Decision tables have been used for many years in data processing and business applications to simulate complex rule sets. Several computer languages have been developed based on rule systems and they are easily programmed in several current languages. Land management and river-reservoir models simulate complex land management operations and reservoir management in highly regulated river systems. Decision tables are a precise yet compact way to model the rule sets and corresponding actions found in these models. In this study, we discuss the suitability of decision tables to simulate management in the river basin scale Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT+) model. Decision tables are developed to simulate automated irrigation and reservoir releases. A simple auto irrigation application of decision tables was developed using plant water stress as a condition for irrigating corn in Texas. Sensitivity of the water stress trigger and irrigation application amounts were shown on soil moisture and corn yields. In addition, the Grapevine Reservoir near Dallas, Texas was used to illustrate the use of decision tables to simulate reservoir releases. The releases were conditioned on reservoir volumes and flood season. The release rules as implemented by the decision table realistically simulated flood releases as evidenced by a daily NSE (Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency) of 0.52 and a percent bias of -1.1%. Using decision tables to simulate management in land, river and reservoir models was shown to have several advantages over current approaches including: 1) mature technology with considerable literature and applications, 2) ability to accurately represent complex, real world decision making, 3) code that is efficient, modular and easy to maintain, and 4) tables that are easy to maintain, support, and modify.

Crop domestication and breeding considerably increased productivity over centuries, but simultaneously involved unconscious selection against ‘selfish plant behavior’. Paradoxically, modern-day crop breeding largely enhances individual plant-fitness. As agriculture relies on community performance, embracing an “Agroecological Genetics and Genomics” viewpoint might maximize communal yield by matching crop genotypes to target environments.

The persistent issue of bacterial and fungal colonization of artificial implantable materials and decreasing efficacy of conventional systemic antibiotics used to treat implant-associated infections has led to the development of a wide range of antifouling and antibacterial strategies. This article reviews one such strategy where inherently biologically active renewable resources, i.e. secondary plant metabolites (SPMs) and their naturally occurring combinations (i.e. essential oils) are used for surface functionalization and synthesis of polymer thin films. With a distinct mode of antibacterial activity, broad spectrum of action and diversity of available chemistries, secondary plant metabolites present an attractive alternative to conventional antibiotics. However, their conversion from liquid to solid phase without significant loss of activity is not trivial. Using select examples, this article shows how plasma techniques provide a sufficiently flexible and chemically reactive environment to enable the synthesis of biologically-active polymer-coatings from volatile renewable resources.

The increased availability of high resolution remote sensor data for precision agriculture 1 applications permits users to aquire deeper and more relevant knowledge about crops states that lead 2 inevitably to better decisions. The algorithm libraries being developed and evolved around these 3 applications rely on multi-spectral or hyper-spectral data acquired by using manned or unmanned 4 platforms. The current state of the art makes thorough use of vegetational indicies to guide the 5 operational management of agricultural land plots. One of the most challenging sub-problems is 6 to correctly identify and separate crop from soil. Thresholding techniques based on Normalized 7 Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) or other such similar metrics have the advantage of being simple, 8 easy to read transformations of the data packed with useful information. Obvious difficulties arise 9 when crop/tree and soil have similar spectral responses as in case of grass filled areas in vineyards. 10 In this case grass and canopy are close in terms of NDVI values and thresholding techniques will 11 generally fail. Radiometric approaches could be integrated or replaced by a geometric approach that 12 is based on terrain data like Digital Surface Models (DSMs). These models are one of the ouputs 13 of orthorectification engines usually present in data acquired by using unmanned platforms. In 14 this paper we present two approaches based on DSM that are able to segment crop/tree from soil 15 while over gradient terrain. The DSM data are processed through a two dimensional data slicing or 16 reduction technique. Each slice is separately processed as a one dimensional time series to derive the 17 terrain and tree structures separately, here interpreted as object probability densities. In particular 18 the first approach is a Cartesian grid rasterization (CARSCAN) of the terrain and the second is its 19 immediate generalisation or radial grid rasterization of the DSM model (FANSCAN). The FANSCAN 20 recovers information from the original image at greater frequencies on the Fourier plane. These 21 approaches enable the identification of crop/tree from soil in case of slopes or hilly terrain without 22 any constraint on the displacement / direction of plant/tree row. The proposed algorithm uses pure 23 DSM information even if it is possible to fuse its output with other classifiers.

High levels ofmeat consumption are increasingly being criticised for ethical, environmental, 2 and social reasons. Plant-based meat substitutes have been identified as healthy sources of protein in 3 comparison to meat. This alternative offers several social, environmental and health benefits and may 4 play a role in reducing meat consumption. However, there has been a lack of research on how specific 5 meat substitute attributes can influence consumers to replace or partially replace meat in their diets. 6 Research demonstrates that in many countries consumers are highly attached to meat.They consider 7 it as an essential and integral element of their daily diet. For these consumers which are not interested 8 in vegan or vegetarian alternatives to meat, so-called meathybrids could be a low-threshold option 9 for a more sustainable food consumption behaviour. In meathybrids only a fraction of the meat 10 product (e.g. 20% to 50%) is replaced with plant-based proteins. In this paper, the results of an online 11 survey with 500 German consumers are presented with focus on preferences and attitudes relating 12 to meathyrids. The results show that more than fifty percent of consumers substitute meat at least 13 occasionally. Thus, about half of the respondents reveal an eligible consumption behaviour in respect 14 to sustainability and healthiness to a certain degree. Concerning the determinants of choosing either 15 meathybrid or meat it becomes evident that the highest effect is exerted by the health perception. The 16 healthier meathybrids are perceived, the higher is the choice probability. Thus, this egoistic motive 17 seems to outperform altruistic motives like animal welfare or environmental concerns when it comes 18 to choice for this new product category.

Increasing and prolonged droughts have become a feature of the South African environmental landscape. This article investigates the sustainability of water procurement to the rural town of Beaufort West and the reasons for the town’s water provision crises during the droughts of 2009-2011 and 2017-2019. Innovative solutions were reached to alleviate the serious water-shortages during these droughts. Data to illustrate population increases and precipitation decreases, which impacted on the town’s water resources, was collected from census records of Statistics South Africa and from the Department of Water and Sanitation, respectively. A number of risk factors contributed to the town’s water crises, e.g. unsustainable water extraction at times of serious droughts, poor water monitoring, metering and attention to leakages, an expansion of informal settlements within the municipal boundaries of Beaufort West, as well as annual rainfall patterns that became increasingly unpredictable. The article concludes that water resource development had not kept pace with demand, therefore water infrastructure should be built with enough capacity to cope with regular dry periods. Equilibrium should be reached between the water expectations of the community and water availability to avoid future social instability in water-stressed towns such as Beaufort West.

The biomass fraction of processed municipal and industrial wastes added to soil can maintain, and in some case improve, the soil’s organic fertility. One of the main constraints in the agricultural use of the sewage sludge is its content of heavy metals. In the long term, soil administration of sewage sludge in agriculture could result in a risk of environmental impact. The aim of this research was to evaluate the effects of medium-term fertilization with sewage sludge diversely processed on the soil’s organic carbon content and humification – mineralization soil’s processes and on the physical and mechanical properties of soil. Furthermore, the heavy metals accumulation in soil, in their total and available form, has been investigated. After eight years of administration to soil, the use of sewage sludge as an agricultural soil amendment has contributed to maintaining the soil’s organic fertility. An increase in concentrations of total Ni and Zn was detected in soil. For bioavailable form (DTPA-extractable) this trend was evidenced for all heavy metals analysed. However, the concentrations of total and available heavy metals in the soil did not exceed the legal threshold established by Italian law for unpolluted soils.

Farmers’ conventional tillage (CT) and residue removal practices in rice-maize systems in South Asia’s Eastern Gangetic Plain (EGP) are input-intensive, costly and soil degradative. We conducted a rice-maize-mungbean (R-M-MB) system experiment with six tillage and three residue management treatments in Bangladesh representing the EGP. Maize yields were significantly (p≤0.05) higher under permanent (PB) or fresh (FB) beds and strip tillage (ST) than CT but no differences in mungbean yields. Rice yields under PB, FB and CT were similar, but significantly higher than under zero or minimum tillage and ST. Yields of all crops increased significantly (p≤0.05) with residue retention compared to no retention. Total system productivity was highest under PB followed by FB and ST. Compared with CT, gross margins in PB, FB and ST increased by 18, 13 and 11%, and soil organic matter (SOM) and total N contents across tillage treatments increased by 11-16% and 12-24%, respectively. After three years, SOM and total N and available P and S contents increased significantly (p≤0.05) by residue retention. Results demonstrate the potential of PB, FB and ST with residue retention, for improving the productivity, profitability and soil health under R-M-MB systems in Bangladesh and similar soils in the EGP.

The current plant two-sex model makes the assumption that there are only two sexual reproductive states: male and female. However, the application of this model to the plant alternation of generations requires the subtle redefinition of several common terms related to sexual reproduction, which also seems to obscure aspects of one or the other plant generation: For instance, the homosporous sporophytic plant is treated as being “asexual,” and the gametophytes of angiosperms treated like mere gametes. In contrast, the proposal is made that the sporophytes of homosporous plants are indeed sexual reproductive organisms, as are the gametophytes of heterosporous plants. This view requires the expansion of the number of sexual reproductive states we accept for plants, therefore a three-sex model for homosporous plants and a four-sex model for heterosporous plants are described and then contrasted with the current two-sex model. These new models allow the use of sexual reproductive terms in a manner largely similar to that seen in animals, and may better accommodate the plant alternation of generations life cycle than does the current plant two-sex model. These new three-sex and four-sex models may also help stimulate new lines of research, and examples of how they might alter our view of the flower, and may lead to new perspectives in terms of sexual determination, are presented. Thus it is suggested that plants have more than merely two sexual reproductive states, and that recognition of this may promote our study and understanding of plants.

Land use and land cover change (LULCC) is a critical factor for enhancing the soil erosion risk and land degradation process in the Wabi Shebelle Basin. Up-to-date spatial and statistical data on basin-wide erosion rates can provide an important basis for planning and conservation of soil and water ecosystems. The objectives of this study were to examine the magnitude of LULCC and consequent changes in the spatial extent of soil erosion risk, and identify priority areas for Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) in the Erer Sub-Basin, Wabi Shebelle Basin, Ethiopia. The soil loss rates were estimated using an empirical prediction model of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) outlined in the ArcGIS environment. The estimated total annual actual soil loss at the sub-basin level was 1.01 million tons in 2000 and 1.52 million tons in 2018 with a mean erosion rate of 75.85 t ha^–1 y^–1 and 107.07 t ha^–1 y^–1, respectively. The most extensive soil loss rates were estimated in croplands and bare land cover, with a mean soil loss rate of 37.60 t ha^–1 y^–1 and 15.78 t ha⁻¹ y⁻¹, respectively. The soil erosion risk has increased by 18.28% of the total area, and decreased by 15.93%, showing that the overall soil erosion situation is worsening in the study area. We determined SWC priority areas using the Multi-Criteria Decision Rule (MCDR) approach, indicates that the top three levels identified for intense SWC account for about 2.50%, 2.38%, and 2.14%, respectively. These priority levels are typically situated along the steep slopes in Babile, Fedis, Fik, Gursum, Gola Oda, Haramaya, Jarso, and Kombolcha districts that need emergency SWC measures.

Controversy exists on whether animal and plant proteins influence obesity differently. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between total, animal, and plant protein intake with the obesity index and renal function in Korean adults. Study participants included Korean adults aged 60 years or older from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2013-2014. Height, weight, and waist circumference (WC) were measured and the body mass index (BMI) was calculated. One-day 24-hour recall data were used to estimate the daily total, animal, and plant protein intake. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was calculated by using the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) equation. General linear modellings were used to assess the relationships between protein intake, BMI and WC. The mean age was 69.2 ± 0.2 years, 44.2% were male. The total daily protein intake was 1.1 ± 0.02 g/kg/d and 0.9 ± 0.02 g/kg/d for males and females, respectively. Only one third of protein intake was from animal sources. In males, BMI (p < 0.001, p = 0.016, p < 0.001 respectively) and WC (p < 0.001, p = 0.010, p < 0.001, respectively) decreased as daily intake of plant protein (g/kg/d), animal protein (g/kg/d) and total protein (g/kg/d) increased. Similar associations were shown in Korean female. GFR was not associated with protein intake regardless of protein source in both sexes. In Korean adults aged 60 years or older, the protein intake was associated with a favorable obesity index without decrease in renal function. The effect was similar in both male and females, with both animal and plant proteins.

The major auxin, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), is associated with a plethora of growth and developmental processes including embryo development, expansion growth, cambial activity, and the induction of lateral root growth. Accumulation of the auxin precursor indole-3-acetamide (IAM) induces stress related processes by stimulating abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis. How IAM signaling is controlled is, at present, unclear. Here, we characterize an ami1/rooty double mutant, that we initially generated to study the metabolic and phenotypic consequences of a genetic blockade of the indole glucosinolate and IAM pathways in Arabidopsis thaliana. Our mass spectrometric analyses of the mutant revealed that the combination of the two mutations is not sufficient to fully prevent the conversion of IAM to IAA. The detected strong accumulation of IAM was, however, recognized to substantially impair seed development. We further show by genome-wide expression studies that the double mutant is broadly affected in its translational capacity, and that a small number of cell proliferation and plant growth regulating transcriptional circuits are repressed by the high IAM content in the seed. In accordance with the previously described growth reduction in response to elevated IAM levels, our data support the hypothesis that IAM is a growth repressing counterpart to IAA.

Crop plants should be resilient to climatic factors in order to feed ever-increasing populations. Plants have developed stress-responsive mechanisms by changing their metabolic pathways and switching the stress-responsive genes. The discovery of plant transcriptional factors (TFs) as key regulators of different biotic and abiotic stresses have opened up new horizons for plant scientists. TFs perceive the signal and switch certain stress-responsive genes on and off by binding to different cis-regulatory elements. The above 50 species of plant TFs have been reported in nature. DREB, bZIP, MYB, NAC, Zinc-finger, HSF, Dof, WRKY, and NF-Y are important with respect to biotic and abiotic stresses whereas the role of many TFs is yet to explore. In this review, we summarize the role of different stress-responsive TFs with respect to biotic and abiotic stresses. Further, challenges and future opportunities linked with TFs for developing climate-resilient crops are also elaborated.

