We discuss current information on the ability of extracts and isolated metabolites from mushrooms to modulate immune responses. This can result in a more enhanced innate and acquired disease resistance. The major immunomodulating effects of these active substances derived from mushrooms include mitogenicity and activation of immune effector cells, such as lymphocytes, macrophages, and natural killer cells, resulting in the production of cytokines, including interleukins (ILs), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF)‐α, and interferon gamma (INF)‐γ. In particular, the ability of selective mushroom extracts to modulate the differentiation capacity of CD4 ⁺ T cells to mature into T _H1 and/or T _H2 subsets will be discussed. As a consequence these extracts will have profound effects in particular diseases, like chronic autoimmune T _H1‐mediated or allergic T _H2‐mediated diseases. Immunosuppressive effects by mushroom components have also been observed. The therapeutic effects of mushrooms, such as anticancer activity, suppression of autoimmune diseases, and allergy have been associated with their immunomodulating effects. However, further studies are needed to determine the molecular mechanisms of the immunomodulating effects of mushrooms metabolites both individually and in complex mixtures, for example, extracts.

The implementation of Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations in 2015 focuses on making a more sustainable world in all countries and for all stakeholders. Higher education institutions (HEI) play a key role in increasing students’ sustainability knowledge, transforming their attitudes and motivating them to promote or engage in sustainability behaviors. HEI can take several measures to fulfill these objectives, but it is important to develop efficient tools to assess the starting point at which university students are at. In this study, a survey was conducted that addressed students from different Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) degrees to investigate their knowledge and awareness of sustainability and SDGs. This survey (n = 321) showed students’ levels of knowledge and initial awareness. Many UPV students state that they are aware of the SDGs, but most do not fully understand these 17 goals and their current implementation but think that the SDGs are important for their daily lives. Therefore, finding links between the SDGs and daily interests is necessary to advance toward further implementation to allow us to fulfill all SDGs. These results offer a good starting point for evaluating future training and awareness actions to improve sustainability-related educational strategies.

A general response of plants to high soil salinity relies on the cellular accumulation of osmolytes, which help the plant to maintain osmotic balance under salt stress condition and/or act as ‘osmoprotectants’ with chaperon or reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging activities. Yet the ecological relevance of this response for the salt tolerance mechanisms of halophytes in their natural habitats remains largely unknown. In this review, we describe and discuss published data supporting the participation of compatible solutes in those mechanisms, with especial focus on soluble carbohydrates. Evidence for a functional role of carbohydrates in salt tolerance include: (i) relatively high levels of specific sugars and polyols have been detected in many halophytic taxa; (ii) an increase in salt tolerance has often been observed in parallel with increased intracellular levels of particular soluble carbohydrates, in transgenic plants overexpressing the corresponding biosynthetic enzymes; (iii) there are several examples of genes involved in carbohydrate metabolism which are induced under salt stress conditions; (iv) specific sugars or polyols have been shown to accumulate in different halophytes upon controlled salt treatments; and (v) although very few field studies on environmentally induced carbohydrate changes in halophytes exist, in general they also support the involvement of this type of osmolytes in salt stress tolerance mechanisms. We also highlight the complexities of unequivocally attributing carbohydrates a biological role in salt tolerance mechanisms of a given tolerant species. It is proposed that research on halophytes in their natural ecosystems should be intensified, correlating seasonal changes in carbohydrate contents with the degree of environmental stress affecting the plants. This could be an important complement to experiments made under more controlled (but artificial) conditions, such as laboratory set-ups.

Osmolytes, used for maintaining osmotic balance and as ‘osmoprotectants’, are synthesized in plants as a general, conserved response to abiotic stress, although their contribution to stress-tolerance mechanisms remains unclear. Proline, the most common osmolyte, accumulates in many plant species in parallel with increased external salinity and is considered a reliable biochemical marker of salt stress. We have measured proline levels in two halophytic, closely related Juncus species under laboratory and field conditions to assess the possible relevance of proline biosynthesis for salt tolerance and therefore for the ecology of these two taxa. Proline was quantified in plants treated with increasing NaCl concentrations and in plants sampled in two salt marshes located in the provinces of Valencia and Alicante, respectively, in southeast Spain. Electrical conductivity, pH, Na⁺ and Cl⁻ concentrations were measured in soil samples collected in parallel with the plant material. Treatment with NaCl inhibited growth of J. acutus plants in a concentration-dependent manner, but only under high salt conditions for J. maritimus. Salt treatments led to proline accumulation in both species, especially in the more salt-tolerant J. maritimus. The results, obtained under laboratory conditions, were confirmed in plants sampled in the field. In all the samplings, proline contents were significantly lower in J. acutus than in the more tolerant J. maritimus growing in the same area. No direct correlation between soil salinity and proline levels could be established, but seasonal variations were detected, with increased proline contents under accentuated water deficit conditions. Our results suggest that proline biosynthesis is not only an induced, general response to salt stress but also an important contributing factor in the physiological mechanisms of salt tolerance in Juncus, and that it therefore correlates with the ecology of both species.