Small molecules inhibiting EPHEMERAL1 to extend flower longevity by regulating petal senescence.

Everlastin1 and Everlastin2, potent inhibitors of EPH1, were identified through a wheat cell-free chemical-screening system. This innovative platform enables the development of small molecules that target 'undruggable' transcription factors. By specifically targeting the EPH1 pathway, these inhibitors delay petal senescence, extending the longevity and quality of ornamental flowers.

Metagenomic insights into the functional potential of non-sanitary landfill microbiomes in the Indian Himalayan region, highlighting key plastic degrading genes.

Solid waste management in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) is a growing challenge, intensified by increasing population and tourism, which strain non-sanitary landfills. This study investigates microbial diversity and functional capabilities within these landfills using a high-throughput shotgun metagenomic approach. Physicochemical analysis revealed that the Manali and Mandi landfill sites were under heavy metal contamination and thermal stress.

Stability assessment of selected chrysanthemum (Dendranthema grandiflora Tzvelev) hybrids over the years through AMMI and GGE biplot in the mid hills of North-Western Himalayas.

Dendranthema grandiflora is an important cut flower with high economic importance in the floriculture industry. Identification of stable and high yielding genotypes of Dendranthema grandiflora, hence becomes paramount for ensuring its year-round production. In this context, the genotype by environment interaction effects on 22 chrysanthemum hybrids across six test environments were investigated.

Metagenomic assembled genomes indicated the potential application of hypersaline microbiome for plant growth promotion and stress alleviation in salinized soils.

Unlabelled: Climate change is causing unpredictable seasonal variations globally. Due to the continuously increasing earth's surface temperature, the rate of water evaporation is enhanced, conceiving a problem of soil salinization, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. The accumulation of salt degrades soil quality, impairs plant growth, and reduces agricultural yields.

SarCTAB: an efficient and cost-effective DNA isolation protocol from geophytes.

Geophytes are herbaceous plants that grow anew from underground buds and are excellent models to study storage organ formation. However, molecular studies involving geophytes are constrained due to the presence of a wide spectrum of polysaccharides and polyphenols that contaminate the genomic DNA. At present, several protocols exist for the extraction of genomic DNA from different plant species; however, isolating high-quality DNA from geophytes is challenging.

Designing of future ornamental crops: a biotechnological driven perspective.

With a basis in human appreciation of beauty and aesthetic values, the new era of ornamental crops is based on implementing innovative technologies and transforming symbols into tangible assets. Recent advances in plant biotechnology have attracted considerable scientific and industrial interest, particularly in terms of modifying desired plant traits and developing future ornamental crops. By utilizing omics approaches, genomic data, genetic engineering, and gene editing tools, scientists have successively explored the underlying molecular mechanism and potential gene(s) behind trait regulation such as floral induction, plant architecture, stress resistance, plasticity, adaptation, and phytoremediation in ornamental crop species.

A systematic review on mitigation of common indoor air pollutants using plant-based methods: a phytoremediation approach.

Environmental pollution, especially indoor air pollution, has become a global issue and affects nearly all domains of life. Being both natural and anthropogenic substances, indoor air pollutants lead to the deterioration of the ecosystem and have a negative impact on human health. Cost-effective plant-based approaches can help to improve indoor air quality (IAQ), regulate temperature, and protect humans from potential health risks.

Exogenous applications of gibberellic acid modulate the growth, flowering and longevity of calla lily.

Calla lily ( (L.) Spreng.) is an important ornamental crop used in garden landscapes, floral arrangements, and medicinal applications.

Molecular insights into rare earth element (REE)-mediated phytotoxicity and its impact on human health.

Rare earth elements (REEs) that include 15 lanthanides, scandium, and yttrium are a special class of elements due to their remarkable qualities such as magnetism, corrosion resistance, luminescence, and electroconductivity. Over the last few decades, the implication of REEs in agriculture has increased substantially, which was driven by rare earth element (REE)-based fertilizers to increase crop growth and yield. REEs regulate different physiological processes by modulating the cellular Ca level, chlorophyll activities, and photosynthetic rate, promote the protective role of cell membranes, and increase the plant's ability to withstand various stresses and other environmental factors.

Functional divergence of Heat Shock Factors (Hsfs) during heat stress and recovery at the tissue and developmental scales in C4 grain amaranth ().

Two major future challenges are an increase in global earth temperature and a growing world population, which threaten agricultural productivity and nutritional food security. Underutilized crops have the potential to become future climate crops due to their high climate-resilience and nutritional quality. In this context, C4 pseudocereals such as grain amaranths are very important as C4 crops are more heat tolerant than C3 crops.

CRISPR-Cas: A robust technology for enhancing consumer-preferred commercial traits in crops.

The acceptance of new crop varieties by consumers is contingent on the presence of consumer-preferred traits, which include sensory attributes, nutritional value, industrial products and bioactive compounds production. Recent developments in genome editing technologies provide novel insight to identify gene functions and improve the various qualitative and quantitative traits of commercial importance in plants. Various conventional as well as advanced gene-mutagenesis techniques such as physical and chemical mutagenesis, CRISPR-Cas9, Cas12 and base editors are used for the trait improvement in crops.

Lemon grass essential oil improves Gladiolus grandiflorus postharvest life by modulating water relations, microbial growth, biochemical activity, and gene expression.

Gladiolus (Gladiolus grandiflorus Andrews) is a high-valued bulbous cut flower. However, the shorter postharvest life of the gladiolus, limits its marketing and commercial value. In the present investigation, the effect of lemon grass (LG) essential oil as an antimicrobial agent was studied towards increasing the vase life of gladiolus.

Synergistic effect of graphene oxide and silver nanoparticles as biostimulant improves the postharvest life of cut flower bird of paradise (Strelitzia reginae L.).

The bird of paradise ( L.) is one of the important tropical cut flowers. Generally, flowers like bird of paradise (BOP) grown for the commercial ornamental market must be of high pre and postharvest quality.

How plants conquered land: evolution of terrestrial adaptation.

The transition of plants from water to land is considered one of the most significant events in the evolution of life on Earth. The colonization of land by plants, accompanied by their morphological, physiological and developmental changes, resulted in plant biodiversity. Besides significantly influencing oxygen levels in the air and on land, plants manufacture organic matter from CO and water with the help of sunlight, paving the way for the diversification of nonplant lineages ranging from microscopic organisms to animals.

Understanding plant stress memory response for abiotic stress resilience: Molecular insights and prospects.

As sessile species and without the possibility of escape, plants constantly face numerous environmental stresses. To adapt in the external environmental cues, plants adjust themselves against such stresses by regulating their physiological, metabolic and developmental responses to external environmental cues. Certain environmental stresses rarely occur during plant life, while others, such as heat, drought, salinity, and cold are repetitive.

Mitigation of indoor air pollutants using Areca palm potted plants in real-life settings.

Deterioration of indoor air quality (IAQ) has become a serious concern as people spend lots of time indoors and prolonged pollution exposure can result in adverse health outcomes. Indoor plants can phytoremediate a wide variety of indoor contaminants. Nonetheless, few experiments have demonstrated their efficacy in real-time environments.

Bioremediation of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) using rhizosphere technology.

The remediation of polluted sites has become a priority for society because of increase in quality of life standards and the awareness of environmental issues. Over the past few decades there has been avid interest in developing in situ strategies for remediation of environmental contaminants, because of the high economic cost of physicochemical strategies, the biological tools for remediation of these persistent pollutants is the better option. Major foci have been considered on persistent organic chemicals i.