Loess was deposited in the Negev during the Pleistocene, but such sediments seem to be missing for the Holocene. This could be due to erosion unless structures such as ruins offered protection. We studied soils developed on archaeological hilltop ruins in the Negev and the Petra region and compared them with local soils, paleosols, geological outcrops, and current dust. The ruin soils in both regions were found to consist of similarly complex mixtures of local and remote sediment sources. They differ from sediments deposited during current dust storms. This seems due to fixation processes: average accretion rates are estimated to ~0.14 mm/a, suggesting that only ~3% of the current dust that can be trapped with dry marble dust collectors is stored in the soils. Vegetation, biocrusts, and/or clast pavements associated with vesicular layers seem to act as sediment-fixing agents. As well, climate might play a role: rain, and in particular one snowstorm in the Petra region brought a high amount of sediment that was more similar to the ruin soils. Wet deposition and snow might catalyze dust deposition and enhance fixation by fostering vegetation and crust formation. Frequent snow during the Pleistocene might be one explanation of enhanced loess deposition.

Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are capable to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers input cost of farmer. Keeping in view the study was designed to investigate and evaluate inoculation effect of indigenous rhizospheric bacteria on growth and yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under in vitro and in vivo conditions using different treatments. Ten potential strains were selected on the basis of their ACC deaminase activity, siderophore production, P-solubilization and production of indole acetic acid (IAA). Further these strains were tested in three different experiments (growth chamber, pot and field). We found significant increase in crop growth response to the inoculants in comparison with un-inoculated control. In pot and field trial we tested PGPR with recommended dose of inorganic fertilizers. The results of present study revealed that inoculation of bacterial strains with wheat seeds significantly increased plant growth and improved crop yield. Results of present study reveal that these strains could be employed in different combinations and can get higher yield in case of half recommended doses of inorganic fertilizers along with consortium of strains in comparison with sole application of recommended dose of fertilizer and with consortium of strains. These strains were further identified by 16Sr RNA gene sequencing, fatty acid profile and biolog. It can be concluded that inoculated bacteria have more potential and contributes in good crop quality, increased yield when they are applied in combination, thus have potential to minimize use of chemical fertilizers.

Currently, energy security and environmental degradation are the two biggest challenges before humanity that can be surmounted with the use of green and sustainable biofuels produced from lignocellulosic crops. In the future, to ensure adequate and cost-effective supply of biofuels, it requires a sufficient amount of amenable and quality lignocellulosic feedstocks. Therefore, agricultural yields of lignocellulosic biomass crops should be substantially increased by intense genetic maneuvering of key gene regulatory mechanisms and signaling pathways that control plant biomass yield. Recently, numerous miRNAs families are identified, characterized, and validated across the plant kingdom. Plant microRNAs (miRNAs) are 21 to 24 nucleotides long, non-coding small RNAs, act as regulators of their target genes via inducing modifications in transcription, translation, and epigenome. MiRNAs represent many hallmark characteristics like sequence-specific regulation, tissue, and species-specific expression, evolutionary conservation, and functional diversity. They coordinate well physiological and life cycle processes in plants under adverse environmental conditions. Hence, miRNAs offer accurate, precise, and efficient regulatory switches in the miRNA-targeted genetic networks. It is evident from the study of the miR156 family and its target SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE (SPL) genes network that controls highly significant agronomic traits in crop plants. The miR156/SPL module acts as a master circuit that synchronizes many intricate complex biological functions such as growth and development, and metabolic processes by sensing internal and external environmental signals in plants. Therefore, miR156 can prove a potential target for miRNAs based plant biotechnology to harmonize complex biofuel traits and improve biomass yield in lignocellulosic biomass crops.

Thai basil is a renowned medicinal plant and a rich source of bioactive antioxidant compounds having several health benefits, with actions to prevent of cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Plant cell and tissue culture technologies can be routinely established as an important, sustainable and low-cost biomass source for the production of high-value phytochemicals. The current study aimed at developing an effective protocol for the production of Thai basil leaf derived callus cultures with sustainable and high production of biomass and antioxidants as an alternative of leaves production. MS basal medium with various concentrations of plant growth regulators (PGRs) compatible with nutraceutical applications (i.e., gibberellic acid (GA3) and 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) either alone or in combination with naphthalene acetic acid (NAA)) were evaluated. Among all tested PGRs, the combination BAP:NAA (5 mg/L:1 mg/L) yield maximum biomass accumulation (fresh weight (FW): 190 g/L and dry weight (DW): 13.05 g/L) as well as enhanced phenolic (346.08 mg/L) production. HPLC quantification analysis indicated high productions of chicoric acid (35.77 mg/g DW) and rosmarinic acid (7.35 mg/g DW) under optimized callus culture conditions. Antioxidant potential was assessed using both in vitro cell free and in vivo cellular antioxidant assays. Maximum in vitro antioxidant activity DPPH (93.2 % of radical scavenging activity) and ABTS (1322 µM Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity) was also observed for the extracts from callus cultures grown on optimal conditions. In vivo cellular antioxidant activity assay confirmed the effective protection against oxidative stress of the corresponding extract by the maximum inhibition of ROS and RNS production. Compared to commercial leaves, callus extracts showed higher production of chicoric acid and rosmarinic acid associated with higher antioxidant capacity. In addition, this biological system also has a large capacity for continuous biomass production, thus demonstrating its high potential for possible nutraceutical applications.

: On earth, plants play the most important part. Every organ of a plant plays a vital role in the ecological field as well as the medicinal field. But on the whole earth there are several species of plants are available. Different plants have different diseases. Therefore it is needed to identify the plants and their diseases to prevent loss. Now to identify the plants and their diseases manually is very time consuming. In this research an automatic plant and their disease detection system is proposed. For experimental purposes, high-quality leaf images are accepted for training and testing. For detecting the healthy and diseased area in a leaf, region-based and color-based region thresholding techniques were used. For feature selection Histogram Oriented Gradient (HOG) and Local Binary Pattern (LBP) method were applied. Finally for classification two-class and multi-class Support Vector Machine (SVM) was used. It is observed that both feature selection processes with SVM give 99% accuracy. Finally to understand the automated system a graphical user interface was created for all users.

VpStyA1 and VpStyA2B of Variovorax paradoxus EPS is annotated and characterized as the first representative of an E2-type styrene monooxygenase of proteobacteria. It comprises a single epoxidase (VpStyA1) and a fusion protein (VpStyA2B) which serves mainly as NADH:FAD-oxidoreductase. VpStyA2B had a Km of 33.6 ± 4.0 µM for FAD and a kcat of 22.3 ± 1.1 s-1. VpStyA2B and VpStyA1 showed monooxygenase activity on styrene of 0.14 U mg-1 and 0.46 U mg-1 as well as on benzyl methyl sulfide of 1.62 U mg-1 and of 3.11 U mg-1. A putative fusion region at position 408 (AREAV) was mutated to provide insights on VpStyA2B-function. The best mutant (408-AAAAA) obtained showed a 6.6-times higher affinity for FAD while keeping the NADH-affinity and -oxidation activity. Corresponding epoxidase activity increased (1.6-times). But, other mutants showed still NADH:FAD-oxidoreductase activity, but lost mostly their epoxidase activity indicating effects on the monooxygenase-part as well. Thus, this monooxygenase system represents an interesting candidate for biocatalyst development.

Exclosures are used to regenerate native vegetation as a way to reduce soil erosion, increase rain water infiltration and provide fodder and woody biomass in degraded grazing lands. Therefore, this study assessed the impact of grazing exclosure on vegetation biomass, carbon sequestration and soil nutrients under five and ten years of grazing exclosures and freely grazed areas in Tigray, northern Ethiopia. Vegetation biomass, carbon stocks and soil nutrients increased with increasing grazing exclusion. However, open grazing lands and five years of grazing exclosure did not differ in aboveground biomass, above-and-belowground carbon stocks. Moreover, ten years of grazing exclosure had a higher (P<0.01) grass, herb and litter carbon stocks compared to five years exclosure and open grazing lands. The total carbon stock was higher for ten years exclosure (193.3 t C ha-1) than the five years exclosure (154.0 t C ha-1) and in open grazing areas (146.6 t C ha-1). Grazing lands closed for ten years had a higher SOC, organic matter, total N, available P, and exchangeable K+ and Na+ compared to five year’s exclosure and open grazing lands. Therefore, establishment of grazing exclosures had a positive effect in restoring degraded grazing lands, thus improving vegetation biomass, carbon sequestration potentials and soil nutrients under the changing climate and global warming.

Typhonium flagelliforme is an Indonesian herbal plant used and applied traditionally to treat cancer diseases. Gamma rays have irradiated rodent tuber mutant plant at six doses gray to in-crease the chemical compounds of anticancer activity. The effect of isolated compounds from ro-dent tuber mutant plants has never been studied and published yet. Our study unveiled the poten-tial of stigmasterol as a remarkable cytotoxic agent and the significant contribution of NMR spectroscopy, IR, Mass spectra, QTOF MS towards the isolation and identification of this anti-cancer agent. Stigmasterol was isolated from T. flagelliforme mutant plant. Stigmasterol was more effective against MCF-7 cells with an IC50 value of 0.1623 µM than Cisplatin with IC50 value 13.2 µM. It is the most potential and active fraction in the human breast cancer cell line. The mo-lecular docking study analyzed the chemical profile of stigmasterol to confirm the receptor in agonist binding sites. The prediction of the toxicity of stigmasterol compounds using in silico and analysis of its interaction with the receptor can act as a competitive regulator with a high-affinity binding site on FXR. Stigmasterol has potential as a candidate for an anticancer drug that pro-moting further clinical action.

Agricultural Production today has to deal with different challenges. It has to increment production for a continuously increasing population, reducing the environmental burdens on the natural systems. In conventional agriculture, this is possible through the increase of inputs, especially nutrients, which, however, are responsible for the biggest part of emissions. It becomes more complicated though, adopting sustainable agricultural practices, to improve the quality and the quantity of agricultural production reducing the inputs use. Plant growth regulators are described in the literature for the significant role in securing crop management of modern agriculture. Therefore, this joint field experiment has been carried out on a pear orchard (Pyrus communis L. cv. Abate Fètel) in Emilia Romagna (Italy) by Fondazione Navarra and TIMAC AGRO Italia S.p.A., to test the “less for more” theory which consists in getting more and better agricultural produce using fewer inputs. Preliminary results of two consecutive years have confirmed our assumption as it was possible to substantially reduce the total fertilisation units applied, improving significantly quantitative and qualitative production indicators (i.e. flower and fruit density, fruit set (%), the average weight of fruits (g) and the total yield (t/ha)). Results have also shown a positive correlation between plant growth regulators and agronomic efficiency of pears.

Plant-parasitic nematodes cause expressive annual yield losses to worldwide agricultural production. Most cultivated plants have no known resistance against nematodes and the few bearing a resistance gene can be overcome by certain species. The chemical methods that have been deployed to control nematodes were largely banned from use due to their poor specificity and high toxicity. Hence, there is an urgent need for the development of cleaner and more specific control methods. Recent advances in nematode genomics, including in phytoparasitic species, provide an unprecedented opportunity to identify genes and functions specific to these pests. Using phylogenomics, we compared 61 nematode genomes, including 16 for plant-parasitic species and identified more than 24,000 protein families specific to these parasites. In the genome of Meloidogyne incognita, one of the most devastating plant parasites, we found ca. 10,000 proteins with orthologs restricted only to phytoparasitic species and no further homology in protein databases. Among these phytoparasites-specific proteins, ca. 1,000 shared the same properties as known secreted effectors involved in essential parasitic functions. Of those, 68 were novel and showed strong expression during the endophytic phase of the nematode life cycle, based on both RNA-seq and RT-qPCR analyses. Besides effector candidates, transcription-related and neuro-perception functions were enriched in phytoparasites-specific proteins, revealing interesting targets for nematode control methods. This phylogenomics analysis, constitutes an unprecedented resource for the further understanding of the genetic basis of nematode adaptation to phytoparasitism and for the development of more efficient control methods.

Trees provide key ecosystem services, but the health and sustainability of these plants is under increasing biotic and abiotic threat, including from the growing incidences of non-native invasive plant pests (including pathogens). The island of Ireland (Ireland and Northern Ireland) is generally accepted to have a high plant health status, in part due to its island status and because of the national and international regulations aimed at protecting plant health. To establish a baseline of the current pest threats to tree health for the island of Ireland, the literature and unpublished sources were reviewed to produce a dataset of pests of trees on the island of Ireland. The dataset contains 396 records of pests of trees on the island of Ireland, the majority of pests being arthropods and fungi, and indicating potentially more than 44 non-native pest introductions. The reliability of many (378) of the records was judged to be high, therefore the dataset provides a robust assessment of the state of pests of trees recorded on the island of Ireland. We analyse this dataset and review the history of plant pest invasions, including (i) discussion on notable native and non-native pests of trees, (ii) pest interceptions at borders and (iii) pests and climate change. The dataset establishes an important baseline for the knowledge of plant pests on the island of Ireland, and will be a valuable resource for future plant health research and policy making.

The Armillaria genus represents one of the most common causes of chronic root rot disease in woody plants. The disease damage prompt assessment is crucial for pest management. However, the disease detection current methods are limited at the field scale. Therefore, an alternative approach that can enhance or supplement traditional techniques is needed. In this study, we investigated the potential of hyperspectral methods to identify the changes between fungi-infected and uninfected plants of Vitis vinifera in early detecting the Armillaria disease. The hyperspectral imaging sensor Specim-IQ was used to acquire images of leaves of the Teroldego Rotaliano grapevine cultivar. We analysed three groups of plants: healthy, asymptomatic, and diseased. Highly significant differences were found in the Near infrared (NIR) spectral region with a decreasing pattern from healthy to diseased plants attributable to internal leaf structure changes. Asymptomatic plants emerged from the other groups due to a smaller reflectance in the red-edge spectrum (around 705nm). Hypothetically associated with the presence of secondary metabolites involved in plant defence strategy. Furthermore, significant differences were observed in the wavelengths close to 550 nm in diseased plants versus asymptomatic. We used linear discriminant analysis from a machine learning context to classify the leaves based on the most significant variables (vegetation indices and single bands), with resulting overall accuracies of 85% and 84% respectively in healthy vs. diseased and healthy vs. asymptomatic. To our knowledge, this study represents the first report on the possibility of using hyperspectral data for root rot disease diagnosis on woody plants. Although further validation studies are required, it appears that the spectral reflectance technique, possibly implemented on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), could be a promising tool for a cost-effective, non-destructive method of Armillaria disease early diagnosis and mapping in the field, contributing to a significant step forward in precision viticulture.

