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Trichoderma: The Current Status of Its Application in Agriculture for the Biocontrol of Fungal Phytopathogens and Stimulation of Plant Growth.
Tyśkiewicz, R, Nowak, A, Ozimek, E, Jaroszuk-Ściseł, J
International journal of molecular sciences. 2022;(4)
Abstract
Rhizosphere filamentous fungi of the genus Trichoderma, a dominant component of various soil ecosystem mycobiomes, are characterized by the ability to colonize plant roots. Detailed knowledge of the properties of Trichoderma, including metabolic activity and the type of interaction with plants and other microorganisms, can ensure its effective use in agriculture. The growing interest in the application of Trichoderma results from their direct and indirect biocontrol potential against a wide range of soil phytopathogens. They act through various complex mechanisms, such as mycoparasitism, the degradation of pathogen cell walls, competition for nutrients and space, and induction of plant resistance. With the constant exposure of plants to a variety of pathogens, especially filamentous fungi, and the increased resistance of pathogens to chemical pesticides, the main challenge is to develop biological protection alternatives. Among non-pathogenic microorganisms, Trichoderma seems to be the best candidate for use in green technologies due to its wide biofertilization and biostimulatory potential. Most of the species from the genus Trichoderma belong to the plant growth-promoting fungi that produce phytohormones and the 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase enzyme. In the present review, the current status of Trichoderma is gathered, which is especially relevant in plant growth stimulation and the biocontrol of fungal phytopathogens.
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From Green Super Rice to green agriculture: Reaping the promise of functional genomics research.
Yu, S, Ali, J, Zhou, S, Ren, G, Xie, H, Xu, J, Yu, X, Zhou, F, Peng, S, Ma, L, et al
Molecular plant. 2022;(1):9-26
Abstract
Producing sufficient food with finite resources to feed the growing global population while having a smaller impact on the environment has always been a great challenge. Here, we review the concept and practices of Green Super Rice (GSR) that have led to a paradigm shift in goals for crop genetic improvement and models of food production for promoting sustainable agriculture. The momentous achievements and global deliveries of GSR have been fueled by the integration of abundant genetic resources, functional gene discoveries, and innovative breeding techniques with precise gene and whole-genome selection and efficient agronomic management to promote resource-saving, environmentally friendly crop production systems. We also provide perspectives on new horizons in genomic breeding technologies geared toward delivering green and nutritious crop varieties to further enhance the development of green agriculture and better nourish the world population.
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Synthesis, classification and properties of hydrogels: their applications in drug delivery and agriculture.
Khan, F, Atif, M, Haseen, M, Kamal, S, Khan, MS, Shahid, S, Nami, SAA
Journal of materials chemistry. B. 2022;(2):170-203
Abstract
Absorbent polymers or hydrogel polymer materials have an enhanced water retention capacity and are widely used in agriculture and medicine. The controlled release of bioactive molecules (especially drug proteins) by hydrogels and the encapsulation of living cells are some of the active areas of drug discovery research. Hydrogel-based delivery systems may result in a therapeutically advantageous outcome for drug delivery. They can provide various sequential therapeutic agents including macromolecular drugs, small molecule drugs, and cells to control the release of molecules. Due to their controllable degradability, ability to protect unstable drugs from degradation and flexible physical properties, hydrogels can be used as a platform in which various chemical and physical interactions with encapsulated drugs for controlled release in the system can be studied. Practically, hydrogels that possess biodegradable properties have aroused greater interest in drug delivery systems. The original three-dimensional structure gets broken down into non-toxic substances, thus confirming the excellent biocompatibility of the gel. Chemical crosslinking is a resource-rich method for forming hydrogels with excellent mechanical strength. But in some cases the crosslinker used in the synthesis of the hydrogels may cause some toxicity. However, the physically cross-linked hydrogel preparative method is an alternative solution to overcome the toxicity of cross-linkers. Hydrogels that are responsive to stimuli formed from various natural and synthetic polymers can show significant changes in their properties under external stimuli such as temperature, pH, light, ion changes, and redox potential. Stimulus-responsive hydrogels have a wider range of applications in biomedicine including drug delivery, gene delivery and tissue regeneration. Stimulus-responsive hydrogels loaded with multiple drugs show controlled and sustained drug release and can act as drug carriers. By integrating stimulus-responsive hydrogels, such as those with improved thermal responsiveness, pH responsiveness and dual responsiveness, into textile materials, advanced functions can be imparted to the textile materials, thereby improving the moisture and water retention performance, environmental responsiveness, aesthetic appeal, display and comfort of textiles. This review explores the stimuli-responsive hydrogels in drug delivery systems and examines super adsorbent hydrogels and their application in the field of agriculture.
