Research Publications (Food Safety)

The application of nanoparticles (NPs) has been proved as an efficient and promising technique for mitigating a wide range of stressors in plants. The present study elucidates the synergistic effect of iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) and silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs) in the attenuation of Cd toxicity in Phaseolus vulgaris. Seeds of P. vulgaris were treated with IONPs (10 mg/L) and SiNPs (20 mg/L). Seedlings of uniform size were transplanted to pots for 40 days.

Arsenic (As) contamination in agricultural soils has become a great threat to the sustainable development of agriculture and food safety. Although a lot of approaches have been proposed for dealing with soil As contamination, they are not practical in crop production due to high cost, time-taking, or operational complexity. The rapid development of nanotechnology appears to provide a novel solution to soil As contamination.

Cadmium (Cd) is a major environmental contaminant due to its widespread industrial use. Cd contamination of soil and water is rather classical but has emerged as a recent problem. Cd toxicity causes a range of damages to plants ranging from germination to yield suppression. Plant physiological functions, i.e., water interactions, essential mineral uptake, and photosynthesis, are also harmed by Cd.

At present, the alleviation of stress caused by climate change and environmental contaminants is a crucial issue. Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) is a persistent organic pollutant (POP) and an organochlorine, which causes significant health problems in humans. The stress caused by cadmium (Cd) and the toxicity of DDT have direct effects on the growth and yield of crop plants.

The common ice plant, Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L., has recently been found as a good candidate for phytoremediation of heavy-metal polluted soils. This semi-halophyte is a C3/CAM (Crassulacean acid metabolism) intermediate plant capable of tolerating extreme levels of cadmium in the soil. The aim of the work was to obtain and characterize novel, Cd-tolerant microbial strains that populate the root zone of M.

The utilization of nanoparticles to potentially reduce toxicity from metals/metalloids in plants has increased in recent years, which can help them to achieve tolerance under the stressful conditions.

Vetiver grass (Chrysopogon zizanioides L.) has been used to remediate cadmium (Cd)-contaminated soil, while there have been few studies on the influence of Cd exposure on the rhizospheric microbial community and transcriptional expression of C. zizanioides. In this study, we investigated the response of the rhizospheric microbial community and transcriptional expression of C. zizanioides in 20 mg/kg Cd-contaminated soil. The results showed that Cd levels in the roots and shoots of C.

The rice–wheat cropping system (RWCS) is the backbone of Indian farming, especially in the north-western region. But continuous adoption of the RWCS in northwest India has resulted in major challenges and stagnation in the productivity of this system. Additionally, the Indo-Gangetic Plains of Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh are also facing similar challenges for sustainable production of the RWCS.

It has been established that wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) has a higher Cd absorption capacity than other cereal crops causing an excess daily Cd intake and a huge threat for public health. Therefore, the reduction of Cd accumulation in wheat from the soil is a crucial food-security issue.

Xyloglucan is a quantitatively major polysaccharide in the primary cell walls of flowering plants and has been reported to affect plants’ ability to tolerate toxic elements. However, it is not known if altering the amounts of xyloglucan in the wall influences the uptake and translocation of inorganic arsenic (As). Here, we identified two Nicotiana tabacum genes that encode xyloglucan-specific xylosyltransferases (XXT), which we named NtXXT1 and NtXXT2.

Plant exposure to metals is associated with the accumulation of reactive oxygen species, which mediate the oxidation of various molecules including lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. The aim of the present study is the evaluation of the impact of short-term Cu and Pb treatment on oxidative events in the roots of soybean seedlings, with special emphasis on RNA oxidation.

Heavy metals are an increasing problem due to contamination from human sources that and can enter the food chain by being taken up by plants. Understanding the genetic basis of accumulation and tolerance in plants is important for reducing the uptake of toxic metals in crops and crop relatives, as well as for removing heavy metals from soils by means of phytoremediation.