Over the last five decades, weed management systems have relied primarily on synthetic herbicides. Due to the concerns over the potential impact of chemicals on human health and the environment, efforts are being made to reduce the heavy reliance on synthetic herbicides. To reduce the use of synthetic herbicides, the use of natural products such as essential oils, plant extracts, allelochemicals, agricultural by-products, and some microbes are gaining attention because of their short environmental half-life and low toxicity. They are a good alternative to synthetic herbicides, especially in organic agriculture, since they focus on environmental protection, and ecological stability. Most of the commercially available natural herbicides are non-selective and require careful application in order to preserve the cash crops. Although many studies in this direction have been undertaken, the use of these natural products is still not common because of their cost the difficulties in their synthesis due to their complex structure, cost effectiveness, poor performance, and rapid degradation. When used singly, these natural herbicides do not perform as well as the chemical herbicides. An integrated approach may provide better results. Using a combination of natural herbicides may be more effective than using just one.

Signalling is a strongly influenced area trending to be applied in almost every focus of biological sciences. The part of signalling or communication from cellular level to a whole organism including plant as well as animal drags a vast diversity of wealthy structural compounds. There is immense demand for new bioactive compounds for the pharmaceutical, agro and food industries. Plant-associated microbes present an attractive and promising source. The concept of the microbiome and the significance it has to host health, diseases state, and the role of immune have been the hub of research that has led to advances in our understanding of the massive power of the small unseen majority of the microbes (Peterson Andrew H., 2013). Before we say about microbiome—plant relation, it is important to first understand the working concept of the microbiome. Every organism on earth counts on their neighbours to sustain life. Microbiome can be considered a community of microorgasims who can prove to be loveable and hateful. The analysis of microbiome structure and function was protagonise in studies of human hosts and has been extensively documented as essential to genetic and functional capacity attributed to the host, comprehending aspects of metabolism and physiology. Plants are crowded with microbial organisms, counting those that colonize internal tissues, also those that adhere to external surfaces. The wide diversity of microorganisms in the soil rhizosphere is collectively plant–soil-associated microbes cover the plant microbiome. The intricate involvement of microbiome serves to plant health and as a tank of additional genes that plants can access when needed.

A recent survey that determined heavy metal concentrations in an abandoned Hg mine in Palawan, Philippines, found the occurrence of Hg with As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, Tl, V, and Zn. While the Hg originated from the mine waste calcines as supported by previous studies, the critical knowledge about the origin of the other heavy metals remains to be unknown. Our study investigated the sources of heavy metal pollution surrounding the abandoned Hg mine; and assessed the soil and sediment quality, ecological risks, and health risks associated with these toxic metals. Multivariate analyses, such as hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), principal component analysis (PCA), and Pearson correlation analysis, were used to identify the heavy metal sources from the results of a previous paper. Our results showed that Fe, Ni, Cr, Co, and Mn are associated with the ultramafic geology of the study, whereas As, Ba, Cd, Cu, Pb, Sb, Tl, V, and Zn are likely due to historical mining and processing of cinnabar from 1953-1976. The mine waste calcines were used as construction material for the wharf and as land filler for the adjacent communities. The modified contamination factor (mCdeg) showed that the coast of Honda Bay is highly contaminated, while the inland areas, including the rivers, are very- to ultra-highly contaminated. There is a considerable ecological risk associated with the heavy metals, wherein Ni, Hg, Cr, and Mn contribute an average of 46.3 %, 26.3 %, 11.2 %, and 9.3 % to the potential ecological risk index (RI), respectively. The overall mean hazard index (HI) for both adults (1.4) and children (12.1) exceeded 1, implying the probability of non-carcinogenic adverse effects. The mean total cancer risk over a lifetime (LCR) for both adults (1.19×10-3) and children (2.89×10-3) exceeded the tolerable threshold of 10-4, suggesting a potentially high risk for developing cancer mainly by Ni, Co, and Cr exposure.

Conservation Agriculture (CA) alters soil properties and microbial processes compared to conventional agriculture. These changes can affect soil-atmosphere greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes. In this overview, we summarized the results of global literature and the gaps in measuring and understanding of GHG fluxes in CA systems and conventional agriculture. Some studies compared soil carbon sequestration and soil respiration in conservation agriculture and no-tillage system with conventional agriculture and the results were not consistent in all experiments. Interactions between CA pillars and soil factors such as soil moisture, temperature, texture can determine the rate of respiration rate and soil-atmosphere CO₂ fluxes. The majority of studies reported larger N₂O emissions in no-tillage treatment compared with conventional tillage while some other studies reported no difference between no-tillage and conventional tillage systems. In the majority of CA studies, there is lack of required information which is necessary to understand the mechanisms and processes that affect soil GHG fluxes. Determining factors like climate, amount of plant residues, soil type, crop types included in crop rotation and cover crops and duration of the study are not considered. Static chamber method was used for measuring soil-atmosphere GHG fluxes in the majority of studies. Spatial and temporal changes in GHG flux rates are high and missing part of highly episodic events by using static chamber method may result over- or under-estimation in flux balance calculation. Applying standard techniques for measuring continuous fluxes can help to calculating accurate GHG balance.

Plants are such important keys of biological part of our environment, supply the human life and creatures. Understanding how the plant’s functions react with our surroundings, helps us better to make plant growth and development of food products. It means the plant phenotyping gives us bio information which needs some tools to reach the plant knowledge. Imaging tools is one of the phenotyping solutions which consists of imaging hardware such as the camera and image analysis software analyses the plant images changings such as plant growth rates. In this paper, we proposed a preprocessing algorithm to eliminate the noise and separate foreground from the background which results the plant image to help the plant image segmentation. The preprocessing is one of important levels has effect on better image segmentation and finally better plant’s image labeling and analysis. Our proposed algorithm is focused on removing noise such as converting the color space, applying the filters and local adaptive binarization step such as Niblack. Finally, we evaluate our algorithm with other algorithms by testing a variety of binarization methods.

Stripe rust ​​(caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici) is one of the most devastating diseases of wheat and causes large-scale epidemics and severe yield loss. Applying fungicides during early epidemic development is crucial to controlling the disease but is often challenged by resource-limited human visual scouting. Deep learning has the potential to process images and videos captured from affordable devices to empower high-throughput phenotyping for early detection of stripe rust for timely application of fungicides and improve control efficiency. Here, we developed RustNet, a neural network-based image classifier, for efficiently monitoring fields for stripe rust. RustNet was built on a ResNet-18 architecture pre-trained with ImageNet Large-Scale Visual Recognition Challenge (ILSVRC) dataset using transfer learning. RGB images and videos of multiple wheat fields with different wheat types (winter and spring wheat), conditions (irrigated and non-irrigated), and locations were acquired using smartphones or unmanned aerial vehicles near the canopy. A semi-automated image labeling approach was conducted to improve labeling efficiency by combining automated machine labeling and human correction. Cross-validations across multiple categories (sensor platforms, wheat types, and locations) achieved Area Under Curve from 0.72 to 0.87. Independent validation on a published dataset from Germany achieved accuracies ranging from 0.79 to 0.86. The visualization of the last convolutional layer of RustNet demonstrated the identification of pixels with stripe rust. RustNet is freely available at https://zzlab.net/RustNet.

Vascular pathogens are the causal agents of main diseases threatening the health and growth of olive crops worldwide. The use of endophytic microorganisms represents a challenging and promising strategy for management of vascular diseases in olive. Although current research has been focused on analyzing the structure and diversity of the endophytic microbial communities inhabiting the olive xylem, the characterization of this ecological niche has been overlooked and to date remain unexplored, despite that the characterization of the xylem sap composition is essential to unravel the nutritional requirements of xylem-limited microorganisms. In this study, branches from plantlets and adult olive trees of cultivars ‘Picual’ and ‘Arbequina' were selected to characterize the chemical composition of olive xylem sap extracted using a Scholander pressure chamber. Metabolome and ionome analyses of xylem sap were performed by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy-based and by inductively coupled plasma with optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), respectively. Olive xylem sap metabolites included a higher relative percentage of sugars (54.35%), followed by alcohols (28.85%), amino acids (8.01%), organic acids (7.68%) and osmolytes (1.12%). Within each of these groups, the main metabolites in the olive xylem sap were mannitol, ethanol, glutamine, acetate and trigonelline, whereas K and Cl- were the main element and inorganic anion, respectively. Metabolomic profile varied when comparing olive plant age and genotype. The levels of glucose, fructose, sucrose and mannitol, choline, B and PO43 were significantly higher in adult trees than in plantlets for both olive genotypes, whereas NO3- and Rb content showed the opposite behavior. On the other hand, levels of aspartate, phenylalanine and Na were significantly higher in ‘Picual’ than in ‘Arbequina’ whereas Fe showed the opposite behavior but only for adult trees. Non-supervised hierarchical clustering analysis separated xylem sap composition firstly according to the plant age and then by the olive cultivar. Supervised PLS-DA analysis revealed that B, ethanol, Fe, Fructose, glucose, mannitol, sucrose and Sr were the most significative compounds discriminating adult trees from plantlets, whereas asparagine, aspartate, glutamate and phenylalanine or aspartate, arginine, ethanol and Sr were the most contributory compounds in the discrimination of both olive genotypes for adult trees or plantlets, respectively. Knowledge of the chemical composition of xylem sap will lead to a better understanding of the complex nutritional requirements of olive xylem-inhabiting microorganisms, including its vascular pathogens, and would allow the design of artificial growing media to improve culturing the olive microbiome.

Ash trees have considerable economic, cultural and environmental value on the island of Ireland. However, European ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) is currently under threat from the invasive ascomycete pathogen Hymenoscyphus fraxineus. This pathogen is the causal agent of ash dieback disease, which was initially reported in Poland in 1992. Hymenoscyphus fraxineus has since spread across Europe and the first recorded case of the disease on the island of Ireland was in 2012 at a forestry plantation in Co. Leitrim. The pathogen is now present in all 26 counties in Ireland and 6 counties in Northern Ireland, and it is considered unfeasible to eradicate. The spread of ash dieback disease is reflected in recent policy changes, which focus on management rather than eradication strategies. Since the first formal description of H. fraxineus in 2006, considerable research efforts have been made by the international scientific community to understand the biology of the pathogen and to develop management strategies against it. This review provides an update of current knowledge of H. fraxineus biology and infection. We then explore examples of mitigation techniques that have been trialled in Europe, in order to identify strategies that are feasible for disease management at a local level on the island of Ireland. Finally, we outline five key avenues of research that have the potential to provide breakthroughs in methods to protect valuable F. excelsior resources.

Concentrations of six polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (benzanthrone, benz[a]anthracene, chrysene, fluoranthene, pyrene, and triphenylene) of soil samples from Diboll, an East Texas city (USA), were analyzed with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Samples were collected from five sites; Old Orchard Park, two heavy traffic intersections (Judd Street and Lumberjack Drive), an industrial site (West Borden Drive), and a truck stop. Acetone and dichloromethane extracts in all samples showed the presence of fluoranthene and pyrene. The sum of fluoranthene and pyrene concentrations in sites followed the order West Borden Drive > Judd Street > Lumberjack Drive > Old Orchard Park > truck stop. Concentrations of fluoranthene and pyrene were in the range 12.3 – 396.5 μg kg^-1 (ppb) and 13.6 – 209.8 μg kg^-1 ₍in dry soil₎, respectively. Benzanthrone, benz[a]anthracene, chrysene, and triphenylene concentrations were < 2 ppb levels. The higher concentrations in soils were associated with sites close to heavy traffic and vehicular emissions.

The experience gained over the last hundred years clearly indicates that two groups of viruses represent the main risk for the development of highly transmissible epidemics and pandemics in the human species: influenza viruses and coronaviruses (CoV). Although the search for viruses with pandemic potential in the environment may have an important predictive and monitoring role, it is still based on empirical methodologies, mostly translated from the clinic and not fully validated for environmental matrices.As far as the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, currently underway, is concerned, environmental monitoring activities aiming at checking the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater can be extremely useful to predict and control the diffusion of the disease. For this reason, the present study aims to evaluate the SARS-CoV-2 diffusion by means of a wastewater-based environmental monitoring developed in Piedmont, N-W Italy, during the pandemic second and third waves. Sampling strategies, sampling points, sample pre-treatments and analytical methods have been developed and validated to give representative and reliable results. The outcomes highlighted by the present paper demonstrate a strong correlation between SARS-CoV-2 concentration in untreated wastewater and epidemic evolution in the considered areas as well as a predictive potential that could provide decision-makers with indications for establishing effective policies to mitigate the effects of the ongoing pandemic and to prepare response plans for future pandemics that could certainly arise in the decades to come.Moreover, the study highlights the potential of wastewater treatment plants to degrade the genetic material referable to SARS-CoV-2 as well.In conclusion, the preliminary data reported in the present paper, although they need to be complemented by further studies considering other geographical regions as well, are very promising.

