Mitigation of salt stress in lettuce by a biostimulant that protects the root absorption zone and improves biochemical responses.

Horticultural crops constantly face abiotic stress factors such as salinity, which have intensified in recent years due to accelerated climate change, significantly affecting their yields and profitability. Under these conditions, it has become necessary to implement effective and sustainable solutions to guarantee agricultural productivity and food security. The influence of BALOX, a biostimulant of plant origin, was tested on the responses to salinity of L.

Root-Soil Interactions for Pepper Accessions Grown under Organic and Conventional Farming.

Modern agriculture has boosted the production of food based on the use of pesticides and fertilizers and improved plant varieties. However, the impact of some such technologies is high and not sustainable in the long term. Although the importance of rhizospheres in final plant performance, nutrient cycling, and ecosystems is well recognized, there is still a lack of information on the interactions of their main players.

Responses to Salt Stress of the Interspecific Hybrid × and Its Parental Species.

Soil salinity is becoming one of the most critical problems for agriculture in the current climate change scenario. Growth parameters, such as plant height, root length and fresh weight, and several biochemical stress markers (chlorophylls, total flavonoids and proline), have been determined in young plants of its wild relative , and their interspecific hybrid, grown in the presence of 200 and 400 mM of NaCl, and in adult plants in the long-term presence of 80 mM of NaCl, in order to assess their responses to salt stress. Cultivated eggplant showed a relatively high salt tolerance, compared to most common crops, primarily based on the control of ion transport and osmolyte biosynthesis.

The Effect of the Varietal Type, Ripening Stage, and Growing Conditions on the Content and Profile of Sugars and Capsaicinoids in Peppers.

Peppers ( sp.) are used both as vegetables and/or spice and their fruits are used in a plethora of recipes, contributing to their flavor and aroma. Among flavor-related traits, pungency (capsaicinoids) and lately volatiles have been considered the most important factors.

Transgressive Biochemical Response to Water Stress in Interspecific Eggplant Hybrids.

In a climate change scenario, crop tolerance to drought must be urgently improved, as it represents an increasingly critical stress reducing agricultural yields worldwide. Although most crops are relatively sensitive to water stress, many of their wild relatives are more tolerant and may be used to improve drought tolerance in our crops. In this study, the response to drought of eggplant (), its close wild relatives and and their interspecific hybrids with was assessed.

Seed coat lignification level is crucial in Capsicum spp seed longevity.

Capsicum (pepper) is known for its poor seed germination, particularly seed longevity is usually much shorter than other Solanaceae. However, the molecular mechanisms involved are mostly unknown in these species. The present study examines the differences in seed longevity among Capsicum species and varietal types.

Potential In Vitro Inhibition of Selected Plant Extracts against SARS-CoV-2 Chymotripsin-Like Protease (3CL) Activity.

Antiviral treatments inhibiting Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) replication may represent a strategy complementary to vaccination to fight the ongoing Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic. Molecules or extracts inhibiting the SARS-CoV-2 chymotripsin-like protease (3CL) could contribute to reducing or suppressing SARS-CoV-2 replication. Using a targeted approach, we identified 17 plant products that are included in current and traditional cuisines as promising inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 3CL activity.

Expression of NK Cell Receptor Ligands on Leukemic Cells Is Associated with the Outcome of Childhood Acute Leukemia.

Acute leukemia is the most common malignancy in children. Most patients are cured, but refractory/relapsed AML and ALL are the first cause of death from malignancy in children. Maintenance chemotherapy in ALL has improved survival by inducing leukemic cell apoptosis, but immune surveillance effectors such as NK cells might also contribute.

Consumers acceptance and volatile profile of wall rocket (Diplotaxis erucoides).

Wall rocket (Diplotaxis erucoides) is a wild edible herb traditionally consumed in the Mediterranean regions with a characteristic, pungent flavour. However, little is known about its acceptance as a potential new crop. In the present study, an hedonic test with 98 volunteers was performed in order to evaluate the potential of wall rocket as a new crop.

Variation in flavonoids in a collection of peppers (Capsicum sp.) under organic and conventional cultivation: effect of the genotype, ripening stage, and growing system.

Background: In recent years, the acreage used for organic agriculture and the demand for organic fruit and vegetables have increased considerably. Given this scenario, landraces, such as Capsicum landraces, can provide valuable germplasm. Capsicum peppers are very interesting because of their high phenolic content, and particularly their flavonoid content, which provides a high added value.

