural, spontaneous mutant of the red cultivar. The experiment was performed on fruit-bearing cuttings during a 3-month period, from June (fruit set) to August (maturity). The plants were grown in research-oriented facilities, temperature-gradient greenhouses, where temperature, CO2 , and water supply can be modified in a combined way. Drought had the strongest effect on biomass accumulation compared to the other environmental variables, and root biomass allocation was increased under water deficit. CO2 and temperature effects were smaller and depended on cultivar, and on interactions with the other factors. Acclimation effects were observed on both cultivars as photosynthetic rates under high atmospheric CO2 were reduced by long-term exposition to elevated CO2 . Exposure to such high CO2 resulted in increased starch concentration and reduced C/N ratio in leaves. A correlation between the intensity of the reduction in photosynthetic rates and the accumulation of starch in the leaves was found after prolonged exposure to elevated CO2 .

Pesticide residues and health risk appraisal of tomato cultivated in greenhouse from the Mediterranean region of Turkey.

This research aims at assessing the health risks associated with pesticide residues in greenhouse grown tomato production in the Mediterranean Region of Turkey. A multiresidue method based on modified QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe) was used for sample preparation that is applied for pesticide detection from extraction of tomato samples in the methodology generated by The Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) Official Method. The restrain of the quantification varied from 0.002 to 0.009 mg kg-1. The validated data exposed both adequate recoveries, repeatability and reproducibility, including accomplished all other requirements of the European DG SANTE/12682/2019 Guideline. This study divulges that tomatoes cultivated in greenhouse demonstrate 61.5% of samples with one or various pesticide residues. The maximum permitted residue level of above the EU DG Guideline was in 12.2% of the samples. The main determined pesticide residues on the tomatoes cultivated in greenhouse were identified as chlorpyrifos methyl, cyfluthrin, deltamethrin, and acetamiprid. Chlorpyrifos methyl (9.5%), cyfluthrin (6.6%), deltamethrin (5.5%), and acetamiprid (3.2%) were recognized as the most conducing residues to the hazard index (HI). The HI was 9.5% for adults and 11.02% for children (3 to <10 years). The major contributor of the HI was chlorpyrifos in both.

Sources and routes of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in water systems in Africa: Are there any sustainable remedies?

Governments across the globe are currently besieged with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2. Although some countries have been largely affected by this pandemic, others are only slightly affected. In this regard, every government is taking precautionary measures to mitigate the adverse effects of COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 has been detected in wastewater raising an alarm for Africa due to the poor water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities. Also, most countries in Africa do not have resilient policies governing sanitation and water management systems, which expose them to higher risk levels for the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, this study unearthed the likely sources and routes of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in water systems (mainly wastewater) in Africa through a holistic review of published works. This provided the opportunity to propose sustainable remedial measures, which can be extrapolated to most developing countries in the world. The principal sources and routes of potential transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in water systems are hospital sewage, waste from isolation and quarantine centres, faecal-oral transmission, contaminated surface and groundwater sources, and contaminated sewage. The envisioned overwhelming impact of these sources on the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through water systems in Africa suggests that governments need to put stringent and sustainable measures to curtail the scourge. Hence, it is proposed that governments in Africa must put measures like improved WASH facilities and public awareness campaigns, suburbanization of wastewater treatment facilities, utilizing low-cost point-of-use water treatment systems, legally backed policy interventions, and Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS). SARS-CoV-2 in water systems can be inactivated and destroyed by integrating ozonation, chlorination, UV irradiation, and sodium hypochlorite in low-cost point-of-use treatment systems. These proposed sustainable remedial measures can help policymakers in Africa to effectively monitor and manage the untoward impact of SARS-CoV-2 on water systems and consequently, on the health of the general public.