Nonhost disease resistance is the most common type of plant defense mechanism against potential pathogens. In this study, the metabolic enzyme formate dehydrogenase (FDH1) was identified to be involved in nonhost disease resistance in Nicotiana benthamiana and Arabidopsis thaliana. In Arabidopsis, AtFDH1 was highly upregulated in response to both host and nonhost bacterial pathogens. Arabidopsis Atfdh1 mutants were compromised in nonhost resistance, basal resistance, and gene-for-gene resistance. The expression patterns of salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA) marker genes after pathogen infections in Atfdh1 mutant indicated that SA is most likely involved in the FDH1-mediated plant defense response to both host and nonhost bacterial pathogens. Previous studies reported that FDH1 localizes to only mitochondria, or both mitochondria and chloroplasts. Our results showed that the AtFDH1 localized to mitochondria and the amount of FDH1 localized to mitochondria increased upon infection with host or nonhost pathogens. Interestingly, the subcellular localization of FDH1 was observed in both mitochondria and chloroplasts after infection with a nonhost pathogen in Arabidopsis. We speculate that FDH1 plays a role in cellular signaling networks between mitochondria and chloroplasts to produce coordinated defense responses such as SA-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and hypersensitive response (HR)-induced cell death against nonhost bacterial pathogens.

1. Heterospecific pollen interference has recently been proposed as a mechanism contributing to the success of alien invaders, as heterospecific pollen of alien plants interferes with the reproduction of natives by reducing fruit and seed set. However, no study has looked at the opposite interaction. Moreover, few studies have considered the roles of phylogenetic and trait distances between pollen donors and recipients. 2. We did a large multi-species experiment in which we used alien and native species both as pollen recipients and as pollen donors, and included phylogenetic as well as trait distance as explanatory variables. 3. We found that both alien and native recipients suffered from heterospecific pollen from donors of the opposite status in terms of seed and fruit set. Phylogenetic distance and trait distance both affected heterospecific pollen interference, but the effect depended on recipient and donor statuses. 4. We conclude that heterospecific pollen interference affects both native and alien recipients, thus indirectly altering community composition and increasing biotic resistance against invaders.

Forest health is dependent on the variability of microorganisms interacting with the host tree/holobiont. Symbiotic microbiota and pathogens engage in a permanent interplay, which influences the host. Thanks to the development of NGS technologies, a vast amount of genetic information on the virosphere of temperate forests has been gained the last seven years. To estimate the qualitative/quantitative impact of NGS in forest virology, we have summarized viruses affecting major tree/shrub species and their fungal associates, including fungal plant pathogens, mutualists and saprotrophs. The contribution of NGS methods is extremely significant for forest virology. Reviewed data about viral presence in holobionts, allowed us to address the role of the virome in the holobionts. Genetic variation is a crucial aspect in hologenome, significantly reinforced by horizontal gene transfer among all interacting actors. Through virus-virus interplays synergistic or antagonistic relations may evolve, which may drastically affect the health of the holobiont. Novel insights of these interplays may allow practical applications for forest plant protection based on endophytes and mycovirus biocontrol agents. The current analysis is conceived in light of the prospect that novel viruses may initiate an emergent infectious disease and that measures for avoidance of future outbreaks in forests should be considered.

Biochar application to soil has been proposed as a means for reducing soil greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating climate change. The effects, however, of interactions between biochar, moisture and temperature on soil CO₂ and N₂O emissions, remain poorly understood. Furthermore, the applicability of lab-scale observations to field conditions in diverse agroecosystems remains uncertain. Here we investigate the impact of a mixed wood gasification biochar on CO₂ and N₂O emissions from loess-derived soils using: (1) controlled laboratory incubations at three moisture (27, 31 and 35%) and three temperature (10, 20 and 30°C) levels, and (2) a field study with four cropping systems (continuous corn, switchgrass, low diversity grass mix, and high diversity grass-forb mix). Biochar reduced N₂O emissions under specific temperatures and moistures in the laboratory and in the continuous corn cropping system in the field. However, the effect of biochar on N₂O emissions was only significant in the field, and no effect on cumulative CO₂ emissions was observed. Cropping system also had a significant effect in the field study, with soils in grass and grass-forb cropping systems emitting more CO₂ and less N₂O than corn cropping systems. Observed biochar effects were consistent with previous studies showing that biochar amendments can reduce soil N₂O emissions under specific, but not all, conditions. The disparity in N₂O emission responses at the lab and field scales suggests that laboratory incubation experiments are not reliable for predicting the impact of biochar at the field scale.

In the last decades, intensive crop management has involved excessive use of pesticides or fertilizers, compromising environmental integrity and public health. Accordingly, there has been worldwide pressure to find an eco-friendly and safe strategy to ensure agricultural productivity. Recently, Plant Growth-Promoting (PGP) rhizobacteria are receiving increasing attention as suitable biocontrol agents against agricultural pests. In the present study, 22 spore-forming bacteria were selected among a salt-pan rhizobacteria collection for their PGP traits and their antagonistic activity against the plant pathogen fungus Macrophomina phaseolina. Based on the higher antifungal activity, strain RHFS10, identified as Bacillus vallismortis, was furtherly examined and cell-free supernatants assays, column purification, and tandem mass spectrometry employed to purify and preliminarily identify the antifungal metabolites. Interestingly, the minimum inhibitory concentration assessed for the fractions active against M. phaseolina, resulted 10 times lower and more stable than the one estimated for the commercial fungicide pentachloronitrobenzene. These results suggest the use of B. vallismortis strain RHFS10 as a potential Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria to efficiently control phytopathogenic fungus M. phaseolina, in alternative to chemical pesticides.

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats or CRISPR, one of the major technological tools from nature's toolbox, has revolutionized the scientific world with its potential use in humans and plants. CRISPR Cas9 was first known as an adaptive immune system of bacteria. It is a system that cleaves foreign DNA. It has been exploited to be used as a genome editing tool for correcting genetic diseases in humans, for plants to create stress-resistant plants, and for a variety of different purposes. This review provides a basic overview of its applications in different areas of biological research. It has immense potential for a variety of researches, but it's still a mystery for science. It feels like scientists just know a tip of an iceberg.

The issue of water and energy crisis have been turned into global matters which need to be tackled jointly. Accordingly, floating solar power plants, in which photovoltaic modules are used on the surface of water infrastructures, has recently been attracting much interest. This system provides some additional advantages over the ground-based system such as conserving the land and the water and increasing the efficiency of the module. This study first reviews the relevant literature comprehensively and then evaluates the potential of using floating solar photovoltaic (FSPV) on some of Iran’s water infrastructures which have experienced a large amount of evaporation every year due to high solar radiation. To this end, the five important dam reservoirs are selected as the representatives of the five important watersheds in Iran, and the advantages of the FSPV plant is analyzed in terms of energy generation, evaporation reduction, economic and environmental aspects considering different coverage percentages of reservoir’s surfaces. Considering Iran's vast potential for solar radiation, and, on the other hand, huge energy demand and critical water situation, results indicated that Iran can effectively harness solar energy through FSPV systems which help conserve the water in addition to support sustainable energy production.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) can transfer diverse RNA cargo for intercellular signalling. EV-associated RNAs have been found in diverse fungi and were proposed to be relevant for pathogenesis in animal hosts. In plant-pathogen interactions, small RNAs are exchanged in a cross-kingdom RNAi warfare and EVs were considered to be a delivery mechanism. To extend the search for EV-associated molecules involved in plants-pathogen communication, we have characterised the repertoire of EV-associated mRNAs secreted by the maize smut pathogen, Ustilago maydis. For this initial survey, EVs were isolated from axenic filamentous cultures that mimic infectious hyphae. The EV-associated RNAs were resistant to degradation by RNases and the presence of intact mRNAs was evident. The set of mRNAs enriched inside EVs relative to the fungal cells are functionally distinct from those that are depleted from EVs, particularly overrepresented in metabolic enzyme activities. Intriguingly, mRNAs of some known effectors and other proteins linked to virulence were found in EVs. Furthermore, several mRNAs enriched in EVs are also upregulated during infection, suggesting that EV-associated mRNAs may participate in plant-pathogen interaction.

In Ethiopia, bamboo thickets and woodlands play an important role in soil-water conservation and climate change mitigation in arid and semi-arid regions. However, bamboo mass flower-ing, rapid demographic changes and expansion of agricultural investments to bamboo domi-nated areas have led to deforestation and land degradation. In this study, we determined the effects of deforestation and subsequent cultivation on soil physical and chemical properties along a chronosequence of closely located agricultural lands with different ages (1, 3, 5 and 7 years) since converted from natural lowland bamboo forest. Hence, soil samples (n = 90) have been taken from both natural bamboo forests and adjacent agricultural lands at two soil depths (0-20 cm and 20-40 cm). Our result showed that CEC, K+, Ca+, Mg+ and available P were varied significantly with respect to cultivation periods and soil depth, while soil pH and Na+ varied with soil depth (P < 0.001). Soil C and total N contents (g/kg) in 0-20 cm soil layer declined significantly and exponentially with increasing years under cultivation. Conversion of natural bamboo forest to cropland during the past seven-year period significantly increased soil pH with soil depths, while CEC was declined throughout the cultivation period and soil depth. In general, the result revealed that conversion of natural lowland bamboo and subsequent cultivation of soil had negative effects on measured soil physicochemical properties.

Cotton is one of the most important economic crops in the world, whereas insect attacks is a prime cause of its losses on yield and quality. Despite it is important, little is known about the mechanism of cotton response to insect. In this study, we simulated insect feeding by applying insect oral secretions (OS) to wounds, and combined transcriptome and metabolome analysis to comprehensively investigate how OS from two major pest species (Helicoverpa armigera and Spodoptera litura) affect cotton defense responses. Obvious differences were observed that 12,668 and 13,379 genes differently expressed respectively in cotton after being treated with different OS when compared with wounding along. Upon the addition of OS, JA-signaling pathway were rapidly and strongly induced, however SA-biosynthesis related gens were significantly down-regulated. By constructing the co-expression gene network, we identified a hub gene which encoding a leucine-rich repeat receptor kinase may play important role in recognition and signal transduction at early stage. We also found that OS from different insect species altered abundance of flavonoid related compound with different patterns. Interestingly, Gossypol which is a well-known anti-insect compound was kept a relative low content after OS application relative to wounding which implied the existence of the suppression effects of OS to cotton defense response. This study illustrated the transcriptional and metabolic changes of cotton in responding to OS from two chewing insect species, identified potential key gene during the interaction process and finds the evidence for OS’s inhibition effects on cotton defense response.

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum Linn.) is widely cultivated in China. The polyphagous insect Adelphocoris suturalis (Jakovlev) is a serious insect pest in cotton growing regions. Plants have evolved sophisticated systems to cope with herbivore attacks. However, the cotton defense mechanisms induced by A. suturalis feeding have lagged behind. We carried out untargeted proteomic analysis using the iTARQ technique and metabolomics based on LC-MS/MS analysis of cotton leaves fed upon by A. suturalis. Proteomic analysis identified 775 upregulated proteins and 477 downregulated proteins in plants that were infested by A. sututralis compared to the controls. Metabolomic analysis identified 50 differentially expressed metabolites in the positive ion mode and 14 in the negative ion mode compared to the controls. The tryptophan metabolism pathway was significantly changed in both the positive and negative ion mode in the metabolomics analysis. The alpha-linolenic acid pathway was significantly changed in both the proteomic and metabolomics analyses. Furthermore, the result was validated by RT-qPCR analysis of 5 related genes involved in alpha-linolenic acid pathway. These results indicate that tryptophan metabolism and the alpha-linolenic acid pathway may be important in cotton defense against herbivores and would enhance our understanding of plant defenses induced by A. sututrali feeding.

Hydrological models have been widely used for many purposes in water sector projects, including streamflow prediction and flood risk assessment. Among the input data used in such hydrological models, the spatial-temporal variability of rainfall datasets has a significant role on the final discharge estimation. Therefore, accurate measurements of rainfall are vital. On the other hand, ground-based measurement networks, mainly in developing countries, are either nonexistent or too sparse to capture rainfall accurately. In addition to in-situ rainfall datasets, satellite-derived rainfall products are nowadays available globally with high spatial and temporal resolution. An innovative approach called SM2RAIN that estimates rainfall from soil moisture data has been applied successfully to various regions. In this study, firstly soil moisture content derived from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for the Earth observing system (AMSR-E) is used as input into the SM2RAIN algorithm to estimate daily rainfall, SM2R-AMSRE, at different sites in the Karkheh river basin (KRB), southwest Iran. Secondly, the SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) hydrological model is applied to simulate runoff using both ground-based observed rainfall and SM2R-AMSRE rainfall as input. The results reveal that the SM2R-AMSRE rainfall data are, in most cases, in good agreement with ground-based rainfall, with correlations R ranging between 0.58 and 0.88, though there is some underestimation of the observed rainfall, due to soil moisture saturation, not accounted for in the SM2RAIN equation. The subsequent SM2R-AMSRE- SWAT- simulated monthly runoff reproduces well the observations at the 6 gauging stations (with coefficient of determination, R² > 0.72), though with slightly worse performances in terms of bias (Bias) and root-mean-square error (RMSE) and, again, some systematic flow underestimation than the SWAT model with ground-based rainfall input. Furthermore, rainfall estimations of two satellite products of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), 3B42 and 3B42RT, are used in the calibrated SWAT- model. The monthly runoff obtained with 3B42- rainfall have 0.39< R2 < 0.70 and are slightly better than those obtained with 3B42RT- rainfall, but not as good as the SM2R-AMSRE- SWAT- simulated runoff above. Therefore, in spite of the afore-mentioned limitations, using SM2R-AMSRE rainfall data in a hydrological model like SWAT, appears to be a viable approach in basins with limited ground-based rainfall data.

Proteases are integral enzymes of the plant immune system. Multiple aspects of defence are regulated by proteases, including the hypersensitive response, pathogen recognition, priming and peptide hormone release. These processes are regulated by unrelated proteases residing at different subcellular locations. In this review we discuss ten prominent plant proteases contributing to the plant immune system, highlighting the diversity of roles they perform in plant defence.

