The use of high quality sowing material is the fundamental condition for good yielding of crop plants. In this study we determined the productivity of plants, obtaned from cryopreserved tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) seeds. The seeds (cultivars Seven, Potiron Ecarlate and Druzhba) were placed into 1.8 ml cryovials and directly immersed into liquid nitrogen on month. The seeds were planted in soil and grown in a greenhouse without heating. Seedlings were planted in open ground in May. The increase in total and marketable yields for the plants grown from the cryopreserved seeds cv. ‘Seven’ was 351 and 268 % respectively, compared with the control, the mass of one fruit and their number also was greater. For cv. ‘Potiron Ecarlate’ the trading productivity increased in 220 %, the weight of one fruit was significantly lower for plants grown from cryopreserved seeds; the number of fruits per plant was significantly higher. It was shown that for the cv. ‘Druzhba’ the data of total and trading yield increased in 27.8 and 71.9 % respectively, number of fruits per plant was significantly higher. The height of plants and number of internodes for all cultivars did not change significantly. The total number of diseased plants decreased by 33 % for the cv. ‘Seven’, for ‘Potiron Ecarlate’ it did by 6.7 %, for the ‘Druzhba’ the total percentage of sick and healthy plants did not differ after seeds cryopreservation.

Wheat wild relatives are considered as an important source of tolerance to several abiotic stress conditions. Their genetic diversity can be effectively utilized to develop breeding lines and modern wheat cultivars with greater stress tolerances. Despite their great potential, Aegilops species have not been completely explored for such tolerances. Boron (B) toxicity is one of the crucial abiotic stress conditions that negatively affect the wheat productivity in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Other than several symptoms, high B is known to impede the uptake and translocation of macro and micronutrients in plants. Thus, the hypothesis is that the plants showing less effect of B toxic growth conditions on nutrients uptake and translocation can be more tolerant to B toxicity. To test this hypothesis, we have used 19 Aegilops genotypes differing in their B toxicity tolerance level along with a B toxicity tolerant cultivar, Bolal and estimated their root-shoot nutrient concentrations under B toxic growth condition. Further, the association between their root-shoot nutrient concentrations and level of B toxicity tolerance was evaluated. To understand the underlying mechanism, experimental genotypes were grown under three different B growth conditions in hydroponic system including Control (3.1 μM B); toxic (10 ppm B), and highly toxic (100 ppm B) boron treatment. The macro and micronutrient concentrations in the roots and shoots of the genotypes showed large variations and were observed to be differentially affected by high B stress.

The climatic conditions over the last few decades were estimated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to be the warmest of any previous decade. Climate change refers to anomalous, intense, and catastrophic climatic events directly linked to the increase in temperature on Earth. These are hurricanes, floods, melting glaciers, etc. In this context, agriculture is subject to strong abiotic stresses that compromise food safety. It is therefore necessary to resort to agricultural practices that reduce the impact of agriculture on the environment, and guarantee crops production. An important answer to this problem comes from the use of biostimulants in agriculture. These are microorganisms and molecules of natural origin able to increase fertilizers effectiveness, by limiting their use. In this study, two different plant-based biostimulants were used alone and in combination to test their effectiveness on production, mineral content, and some quality parameters of greenhouse-grown rocket plants. Biostimulant treatments showed an average increase of 48.1% of the total yield and 37.2% of dry biomass of the plants, compared to control plants, without significant differences among treatments. An increase in chlorophyll, calcium, magnesium, and potassium was detected in the presence of the two biostimulants, too. Vitamin C content increased, as compared to the control when the two biostimulants were combined. This study focused on biostimulants as eco-sustainable products able to increase the yield and quality of such crops as rocket.

The Cachrys genus (Apiaceae) is widely distributed in the Mediterranean Basin. Previous studies highlighted the photobiological properties of different Cachrys species, such as C. pungens Jan, C. libanotis L. and C. sicula L. Based on these promising previous results, and in order to continue exploring such interesting genus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the photocytotoxic activity of extracts from Cachrys ferulacea (L.) Calest. Aerial parts were collected in Calabria (Southern Italy) and extracted through three different techniques: traditional maceration, pressurized cyclic solid-liquid (PCSL) extraction using Naviglio extractor® and supercritical CO₂. The phytochemical composition was assessed with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and the photocytotoxic potential of samples was evaluated on UVA-irradiated C32 melanoma cell line. The apoptotic responses on treated cells were also assessed. Furthermore, the phenolic and flavonoid content and the in vitro antioxidant activity were also estimated. Different coumarins were identified and quantified. All the extracts affected cell viability in a concentration-dependent manner after irradiation with UVA light for 1 hour at a dose of 1.08 J/cm². Sample obtained through supercritical CO₂ extraction showed the highest activity, with an IC₅₀ value equal to 4.91 μg/mL. This study could provide a starting point for further researches focusing on new photosensitizing agents useful in cancer photochemotherapy.

The exponential increase of the world`s population is a major concern for the food sector since quantity and quality of food products needs to be ensured for consumers. Thus, in an orchard of pears located in Portugal, a total of seven foliar sprays, using CaCl₂ and Ca(NO₃)₂ were performed. The first two sprays with three different concentrations each (CaCl₂ - 0.4, 0.8 and 1.6 kg.ha^-1; Ca(NO₃)₂ – 0.1, 0.3 and 0.6 kg.ha^-1), the third with CaCl₂ 4 kg.ha^-1 and the remaining four with CaCl₂ 8 kg.ha^-1. During the workflow, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was attained with unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and later correlated with photoassimilates synthesis (assessed by a portable open-system infrared gas analyzer) and Ca content in leaves and fruits (assessed by X-Ray fluorescence analysis). Regarding NDVI values, the exclusive use of CaCl₂ presented slightly inferior values, however no major signs of disrupted vegetation were detected. For leaf gas exchange, only minor changes occurred (namely E and iWUE parameters), while calcium content in leaves during the workflow and fruits at harvest increased. In conclusion smart farming techniques can be correlated with in situs analysis to monitor Rocha pear trees and the concentrations used in this study increased Ca content in fruits without reaching toxicity levels.

Red radish (Raphanus sativus L.) is a worldwide consumed vegetable, which has particular interest, not only for its particular taste, but also for its health-promoting properties. Most of them come from the presence of anthocyanins, glucosinolates and flavonols, whose benefits have been widely reported. However, little is known about how abiotic stress could affect the presence of these biomolecules in an adult plant of red radish. In the Region of Murcia, Spain, one of the mayor issues concerning due to edaphoclimatic and economic factors is salinity stress. One of the main concerns of salinity stress is the reduction in plant size, provoking a diminishing in crop production. For all that, this work aims to analyse the effect of salinity in red radish physiology and metabolism. To this point, a study based on hydroponic culture was designed to evaluate the effects of salinity (0. 40. 80 and 120 mM) in plant size, discerning between the bulb and the aerial part. Furthermore, RP-HPLC-DAD analysis was performed in order to determine secondary metabolites of red radish. Preliminary results suggest that salinity stress at high concentrations compromises the plant vegetative development. However, stresses are widely reported to stimulate the secondary metabolism, hindering the processes of finding a balance between nutritional value and production.

Echinacea purpurea is an Important medicinal plant that contains valuable medicinal compounds that have a tremendous effect on stimulating the body's immune system to fight off viral and bacterial agents. To evaluate salinity stress tolerance in Echinacea purpurea, an experiment was conducted using a diverse population. The seeds used in this experiment were the result of selecting superior genotypes in terms of chicoric acid content and drought tolerance. Considering the medicinal value of Echinacea purpurea and the high area of saline soils in Iran, the purpose of this study is to investigate the possibility of cultivating this plant in saline soils. In this experiment, salinity stress at two levels of 0 and 60 mM of NaCl started when the plant was in the 6-leaf stage and continued for 14 days. The results showed a significant decrease in the amounts of photosynthetic pigments, potassium element under salinity stress. Also, under salinity condition, the amount of sodium ions in the shoots, ion leakage, and total phenol increased, but there was no significant change in the amount of proline and antioxidant capacity and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters. It seems that among the genotypes under salinity stress, based on the results obtained from results of genotypes under stress, genotypes 34, 46, 90, 89, 79, and 165 have high levels of proline, phenolic compounds, and antioxidant properties. These genotypes were in a better position in terms of these parameters and were placed in a separate cluster in cluster analysis, so these can be selected as tolerant genotypes.

