Increasing vulnerability of crops to a wide range of abiotic and biotic stresses can have a marked influence on the growth and yield of major crops, especially sugarcane (Saccharum spp.). In response to various stresses, plants have evolved a variety of complex defense systems of signal perception and transduction networks. Transcription factors (TFs) that are activated by different pathways of signal transduction and can directly or indirectly combine with cis-acting elements to modulate the transcription efficiency of target genes, which play key regulators for crop genetic improvement. Over the past decade, significant progresses have been made in deciphering the role of plant TFs as key regulators of environmental responses in particular important cereal crops; however, a limited amount of studies have focused on sugarcane. This review summarizes the potential functions of major TF families, such as WRKY, NAC, MYB and AP2/ERF, in regulating gene expression in the response of plants to abiotic and biotic stresses, which provides important clues for the engineering of stress-tolerant cultivars in sugarcane.

Increasing human population and changing climate, which have given rise to frequent drought spells, pose a serious threat to global food security, while identification of high yielding drought tolerant genotypes remains a proficient approach to cope with these challenges. To offer a methodology for the evaluation of the drought-tolerant wheat genotypes based on the pheno-physiological traits, a field experiment was executed, entailing four wheat genotypes viz. BARI Gom 26, BAW 1158, BAW 1167, and BAW 1169 and two water conditions viz. control treatment (three times irrigation at 20, 50, and 70 DAS, i.e., 100% field capacity) and stressed treatment (no irrigation during the entire growing season). The results revealed that drought stress drastically reduced the days to booting, heading, anthesis and physiological maturity, relative water content (RWC), chlorophyll content, canopy temperature depression (CTD), and photo-assimilates-spike dry matter (SDM), grains spike⁻¹ and grain yield of all wheat genotypes. In addition, the genotypes BAW 1167 and BARI Gom 26 remained more prone to adverse effects of drought as compared to BAW 1169 and BAW 1158. Furthermore, DS induced biosynthesis of compatible solutes such as proline, especially in BAW 1169, which enabled plants to defend against oxidative stress. It was inferred that BAW 1169 remained superior by exhibiting the best adaptation as indicated by the maximum relative values of RWC, total chlorophyll, CTD, proline content, SDM, grains spike⁻¹, and grain yield of wheat. Thus, based on our findings, BAW 1169 may be recommended for general adoption and utilization in future wheat breeding programs aimed at developing potent drought-tolerant wheat genotypes to ensure food security on a sustainable basis.

Abiotic stressors are major constraints that affect agricultural plant physio-morphological and biochemical attributes, resulting in a loss of normal functioning and, eventually, a severe decline in crop productivity. The co-occurrence of different abiotic stresses, rather than a specific stress situation, can alter or trigger a wide range of plant responses, such as altered metabolism, stunted growth, and restricted development. Therefore, systematic and rigorous studies are pivotal for understanding the impact of concurrent abiotic stress conditions on crop productivity. In doing so, this review emphasizes the implications and potential mechanisms for controlling/managing combined abiotic stresses, which can then be utilized to identify genotypes with combined stress tolerance. Furthermore, this review focuses on recent biotechnological approaches in deciphering combined stress tolerance in plants. As a result, agronomists, breeders, molecular biologists, and field pathologists will benefit from this literature in assessing the impact of interactions between combined abiotic stresses on crop performance and development of tolerant/resistant cultivars.

Given the limited therapeutic management of infectious diseases caused by viruses, such as influenza and SARS-CoV-2, the medicinal use of essential oils obtained from Eucalyptus trees has emerged as an antiviral alternative, either as a complement to the treatment of symptoms caused by infection or to exert effects on possible pharmacological targets of viruses. This review gathers and discusses the main findings on the emerging role and effectiveness of Eucalyptus essential oil as an antiviral agent. Studies have shown that Eucalyptus essential oil and its major monoterpenes have enormous potential for preventing and treating infectious diseases caused by viruses. The main molecular mechanisms involved in the antiviral activity are direct inactivation, that is, by the direct binding of monoterpenes with free viruses, particularly with viral proteins involved in the entry and penetration of the host cell, thus avoiding viral infection. Furthermore, this review addresses the coadministration of essential oil and available vaccines to increase protection against different viruses, in addition to the use of essential oil as a complementary treatment of symptoms caused by viruses, where Eucalyptus essential oil exerts anti-inflammatory, mucolytic, and spasmolytic effects in the attenuation of inflammatory responses caused by viruses, in particular respiratory diseases.