The sustainability of irrigated agriculture depends on the quality of irrigation water used. The electrolyte concentration (EC) of irrigation water may lead to the accumulation of salts in the root zone layers and affect the physiological functions of the crop by osmotic and ion toxicity effects. Further, the cationic and anionic composition of the water may alter the exchangeable cation composition of the soil and as well as its pH. Because of the dominance of sodium salts in many sources of irrigation water, parameters related to sodium such as exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) of soils and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) of soil solutions have been commonly used to study the effects of sodium in irrigation water on soil structural stability. Quirk and Schofield concept of ‘threshold electrolyte concentration’ (TEC) has shown the importance of electrolytes in preventing the effects of sodium on soil structure. Based on this concept, several models have been proposed to relate ESP or SAR with EC to predict the possible impacts of irrigation water on soil structural stability. However, many research reports indicate that this relationship varies with soils and a given model is not suitable for all types of soils. Further, the effects of potassium and magnesium in the processes leading to clay dispersion are disregarded in these models. This essay analyses all the factors involved in the structural failure of soils with different cationic composition, identify the defects in these TEC models and re-defines TEC on the basis of new insights on dispersive and flocculating charges of soils. This review does not deal with EC effects on crops and also the role of contaminant ions not involved with soil structural stability.

Visible and near-infrared reflectance (Vis–NIR) techniques are a plausible method to soil analyses. The main objective of the study was to investigate the capacity to predicting soil properties Al, Ca, K, Mg, Na, P, pH, total carbon (TC), H and N, by using different spectral (350–2500 nm) pre-treatments and machine learning algorithms such as Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Random Forest (RF), Partial Least-squares Regression (PLSR) and Cubist (CB). The 300 soil samples were sampled in the upper part of the Itatiaia National Park (INP), located in Southeastern region of Brazil. The 10 K-fold cross validation was used with the models. The best spectral pre-treatment was the Inverse of Reflectance by a Factor of 104 (IRF4) for TC with CB, giving an averaged R² among the folds of 0.85, RMSE of 1.96; and 0.67 with 0.041 respectively for H. Into the K-folds models of TC, the highest prediction had a R² of 0.95. These results are relevant for the INP management plan, and also to similar environments. The good correlation with Vis–NIR techniques can be used for remote sense monitoring, especially in areas with very restricted access such as INP.

Here we evaluate the chemistry of mineral soil solutions collected by suction lysimeters in a small mountain catchment that was affected by acidification-related spruce die-back. The aim was to obtain new insights into spatial patterns of nutrient partitioning during acidification recovery. This was achieved by comparing nutrient concentrations in soil solutions, collected along a V-shaped valley, with those in runoff. Five nests of suction lysimeters were installed in the 33-ha UDL catchment at different topographic positions (hilltops, slopes and valley). Following a 1-year equilibration, monthly samples of soil solutions were collected over a 2-year period. In the vicinity of each lysimeter nest, soil pits were excavated for a study of soil chemistry. Soil solutions were analyzed for SO42-, NO3-, DOC, NH4+, Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, and total dissolved Al concentrations, DOC and pH. For a P release estimation, ammonium oxalate extraction of soil samples was performed. Comparison of soil water data from this study with other European studies indicated that major environmentally relevant chemical species at UDL had concentrations similar to median concentrations across numerous previously acidified sites. CEC (≤ 58 meq kg-1) and BS (≤ 13 %), however, were significantly lower at UDL than at other European sites, documenting incomplete recovery from acidification. Spatial trends and seasonality in soil water chemistry support belowground inputs from mineral-stabilized legacy pollutants and soil nutrients. Seasonal variability of soil water sulfate and nitrate was significant. High nitrate in soil solutions during summer originated during the preceding dormant season, and high sulfate concentrations observed during the winter originating from recycled organic S during the summer. Higher concentrations of SO42-, NO3-, and base cations in runoff than in soil solutions may be explained by lateral surficial runoff leaching pollutants and nutrients from very shallow soil horizons. Nearly 30 years after peak acidification, solutions in mineral subsoil at UDL exhibited similar concentrations of SO42-, Ca2+ and Mg2+ as median values at the Pan-European International Co-operative Program (ICP) Forest sites, yet NO3- concentrations were an order of magnitude higher than the ICP sites. Calcium applied on soil surface by liming 32 to 11 years ago affected runoff more than soil solutions, suggesting contribution of both shallow soil water and groundwater to runoff.

The heavy demand of water resources from the Zarqa River Basin (ZRB) has resulted in a base-flow reduction of the River from 5m³/s to less than 1m³/s. This paper aims at predicting Curve Numbers (CN) as a baseline scenario and proposing restoration scenarios for ZRB. The method includes classifying the soil type and land use, predicting CNs, and proposing CN restoration scenarios. Prediction of existing CNs will be in parallel with the runoff prediction using the US Army Corps of Engineers HEC-1 Model, and Rainfall-Runoff Model (RRM). The models have been set up at the land use distribution of 0.3% water body, 9.3% forest and orchard, 71% mixture of grass, weeds, and desert shrubs, 7.0% crops, 4.0% urban areas, and 8.4% bare soil. The results show that CN under dry condition are 59, 78 under a normal condition and 89 under a wet condition. During vegetation period, CN are 52, 72 and 86 for the dry, normal and wet condition respectively. The restoration scenarios; CN decreases runoff, and increases soil moisture when using the contours, terraces and crop residues. Analyzing results of CN scenarios will be a fundamental tool to support end-users related to their targets to achieve watershed restoration.

Proper management of solar energy, as an effective renewable source, is of high importance toward sustainable energy harvesting. This paper offers a novel sophisticated method for predicting solar irradiance (SIr) from environmental conditions. To this end, an efficient metaheuristic technique, namely electromagnetic field optimization (EFO) is employed for optimizing a neural network. This algorithm quickly mines a publicly available dataset for non-linearly tuning the network parameters. To suggest an optimal configuration, five influential parameters of the EFO (i.e., N_Pop, R_rate, Ps_rate, P_field, and N_field) are optimized by an extensive trial and error practice. Analyzing the results showed that the proposed model can learn the SIr pattern and predict it for unseen conditions with high accuracy. Furthermore, it provided about 10% and 16% higher accuracy compared to two benchmark optimizers, namely shuffled complex evolution and shuffled frog leaping algorithm. Hence, the EFO-supervised neural network can be a promising tool for the early prediction of SIr in practice. The findings of this research may shed light on the use of advanced intelligent models for efficient energy development.

The information on the land use and soil conservation practice based on year 2006, 2010 and 2014, hence offering an opportunity to model the impacts of land use change on erosion, deposition and surface water runoff. Limitation in the use of hydrological models had been their inability to handle the large amount of input data that describe the heterogeneity of the natural system. In this study, a procedure that takes into account soil conservation practice based on the land use change, the response of soil erosion and sediment export from the George Town Conurbation catchment area, and average annual sediment yields were estimated for each grid cell of the watershed to identify the critical erosion areas of rural and urban planning proposes. Average annual sediment yield and data on a grid basis estimated using Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and an emerging technology represented by Geographic Information System (GIS) used as a tool to produce a map for erosion rate. The changing of the land use from forest to agriculture and then to an urban area is a challenging task to research on land use demand for population, and environmental impact assessment is important for the planning of natural resources management, allowing research the modification of land use properly and implement more sustainable for long term management strategies. The challenge is to formulate strategies that would promote an integrated approach to the land use planning at an appropriate level as to address the issues that arose. Modelling for creating urban growth boundary for the George Town Conurbation must have to be controlled surface runoff and soil loss and sediment export from land use of the George Town Conurbation catchment.

Melanins are phenolic biopolymers synthesised by most of the living organism mainly for photoprotection or surviving in harsh conditions. Melanin is localised in different areas or complexed with different other biomolecules when observed from animals to microbes. This makes the melanin extraction procedure different in animal, plant and microbial tissues. Basically, the alkali-acid extraction is used in most protocols of which slight variations are there depending on the tissue used. This review will try to compile melanin extraction procedures from different cells and tissues ranging from animals to bacteria.

Boreal forests are one of the largest stores of carbon on Earth, and two-thirds of them are located in Siberia. Despite the fact that these forests have a significant influence on the global climate, they continue to remain understudied. Chernevaya taiga is a unique example of a highly productive Siberian boreal ecosystem. This type of forest is characterized by a series of unique ecological traits, the most notable of which are the gigantism of the perennial herbaceous plants and bushes, complete lack of moss cover on soil surface, and the type of soil it grows on, notable for its particularly high rate of decomposition of vegetative remains and low humic acid content. Abundant rainfall actively washes out nutrients from the top layers of the soil, but its fertility level remains very high. In fact, based on the existing data, it is twice as high as that of fertilized agricultural lands. In some ways the conditions within this type of forest closely resemble those observed in tropical rainforests. Microbiota associated with soil and plants represent an integral part of an interconnected system and contribute significantly to productive processes in soils. Its impacts on the environment require further study, since it could lead to discoveries that will help improve soil fertility without harming the natural environment.

The sustainability of grazing lands lies in the nexus of human consumption behavior, livestock productivity, and environmental sustainability. Due to fast growing global food demands, many grazing lands have suffered from overgrazing, leading to soil degradation, air and water pollution, and biodiversity losses. Multidisciplinary efforts are required to understand how grazing lands can be better monitored, assessed and managed to attain predictable outcomes of optimal benefit to society. This paper synthesizes our understanding based on previous work done on impacts of grazing on ecosystem goods and services, identifies current knowledge gaps, and formulates a plan forward. We review the impacts of two contrasting grazing systems, continuous and multi-paddock rotational grazing, on soil carbon (C), nutrient cycling and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). We then extend our review to explore challenges of incorporating spatial heterogeneity and temporal variability into monitoring and modelling C and nutrient cycling in grazing lands. We revisit two process-based models (i.e., DNDC and DayCent) and two watershed models (i.e., SWAT and VIC) widely used to simulate C, nutrient and water cycles of these lands. Finally we identify research directions for improving the knowledge base which is essential to conserve grazing lands and maintain their ecosystem goods and services.

One of society’s greatest challenges is sequestering vast amounts of carbon to avoid dangerous climate change without driving competition for land and resources. Here we assess the potential of an integrated approach based on enhancement of natural biogeochemical cycles in agro-ecosystems that stimulate carbon capture and storage while increasing resilience and long-term productivity. The method integrates plant photosynthesis in the form of (cover) crops and agroforestry which drives carbon capture. Belowground plant-carbon is efficiently stored as stable soil organic carbon (SOC). Aboveground crop and tree residues are pyrolyzed into biochar, which is applied to the soil reducing carbon release through decomposition. Enhanced weathering of basalt powder worked into the soil further captures and stores carbon, while releasing nutrients and alkalinity. The integrated system is regenerative, through enhanced virtuous cycles that lead to improved plant capture, biomass storage and crop yield, the prerequisites for large-scale carbon sequestration along with food security.

Phosphorus (P) is the second-most important element after nitrogen that is required for plant growth. Although this element is abundant in most soils, it is rarely available in plant-accessible forms since most of it normally exists in soil in insoluble forms such as phosphates. In conventional agriculture, P is normally supplied as chemical fertilizer to satisfy plant P requirements. This, to a large extent, boosts plant production. However, chemical fertilizers are costly, have a huge carbon footprint, and are environmentally-unsustainable owing to the high energy requirements during their synthesis. Besides, P-containing agricultural run-offs contribute hugely to the eutrophication of water bodies and environmental degradation. Moreover, plants can consume only a small amount of chemically-supplied P since between 75 and 90% of this form of P normally get precipitated into complexes and rapidly become fixed in soil. These issues and concerns necessitate research into alternative and viable ways of supplying P to plants. Rhizobacteria have for decades been investigated in vivo and in planta as suitable tools in sustainable agriculture due to the plant-growth-promoting activities such as nutrients’ solubilization, nitrogen fixation, and production of phytohormones. Although a lot of research has been done on different nutrients-solubilizing rhizobacteria and their potential in sustainable agriculture, their mechanisms of action and prospects in sustainable agriculture remain to be fully understood. This review particularly focuses on the P solubilizing rhizobacteria and evaluates their diversity, mechanisms of action, and prospects in sustainable agriculture based on the present and future scenario of their application. Such information is useful in determining their potential and evaluating their prospects in promoting sustainable agricultural systems.

Increasingly, architects are looking towards nature to design more sustainable, efficient cities to reduce the environmental impact of urban life. At the moment, plants are incorporated into urban design for conservation or aesthetic reasons. Here, I argue plants can be rationally designed into synthetic systems based on chemical and other functional traits to increase the stability of urban infrastructure, protect native biodiversity, and promote human health while meeting key UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Biosynthesis of nanoparticles for delivery of therapeutic agents has introduced new opportunities in upgrading medical treatment. Plant extracts contains different capping and reducing agents naturally thus provided simpler and less expensive way to synthesize AgNPs. In present work, Citrus reticulata mediated stabilised AgNPs was synthesized. Optimum concentration of reactants was achieved by varying the amount of extracts (1-11 ml) and AgNO₃ concentration (0.5-3 mM). Surface Plasmon peak of Citrus reticulata mediated AgNPs was determined by UV-visible spectrophotometer and functional groups of capping agents were examined by FTIR analysis. Surface Plasmon peaks of Citrus reticulata fresh peel, seed, and juice extracts were observed at 420 nm. But in dry peel extract, absorption peak of AgNPs appeared at 410 nm. Colour of different extracts was changed after the reduction of AgNO₃ to AgNPs by reducing agents present in the extracts. FTIR analysis showed band peaks at 3316 cm-1 correspond to amide (N-H and O-H) stretching vibrations while alkanes peaks was observed at 1638 cm-1 which showed C=C stretching aromatic ring (flavonoids). Furthermore, Citrus reticulata fresh peel mediated AgNPs showed impressive stability up-to 112 days. In conclusion, Citrus reticulata fresh peel extract provided an excellent source of reducing agents for synthesizing stabilized AgNPs.

