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Simple Summary: This review comprehensively analyzes the molecular mechanism of Suaeda species under salt stress from aspects of physiology, biochemistry, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, providing a theoretical basis for understanding the salt tolerance of Suaeda. The unique genetic and physiological characteristics of Suaeda support their high potential for utilization as promising biological resources to improve agriculture under saline conditions. Plant growth and development are inevitably affected by various environmental factors. High salinity is the main factor leading to the reduction of cultivated land area, which seriously affects the growth and yield of plants. The genus Suaeda is a kind of euhalophyte herb, with seedlings that grow rapidly in moderately saline environments and can even survive in conditions of extreme salinity. Its fresh branches can be used as vegetables and the seed oil is rich in unsaturated fatty acids, which has important economic value and usually grows in a saline environment. This paper reviews the progress of research in recent years into the salt tolerance of several Suaeda species (for example, S. salsa, S. japonica, S. glauca, S. corniculata), focusing on ion regulation and compartmentation, osmotic regulation of organic solutes, antioxidant regulation, plant hormones, photosynthetic systems, and omics (transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics). It helps us to understand the salt tolerance mechanism of the genus Suaeda, and provides a theoretical foundation for effectively improving crop resistance to salt stress environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: The transcription of GhAG2 was strongly enhanced by glyphosate treatment. Overexpression of GhAG2 could improve plant tolerance to salt and salicylic acid stress. Although glyphosate has been widely used as an herbicide over the past decade owing to its high efficacy on weed controls and worldwide commercialization of glyphosate-resistant crops, little is known about the glyphosate-induced responses and transcriptional changes in cotton plants. Here, we report the identification of 26 differentially expressed genes after glyphosate treatment, among which, six highly up-regulated sequences share homology to cotton expressed sequence tags (ESTs) responsive to abiotic stresses. In addition, we cloned GhAG2, a gene whose transcription was strongly enhanced by glyphosate treatment and other abiotic stresses. Transgenic GhAG2 plants showed improved tolerance to salt, and salicylic acid (SA) stress. The results could open the door to exploring the function of the GhAG2 proteins, the glyphosate-induced transcriptional profiles, and the physiological biochemical responses in cotton and other crops. GhAG2 could also be used to improve salt stress tolerance through breeding and biotechnology in crops. Furthermore, these results could provide guidelines to develop a glyphosate-inducible system for controlled expression of targeted genes in plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salvia miltiorrhiza is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine with tanshinone as one of the main bioactive components and has antitumor, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory properties, as well as other physiological functions. Tanshinone, as a secondary metabolite, is synthesized under salt stress or other environmental stresses. Oxidative stress is an important physiological response of plants to salt stress. Transcription factors (TFs) are believed to play regulatory roles in this process, and AP2/ERF TFs have significant effects on defense against the adversity of plants. However, investigations on the regulation of AP2/ERF TFs in tanshinone synthesis under salt stress are limited. In this research, the tanshinone content, related gene expression and activities of enzymes, and the markers of oxidative stress were determined. The results showed that SmAP1 , SmAP2 and SmERF2 were AP2/ERF TFs with AP conserved sequences, whose relative expression levels increased and were positively correlated with the contents of tanshinone I (T-I), tanshinone IIA (T-IIA) and cryptotanshinone (CT) in the roots of Salvia miltiorrhiza. The content of malondialdehyde (MDA) and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT) increased in the roots of Salvia miltiorrhiza. The expression levels of genes encoding enzymes and the activities of key enzymes in the tanshinone biosynthesis pathway increased accordingly. The results showed that AP2/ERF TFs could positively regulate the biosynthesis of tanshinone in the roots of Salvia miltiorrhiza under salt stress. • The expression of AP2/ERF TFs was consistent with the content of tanshinone under salt stress. • The regulation effect of AP2/ERF TFs induced by salt stress on tanshinone synthesis may be related to the physiology of plant oxidative stress. • AP2/ERF TFs might promote accumulation of tanshinone by regulating the gene expression and enzyme activity related to the tanshinone synthesis pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• LDPE atmosphere packaging could delay the enzymatic browning process, especially 0.05 mm. • Transcriptomics analysis of LDPE atmosphere packaging on browning of P. eryngii. • LDPE atmosphere packaging prevents browning by maintaining cell membrane integrity. To elucidate the mechanism of low-density polyethylene(LDPE) atmosphere packaging on delaying browning of Pleurotus eryngii under a postharvest low-temperature storage, this study focused on exploring the effects of two thicknesses (0.02 and 0.05 mm) LDPE packaging on some antioxidant enzymes, and stress markers in P. eryngii. The results showed that LDPE atmosphere packaging maintained the phenolic content and higher superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and catalase (CAT) levels, reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) content, electrolyte leakage rate and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) levels in the mushroom. Also, transcriptome analyses showed that LDPE atmosphere packaging regulated the expression of enzymes PPO, POD, CAT and APX-related genes, inhibited the expression of lipoxygenases (LOX) and phospholipase D (PLD)-related genes and regulated the l -glutathione (GSH) antioxidant system. Overall, LDPE atmosphere packaging delayed the reduction of unsaturated fatty acids and energy loss by maintaining the integrity of cell membranes and regulating important genes involved in membrane lipid metabolism, energy metabolism, and respiratory metabolism of P. eryngii. In addition, it activated the expression of genes related to GSH synthesis and metabolism, thus enhancing the antioxidant capacity of mushroom body, reducing the accumulation of ROS and delaying browning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In Arabidopsis, the aluminum (Al) exclusion mechanism is mainly facilitated by ALMT1-mediated malate exudation and MATE-mediated citrate releases from the root. Recently, we have demonstrated that coordinated functioning between an ALMT1-mediated Al exclusion mechanism, via exudation of malate from the root tip, and a NIP1;2-facilitated internal detoxification mechanism, via removal of Al from the root cell wall and subsequent root-to-shoot Al translocation, plays critical roles in achieving overall Al resistance. However, the genetic relationship between ALMT1 and NIP1;2 in these processes remained unclear. Results: Through genetic and physiological analyses, we demonstrate that unlike ALMT1 and MATE, which function independently and additively, ALMT1 and NIP1;2 show an epistatic relationship in Al resistance. These results indicate that ALMT1 and NIP1;2 function in the same biochemical pathway, whereas ALMT1 and MATE in different ones. Conclusion: The establishment of the epistatic relationship and the coordinated functioning between the ALMT1 and NIP1;2-mediated exclusion and internal detoxification mechanisms are pivotal for achieving overall Al resistance in the non-accumulating Arabidopsis plant. We discuss and emphasize the indispensable roles of the root cell wall for the implementation of the Al exclusion mechanism and for the establishment of an epistatic relationship between the ALMT1-mediated exclusion mechanism and the NIP1;2-facilitated internal detoxification mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of industrialization, the problem of air pollution is becoming more and more serious all around the world, and PM2.5 pollution is one of the unsafe factors that seriously endanger human health. PM2.5 can damage the lungs in many ways, but there are not many effective treatments available for PM2.5-induced lung injury, and there is not much research in this area. Natural active compounds extracted from plants, microorganisms and so on have various physiological activities and can be used as possible preventive measures for lung injury. This study introduces the basic properties of PM2.5 and its injury mechanisms involved in lung damage. Then, the physiological functions of flavonoids, polyphenols and alkaloids are introduced, and the possible mechanism of their alleviating PM2.5-induced lung injury is discussed in order to provide new thinking and reference for natural active components in alleviating lung injury and maintaining health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Rice is one of the most globally important food crops. More than half of the world's population depends on rice as a source of food. In recent years, with the deterioration of the ecological environment and the frequent occurrence of extreme weather, drought, high temperature, cold damage, salinity, and other stress factors have become increasingly prominent, seriously affecting rice production. Drought is one of the factors that seriously affects the growth and yield of rice. After cross breeding, molecular breeding slowly stepped onto the historical stage. Our experiment aimed to study the gene function of members of the transcription family, thus providing ideas and theoretical support for molecular breeding under stress. Environmental drought stress threatens rice production. Previous studies have reported that related NAC (NAM, ATAF1/2, and CUC) transcription factors play an important role in drought stress. Herein, we identified and characterized OsNAC092, encoding an NAC transcription factor that is highly expressed and induced during drought tolerance. OsNAC092 knockout lines created using the clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-associated protein 9 (Cas9) system exhibited increased drought resistance in rice. RNA sequencing showed that the knockout of OsNAC092 caused a global expression change, and differential gene expression is chiefly associated with "response to light stimulus," "MAPK signaling pathway," "plant hormone signal transduction," "response to oxidative stress," "photosynthesis," and "water deprivation." In addition, the antioxidants and enzyme activities of the redox response were significantly increased. OsNAC092 mutant rice exhibited a higher ability to scavenge more ROS and maintained a high GSH/GSSG ratio and redox level under drought stress, which could protect cells from oxidant stress, revealing the importance of OsNAC092 in the rice's response to abiotic stress. Functional analysis of OsNAC092 will be useful to explore many rice resistance genes in molecular breeding to aid in the development of modern agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Glyphosate is a wide-used and broad-spectrum herbicide. The worldwide commercialization of glyphosate-resistant crop