Lunasin is a biologically active peptide, with polypeptide chain consisting of 43 amino acids, originally discovered as a 2S albumin protein from the seed of the soybean coded by GM2S-1 gene. The first successful isolation of Lunasin peptide was performed at Niigata University School of Medicine in Japan in 1987 during the examination of protease inhibitors in soybean seeds. Subsequently, its presence was confirmed in cereal grains (wheat, barley, rye, triticale), in bean seeds and in other plants. The most significant health benefits include: antioxidant activity, anti-hypertension activity, chemoprevention activity, as well as its use as a therapeutic anticancer agent. It was also demonstrated that Lunasin exhibits anti-inflammatory activity, effects on lowering cholesterol and obesity as well as influence on immunodeficiency. However, Lunasin peptide was initially detected in many plant species, but there is controversy about its exact origins, in present. Therefore, we focused on detection of Lunasin gene by polymerase chain reaction and Lunasin peptide by one and two dimensional electrophoresis, in various plants. One dimensional electrophoresis separates plants proteins complexes only on molecular weight and hence, there were observed no significant evidence of Lunasin peptide presence or absence. Two dimensional electrophoresis provide exact separation and together with polymerase chain reaction enabled identification of Lunasin peptide and gene. These results confirmed, that Lunasin peptide as well as Lunasin gene were observed only in soy bean seeds. There were also confirmed presence of Lunasin peptide in various plants (Spelt wheat, bean and oat), but gene detection was not successful.

Chamerion angustifolium (L.) Holub (syn. Epilobium angustifolium L., Onagraceae family) plants are utilized as a component of drugs, nutraceuticals and cosmetic products. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) aprooved E. angustifolium in traditional herbal medicinal products for treatment and alleviating symptoms related to Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH). Ch. angustifolium extracts have shown: anti-androgenic, anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. Plants are a rich source of ellagitannins, flavonoids and phenolic acids, the herb also contains steroids, teriterpens and fatty acids. So far, phenols of this species have been widely studied while sterols have been neglected in this respect. Campesterol, cholesterol, stigmasterol and β-sitosterol and its derivatives have been identified in plants. Phytosterols are synthesized and accumulated in plant in vitro cultures, in this way in vitro cultures could be a an alternative source for the production of phytosterols. The aim of this study was to detrmine the content of campasterol, β-sitosterol and stigmasterol in Ch. angustifolium plants cultivated in vitro. The plants (shoots) grown on ½ MS medium supplemented with IAA (0.5 mg L^-1) and vitamin C (0.1 g L^-1) were collected after five weeks of culture and subjected to the HPLC-DAD anlysis. The mean content of campesterol, stigmasterol and β-sitosterol was: 216.06±82.74 mg/100 g, 464.93±69.56 mg/100 g, 156.08±49.13 mg 100 g^-1, respectively. The investigated genotypes differed in sterols content, particuraly in β-sitosterol: 69.79 – 222.49 mg 100 g^-1 DW. In this study, the effect of genotype on sterols accumulation under in vitro conditions was shown.

Pathogenic and symbiotic bacteria secret protein factors to affect the host cell nucleus by directly inducing chromatin remodeling, interfering with transcription, modulating DNA replication and mRNA synthesis. These bacterial molecules are called nucleomodulins. During evolution, plants acquired a great variety of defense mechanisms including the synthesis of such antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) as defensins. We have demonstrated that transient production of a foreign protein containing nuclear localization signal (NLS) in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves leads to the induction of the γ-thionin (NbγThio) mRNA accumulation. We hypothesized that γ-thionin that belongs to the defensin group of AMPs is induced by nucleomodulins of pathogenic bacteria and in particular in response to their NLSs. To check this suggestion, we used GFP fused to NLS from Agrobacterium tumefaciens VirE3 protein and to a model NLS from human prothymosin α. Both NLSs appeared to be functionally active and target GFP to the nucleus of N. benthamiana cells in a transient expression system. Moreover, they induced synthesis of NbγThio mRNA. We isolated NbγThio promoter (Pr-γThio) and obtained a genetic construct encoding a reporter protein β-glucuronidase (GUS) under control of Pr-γThio for expression in N. benthamiana. Using Pr-γThio:GUS vector we further demonstrated that Pr-γThio is sensitive to the synthesis of foreign NLS-containing proteins: GUS-encoding mRNA level was significantly higher when Pr-γThio:GUS was co-expressed with 35S:GFP_NLS. Thus, we have shown that NbγThio gene expression is activated in response to bacterial nucleus-targeted proteins in the cell via induction of Pr-γThio. This research was funded by the Russian Science Foundation (project No. 19-74-20031) and work on promoter isolation was supported by Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project No. 17-29-08012).