Soil moisture (SM) plays an essential role in environmental studies related to wetlands, an ecosystem sensitive to climate change. Hence, there is the need for its constant monitoring. SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite imagery is the only mean to fulfill this objective regardless of the weather. The objective of the study was to develop the methodology for SM retrieval under wetland vegetation using Sentinel-1 (S-1) satellite data. The study was carried out during the years 2015–2017 in the Biebrza Wetlands, situated in northeastern Poland. At the Biebrza Wetlands, two Sentinel-1 validation sites were established, covering grassland and marshland biomes, where a network of 18 stations for soil moisture measurement was deployed. The sites were funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), and the collected measurements are available through the International Soil Moisture Network (ISMN). The NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) was derived from the optical imagery of a MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) sensor onboard the Terra satellite. The SAR data of the Sentinel-1 satellite with VH (vertical transmit and horizontal receive) and VV (vertical transmit and vertical receive) polarization were applied to soil moisture retrieval for a broad range of NDVI values and soil moisture conditions. The new methodology is based on research into the effect of vegetation on backscatter () changes under different soil moisture and vegetation (NDVI) conditions. It was found that the state of the vegetation may be described by the difference between  VH and  VV, or the ratio of  VV/VH, as calculated from the Sentinel-1 images. The most significant correlation coefficient for soil moisture was found for data that was acquired from the ascending tracks of the Sentinel-1 satellite, characterized by the lowest incidence angle, and SM at a depth of 5 cm. The study demonstrated that the use of the inversion approach, which was applied to the new developed models and includes the derived indices based on S-1, allowed the estimation of SM for peatlands with reasonable accuracy (RMSE ~ 10 vol. %). Due to the temporal frequency of the two S-1 satellites’ (S-1A and S-1B) acquisitions, it is possible to monitor SM changes every six days. The conclusion drawn from the study emphasizes a demand for the derivation of specific soil moisture retrieval algorithms that are suited for wetland ecosystems, where soil moisture is several times higher than in agricultural areas.

The quantity of soil loss as a result of soil erosion is dramatically increasing in catchment where land resources management is very weak. In this paper, a RUSLE model-based soil loss quanti-fication technique is presented to estimate the annual soil loss and identify the severity of the erosion in the catchment. This study uses Fincha catchment in Abay river basin as the study area to quantify the annual soil loss by implementing Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model developed in ArcGIS version 10.4. Digital Elevation Model (12.5 x 12.5), LANDSAT 8 of Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS), Annual Rainfall of 10 stations and soil maps of the catchment were used as input parameters to generate the significant factors. Rainfall erosivity factor (R), soil erodibility factor (K), cover and management factor (C), slope length and steepness factor (LS) and support practice factor (P) were used as soil loss quantification significant factors. A model builder for the RUSLE model was developed and raster map calcula-tion algebra was applied in ArcGIS version 10.4 to quantify the total annual soil loss. It was found that the quantified average annual soil loss ranges from 0.0 to 76.5 t ha-1 yr-1 was obtained in the catchment. The area coverage of soil erosion severity with 55%, 35% and 10% as low to moderate, high and very high respectively were identified. The information about the spatial variation of soil loss severity map generated in RUSLE model has a paramount role to alert land resources man-agers and all stakeholders in controlling the effects via implementation of both structural and non-structural mitigations. The results of the RUSLE model can also be further considered along with the catchment for practical soil loss quantification that can help for protection practices.

Medicinal plants are generally defined as rare herbals with potent medicinal activities that can be used as an alternative treatment for diseases. Recent studies exploring novel medicine developments, originating from folk-medicinal practices challenges this notion and suggests that both the circumference of the term medicinal plant and their potential application covers a substantially extensive verse than previously suggested. While medicinal plants are not limited to the borders of any country, Bangladesh and its south-east Asian neighbors do boast a huge collection of potent medicinal plants with considerable folk-medicine history compared to most other countries of the world. MPDB 2.0 is the continuation of MPDB 1.0, it serves as both a data repertoire for medicinal of Bangladesh and a user-friendly interface for researchers, health practitioners, drug developers, and students who wish to study the various medicinal & nutritive plants scattered around Bangladesh and the underlying phytochemicals contributing to their efficacy in folk medicine. While in developing MPDB 2.0 human diseases have been highly focused upon, the information in this database is not limited in its application for human diseases or diseases only, as many of the plants indexed here can serve in developing biofuel or bioremediation technologies or nutritive diets or cosmetics, etc. MPDB 2.0 comprises a collection of more than five hundred medicinal plants from Bangladesh along with a record of their corresponding scientific, family, and local names together with their utilized parts, information regarding ailments, active compounds, and PubMed ID of related publications.

Plants produce a diverse portfolio of sesquiterpenes that are important in their response to herbivores and the interaction with other plants. Their biosynthesis from farnesyl diphosphate depends on the sesquiterpene synthases. Here, we investigate to what extent metabolic pathways can be reconstructed just from knowledge of the final product and the reaction mechanisms catalyzed by sesquiterpene synthases. We use the software package MedØlDatschgerl (MØD) to generate chemical networks and elucidate pathways contained in them. As examples, we successfully consider the reachability of the important plant sesquiterpenes β-caryophyllene, α-humulene, and β-farnesene. We also introduce a graph database to integrate simulation results with experimental biological evidence for selected predicted sesquiterpenes biosynthesis.

The import and export of tree seed carries with it risks of inadvertent introduction of pests and pathogens to hitherto unaffected regions. Although trade in seed of specified trees is regulated, phytosanitary requirements for most tree species are minimal, even those related to the most important forest tree species in a given region. A better understanding of the microbiome associated with seed intended for commercial production or ornamental use, and their potential risk with the transport from the source origin of distributors, will help regulatory agencies implement measures to prevent new and emerging risks. In this study we used high throughput sequencing to show that highly diverse fungal communities were associated with seed of 14 different Pinus species obtained from seed banks (seed orchards) and retail sources (online distributors) in North America and Europe. Fungal diversity differed among the 23 seedlots tested. Community composition did not relate to the species of Pinus nor the country of origin. Assigned potential functions based on sequence identity using FUNGuild provided an overall understanding of the likely life strategies associated fungal OTUs. Of those sequences classified to a trophic level, 453 were plant pathogens, with the Dothideomycetes having the highest prevalence. The most common plant pathogens detected included Sydowia polyspora, Lasiodiplodia theobromae, Diplodia intermedia and Diplodia sapinea. The evidence presented here illustrates an urgent need for plant protection authorities, practitioners and the general public to recognize the potential risk of introducing harmful pathogens through innocent transport of seed.

The conceptual reconstruction of Neiwan powerhouse is one of the key activities under the current ongoing mapping project of Taiwanese hydropower plants that mainly took place between 2013 and 2015 and is now focused on micro, pico, and historical power plants. Judging from the fact that the oldest hydropower plant in Taiwan named Guishan starts its operation in 1905, Neiwan powerhouse was among the very first powerhouses that were built across the island to support the electrification of Taiwan. However, the main function of the single turbine equipped Neiwan micro powerhouse was to support mainly the military needs and protect the territories occupied by Japanese troops. Since the powerhouse was built in 1909 and operates only something about 10 year there are very little physical materials or evidence along with contemporaries. Therefore the further reconstruction is based mainly on physical observation of the remains located at the site, old photographs, related articles, treatises and typology of mechanical and civil constructions of other hydropower plant cases in Taiwan hence this paper´s main intention is to pitch a concept reconstruction rather than definite conclusion.

Highly weathered soils in the tropics are low in fertility, negatively affecting plant growth. The potential of biochar for improving soil nutrient retention is reportedly promising, triggering this study to assess the nutrient retention capacities of two biochars when applied at 2% in combination with two composts also applied at 2% to an Ultisol (Ustic Kanhaplohumult, Leilehua series) and an Oxisol (Rhodic haplustox, Wahiawa series) of Hawai’i. Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa cv. Bonsai) was used as the test plant in two greenhouse plantings, which had a factorial completely randomized design with three replicates per treatment. The results indicated that the combined additions of biochar and compost significantly increased the pH, EC, P and K of the soils; improved Ca, Mg and Fe uptake; and increased shoot and total cabbage fresh and dry matter. Exchangeable aluminum in the Ultisol was decreased from 2.5 cmol+/kg to virtually zero. Extractable Mn and Fe in the high Mn-Oxisol were decreased by 55 and 42%, respectively. Chinese cabbage growth in the Ultisol amended with the lac tree (Schleichera oleosa) wood biochar and vermicompost was almost twice over lime at 2 cmol+/kg. Essential nutrients in the plant tissues, with the exception of N and K, were sufficient for the cabbage growth, suggesting increases in nutrients and reduced soil acidity by the additions of biochar combined with compost were the probable cause.

Soil hydraulic properties are often derived indirectly, i.e. computed from easily available soil properties with pedotransfer functions (PTFs), when those are needed for catchment, regional or continental scale applications. When predicted soil hydraulic parameters are used for the modelling of the state and flux of water in soils, uncertainty of the computed values can provide more detailed information when drawing conclusions. The aim of this study was to update the previously published European PTFs (Tóth et al., 2015, euptf v1.4.0) by providing prediction uncertainty calculation built into the transfer functions. The new set of algorithms was derived for point predictions of soil water content at saturation (0 cm matric potential head), field capacity (both -100 and -330 cm matric potential head), wilting point (-15.000 cm matric potential head), plant available water, and saturated hydraulic conductivity, as well as the Mualem-van Genuchten model parameters of the moisture retention and hydraulic conductivity curve. The minimum set of input properties for the prediction is soil depth and sand, silt and clay content. The effect of including additional information like soil organic carbon content, bulk density, calcium carbonate content, pH and cation exchange capacity were extensively analysed. The PTFs were derived adopting the random forest method. The advantage of the new PTFs is that they i) provide information about prediction uncertainty, ii) are significantly more accurate than the euptfv1, iii) can be applied for more predictor variable combinations than the euptfv1, 32 instead of 5, and iv) are now also derived for the prediction of water content at -100 cm matric potential head and plant available water content.

This paper discusses the bioethics of intellectual property (IP) and intellectual property rights (IPR) applicable to biotechnology-based IP. It outlines some of the laws that are related to IPR in Zimbabwe and globally. The paper additionally highlights gaps, opportunities and concerns with the laws. Finally, the paper highlights some initiatives already underway in Zimbabwe targeted at promoting entrepreneurship, commercialization and industrialization while proposing strategies that can be used to further promote the generation and granting of biotechnology-related IP and IPR in Zimbabwe.

This review provides an overview of advancements in plant genomics, emphasizing key stages in genomics projects and addressing associated challenges. Long read sequencing enables the cost-effective sequencing of plant DNA and assembly of highly continuous genome sequences - often even separating haplophases. Incorporating external hints, such as cDNA sequences from RNA-seq or full length cDNA sequencing, enhances the identification of gene models. While these steps enable high-throughput exploration of numerous plant genomes, a significant bottleneck lies in elucidating gene functions. The classical approach based on wet lab methods is impractical when dealing with thousands of genes in a new genome sequence. To overcome this challenge, computational tools harnessing existing information for cross species knowledge transfer are essential for expediting the functional annotation process. In support of researchers entering the field of plant genomics, a collection of recommended tools has been curated and is accessible at https://github.com/bpucker/ToolOverview.

Plant geneticists and breeders have used marker technology since the 1980s in quantitative trait locus (QTL) identification. Marker-assisted selection is effective for large-effect QTL but has been challenging to use with quantitative traits controlled by multiple minor effect alleles. Therefore, genomic selection (GS) was proposed to estimate all markers simultaneously, thereby capturing all their effects. However, breeding programs are still struggling to identify the best strategy to implement it into their programs. Traditional breeding programs need to be optimized to implement GS effectively. This review explores the optimization of breeding programs for variety release based on aspects of the breeder’s equation. Optimizations include reorganizing field designs, training populations, increasing the number of lines evaluated, and leveraging the large amount of genomic and phenotypic data collected across different growing seasons and environments to increase heritability estimates, selection intensity, and selection accuracy. Breeding programs can leverage their phenotypic and genotypic data to maximize genetic gain and selection accuracy through GS methods utilizing multi-trait and, multi-environment models, high-throughput phenotyping, and deep learning approaches. Overall, this review describes various methods that plant breeders can utilize to increase genetic gains and effectively implement GS in breeding .

Soil erosion seriously affects vineyards. In this study, the influence of two plant covers on soil moisture and the effect of different physiographic conditions on runoff and sediment yields were evaluated in a rainfed vineyard formed by four fields (NE Spain) during 15 months. One field had spontaneous vegetation as plant cover and three fields had a cover crop of common sainfoin. The vineyards’ rows were dry and stable, whereas the inter-row areas were wet although very variable, and the corridors were wet and very stable. Soil moisture in the inter-row areas with Common sainfoin was much higher than in the rows (62% - 70%) whereas this difference was lower with spontaneous vegetation (40%). Two runoff and sediment traps (STs) were installed in two ephemeral gullies, and 26 time-integrated surveys (TIS) done. The mean and maximum runoff yields were 9.8 and 30.7 l TIS^–1 in ST2 and 13.5 and 30.2 l TIS^–1 in ST3. The mean turbidity was 333 and 19 g l^–1, and the maximum sediment yields were 41,260 and 2,778 g TIS^–1 in ST2 and ST3. Changes in the canopy covers (grapevines and plant covers) and rainfall parameters explained the runoff and sediment dynamics.

The study attempts, above all, to provide a summary, with a strictly scientific basis, about the strategies of conservation of autochthonous agrobiodiversity followed in Italy. A special focus is dedicated on vegetables and, therefore, could represent a contribution to improve the national strategy for the safeguarding of its agrobiodiversity in general. The paper offers also an outlook on the most critical factors of the ex situ conservation and some actions which need to be taken. Some examples of ‘novel’ recovered neglected crops are also given. Finally a case study is proposed: ‘Mugnolicchio’, a neglected race of Brassica oleracea L., cultivated in Altamura (Ba) in southern Italy. ‘Mugnolicchio’ might be considered as an early step in the evolution of broccoli (B. oleracea L. var. italica Plenck) like ‘Mugnoli’ another neglected race described from Salento (Apulia).

During composting process, soils undergo many changes in their physical, chemical and biological properties. Composting has been widely known as an aerobic process during which organic matter is decomposed to humus like substances broken into many organic materials or compounds. The project aims to compare and analyze different combination of composting that yield different properties and nature of soils, and testing their soil physical properties. Dug three compost pits each 1.5 m in depth, labeled compost pit A consisting of potato peels – the only kitchen waste most common around the college hostels, compost pit B consisting of leaf litter and other garden trimmings and compost pit C consisting of cow dung and the other as a controlled experiment with no composting practices.