plants has made glyphosate much increased in use over the past decade. However, little information is available for the glyphosate-induced positive responses and the effects of this chemical on transcriptome in plants. In the present article, we investigate the transcriptional profile''s changes induced by glyphosate in soybean seedlings. Twenty-four differentially expressed gene sequences were identified by mRNA differential display PCR (DD-PCR). The web-based BLAST indicated that most of the glyphosate-induced genes are homologous to the known ESTs induced by abiotic factor stresses. The three differentially expressed genes, AG1, CT6 and GC10 were found to exhibit the time- and dose-dependent expression patterns. Transcription alternation was induced at a short time by a low dosage range of glyphosate treatment. The glyphosate-inducible effect on the gene expression was not genotype-depended in soybean plants. This study provides a preliminary basis for further study of global transcriptional profiles and the related physiological–biochemical responses to glyphosate stress in plants. The data is also beneficial to the development of a glyphosate-inducible system for the controlled expression of the target transgene in plants. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The global food crisis has led to a great deal of attention being given to microalgal oil as a sustainable natural food source. This article provides an overview of the progress and future directions in promoting the commercialization of microalgal edible oils, including microalgal triglyceride accumulation, suitable edible oil culture strategies for high nutritional value, metabolic engineering, production, and downstream technologies. The integration of the production process, biosafety, and the economic sustainability of microalgal oil production are analyzed for their critical roles in the commercialization of microalgal edible oil to provide a theoretical and scientific basis for the comprehensive development and utilization of microalgal edible oil. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aflatoxin B1(AFB1) is one of the most toxic mycotoxins produced by fungi and results in inevitable contamination of food and feed at very low concentrations. Therefore, there is an urgent need to implement selective, sensitive and highly convenient methods for the determination of aflatoxin B1. Among these methods, the progress of nanomaterials, owing to their high performances and versatile properties, offers great prospects for realizing highly sensitive, selective and simple detection of AFB1, overcoming the restrictions of traditional methods such as process-complicated, time-consuming, labor-intensive and instruments-expensive. Many nanomaterials have been used for the immobilization of biomolecules as signal generators or fluorescent quenchers or for signal amplification in AFB1 detection. This review highlights recent progress that has been made in the development of nanoparticle-based assays and focuses on the analytical potential of nanomaterials, such as Au/Ag nanoparticles (Au/Ag NPs), carbon-based nanoparticles (CBNs), magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs), Quantum dots (QDs) and novel nanomaterials, including up-conversion nanoparticles (UCNPs), metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and nanomaterial-functional DNA intelligent hydrogels, as well as hybrid nanostructures. The determination of AFB1 is divided into three aspects: sample pretreatment prior to AFB1 detection, immunoassays and biosensors. The details of the detection methods and their application principles are described, and the challenges and opportunities in the field of food analysis are described. Image 1 • Developments of sensitive methods to detect aflatoxin B1 in food. • Explanations of the prominent roles and application principles of various nanomaterials used in AFB1 detection. • The strategies of nanomaterials implemented in AFB1 detection: sample pretreatment, immunoassays and biosensors. • Challenges faced by nanomaterials used in AFB1 detection and the shortcomings of previous research works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microalgae are considered an interesting candidate for the sustainable production of edible oils. Because microalgae contain abundant polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and have high photosynthetic rates and high oil productivity, they are superior to terrestrial oleaginous crops for producing edible oils. Microalgae are cultivated in aquatic environments, and thus, oil extraction methods for microalgae must consider the influence of water. This paper provides an overview of the suitability of microalgal lipid compositions and proposes a selection of species for edible oil production. The numerous technologies currently available for pretreatment, wet extraction and the refining of edible oils from microalgae are collated and presented, with a primary focus on the key parameters influencing process performance. Furthermore, the paper presents a proposed solution for a microalgae integrated system for edible oil production, which is a possible future direction to develop an economical and environmentally friendly process for the resource utilization of microalgal biomass. Practical Application: Microalgae might be the most promising source of edible oils, with potential applications in food industrialization, due to its rich oil content and its characteristic fatty acid composition. The review provides a selection criterion of microalgal species to help researchers exploit microalgae to produce superior edible oils for human consumption. Various process parameters and wet extraction methods are discussed that may be conducive to improving process performance and achieving high oil recovery yields. By considering the