Comparative analysis of the responses to water stress in eggplant (Solanum melongena) cultivars.

Little information is available on the physiological and biochemical responses to water stress in eggplant (Solanum melongena). We evaluated four genetically diverse eggplant varieties (MEL3-MEL6) under control and water stress conditions. Measurements were taken for plant growth, tissue water content, levels of chlorophylls a and b, carotenoids, proline, malondialdehyde, total phenolics, total flavonoids, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and glutathione reductase (GR) activities.

HS-SPME analysis of the volatiles profile of water celery (Apium nodiflorum), a wild vegetable with increasing culinary interest.

Water celery (Apium nodiflorum) is a wild plant traditionally harvested in some Mediterranean areas for being consumed raw. Despite its appreciated organoleptic properties, the aromatic profile of the fresh vegetable remains to be studied. In the present study, volatile compounds from five wild populations were extracted by the headspace-solid phase microextraction technique, analysed by gas cromatography-mass spectrometry, and compared to related crops.

Genetic diversity, population structure, and relationships in a collection of pepper ( spp.) landraces from the Spanish centre of diversity revealed by genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS).

Pepper ( spp.) is one of the most important vegetable crops; however, pepper genomic studies lag behind those of other important . Here we present the results of a high-throughput genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) study of a collection of 190 spp.

Wild edible fool's watercress, a potential crop with high nutraceutical properties.

Background: Fool's watercress () is an edible vegetable with potential as a new crop. However, little information is available regarding the antioxidant properties of the plant and the individual phenolics accounting for this capacity are unknown.

Methods: The antioxidant properties of twenty-five wild populations were analysed and individual phenolics present in the species reported and compared with celery and parsley.

Response to organic cultivation of heirloom Capsicum peppers: Variation in the level of bioactive compounds and effect of ripening.

Peppers (Capsicum spp.) are one of the most important vegetables and their double use (vegetable or spice) and two commercial stages (unripe and fully ripe) contributed to their use in many recipes and fast diffusion from America. Nowadays, Spain is a center of diversity for C.

Type III pleuropulmonary blastoma in a dicer1 germline mutation carrier: The management of residual lung cystic lesions.

Pleuropulmonary blastoma (PPB) is a rare malignancy of childhood. It often represents a manifestation of a hereditary tumor predisposition syndrome (DICER1 syndrome). Because of its malignant potential, surgical resection of cystic lung lesions is recommended in germline DICER1 mutation carriers.

Successful Wide Hybridization and Introgression Breeding in a Diverse Set of Common Peppers (Capsicum annuum) Using Different Cultivated Ají (C. baccatum) Accessions as Donor Parents.

Capsicum baccatum, commonly known as ají, has been reported as a source of variation for many different traits to improve common pepper (C. annuum), one of the most important vegetables in the world. However, strong interspecific hybridization barriers exist between them.

Breeding and Domesticating Crops Adapted to Drought and Salinity: A New Paradigm for Increasing Food Production.

World population is expected to reach 9.2 × 10(9) people by 2050. Feeding them will require a boost in crop productivity using innovative approaches.

Characterization of composition traits related to organoleptic and functional quality for the differentiation, selection and enhancement of local varieties of tomato from different cultivar groups.

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) local varieties are having an increasing demand. We characterized 69 local tomato accessions from eight cultivar groups for proximate composition traits, major sugars, acids and antioxidants. A large diversity was found, with differences among accessions of almost tenfold for lycopene.

Root transcriptional responses of two melon genotypes with contrasting resistance to Monosporascus cannonballus (Pollack et Uecker) infection.

Background: Monosporascus cannonballus is the main causal agent of melon vine decline disease. Several studies have been carried out mainly focused on the study of the penetration of this pathogen into melon roots, the evaluation of symptoms severity on infected roots, and screening assays for breeding programs. However, a detailed molecular view on the early interaction between M.

Diversity in expression of phosphorus (P) responsive genes in Cucumis melo L.

Background: Phosphorus (P) is a major limiting nutrient for plant growth in many soils. Studies in model species have identified genes involved in plant adaptations to low soil P availability. However, little information is available on the genetic bases of these adaptations in vegetable crops.