Wheat is an important cereal crop, which is adversely affected by water deficit stress. The effect of induced stress can be reduced by the application of salicylic acid (SA). With the objective to combat drought stress in wheat, an experiment was conducted in greenhouse under hydroponic conditions. The treatments consisted of (a) no drought (DD₀ = 0 MPa), mild drought (DD₁ = -0.40 MPa) and severe drought (DD₂ = -0.60 MPa) by applying PEG-8000, (b) two contrasting wheat varieties Barani-17 (drought tolerant) and Anaj-17 (drought-sensitive), and (c) foliar treatments of salicylic acid (0, 50 mM, 75 mM, and 100 mM). Evaluation of wheat plants regarding biochemical, physiological, and morphological attributes were rendered after harvesting of plants. Statistically, maximum shoot and root fresh and dry weights (18.77, 11.15 and 1.99, 1.81 g, respectively) were recorded in cultivar Barani-17 under no drought condition with the application of SA (100 mM). While, minimum shoot and root fresh and dry weights (6.65, 3.14 and 0.73, 0.61 g, respectively) were recorded in cultivar Anaj-2017 under mild drought stress without SA application. The maximum shoot length (68.0 cm) was observed in cultivar Barani-2017 under no drought condition with the application of SA (100 mM). While, maximum root length (59.67 cm) was recorded in cultivar Anaj-17 under moderate drought stress without application of SA. Further, minimum shoot length (28.67 cm) was recorded in Anaj-17 under moderate drought stress without SA application. Minimum root length (38.67 cm) was recorded in cultivar Barani-17 under no drought condition without SA application. Furthermore, maximum physio-biochemical traits, including membrane stability index (MSI), chlorophyl content, photosynthetic rates, stomatal conductance, antioxidant enzymatic activities and relative water content (RWC) were found highest in cultivar Barani-17 under no drought stress and SA application at 100 mM. However, minimum values of these traits were recorded in cultivar Anaj-17 under severe drought stress without SA application. Our results also demonstrated that under severe drought, application of SA at 100 mM significantly increased leaf nitrogen (N), phosphrus (P) and potassium (K) contents and cultivar Barani-17 demonstrated significantly higher values than Anaj-17. The obtained results also indicated that the cultivation of wheat under drought stress conditions noticeably declines the morphological, physiological, and biochemical attributes of the plants. However, the exogenous application of SA had a positive impact on wheat crop for enhancing its productivity.

The seed industry and farmers have challenges, which include the production of poor quality and non-certified tomato seed, which ultimately results in decreased crop production. The issue carefully demands pre-sowing treatments using exogenous chemical plant growth-promoting substances. Therefore, to mitigate the above-stated problem, a series of experiments were conducted to improve the quality of tomato seeds (two cultivars, i.e., “Sundar” and “Ahmar”) and to enhance the stand establishment, vigor, physiological, and biochemical attributes under growth chamber and greenhouse conditions by using potassium nitrate (KNO₃) as a seed priming agent. Seeds were imbibed in 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.0, and 1.25 KNO₃ (weight/volume) for 24 h and then dried before experiments. The results of growth chamber and greenhouse screening show that experimental units receiving tomato seeds primed with 0.75% KNO₃ in both cultivars performed better as compared to other concentrations and nonprimed control. Significant increase in final emergence (%), mean emergence time, and physiological attributes were observed with 0.75% KNO₃. Collectively, the improved performance of tomato due to seed priming with 0.75% KNO₃ was linked with higher activities of total soluble sugars and phenolics under growth chamber and greenhouse screening.