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Tackling G × E × M interactions to close on-farm yield-gaps: creating novel pathways for crop improvement by predicting contributions of genetics and management to crop productivity.
Cooper, M, Voss-Fels, KP, Messina, CD, Tang, T, Hammer, GL
TAG. Theoretical and applied genetics. Theoretische und angewandte Genetik. 2021;(6):1625-1644
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Abstract
Climate change and Genotype-by-Environment-by-Management interactions together challenge our strategies for crop improvement. Research to advance prediction methods for breeding and agronomy is opening new opportunities to tackle these challenges and overcome on-farm crop productivity yield-gaps through design of responsive crop improvement strategies. Genotype-by-Environment-by-Management (G × E × M) interactions underpin many aspects of crop productivity. An important question for crop improvement is "How can breeders and agronomists effectively explore the diverse opportunities within the high dimensionality of the complex G × E × M factorial to achieve sustainable improvements in crop productivity?" Whenever G × E × M interactions make important contributions to attainment of crop productivity, we should consider how to design crop improvement strategies that can explore the potential space of G × E × M possibilities, reveal the interesting Genotype-Management (G-M) technology opportunities for the Target Population of Environments (TPE), and enable the practical exploitation of the associated improved levels of crop productivity under on-farm conditions. Climate change adds additional layers of complexity and uncertainty to this challenge, by introducing directional changes in the environmental dimension of the G × E × M factorial. These directional changes have the potential to create further conditional changes in the contributions of the genetic and management dimensions to future crop productivity. Therefore, in the presence of G × E × M interactions and climate change, the challenge for both breeders and agronomists is to co-design new G-M technologies for a non-stationary TPE. Understanding these conditional changes in crop productivity through the relevant sciences for each dimension, Genotype, Environment, and Management, creates opportunities to predict novel G-M technology combinations suitable to achieve sustainable crop productivity and global food security targets for the likely climate change scenarios. Here we consider critical foundations required for any prediction framework that aims to move us from the current unprepared state of describing G × E × M outcomes to a future responsive state equipped to predict the crop productivity consequences of G-M technology combinations for the range of environmental conditions expected for a complex, non-stationary TPE under the influences of climate change.
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Identifying sources of metabolomic diversity and reconfiguration in peach fruit: taking notes for quality fruit improvement.
Drincovich, MF
FEBS open bio. 2021;(12):3211-3217
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Abstract
The metabolomic content determines many of the important features of a fruit, such as its taste, flavor, color, nutritional value, and abiotic or biotic resistance. Peach (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch) is one of the best genetically characterized species used as a model for Rosaceae, the drupes of which are a source of minerals, vitamins, fiber, and antioxidant compounds for healthy diets around the world. During the last few years, a great advance in the analysis of the metabolic diversity and reconfiguration in different peach varieties in response to developmental and environmental factors has occurred. These studies have shown that the great phenotypic diversity among different peach varieties is correlated with differential metabolomic content. Besides, the fruit metabolome of each peach variety is not static; on the contrary, it is drastically configured in response to both developmental and environmental signals, and moreover, it was found that these metabolic reconfigurations are also variety dependent. In the present review, the main sources of metabolic diversity and conditions that induce modifications in the peach fruit metabolome are summarized. It is postulated that comparison of the metabolic reconfigurations that take place among the fruits from different varieties may help us better understand peach fruit metabolism and their key drivers, which in turn may aid in the future design of high-quality peach fruits.
