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High-throughput sequencing technologies (HSTs) have revolutionized crop breeding. The advent of these technologies has enabled the identification of beneficial quantitative trait loci (QTL), genes, and alleles for crop improvement. Climate change have made a significant effect on the global maize yield. To date, the well-known omic approaches such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics are being incorporated in maize breeding studies. These approaches have identified novel biological markers that are being utilized for maize improvement against various abiotic stresses. This review discusses the current information on the morpho-physiological and molecular mechanism of abiotic stress tolerance in maize. The utilization of omics approaches to improve abiotic stress tolerance in maize is highlighted. As compared to single approach, the integration of multi-omics offers a great potential in addressing the challenges of abiotic stresses of maize productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elevated carbon dioxide (EC) can increase the growth and development of different C3 fruit crops, which may further increase the nutrient demand by the accumulated biomass. In this context, the current investigation was conceptualized to evaluate the growth performance and nutrient uptake by tomato plants under elevated CO2 (EC700 and EC550 ppm) and temperature (+2 °C) in comparison to ambient conditions. Significant improvement in the growth indicating parameters like leaf area, leaf area index, leaf area duration and crop growth rate were measured at EC700 and EC550 at different stages of crop growth. Further, broader and thicker leaves of plants under EC700 and EC550 have intercepted higher radiation by almost 11% more than open field plants. Conversely, elevated temperature (+2 °C) had negative influence on crop growth and intercepted almost 7% lower radiation over plants under ambient conditions. Interestingly, earliness of phenophases viz., branch initiation (3.0 days), flower initiation (4.14 days), fruit initiation (4.07 days) and fruit maturation (7.60 days) were observed at EC700 + 2 °C, but it was statistically on par with EC700 and EC550 + 2 °C. Irrespective of the plant parts and growth stages, plants under EC700 and EC550 have showed significantly higher nutrient uptake due to higher root biomass. At EC700, the tune of increase in total nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium uptake was almost 134%, 126% and 135%, respectively compared to open field crop. This indicates higher nutrient demand by the crop under elevated CO2 levels because of higher dry matter accumulation and radiation interception. Thus, nutrient application is needed to be monitored at different growth stages as per the crop needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food borne pathogens cause serious human illnesses and diseases and their control using natural bioactive compounds becomes essential for the progress of agricultural and food industries. Developing novel tools to enhance the medicinal values of traditional horticultural medicinal crops is one of the promising methods for achieving food borne pathogens control. In this study, oligosaccharide water solutions were applied to Heuchera Creme Brulee and Mahogany subjected to a normal irrigation interval (2 days) or to prolonged irrigation intervals (6 days) for 6 weeks. Plant morphological, physiological, and metabolic markers associated with the bioactivity of leaf extracts against selected microbes. Oligosaccharide-treated plants showed significant increases in all morphological parameters during normal and prolonged irrigation intervals as compared to those of the controls. Morphological improvement associated with a significant increase in chlorophyll, carbohydrates, proline, K, Ca, phenols, and free and total ascorbate and antioxidants. Superoxide dismutase, catalase, and ascorbate peroxidase activities were higher, while H2O2 accumulated to a lower extent in oligosaccharide-treated plants. These morphological and metabolic changes associated with increased antibacterial and antifungal activities of leaf extracts and their activities were comparable to antibiotics and antifungal agents (minimum inhibitory concentrations values were 0.5 -0.20 mg−1mL for bacteria and 0.08 -0.20 mg−1mL for fungi in Mahogany). The application of oligosaccharide and/or water stress might be of great value for producing natural bioactive compounds for food borne pathogens control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water resources are subjected to ever-increasing supply constraints due to extensive agricultural water demand for irrigated lands. Therefore, water-saving irrigation strategies need to be explored. The present study was conducted to explore the possibilities of using regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) and partial root zone drying irrigation (PRD) methods as water-saving irrigation techniques for subsurface irrigation. The objective of this study are to assess the effects of RDI and PRD irrigation on the water productivity of vegetable crops (tomato) under SSD systems in arid climatic conditions, and to compare the responses of tomato crops to PRD, RDI, and FI under an SSD system in terms of productivity, crop quality, and the amount of water saved. The field experiment was conducted during the fall 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 seasons in an experimental field located on an educational farm owned by the Faculty of Food and Agriculture Sciences Department, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. An area of 102.7 m2 (13 m × 7.9 m) was allocated for the experiment to manage three treatments: RDI, PRD, and full irrigation (FI). The RDI and PRD treatments received 70% of the irrigation water volume of FI. Each was replicated three times. The most important results indicated that the soil water content (SWC) for the RDI and PRD treatments was lower than that of the FI treatments. FI had the highest stomatal conductance values (gs), while PRD had the lowest stomatal conductance values. The photosynthetic rate (An) was lower under RDI and PRD compared to FI. However, there was no significant change in An between treatments for most readings taken during both time periods, which means that the water saving treatments (PRD and RDI) did not affect the net photosynthesis rate, thereby enhancing irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) under DI treatments. The water-saving irrigation techniques decreased transpiration rate (T) compared to the FI treatment. The values of the abscisic acid (ABA) contents were higher under PRD and RDI than FI. The marketable yield under the FI treatment yielded the highest values. The fruit quality parameter results showed that the RDI and PRD treatments increased the total soluble solids, vitamin C, and titratable acidity of tomato compared to the FI treatment. Most of the minimum IWUE values were associated with FI. These results indicate the effects of deficit levels on IWUE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Periodic drought is a major challenge in drought-prone areas of South Asia. A sample survey of farmers (n = 400) from South Asia was conducted to study the farmers' perception about drought impacts on their socio-economic status, agro-biodiversity, and adaptation besides public institutions' drought mitigation measures. The results revealed reduced surface and groundwater availability, soil degradation, partial or complete crop failure, increased agricultural fallows and wastelands, biodiversity loss, decrease in agricultural yields, pasture lands, and livestock in drought-impacted South Asia. About 16–26% of the farmers perceived a reduction in the agricultural area and production of commercial crops and millets in drought-prone areas, while changes in the cropping of pulses, oilseeds, horticultural, and fodder crops were minimal. About 57–92% of respondents showed a reduction in the consumption of fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and fish. Unemployment, migration, reduced farm income, and malnutrition were major socio-economic impacts among respondents (38–46%). Despite sufficient public support as a mitigation strategy, the farmers had poor participation (8–65%) for agri-information and adaptation (7–36%) against drought impacts. Hence, researchers, extension agents, and policymakers must develop efficient 'participatory-mode' drought adaptation and mitigation policies in watershed-based semi-arid pastoral and agricultural regions of South Asia and similar agro-ecologies across the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Targeted profiling of polyphenols in trees may reveal valuable sources of natural compounds with major applications in pharmacology and disease control. The current study targeted the profiling of polyphenols using HPLC-DAD in Quercus robur, Q. macrocarpa and Q. acutissima bark extracts. Free radical scavenging of each extract was investigated using antioxidant assays. Antimicrobial activities against a wide spectrum of bacteria and fungi were explored, as well as anticancer activities against different cancer cell lines. The HPLC-DAD analyses revealed the availability of several polyphenols in high amounts, including ellagic acid (in Q. robur) and caffeic acid (in Q. macrocarpa) in all three species. The bioactivity assay revealed high antioxidant activity in Q. robur compared to that of the other species, as well as phenolic standards. The three oak bark extracts showed clear antibacterial activities against most bacteria tested, with the highest antibacterial activities in the extracts of Q. robur. In addition, the three extracts showed higher antibacterial activities against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Micrococcus flavus, and Escherichia coli compared to that of other bacteria. There were strong antifungal activities against some fungi, such as Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium funiculosum, and Penicillium ochrochloron. There were also noticeable anticancer activities against MCF-7, HeLa, Jurkat, and HT-29 cell lines, with the highest anticancer activity in the extracts of Q. robur. This is the first study that reveals not only novel sources of important polyphenols (e.g., ellagic acid) in Q. robur, Q. macrocarpa and Q. acutissima bark but also their anticancer activities against diverse cancer cell lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Targeted profiling of polyphenols in trees may reveal valuable sources of natural compounds with major applications in pharmacology and disease control. The current study targeted the profiling of polyphenols using HPLC-DAD in Quercus robur , Q. macrocarpa and Q. acutissima bark extracts. Free radical scavenging of each extract was investigated using antioxidant assays. Antimicrobial activities against a wide spectrum of bacteria and fungi were explored, as well as anticancer activities against different cancer cell lines. The HPLC-DAD analyses revealed the availability of several polyphenols in high amounts, including ellagic acid (in Q. robur ) and caffeic acid (in Q. macrocarpa ) in all three species. The bioactivity assay revealed high antioxidant activity in Q. robur compared to that of the other species, as well as phenolic standards. The three oak bark extracts showed clear antibacterial activities against most bacteria tested, with the highest antibacterial activities in the extracts of Q. robur . In addition, the three extracts showed higher antibacterial activities against Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Micrococcus flavus , and Escherichia coli compared to that of other bacteria. There were strong antifungal activities against some fungi, such as Aspergillus flavus , Penicillium funiculosum , and Penicillium ochrochloron . There were also noticeable anticancer activities against MCF-7, HeLa, Jurkat, and HT-29 cell lines, with the highest anticancer activity in the extracts of Q. robur . This is the first study that reveals not only novel sources of important polyphenols (e.g. ellagic acid) in Q . robur , Q. macrocarpa and Q. acutissima bark but also their anticancer activities against diverse cancer cell lines., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest