Soft rot and blackleg, caused by Pectobacterium and Dickeya species, are destructive diseases that affect potato crops worldwide, resulting in significant economic losses. These pathogens can cause blackleg in plants and induce soft rot in tubers. Managing these diseases is challenging due to a lack of effective control methods and the high susceptibility of most potato cultivars. Biological control presents a promising alternative. However, some antagonistic microorganisms may be potential plant pathogens or interact synergistically with pathogenic bacteria or fungi. Understanding these complex interactions is crucial for developing effective strategies to enhance potato health and yield. These pathogens serve as valuable models for studying the interactions between pathogens. This study examined microbial interactions on two potato cultivars, La Strada and Red Scarlet, under controlled in vitro conditions. Potatoes were inoculated with bacterial strains Dickeya dianthicola (F014), Pectobacterium brasiliense (F126), Pseudomonas syringae (Ps3004), Serratia marcescens (Sm2018), and Escherichia coli (EcM14), both separately and in pairs. A 0-9 scoring system was used to assess the effects on potato health. Results showed distinct interaction patterns, identifying both beneficial (synergistic) and harmful (antagonistic) relationships. For instance, co-inoculation of F126 with either Ps3004 or Sm2018 positively influenced potato response. When F126 and Ps3004 were combined, the disease score was high at 8.00, indicating a synergistic effect. Conversely, strong antagonistic interactions were also observed. F014 displayed antagonism with Ps3004, Sm2018, and EcM14. F014 and Ps3004 pair, being the most severe, had a score of only 1.00. The study also found that potato cultivars responded differently to bacterial combinations. Red Scarlet had a disease score of 4.00 when inoculated with Sm2018 alone, while La Strada scored 0.00, indicating low susceptibility. These findings are crucial for developing targeted biological control agents, enabling the use of beneficial microbial combinations and avoiding harmful ones to enhance crop resilience and production.

The Nature Restoration Law approved by the EU Commission in 2024 commits Member States to restore 30% of degraded habitats by 2030. The achievement of this ambitious goal poses several challenges, including the ability to predict the outcome of artificial interventions and to what extent they can restore or initiate dynamics leading to ecosystems that become stable over time and are similar to those resulting from natural evolutionary processes. The lack, or fragmentation, of historical data concerning past land use and human interventions greatly reduces our understanding of the legacy of such activities.

A plantation of Quercus robur L. (English oak) mixed with Fraxinus angustifolia Vahl (narrow-leaved ash) set up in 1985 in an area used for centuries as pasture and then for farmland and bordering on an old-growth forest classified as Fraxino-Quercetum roboris, Gellini et al. 1986, gave us the opportunity to compare understorey vegetation originating from long-term natural forest dynamics with that derived from secondary colonization after treefall. The understorey vegetation was analysed for composition and abundance in plots arranged in mature forest stands (MF), in natural forest gaps (FG), and within the artificial plantation (AF). Species richness and cover/abundance following Braun-Blanquet were determined on five 400-square-metre plots for each vegetation type. The occurrence of species in 16 quadrats (50x50 cm) set along the plot diagonals was used to estimate vegetation diversity.

After forty years, AF shared 60% of species with MF and was populated by typical nemoral species. Species richness was almost double in FG than in forests, but the proportion of alien species was 7% compared to 2.5% in MF and 0% in AF.

These results provide valuable insights into the ability of artificial forest plantations to restore natural habitats, provided that connectivity with natural systems is maintained to ensure the supply of forest species propagules.

Maize is a staple crop in Northern Ghana, where climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of droughts. Understanding how elevated atmospheric CO₂ interacts with water limitation is critical for improving crop productivity and food security. This study evaluated the effects of drought and elevated CO₂ on maize photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, and yield under field conditions.

Maize plants were grown under ambient (≈410 ppm) and elevated CO₂ (≈600 ppm) conditions, with well-watered and drought-stressed treatments. Leaf-level gas exchange and biochemical assays were used to measure photosynthetic rate, Rubisco activity, and stomatal conductance. Canopy-level carbon fluxes were monitored using portable flux chambers.

Results showed that drought reduced net photosynthesis by 42% (from 22.5 ± 1.2 to 13.0 ± 0.8 μmol CO₂ m⁻² s⁻¹) and stomatal conductance by 55% (from 0.35 ± 0.02 to 0.16 ± 0.01 mol H₂O m⁻² s⁻¹) under ambient CO₂. Elevated CO₂ partially mitigated these effects, increasing net photosynthesis by 28% under drought conditions and reducing stomatal closure by 15%. Canopy-level measurements indicated that total aboveground biomass decreased by 38% under drought at ambient CO₂, but only 22% under elevated CO₂.

These findings indicate that elevated CO₂ can partially offset drought-induced declines in maize productivity, but significant reductions still occur under severe water limitation. Breeding and management strategies that enhance drought tolerance while optimizing CO₂ responsiveness could improve maize yield stability in Ghana’s increasingly variable climate.

Future agricultural productivity is threatened by simultaneous changes in atmospheric composition and climate, including rising CO₂, elevated tropospheric ozone, and more frequent droughts. These factors rarely occur in isolation; their interactions can strongly influence photosynthetic processes, carbon allocation, and overall crop performance. Understanding responses across scales—from cellular biochemistry to canopy-level fluxes—is essential for developing resilient crop systems capable of sustaining yields in a changing environment. Here, we focus on maize, a C₄ crop widely grown for global food and feed production.

In this study, we evaluated maize responses to combined CO₂, ozone, and drought stress under field conditions. At the leaf scale, portable gas exchange systems and biochemical assays were used to quantify Rubisco activity, electron transport rates, carbohydrate metabolism, and antioxidant enzyme function. These data were paired with measurements of stomatal behavior to assess water-use efficiency under stress. At the canopy scale, eddy covariance flux towers and remote sensing provided continuous data on carbon exchange, energy balance, and conductance across growing seasons. Because maize uses C₄ photosynthesis, its responses to elevated CO₂ and interacting stresses provide insight into how C₄ crops may perform under future climate conditions.

Our findings demonstrate that elevated CO₂ enhances photosynthetic carbon assimilation but does not fully compensate for ozone-induced reductions, particularly when drought intensifies stomatal closure and limits carbohydrate export. Some cultivars maintained photosynthetic capacity through strong antioxidant defenses and stable Rubisco function, while others exhibited large declines in canopy carbon gain.

These results underscore the importance of selecting and breeding crop varieties with combined biochemical, physiological, and structural resilience. By linking canopy-scale dynamics with underlying metabolic traits, this research highlights pathways for improving crop productivity and food security under the multifactorial stressors of future climates.

The use of biostimulants is a sustainable agriculture approach as their rational application is likely to be accompanied by relying less on synthetic inputs. Investigating the application of biostimulants is considered more significant than ever, especially in the commercially important species Actinidia deliciosa L., in the face of climate change. In this work, the application of a glycine–betaine–proline-based biostimulant (GBP) and a humic and fulvic acid-based biostimulant (HF) was evaluated on the growth and metabolism of kiwi trees. The study was conducted at a commercial organic kiwi orchard in order to assess the effects under actual commercial field conditions. Three treatments were established: treatment GBP, treatment HF, and the control treatment C (absence of biostimulants). Throughout the two-year experiment, leaf areas (cm²) were measured in the field, and the metabolic traits such as total phenolic content (mg GAE g⁻¹ Dry Leaf), proline concentration (µmol g⁻¹ Fresh Leaf), and chlorophyll content (µg cm⁻²) were analyzed in the Productive Agriculture and Plant Health Laboratory in the Department of Agriculture of the University of Ioannina, to investigate the presence of abiotic stress among the treatments. The metabolic data showed that the kiwi trees of the GBP treatment were more robust, as indicated by the chlorophyll and proline analysis. This vigor of GBP treatment was also represented in leaf area when compared to the C. The implementation of biostimulants constitutes an ecological approach that can be integrated into biological crop management, as it is environmentally friendly, non-invasive to the ecosystem, and aims to promote crop resilience to biotic or abiotic stress.

Chickpea is one of the most important food legumes widely cultivated in semiarid regions. Root system architecture plays a crucial role in plant adaptation by determining soil moisture and nutrient uptake. Therefore, understanding the morphological and anatomical plasticity of root traits in chickpea is important for improving water-use efficiency and stabilising yield under water-scarce conditions. This review synthesizes literature-based findings on root-trait adaptations that contribute to drought tolerance in chickpea. The research methodology involved reviewing scientific articles from the Scopus, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect databases that were published in the last 10 years. The data, which are essential for root characteristics, root dimensions and depth, lateral root density, root-to-shoot ratio, and xylem structure, are extracted and integrated to identify drought tolerance mechanisms and physiological responses in chickpea. Multiple studies published in the last decade show that chickpea plants with deeper and more extensive root systems exhibit greater drought resistance and maintain higher yield (Chen et al., 2017; Ye et al., 2018). Plants with more roots per unit of shoot tissue, thicker roots, and longer root systems are better at reaching underground water sources. The plant's ability to maintain shoot turgor under dry soil conditions improves through anatomical changes, including larger metaxylem vessels, thicker cortical tissues, and wider vascular areas. Genetic research has identified specific quantitative trait loci (QTLs) that indicate that root structure affects drought tolerance and biomass production. Root architectural plasticity, particularly increased rooting depth and improved hydraulic anatomy, emerges as a fundamental adaptive mechanism for drought resilience in chickpea. Modern breeding programs can develop new cultivars by assessing root traits to enhance water management and increase yields. Future research should emphasize high-throughput root phenotyping and genomic integration to uncover molecular determinants of root function under stress.

Abstract

Introduction:
Tumours deploy advanced immune-evasion systems that suppress macrophage activation, disrupt antigen visibility, and create protective biochemical and biofield structures. Among the most critical mechanisms is Nagalase-mediated inhibition of GcMAF, a key macrophage-activating factor. Additional layers of stealth, including fibrin encapsulation, suppressive exosomes, miRNA signalling, and bioelectric/quantum field synchronisation, further impair host recognition. This study presents an integrated therapeutic model that restores immune visibility by targeting biochemical, structural, metabolic, and field-level tumour cloaking mechanisms.

Methods:
A multi-domain analytic framework was constructed by mapping tumour stealth pathways across enzymatic, fibrin-based, epigenetic, exosomal, miRNA, bioelectric, metabolic, and quantum-biological layers. Countermeasures were identified using literature-supported agents, biological activators, structured-water modulators, and field-disruption technologies. Key nodes of intervention included Nagalase suppression, GcMAF reconstitution, fibrin degradation, exosome interference, miRNA modulation, and coherence-breaking electromagnetic tools. A companion dataset (23×40 matrix) cross-mapped each stealth mechanism to therapeutic candidates, ECS interactions, GPCR/ TRPV1 signalling, and biofield destabilisation points.

Results:
Analysis identified Nagalase inhibition and GcMAF restoration as primary drivers of macrophage reactivation. Fibrin-targeting enzymes (nattokinase, serrapeptase) were predicted to dismantle tumour shielding, while mycological and botanical immunoregenerative agents enhanced antigen presentation. Exosome-disruptive compounds and polyphenol-based miRNA regulators reduced suppressive signalling. Electromagnetic and photonic tools demonstrated theoretical capacity for disrupting tumour coherence fields, improving immune visibility. Layered analysis revealed synergistic benefits when interventions were applied across biochemical and biofield domains simultaneously.

Conclusion:
Restoration of GcMAF activity represents a foundational strategy for reversing tumour invisibility. Integrating enzymatic, metabolic, immunological, and quantum-biological interventions yields a unified therapeutic pathway capable of disrupting multi-layered cancer stealth systems. This framework supports development of personalised, multi-modal immunotherapeutics and informs future clinical translation.