Cadmium (Cd) contamination of croplands jeopardizes sustainable crop production and human health. However, curtailing Cd transfer and mobility in the rhizosphere-plant system is challenging. Sole application of biochar (BC) and thiourea (TU) has been reported to restrain Cd toxicity and uptake in plants. However, the combined applications of BC and TU in mitigating the harmful effects of Cd on plants have not yet been thoroughly investigated.

Cadmium (Cd) accumulation in agricultural soils constitutes a serious problem for crop yields and food safety. It is known that proline (Pro) can rapidly accumulate in plant tissues in response to abiotic stress.

To date, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, have been widely used in precision agriculture (PA) for crop monitoring and crop spraying, allowing farmers to increase the efficiency of the farming process, meanwhile reducing environmental impact. However, to spray pesticides effectively and safely to the trees in small fields or rugged environments, such as mountain areas, is still an open question.

Grafting typically offers a shortcut to breed tree orchards throughout a multidimensional space of traits. Despite an overwhelming spectrum of rootstock-mediated effects on scion traits observed across several species, the exact nature and mechanisms underlying the rootstock-mediated effects on scion traits in cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) plants often remain overlooked.

Cadmium (Cd) is a heavy metal that can cause a variety of adverse effects on human health, including cancer. Wheat comprises approximately 20% of the human diet worldwide; therefore, reducing the concentrations of Cd in wheat grain will have significant impacts on the intake of Cd in food products. The tests for measuring the Cd content in grain are costly, and the content is affected significantly by soil pH.

To assess root metabolic differences of maize varieties in their response to lead (Pb) stress, the lead-tolerant variety Huidan No. 4 and the lead-sensitive variety Ludan No. 8 were tested under Pb-free and Pb-stressed conditions. Changes in metabolites were measured using ultra-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry.

In all organisms, splicing occurs through the formation of spliceosome complexes, and splicing auxiliary factors are essential during splicing. U2AF65 is a crucial splicing cofactor, and the two typical RNA-recognition motifs at its center recognize and bind the polypyrimidine sequence located between the intron branch site and the 3′-splice site.

Genus Ocimum of Labiatae is well known in all traditional medicinal systems like Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy. The pharmaceutical activities of different species of Ocimum attributed to all plant parts. Roots are the most significant vital organ of the plant, as they absorb water and nutrients from soil and transport to aerial parts of the plants.

Rice remains a major staple food source for the rapidly growing world population. However, regular occurrences of carcinogenic arsenic (As) minerals in waterlogged paddy topsoil pose a great threat to rice production and consumers across the globe. Although As contamination in rice has been well recognized over the past two decades, no suitable rice germplasm had been identified to exploit in adaptive breeding programs.

The importance of phosphorus in the regulation of plant growth function is well studied. However, the role of the inorganic phosphate (Pi) molecule in the mitigation of abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, heavy metal, heat, and acid stresses are poorly understood. We revisited peer-reviewed articles on plant growth characteristics that are phosphorus (P)-dependently regulated under the sufficient-P and low/no-P starvation alone or either combined with one of the mentioned stress.

Plant diseases are important issues in agriculture, and the development of effective and environment-friendly means of disease control is crucial and highly desired. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are known as potential alternatives to chemical pesticides because of their potent broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity and because they have no risk, or have only a low risk, of developing chemical-resistant pathogens.

Medicinal plants have a variety of values and are an important source of new drugs and their lead compounds. They have played an important role in the treatment of cancer, AIDS, COVID-19 and other major and unconquered diseases. However, there are problems such as uneven quality and adulteration. Therefore, it is of great significance to find comprehensive, efficient and modern technology for its identification and evaluation to ensure quality and efficacy.

The antioxidant glutathione (GSH) mitigates adverse physio-metabolic effects and defends against abiotic types of stress, such as cadmium (Cd) stress. However, its function and role in resisting Cd phytotoxicity by leveraging plant antioxidant-scavenging, redox-regulating, and hormone-balancing systems have not been comprehensively and systematically demonstrated in the Cd-hyperaccumulating plant Brassica napus L. cv. Tammi (oilseed rape).