maximum utilization of microalgal biomass, an integrated system in this review would assist in economical production during further studies. Microalgae are the most promising candidates for edible oil production. Cell disruption, extraction, and refining are important processes for microalgal oils and on this basis, wet extraction and resource utilization can further promote the economic feasibility of microalgal process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumer demand for safe and nutritious fruits and vegetables has given rise to the development of a number of nonthermal food preservation techniques. Recent studies have highlighted that antioxidant activity of fruits and vegetables plays an important role in human health. In this paper, the influences of nonthermal preservation technologies, including pulsed electric field, radiation processing, dense phase carbon dioxide, ozone processing, and edible coatings, on the antioxidant capacity and related compounds in fruits and vegetables are reviewed. The proposed mechanisms and future trends are also discussed to accelerate the further commercialization and exploration of these novel technologies, which will, in turn, help to promote human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

P leurotus eryngii ( P . eryngii), also known as the king oyster mushroom, contains many bioactive substances, including polysaccharides, lipids, peptides, sterols and triterpenoids. The aim of this study was to explore the antitumor and immunomodulatory activities of P . eryngii extract. The fresh P . eryngii material was extracted with MeOH (methanol) and then partitioned with EtOAc (ethyl acetate). The study showed that the P . eryngii EtOAc extract ( EAe) not only has antitumor effects by in vitro and in vivo methods but also significantly increases some immune activities. In addition, histopathological observations showed that EAe-treated mice exhibited much lower cancerization throughout the liver and lung. EAe can also promote antioxidant activity, which may regulate the body's antioxidant capacity and activate the antitumor mechanism. Practical Applications Our study revealed the anticancer and immunomodulatory activity of P leurotus eryngii extract, and identified the key components of the P . eryngii extract with HPLC-MS. These findings explain the antitumor activity of P . eryngii, which is very useful for developing the potential antitumor drugs for clinical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our previous study identified a chickpea peptide (CPe-III) derived from chickpea albumin hydrolysate which exhibited a high antioxidant activity. CPe-III-S peptide corresponding to amino acid sequences of CPe-III (RQSHFANAQP) was synthesized chemically to determine the bioactive activity. The reducing power, hydroxyl radical, DPPH radical, ABTS radical scavenging assay and DCFH-DA assay showed significant dose-dependent activities. The cell viability assay indicated a high inhibition activity on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells with EC 50 values of 2.38 and 1.50 μmol/mL. The p53 protein increased with increasing concentration of CPe-III-S tested by ELISA Kit. The specific binding of peptide and p53 protein was determined by means of molecular docking. These results indicated that CPe-III-S effectively inhibited the proliferation of breast cancer cells by increasing the p53. This is the first report of the synthetic peptide which based on CPe-III derived from the enzymatic hydrolysate of chickpea to exhibit the antioxidant activity and antiproliferative effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Used ChemView DB, ToxRef DB and comprehensive literature analysis to collect, identify, and evaluate the PM 10. • The chemicals in PM 10 have strong correlation with different types of respiratory system injury. • The key molecular targets in PM 10 -induced respiratory injury were screened based on the big data. • The main pathway of RSIT caused by PM 10 is the Calcium, MAPK, PI3K-AKT signaling pathway. Numerous studies have shown that the increasing trend of respiratory diseases have been closely associated with the endogenous toxic chemicals (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, heavy metal ions, etc.) in PM 10. In the present study, we aim to determine the strong correlations between the chemicals in PM 10 and the adverse consequences. We used the ChemView DB, the ToxRef DB and a comprehensive literature analysis to collect, identify, and evaluate the chemicals in PM 10 and their adverse effects on respiratory system, and then used the ToxCast DB to analyze their bioactivity and key targets through 1192 molecular targets and cell characteristic endpoints. Meanwhile, the bioinformatics analysis were carried out on the molecular targets to screen out prevention and treatment targets. A total of 310 chemicals related to the respiratory system were identified. An unsupervised two-directional heatmap was constructed based on hierarchical clustering of 227 chemicals by their effect scores. A subset of 253 chemicals with respiratory system toxicity had in vitro bioactivity on 318 molecular targets that could be described, clustered and annotated in the heatmap and bipartite network, which were analyzed based on the protein information in UniProt KB database and the software of GO, STRING, and KEGG. These results showed that the chemicals in PM 10 have strong correlation with different types of respiratory system injury. The main pathways of respiratory system injury caused by PM 10 are the Calcium signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, and PI3K-AKT signaling pathway, and the core proteins in which are likely to be the molecular targets for the prevention and treatment of damage caused by PM 10. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]