Phoebe bootanica (Meisn.) M. Gangop., an endemic evergreen tree species of the Indo-Myanmar biodiversity hotspot, faces significant threats due to overexploitation and habitat fragmentation, necessitating urgent conservation efforts. This study investigates the population structure and regeneration status of P. bootanica across its natural distribution in North-eastern India to inform conservation strategies under the projected climate change. Sporadic field surveys conducted from April 2021 to October 2023 across five states employed purposive cum random sampling in 0.1-hectare plots to assess morphological traits (height, girth, basal area, clear bole height, and bark thickness) and density of P. bootanica and associated tree species. Regeneration status was evaluated based on seedling, sapling, and adult counts, while girth class distribution provided insights into population dynamics; both indicate the reproductive fitness of the species in natural populations. The Kruskal–Wallis test revealed significant variations in morphological traits across sites, with Sorbung exhibiting the highest mean girth (357.08 ± 197.63 cm) and basal area (13.00 ± 11.59 m²/ha). Regeneration was generally poor, with most sites showing limited evidence of seedlings and saplings, indicating challenges in natural recruitment, possibly due to the species’ recalcitrant seeds and shade-dependent regeneration. High timber demand has fragmented populations, contributing to its endangered status (IUCN B2ab(iii)). This study underscores the need for targeted conservation, including in situ and ex situ strategies, to enhance genetic diversity and population resilience. Our findings provide a baseline for long-term monitoring and sustainable management of the species, emphasizing the integration of community-level conservation initiatives to safeguard this ecologically and commercially significant species. Ecological Niche Modelling (ENM) is recommended to identify suitable habitats for future conservation planning in the projected climate change.

INTRODUCTION: Molecular biology approaches remain underutilized in mosquito research. Mosquitoes exhibit high genome plasticity and incomplete speciation, both of which should contribute to genomic sequencing interpretation and the resulting proteomes. New approaches are needed for the prevention of mosquito-borne diseases in the face of mounting resistance to drugs and pesticides. We seek to leverage analysis of genome variation for a better understanding of the mosquito proteome, 40% of which is functionally uncharacterized, as a target pool for interventions.

METHODS: Sample data were obtained from the NIH NCBI Sequence Read Archive (SRA). Our approach was designed with a previous study in Aedes aegypti (PMID: 28103802) by others in mind to ensure optimal benefits from comparative analysis. Analyses were performed in Galaxy. The Integrated Genome Browser (IGB) and Microsoft Office products were used to visualize and quantify results.

RESULTS: Analysis of available Anopheles cell-line-derived genomes identified meaningful differences between lines that can improve proteomics analysis. Using browser windows, we showcase novel indel edits that represent improvements to gene models present in the current WT consensus. We describe the possible variations’ effects on protein structure in aggregate and for specific examples relevant to the current literature.

CONCLUSION/DISCUSSION: Genomics-informed proteomics will continue to benefit from additional information about the expected level of variation expected within, or between, samples. With this information in mind, we can seek to apply our approach to additional cell lines in order to better understand and identify the best targets for transmission intervention approaches to limit mosquito-borne diseases.

Global biodiversity loss is accelerating, and orchids rank among the most threatened plant families. This decline parallels the rapid reduction in insect populations. Climate change is predicted to modify abiotic environments, posing risks not only to individual species but also to the complex ecological interactions—such as pseudocopulation—on which certain orchids depend for reproduction.

This study investigates the effects of global warming on the Australian orchid Calochilus campestris and its pollinator Radumeris tasmaniensis, which are tightly linked through a specialized pollination system. Ecological niche modeling (ENM) was employed to assess current and future distributions of both species across four Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SSP3-7.0, and SSP5-8.5). The species serves as an indicator of temperate grassland ecosystems in southern Australia.

Modeling results indicate that climate change may reduce the spatial overlap between the orchid and its pollinator, threatening reproductive success. Under milder climate scenarios, both species are projected to lose only a few percent of their suitable range. However, under the most severe scenario (SSP5-8.5), approximately 30% of their current distributions could be lost. Moreover, within parts of the orchid’s core range, the pollinator may become locally extinct despite abiotic conditions remaining favorable for the plant.

Both species are predicted to shift towards cooler southern regions, including Tasmania and New Zealand, reflecting a broader biogeographical trend of poleward migration. Identifying areas that will remain suitable for both species—climatic refugia—is essential for guiding future conservation strategies and ensuring the persistence of this specialized orchid–pollinator interaction under changing climatic conditions.