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Plant Secondary Metabolites: An Opportunity for Circular Economy.
Chiocchio, I, Mandrone, M, Tomasi, P, Marincich, L, Poli, F
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland). 2021;(2)
Abstract
Moving toward a more sustainable development, a pivotal role is played by circular economy and a smarter waste management. Industrial wastes from plants offer a wide spectrum of possibilities for their valorization, still being enriched in high added-value molecules, such as secondary metabolites (SMs). The current review provides an overview of the most common SM classes (chemical structures, classification, biological activities) present in different plant waste/by-products and their potential use in various fields. A bibliographic survey was carried out, taking into account 99 research articles (from 2006 to 2020), summarizing all the information about waste type, its plant source, industrial sector of provenience, contained SMs, reported bioactivities, and proposals for its valorization. This survey highlighted that a great deal of the current publications are focused on the exploitation of plant wastes in human healthcare and food (including cosmetic, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and food additives). However, as summarized in this review, plant SMs also possess an enormous potential for further uses. Accordingly, an increasing number of investigations on neglected plant matrices and their use in areas such as veterinary science or agriculture are expected, considering also the need to implement "greener" practices in the latter sector.
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Application of Light-Emitting Diodes for Improving the Nutritional Quality and Bioactive Compound Levels of Some Crops and Medicinal Plants.
Jung, WS, Chung, IM, Hwang, MH, Kim, SH, Yu, CY, Ghimire, BK
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland). 2021;(5)
Abstract
Light is a key factor that affects phytochemical synthesis and accumulation in plants. Due to limitations of the environment or cultivated land, there is an urgent need to develop indoor cultivation systems to obtain higher yields with increased phytochemical concentrations using convenient light sources. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have several advantages, including consumption of lesser power, longer half-life, higher efficacy, and wider variation in the spectral wavelength than traditional light sources; therefore, these devices are preferred for in vitro culture and indoor plant growth. Moreover, LED irradiation of seedlings enhances plant biomass, nutrient and secondary metabolite levels, and antioxidant properties. Specifically, red and blue LED irradiation exerts strong effects on photosynthesis, stomatal functioning, phototropism, photomorphogenesis, and photosynthetic pigment levels. Additionally, ex vitro plantlet development and acclimatization can be enhanced by regulating the spectral properties of LEDs. Applying an appropriate LED spectral wavelength significantly increases antioxidant enzyme activity in plants, thereby enhancing the cell defense system and providing protection from oxidative damage. Since different plant species respond differently to lighting in the cultivation environment, it is necessary to evaluate specific wavebands before large-scale LED application for controlled in vitro plant growth. This review focuses on the most recent advances and applications of LEDs for in vitro culture organogenesis. The mechanisms underlying the production of different phytochemicals, including phenolics, flavonoids, carotenoids, anthocyanins, and antioxidant enzymes, have also been discussed.
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Nitrogen fixation in maize: breeding opportunities.