There are many medicinal plants that have various medicinal properties in their different parts. The medicinal plants are major backbone of pharmaceutical industries. In this article we compare the antioxidants properties from various plants parts (root, stem, leaf, flower and bark) of the most important medicinal plant, Justicia adhatoda L. Various plant parts showed the good amount of antioxidant properties. These results enhance the medicinal properties of this plant due to the presence of good amount of antioxidants; among all the plant parts leaves and flowers showed maximum natural antioxidants, hence the study could be saying that this plant has good efficacy of antioxidants.

In plant cells the conventional route to the vacuole involves the endoplasmic reticulum, the Golgi and the prevacuolar compartment. However, over the years, unconventional sorting to the vacuole, bypassing the Golgi, has been described, which is the case of the Plant Specific Insert (PSI) of the aspartic proteinase cardosin A. Interestingly, this Golgi-bypass ability is not a characteristic shared by all PSIs, since two related PSIs showed to have different sensitivity to ER-to-Golgi blockage. Given the high sequence similarity between the PSIs domains, we sought to depict the differences in terms of post-translational modifications. In fact, one feature that draws our attention is that one is N-glycosylated and the other one is not. Using site-directed mutagenesis to obtain mutated versions of the two PSIs, with and without the glycosylation motif, we observed that altering the glycosylation pattern interferes with the trafficking of the protein as the non-glycosylated PSI-B, unlike its native glycosylated form, is able to bypass ER-to-Golgi blockage and accumulate in the vacuole. This is also true when the PSI domain is analyzed in the context of the full-length cardosin. Regardless of opening exciting research gaps, the results obtained so far need a more comprehensive study of the mechanisms behind this unconventional direct sorting to the vacuole.

Metabolomics is now considered to be a wide-ranging, sensitive and practical approach to acquire useful information on the composition of a metabolite pool present in any organism, including plants. Investigating metabolomic regulation in plants is essential to understand their adaptation, acclimation and defense response to environmental stresses through the production of numerous metabolites. Moreover, metabolomics can be easily applied for the phenotyping of plants; and thus, it has great potential to be used in molecular breeding and genome editing programs to develop superior next generation crops. This review describes the recent analytical tools and techniques available to study plants metabolome, along with their significance of sample preparation using targeted and non-targeted method. Advanced analytical tools, like gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), liquid chromatography mass-spectroscopy (LC-MS), capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry (CE-MS), fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance-mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) have speed up metabolic profiling in plants. Further, we deliver a complete overview of bioinformatics tools and plant metabolome database that can be utilized to advance our knowledge to plant biology.

The stele concept is one of the oldest enduring concepts in plant biology. This paper reviews the concept and its foundations, and builds an argument for an updated view of steles and their evolution. The history of studies of stelar organization has generated a widely ranging array of definitions of the stele that determine the way we classify steles and construct scenarios about the evolution of stelar architecture. Because at the level of the organism biological evolution proceeds by, and is reflected in, changes in development, concepts of structure need to be grounded in development in order to be relevant in an evolutionary perspective. For the stele, most of the traditional definitions that incorporate development have viewed it as the totality of tissues that either originate from procambium – currently the prevailing view – or are bordered by a boundary layer (e.g., endodermis). A definition of the stele that would bring consensus between these perspectives recasts the stele as a structural entity of dual nature. Here, I review briefly the history of the stele concept, basic terminology related to stelar organization, and traditional classifications of the steles. I then revisit boundary layers from the perspective of histogenesis as a dynamic mosaic of developmental domains. I use classic and recent anatomical and molecular data to reaffirm and explore the importance of boundary layers for stelar organization. Drawing on data from comparative anatomy, developmental regulation, and the fossil record, I offer a model for a stele concept that integrates both the boundary layer and the procambial perspective, consistent with a dual nature of the stele. The dual stele model posits that stelar architecture is determined in the apical meristem by two major cell fate specification events: a first one that specifies a provascular domain and its boundaries, and a second event that specifies a procambial domain (which will mature into conducting tissues) from cell subpopulations of the provascular domain. If the position and extent of the developmental domains defined by the two events are determined by different concentrations of the same morphogen (most likely auxin), then the distribution of this organizer factor in the shoot apical meristem, as modulated by changes in axis size and the effect of lateral organs, can explain the different stelar configurations documented among tracheophytes. This model provides a set of working hypotheses that incorporate assumptions and generate implications that can be tested empirically. The model also offers criteria for an updated classification of steles that is in line with current understanding of plant development. In this classification, steles fall into two major categories determined by the configuration of boundary layers – boundary protosteles and boundary siphonosteles, each with subtypes defined by the architecture of the vascular tissues. Validation the dual stele model and, more generally, in-depth understanding of the regulation of stelar architecture, will necessitate targeted efforts in two areas: (i) the regulation of procambium, vascular tissue, and boundary layer specification in all extant vascular plants, considering that most of the diversity in stelar architecture is hosted by seed-free plants, which are the least explored in terms of developmental regulation; (ii) the configuration of vascular tissues and, especially, boundary layers, in as many extinct species and lineages as possible.

Soil above a platinum-group element (PGE)-bearing horizon within the Freetown Layered Intrusion, Sierra Leone contains anomalous concentrations of n-alkanes (CnH2n+2) in the range C14 to C22 not readily attributable to an algal or lacustrine origin. Longer chain n-alkanes (C23 to C31) in the soil were derived from the breakdown of leaf litter beneath the closed canopy humid tropical forest. Spontaneous breakdown of the longer chain n-alkanes to form C14-22 n-alkanes without biogenic or abiogenic catalysts is unlikely as the n-alkanes are stable. In the Freetown soil, the catalytic properties of the PGE (Pt in particular) may lower the temperature at which oxidation of the longer chain n-alkanes can occur. Reaction between these n-alkanes and Pt species such as Pt2+(H2O)2(OH)2 and Pt4+(H2O)2(OH)4 can bend and twist the alkanes, and significantly lower the Heat of Formation. Acknowledging the possibility of microbial catalysis and the difficulty of identifying a direct organic geochemical source of the lighter n-alkanes, this paper explores the theoretical potential for abiogenic Pt species catalysis as a mechanism of breakdown of the longer n-alkanes to form C14-22 alkanes. This novel mechanism could substantiate the presence of the PGE in solution predicted by soil geochemistry and illustrate processes involving the PGE. Graphical Abstract

Biosensors are indispensable tools to follow plant’s immunity as its spatiotemporal dimension is key in withstanding the complex plant immune signaling. The diversity of genetically encoded biosensors in plants is expanding, covering new analytes with ever higher sensitivity and robustness, but their assortment is limited in some aspects, such as their use to follow biotic stress response, employing more than one biosensor in the same chassis and their implementation into crops. In this review, we focused on the available biosensors that encompass these aspects. We show that in vivo imaging of calcium and reactive oxygen species is satisfactorily covered with the available genetically encoded biosensors, while on the other hand they are still underrepresented when it comes to imaging of the main three hormonal players of the immune response, salicylic acid, ethylene and jasmonic acid. Following more than one analyte in the same chassis, upon one or more conditions has so far been possible by using the most advanced genetically encoded biosensors in plants which allow to monitor calcium and two main hormonal pathways involved in plant development, auxin and cytokinin. These kinds of biosensors are also the most evolved in crops. In the last section, we gathered the challenges in the use of the biosensors and showed some strategies to overcome them.

The study was carried out to determine the influence of organic and inorganic fertilizers on maize yield and soil fertility; to determine economically optimum organic and inorganic fertilizer combinations for maize production. The study was performed in a randomized complete block design consisting of 10 treatments and 3 replications. The treatments were: Control, 100% of R-NP (138 N and 92 P), 100% of vermicompost,100% of conventional compost, 25% R-NP +75% of vermicompost, 50% of R-NP + 50% of vermicompost, 75% of R-NP+25% of from vermicompost, 25% of R-NP +75% of conventional compost, 50% of R-NP+50% of conventional-compost, 75% of R-NP +25% of conventional-compost. All rates of vermicompost and conventional compost were applied based on N equivalence. Results indicate that applications of inorganic fertilizers with a combination of organic source fertilizers were increases maize yield and yield components and improves the nutrient status of the soil. The highest maize grain yield (7494.3 kg ha-1) and above-ground biomass yield (18718.0 kg ha-1) were obtained from the applications of 50% recommended NP fertilizer plus 50% vermicompost which is based on the recommended N equivalent respectively. Similarly, we found that a combination of both inorganic and organic fertilizers application also is the best strategy to improve major soil nutrients, maintain soil fertility. The economic analysis revealed that the highest net benefit of (108,872.0 ETB ha-1) was obtained from the application of 50% recommended NP fertilizer plus 50% vermicompost based on the recommended N equivalence. Yet, the lowest yield and net benefit value were attained from the control or unfertilized plot. Therefore, this study suggests that an appropriate proportion of organic fertilizer with inorganic fertilizer not only for higher yield maize production with an assurance of potential economic returns to the small hold farmers but also improve and maintain the soil fertility and should be adopted with similar soil type and agro-ecologies.

The Loess Plateau is an important region for vegetation restoration in China, however, changes in soil organic carbon (SOC), soil nutrients, and stoichiometry after restoration in this vulnerable ecoregion are not well understood. Typical restoration types, including orchardland (OL), grassland (GL), shrubland (SL), and forestland (FL) were chosen to examine changes in the stocks and stoichiometry of SOC, soil total nitrogen (TN), and soil total phosphorus (TP) at different soil depths and recovery times. Results showed that SOC stocks first increased and then stabilized in OL, GL, and SL at 0–30 cm depth, while in FL, stocks gradually increased. Soil TN stocks first increased and then decreased in OL, SL, and FL with vegetation age at 0–30 cm depth, while soil TP stocks showed little variation between restoration types. In the later stages of restoration, the stocks of SOC and soil TN at 0–30 cm soil depth were still lower than those in natural grassland (NG) and natural forest (NF). The overall C:N, C:P, and N:P ratios increased with vegetation age. Additionally, the SOC, soil TN and soil TP stocks, and C:N, C:P, and N:P ratios decreased with soil depth. The FL had the highest rate of change in SOC and soil TN stocks, at 0-10 cm soil depth. These results indicate a complex response of SOC, soil TN, and soil TP stocks and stoichiometry to vegetation restoration, which could have important implications for understanding C, N, and P changes and nutrient limitations after vegetation restoration.

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is a valuable horticultural crop grown and consumed worldwide. Optimum production is hindered by several factors of which Verticillium dahliae, the cause of Verticillium wilt, is one of the major biological constraints in temperate production regions. V. dahliae is difficult to manage because it is a vascular pathogen, has a broad host range and worldwide distribution, and can persist in soil for years. Understanding the pathogen virulence and genetic diversity, host resistance, and plant-pathogen interactions can ultimately inform the development of integrated strategies to manage the disease. In recent years, considerable research has focused on providing new insight into these processes as well as the development and integration of environment-friendly management approaches. In this review, we discuss and summarize the recent findings on the race and population structure of V. dahliae; pathogenicity factors; host genes, proteins, and enzymes involved in defense; the emergent management strategies, and recent approaches to managing Verticillium wilt in tomatoes.

This study used eco-friendly materials known as Periwinkle Shell Powder (PSP) in stabilizing the engineering properties of lateritic soil. Preliminary test was performed on the un-stabilized lateritic soil for the purposes of identification and classification (natural moisture content, liquid limits, plastic limits, and plasticity index). The engineering tests were conducted on the lateritic soil stabilized with additions of (2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 %) PSP and OPC respectively. The result showed that cement gave a progressive increase in the Maximum Dry Density (MDD) of the lateritic soil from 1875 kg/m3 (2 %) to 2294 kg/m3 (10 %) respectively. This represents 22 % increase in the MDD from the un-stabilized state. For PSP, the Maximum MDD was attained at 6 % (1974 kg/m3), representing 5.3 % increase in MDD of the soil from the un-stabilized state. For both stabilizing agent, the Optimum Moisture Content (OMC) increases from 13.65 % to 13.83 % and from 11.72 % to 14.41 % for Cement and Periwinkle Shell Powder respectively. PSP recorded an increase of 5.6 % of CBR value compared with OPC that recorded an increase of 34 % CBR value. The study therefore concluded that Periwinkle Shell Powder (PSP) could be considered as good stabilizer for clayey or lateritic, and its uses as a stabilizer could also provide a big relief to the environmental pollution caused by its indiscriminate dumping.

Changes in land-use have been observed in banana-based systems in the African Great Lakes region affected by Xanthomonas wilt disease (XW) of banana. Through participatory focus group discussions (FGDs) and the 4-cell method, changes in land-use were retrospectively assessed in 13 XW-affected landscapes/villages along a 230 km transect from Masisi (XW arrived in 2001) to Bukavu (XW arrived around 2014) in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo during 2015. The four-cell chart ranked land-use by mapping the area under production and the number of households involved in production. Farmers’ perceptions on the sustainability of new land-uses were also documented. Soil nutrient content and erosion levels were measured for five major land-use options/ trajectories on 147 fields across 55 farms in three landscapes along the transect. From being ranked the most important crop (92% of landscapes i.e. produced on large areas of land and by many households) before XW outbreaks, its importance had declined with most households in 36% of the landscapes growing it on smaller farms while in 64% of cases by few households on smaller pots. Farmers uprooted entire banana mats or fields, expanding land under other crops, mainly beans, taro, sweet potato, cassava, maize, coffee and eucalyptus. Species richness did not change at landscape level, though 21 crops were introduced at farm level. Land-use for banana is however still perceived to be more sustainable due to its multi-functional roles. Soils under banana plots were found in general to be better in their chemical attributes while high erosion levels (Mg ha-1 year-1) were observed under cassava (1.7-148.9) compared with banana (0.3-10.7) and trees (0.3-5.9). The current shift away from banana could thus have profound effects on supply of key services and sustainability of the production systems. This study offers a good basis/entry point for interventions in the XW-affected landscapes.

With the rise of long-read sequencers and long-range technologies, delivering high-quality plant genome assemblies is no longer reserved to large consortia. Indeed, sequencing techniques but also computer algorithms have reached a point where the reconstruction of assemblies at the chromosome-scale is now feasible at the laboratory scale. Current technologies, and especially long-range technologies, are numerous and selecting the most promising one for the genome of interest is crucial to obtain optimal results. In this study, we resequenced the genome of the yellow sarson, Brassica rapa cv. Z1, using the Oxford Nanopore PromethION sequencer and assembled the sequenced data using current assemblers. To reconstruct complete chromosomes, we used and compared three long-range techniques, optical mapping, Omni-C and Pore-C sequencing libraries commercialized by Bionano Genomics, Dovetail Genomics and Oxford Nanopore Technologies respectively, or a combination of the three, in order to evaluate the capability of each technology.

