Growth, Physiological and Biochemical Responses of Mung Bean ( Vigna radiata L.) to Cadmium Polluted Soil

Cadmium (Cd) toxicity is an alarming issue for our agricultural soils and serious threat to crop productivity. The concentration of Cd in our soils is continuously increasing which is posing serious threat to plants, animals and humans. Mung bean is a conventional pulse crop cultivated all over the world. Thus, this study's goal was to evaluate response of mung bean seedlings in terms of growth, physiology, and biochemistry to varying degrees of Cd stress. The investigation examined various Cd levels, including control, 5, 10 and 15 mg Cd/kg of soil. The results indicate that mungbean growth, physiological and biochemical components was negatively impacted by Cd stress. Results depicted that Cd (15 mg/kg) reduced the growth attributes photosynthetic pigments (Chl. a, b and carotenoids), total soluble proteins (TSP) and free amino acids (FAA) and increased the malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and electrolyte leakage (EL). Interestingly, activities of all four antioxidants (ascorbic acid, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase and peroxidase) increased with increase in Cd toxicity

Morpho-Physiological and Biochemical Responses of Cymbopogan citratus (DC.) and Asparagus officinalis L. to Waterlogging and Salinity Stress

Salinity stress is an alarming issue causing a substantial reduction in crop productivity. Water logging also limits crop productivity and the extent of both these stresses is increasing due to climate change and global warming. This study investigated the response of Lemongrass and Asparagus grass under salinity stress and waterlogged conditions. The study was comprised of different treatments: control, salinity stress, waterlogged conditions and salinity stress + waterlogged conditions. The results revealed that salinity + waterlogging pressure negatively affected cymbopogan citratus and Asparagus officinalis. The physio-morphological, biochemical attributes, enzymatic antioxidants, and nutrient parameters showed a greater reduction under combined salinity and water waterlogged conditions. Waterlogging caused a marked decrease in root growth, leaves production and plant height of both grasses compared to the control. Salinity stress also resulted in similar morphological modifications, albeit to a lesser extent. Physiological analysis showed a decline in chlorophyll content and RWC, indicating reduced photosynthetic capacity and water uptake efficiency in response to waterlogging and salinity. Electrolyte leakage, increased significantly under waterlogging and salinity stress, suggesting cellular damage and membrane disruption. C.citratus exhibited greater resilience to waterlogging and salinity compared to A. officinalis. Despite the adverse conditions, C. citratus maintained higher chlorophyll content, RWC, and lower electrolyte leakage, indicating better stress tolerance mechanisms. In conclusion, water logging and salinity induced significant morpho-physiological modifications in both C. citratus and A. officinalis. However, C. citratus exhibited better tolerance to these stresses, suggesting its potential for cultivation in waterlogged and saline environments

The Role of Nanoparticles in Response of Plants to Abiotic Stress at Physiological, Biochemical, and Molecular Levels

In recent years, the global agricultural system has been unfavorably impacted by adverse environmental changes. These changes in the climate, in turn, have altered the abiotic conditions of plants, affecting plant growth, physiology and production. Abiotic stress in plants is one of the main obstacles to global agricultural production and food security. Therefore, there is a need for the development of novel approaches to overcome these problems and achieve sustainability. Nanotechnology has emerged as one such novel approach to improve crop production, through the utilization of nanoscale products, such as nanofertilizer, nanofungicides, nanoherbicides and nanopesticides. Their ability to cross cellular barriers makes nanoparticles suitable for their application in agriculture. Since they are easily soluble, smaller, and effective for uptake by plants, nanoparticles are widely used as a modern agricultural tool. The implementation of nanoparticles has been found to be effective in improving the qualitative and quantitative aspects of crop production under various biotic and abiotic stress conditions. This review discusses various abiotic stresses to which plants are susceptible and highlights the importance of the application of nanoparticles in combating abiotic stress, in addition to the major physiological, biochemical and molecular-induced changes that can help plants tolerate stress conditions. It also addresses the potential environmental and health impacts as a result of the extensive use of nanoparticles

Alpha Lipoic Acid as a Protective Mediator for Regulating the Defensive Responses of Wheat Plants against Sodic Alkaline Stress: Physiological, Biochemical and Molecular Aspects

Recently, exogenous α-Lipoic acid (ALA) has been suggested to improve the tolerance of plants to a wide array of abiotic stresses. However, there is currently no definitive data on the role of ALA in wheat plants exposed to sodic alkaline stress. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the effects of foliar application by ALA at 0 (distilled water as control) and 20 µM on wheat seedlings grown under sodic alkaline stress (50 mM 1:1 NaHCO3 & Na2CO3; pH 9.7. Under sodic alkaline stress, exogenous ALA significantly (p ≤ 0.05) improved growth (shoot fresh and dry weight), chlorophyll (Chl) a, b and Chl a + b, while Chl a/b ratio was not affected. Moreover, leaf relative water content (RWC), total soluble sugars, carotenoids, total soluble phenols, ascorbic acid, K and Ca were significantly increased in the ALA-treated plants compared to the ALA-untreated plants. This improvement was concomitant with reducing the rate of lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde, MDA) and H2O2. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) demonstrated greater activity in the ALA-treated plants compared to the non-treated ones. Conversely, proline, catalase (CAT), guaiacol peroxidase (G-POX), Na and Na/K ratio were significantly decreased in the ALA-treated plants. Under sodic alkaline stress, the relative expression of photosystem II (D2 protein; PsbD) was significantly up-regulated in the ALA treatment (67% increase over the ALA-untreated plants); while Δ pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthase (P5CS), plasma membrane Na+/H+ antiporter protein of salt overly sensitive gene (SOS1) and tonoplast-localized Na+/H+ antiporter protein (NHX1) were down-regulated by 21, 37 and 53%, respectively, lower than the ALA-untreated plants. These results reveal that ALA may be involved in several possible mechanisms of alkalinity tolerance in wheat plants