Sheoran, S, Kumar, S, Kumar, P, Meena, RS, Rakshit, S
TAG. Theoretical and applied genetics. Theoretische und angewandte Genetik. 2021;(5):1263-1280
Abstract
Maize (Zea mays L.) is a highly versatile crop with huge demand of nitrogen (N) for its growth and development. N is the most essential macronutrient for crop production. Despite being the highest abundant element in the atmosphere (~ 78%), it is scarcely available for plant growth. To fulfil the N demand, commercial agriculture is largely dependent on synthetic fertilizers. Excessive dependence on inorganic fertilizers has created extensive ecological as well as economic problems worldwide. Hence, for a sustainable solution to nitrogenous fertilizer use, development of biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) in cereals will be the best alternative. BNF is a well-known mechanism in legumes where diazotrophs convert atmospheric nitrogen (N≡N) to plant-available form, ammonium (NH4+). From many decades, researchers have dreamt to develop a similar symbiotic partnership as in legumes to the cereal crops. A large number of endophytic diazotrophs have been found associated with maize. Elucidation of the genetic and molecular aspects of their interaction will open up new avenues to introgress BNF in maize breeding. With the advanced understanding of N-fixation process, researchers are at a juncture of breeding and engineering this symbiotic relationships in cereals. Different breeding, genetic engineering, omics, gene editing, and synthetic biology approaches will be discussed in this review to make BNF a reality in cereals. It will help to provide a road map to develop/improve the BNF in maize to an advance step for the sustainable production system to achieve the food and nutritional security.
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Evolution and Application of Genome Editing Techniques for Achieving Food and Nutritional Security.
Fiaz, S, Ahmar, S, Saeed, S, Riaz, A, Mora-Poblete, F, Jung, KH
International journal of molecular sciences. 2021;(11)
Abstract
A world with zero hunger is possible only through a sustainable increase in food production and distribution and the elimination of poverty. Scientific, logistical, and humanitarian approaches must be employed simultaneously to ensure food security, starting with farmers and breeders and extending to policy makers and governments. The current agricultural production system is facing the challenge of sustainably increasing grain quality and yield and enhancing resistance to biotic and abiotic stress under the intensifying pressure of climate change. Under present circumstances, conventional breeding techniques are not sufficient. Innovation in plant breeding is critical in managing agricultural challenges and achieving sustainable crop production. Novel plant breeding techniques, involving a series of developments from genome editing techniques to speed breeding and the integration of omics technology, offer relevant, versatile, cost-effective, and less time-consuming ways of achieving precision in plant breeding. Opportunities to edit agriculturally significant genes now exist as a result of new genome editing techniques. These range from random (physical and chemical mutagens) to non-random meganucleases (MegaN), zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/associated protein system 9 (CRISPR/Cas9), the CRISPR system from Prevotella and Francisella1 (Cpf1), base editing (BE), and prime editing (PE). Genome editing techniques that promote crop improvement through hybrid seed production, induced apomixis, and resistance to biotic and abiotic stress are prioritized when selecting for genetic gain in a restricted timeframe. The novel CRISPR-associated protein system 9 variants, namely BE and PE, can generate transgene-free plants with more frequency and are therefore being used for knocking out of genes of interest. We provide a comprehensive review of the evolution of genome editing technologies, especially the application of the third-generation genome editing technologies to achieve various plant breeding objectives within the regulatory regimes adopted by various countries. Future development and the optimization of forward and reverse genetics to achieve food security are evaluated.
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Systems-based rice improvement approaches for sustainable food and nutritional security.
Verma, V, Vishal, B, Kohli, A, Kumar, PP
Plant cell reports. 2021;(11):2021-2036
Abstract
An integrated research approach to ensure sustainable rice yield increase of a crop grown by 25% of the world's farmers in 10% of cropland is essential for global food security. Rice, being a global staple crop, feeds about 56% of the world population and sustains 40% of the world's poor. At ~ $200 billion, it also accounts for 13% of the annual crop value. With hunger and malnutrition rampant among the poor, rice research for development is unique in global food and nutrition security. A systems-based, sustainable increase in rice quantity and quality is imperative for environmental and biodiversity benefits. Upstream 'discovery' through biotechnology, midstream 'development' through breeding and agronomy, downstream 'dissemination and deployment' must be 'demand-driven' for 'distinct socio-economic transformational impacts'. Local agro-ecology and livelihood nexus must drive the research agenda for targeted benefits. This necessitates sustained long-term investments by government, non-government and private sectors to secure the future food, nutrition, environment, prosperity and equity status.