The genus Aphanommata in the Old World is reviewed. Aphanommata kuscheli sp. nov. from São Nicolau and A. strakai sp. nov. from Fogo (both Cape Verde islands) are described. Aphanommata euphorbiarum (Wollaston, 1867) from Santo Antão in the Cape Verde islands is redescribed and its lectotype is designated. All three Aphanommata species from the Cape Verde islands as well as A. filum (Mulsant & Rey, 1859) from Old World are diagnosed, illustrated, and keyed. Mature larva of A. kuscheli sp. nov. is described, larval morphology is discussed and the current state of knowledge about immature stages of Cossoninae is summarized. Vertical and inter-insular distributional pattern of Cape Verde Aphanommata and Pselactus is reviewed and discussed.

Soybean maturity is a trait of critical importance for the development of new soybean cultivars, nevertheless, its characterization based on visual ratings has many challenges. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) imagery-based high-throughput phenotyping methodologies have been proposed as an alternative to the traditional visual ratings of pod senescence. However, the lack of scalable and accurate methods to extract the desired information from the images remains a significant bottleneck in breeding programs. The objective of this study was to develop an image-based high-throughput phenotyping system for evaluating soybean maturity in breeding programs. Images were acquired twice a week, starting when the earlier lines began maturation until the latest ones were mature. Two complementary convolutional neural networks (CNN) were developed to predict the maturity date. The first using a single date and the second using the five best image dates identified by the first model. The proposed CNN architecture was validated using more than 15,000 ground truth observations from five trials, including data from three growing seasons and two countries. The trained model showed good generalization capability with a root mean squared error lower than two days in four out of five trials. Four methods of estimating prediction uncertainty showed potential at identifying different sources of errors in the maturity date predictions. The architecture used solves limitations of previous research and can be used at scale in commercial breeding programs.

In order to follow the Preventive Chemotherapy for the transmission control as recommended by WHO, Gabon initiated in 2014 the mapping of Schistosomiasis and Soil Transmitted Helminthiasis (STH). Here we report the results of the Northern and Eastern health regions, representing a third of the land area and 12% of its total population. All the 9 departments of the two regions were surveyed and from each, 5 schools were examined with 50 schoolchildren per school. The parasitological examinations were realized using the filtration method for urine and the Kato-Katz technique for stool samples. Overall 2245 schoolchildren (1116 girls and 1129 boys), mean aged 11.28 ± 0.04 years, were examined. Combined schistosomiasis and STH affected 1270 (56.6%) with variation between regions, departments and schools. For schistosomiasis, prevalence were 1.7% across the two regions, with no significant difference (p>0.05) between the Northern (1.5%) and the Eastern (1.9%). Schistosomiasis is mainly caused by Schistosoma haematobium with a prevalence of 1.5%, 1.9% and 1.7%, respectively in the North, East and globally. STH are more common than schistosomiasis, with an overall prevalence of 56.1% significantly different between the Northern (58.1%) and Eastern (53.6%) regions (p = 0.034). Trichuris trichiura is the most abundant infection with a prevalence of 43.7% followed by Ascaris lumbricoides 35.6% and hookworms 1.4%. According to these results, an appropriate mass drug administration strategy is given for the control of each neglected tropical disease group surveyed.

The present study provides an observation and documentation on the effect of static magnetic field on the growth of Triticum aestivum. The seeds are allowed to germinate and the seedlings are grown in an environment of the controlled static magnetic field while other physical factors such as temperature, light exposure, soil pH, etc. are held constant. Also, a comparison of influence on the average height between both the poles of the magnet is estimated and north pole oriented magnet is found to imply a significant difference. Finally some of the potential applications of the study in non-invasive protein silencing, GMO production, Vertical farming and Terraforming are briefly discussed.

The Neotropical region is one of the most diverse regions of the globe in terms of macro-organismic species. Regarding the microbial world, however, little is known about the diversity and biogeography patterns of micro-organisms in the Neotropics. In this context, the study of several microbial taxonomic groups is still missing and/or incomplete, such as the protists. Our goal here was to summarize the available information of Neotropical protists, focusing on molecular data from environmental continental samples, to explore what these data evidence on their ecology and biogeography. For this, we reviewed the findings from all articles that focused on or included the terrestrial protists using metabarcoding approach and identified the gaps and future perspectives in this research field. We found that Neotropical protists diversity patterns seem to be, at least in part, congruent with that of macro-organisms and, different than plants and bacteria, just weakly explained by environmental variables. We argue that studies with standardized protocols including different biomes are necessary to fully characterize the ecology and biogeography on Neotropical protists. Furthermore, dismember evolutionary lineages and functional guilds of protists are important to better understand the relationship between diversity, dispersal abilities and functionality of particular taxa of protists in their habitats.

This study explores the effect of seasonality on soil carbon efflux and pasture growth based on field and lysimeter experiments during summer-fall and winter-spring in two years. Focus is also pointed on irrigation strategies to alleviate the crop response to seasonal fluctuations in precipitation and surface temperatures. Soil respiration, soil and air temperature, leaf photosynthesis, plant dry weight and leaf area index were quantified and analyzed. It has been found significant differences in the CO₂ efflux between the two growing season. Emission of soil CO₂ allowed to characterize and to prioritize the temperature and rain influence in seasonal brachiaria response. During the seasons, the transient variation of CO₂ efflux was highly correlated with rainfall (r = 0.87, P < 0.05), and poorly correlated with soil temperatures (r = 0.5, P < 0.05). The CO₂ efflux and plant response to different level of reposition of evapotranspiration demonstrated that irrigation during fall mitigates the reduction of growth conditioned by drying soil and the lower temperatures. The lower temperatures are limiting only when the soil moisture is below 32% of the field capacity. Thus, we propose to keep the soil moisture around 50% during the fall as a key practices for mitigating the effect of seasonality and its intensification with the climate change, even more if added to management routine practices the soil and water conservation.

Segmentation of a region of interest is an important pre-processing step for many colour image analysis techniques. Similarly segmentation of plant in digital images is an important preprocessing step in phenotying plants by image analysis. In this paper we present an analytical study to statistically determine the suitability of colour space representation of an image to best detect plant pixels and separate them from background pixels. Our hypothesis is that the colour space representation in which the separation of the distributions representing plant pixels and background pixels is maximized would be the best for detection of plant pixels. The two classes of pixels are modelled as a Gaussian mixture model (GMM). In our GM modelling we don't make any prior assumption about the number of Gaussians in the model. Rather a constant bandwidth mean-shift filter is used to cluster the data and the number of clusters and hence the number of Gaussians is automatically determined. Here we have analysed following representative colour spaces like $RGB$, $rgb$, $HSV$, $Ycbcr$ and $CIE-Lab$. This is because these colour spaces represent several other similar colour spaces and also an exhaustive study of all the colour space will be too voluminous. We also analyse the colour space feature from the two-class variance ratio perspective and compare the results of our hypothesis with this metric. The dataset for this empirical study consist of 378 digital images of plants and their manual segmentation. Dataset consist of various species of plants (arabidopsi, tobacco, wheat, rye grass etc.) imaged under different lighting conditions, indoor and outdoor, controlled and uncontrolled background. In results we obtain better segmentation of the plants in $HSV$ colour space, which is supported by its Earth mover distance (EMD) on the GMM distribution of plant and background pixels.

The identification of floral visitation by pollinators provides an opportunity to improve our understanding of the fine-scale ecological interactions between plants and pollinators, contributing to biodiversity conservation and promoting ecosystem health. In this review we outline the various methods which can be used to identify floral visitation, providing a comparison between molecular and non-molecular methods. We review the literature covering the ways in which DNA metabarcoding has been used to answer ecological questions relating to plant use by pollinators and discuss the findings of this research. We present detailed methodological considerations for each step of the metabarcoding workflow, from sampling through to amplification and finally bioinformatic analysis. Detailed guidance is provided to researchers for utilization of these techniques, emphasizing the importance of standardization of methods and improving the reliability of results. Future opportunities and directions of using molecular methods to analyze plant-pollinator interactions are then discussed.

In the current scenario of changing climatic conditions and rising global population, there is always a need to explore novel, efficient, and economical natural products for the benefit of human kind. Biosurfactant is one of the latest explored microbial biomolecules that have been used in numerous fields, including agriculture, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food processing, and environment-cleaning industries as raw material, lubrication, wetting, foaming softening, making emulsions, and stabilizing dispersions. The amphiphilic nature of biosurfactant biomolecules showed great advantage, distributing themselves into two immiscible surfaces by reducing interfacial surface tension and increasing the solubility of hydrophobic compounds. Furthermore, their eco-friendly nature, low or even no toxic nature, durability at higher temperatures, and wide range of pH fluctuations making the microbial surfactants preferable compared to their chemical counterparts. Additionally, the biosurfactants can obviate the oxidation flow by eliciting the antioxidant property, antimicrobial, anticancer activity, and drug delivery system, further broadening their applicability in the food, pharmaceutical, and pharma industries. Nowadays, biosurfactant has been broadly utilized to improve the soil quality by improving the concentration of trace elements and mixed with pesticides or applied singly on the plant surfaces for plant disease management. In the present review, we summarise the latest aspect of microbial synthesized biosurfactant compounds, limiting factors of biosurfactant production, and their application in improving soil quality, plant disease management.

Rapid and extensive urbanization has adversely impacted humans and ecological entities in the recent decades through a decrease in surface permeability and the emergence of urban heat islands (UHI). While detailed and continuous assessments of surface permeability and UHI are crucial for urban planning and management of landuse zones, they have mostly involved time consuming and expensive field studies, and single sensor derived large scale aerial and satellite imageries. We demonstrated the advantage of fusing imageries from multiple sensors for landuse and landcover (LULC) change assessments as well as for assessing surface permeability and UHI emergence in Tirunelveli, Tamilnadu, India. Cartosat-2 and Landsat-7 ETM+ imageries from 2007 and 2017 were fused and classified using a Rotation Forest (RF), while surface permeability and temperature were quantified using Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI) and Land Surface Temperature (LST) index, respectively. Fused images exhibited higher classification accuracies than non-fused images, i.e. overall kappa coefficient values 0.83 and 0.75, respectively. We observed an overall increase of 20 km2 (45%) in the coverage of urban (dry, real estate plots and built-up) areas, while a decrease of 27 km2 (37%) for vegetated (cropland and forest) areas in Tirunelveli between 2007 and 2017. The SAVI values indicated an extensive decrease in surface permeability for Tirunelveli overall (0.4) and also for almost all LULC zones. The LST values exhibited an associated overall increase (1.30C) of surface temperature in Tirunelveli with the highest increase (2.40C) for urban built-up areas between 2007 and 2017. The SAVI-LST combined metric depicted the Southeastern built-up areas in Tirunelveli as a potential UHI hotspot, while a caution for the Western riparian zone for UHI emergence in 2017. Our results provide important metrics for surface permeability and UHI monitoring, and inform urban and zonal planning authorities about the advantages of satellite image fusion.

Trigonella foenum is one of the oldest medicinal plants that grow in many parts of Iran with the diverse ecological situation. Employing this plant for treating diabetes and high cholesterol has a long history, because of some metabolites. Due to the habitat of fenugreek is a wide range of climatic conditions, it may have power to cope with climate variation. The main intention of this inquiry was to understand the effect of the environmental variables on this therapeutic plant features. It was also interesting for us to understand which environment variables are more impressive for enhancing of trigonelline and 4-hydroxy isoleucine content as the most important metabolites of this plant. For achieving this goal, environmental information and vegetal data were analyzed to discover the role of nature on the seed part of fenugreek life in 50 different regions of Iran. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) displayed that high content of metabolites and some morphological characteristics happened in high temperature and solar irradiation. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) and path analysis used to find the best predictors and direct and indirect effect of all variables on 4-hydroxy isoleucine and trigonelline. Ecological condition were the best predictors and had the highest direct and indirect impact on 4-hydroxy isoleucine. However, for trigonelline, the environment did not play a senior role. It seems that the reaction of components of fenugreek does not follow the same way. Studying on morphological, primary and secondary metabolites, and surrounding environment of fenugreek, helped us to have a more precise judgment about the life of this plant.

Research shows that in earthquakes the ground response changes in areas where there are underground cavities. Due to the fact that subways and underground tunnels pass from beneath buildings in urban areas, these changes in ground response have a direct impact on the seismic behavior of structures. In this study, first by model validity and reliability of the results, steel structures modeling was conducted and steel structure behavior was evaluated due to Tunnel-Soil-Structure seismic interaction. Parameters studied are number of stories, soil type, tunnel depth, horizontal tunnel-structural distance and dynamic loading. Considering that one of the most important parameters of structural control is drift and story displacement, so this important factor will be considered. The results show that tunneling has a direct effect on the rate of structural displacement and increases the structural response. Also, the behavior of the structure is affected by the position of the structure at the ground level and the position of the tunnel and this should be considered during the design phase of the structures.

The breeding of stress-tolerant cultivated plants that would allow for a reduction in harvest losses and undesirable decrease in quality attributes requires a new quality of knowledge on molecular markers associated with relevant agronomic traits, on quantitative metabolic responses of plants on stress challenges, and on the mechanisms controlling the biosynthesis of these molecules. By combining metabolomics with genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics datasets a more comprehensive knowledge of the composition of crop plants used for food or animal feed is possible. In order to optimize crop trait developments, to enhance crop yields and quality, as well as to guarantee nutritional and health factors, that provides the possibility to create functional food or feedstuffs, the knowledge about the plants’ metabolome is crucial. Next to classical metabolomics studies, this review focusses on several metabolomics based working techniques, such as sensomics, lipidomics, hormonomics and phytometabolomics, which were used to characterize metabolome alterations during abiotic and biotic stress, to find resistant food crops with a preferred quality or at least to produce functional food crops are highlighted.