The presence of selenium (Se) is not widely established as crucial for crops, although it is commonly recognized as an important nutrient for animals as well as humans. Even so, it is inevitably accepted that Se usually contributes positively to the life cycle of plants. Previous findings suggested that small amounts of Se seem to have a productive role in growth and production. As a result, Se is assumed to function in multiple ways, primarily by influencing a variety of biochemical and physiological functions. Also, Se also acts as a plant antioxidant and pro-oxidant and confers tolerance against different abiotic stresses, including salinity, drought, extreme temperature, and toxic metals/metalloids stresses. It reflects a defensive barrier against stress by increasing chlorophyll content synthesis, photosynthesis, oxygen supply, osmoprotectant concentration, and secondary metabolite acquisition. One other crucial role of Se is its ability to strengthen antioxidant performance in plants, thereby decreasing the concentration of reactive-oxygen-species (ROS). Furthermore, Se generates and modifies genes and proteins that respond situationally to stress, and the presence of high Se concentrations in the growth-medium can cause phytotoxic conditions via excessive ROS production, and through pro-oxidative Se occurrence, suppression of chlorophyll contents in the biosynthetic pathway, and the inhibition of plant developmental and normal physiological functions. Like a phytofortifier, the correct amount of Se can indeed enhance the nutrient quality of both crop and fodder production. Furthermore, crops have naturally developed ways to combat Se-deficiency and Se-toxicity. The current review focuses on recent advances in understanding the dynamics of Se, the positive and negative roles of Se in crop management, and its efficiency in countering abiotic stress.

Background: Wheat is one of the main food for around 2 billion people worldwide. Among the biological stressors, Eurygaster integriceps Puton is a damaging insect in wheat and barley fields, which harms them both quantitatively (by overwintered adults) and qualitatively (by instar nymphs). The ovipositional and the new generation’s production control are pivotal approaches to control the severe damages of Sunn-pest. Methods: In this study, to enhance the deltamethrin effectiveness while reducing its required dosage and also reducing the adverse health and environmental impacts, a novel MSN-based deltamethrin formulation was prepared and evaluated based on the laying-eggs number and oviposition behavior. To this, deltamethrin was loaded on KIT-6 mesoporous silica nanoparticles and characterized using SEM, TEM, and TGA analysis, and the insect potential of deltametrin@KIT6 was then evaluated. Results: The results showed that there might be differences between the treatments (KIT-6, deltamethrin@KIT-6, deltamethrin commercial formulation, and water as a control) in terms of the insect control via the laying-egg and next-generation prevention. The results showed that KIT-6 and deltamethrin@KIT-6 could reduce the oviposition rate compared to water as the control. Deltamethrin@KIT-6 not only caused the less oviposition done but the eggs were scattered and the batch of eggs did not have a uniform-shape similar to the control mode. The deltamethrin@KIT-6 nanopesticide could increase the pesticide effectiveness by reducing the Sunn-pest’s oviposition and nymphal population and subsequently decreasing the damage caused by them. So that the concentrations of 10, 25, and 125 mg L⁻¹ of deltamethrin@KIT-6 reduced oviposition by 63.24%, 66.11%, and 67.62%, respectively, compared to the control group. On the other hand, descriptive observations showed that another possible tension is created through insect eggs deposition on the boundary layer of leaves. Conclusion: The MSN-based nanoformulation could be effectively considered to control the next-generation population density of Sunn-pest. Graphical

Salinity considerably lowers crop yield worldwide. Production of salt stress-tolerant species will be essential to maintain the food supply in the coming decades. Brassicas, including various members of the family Brassicaceae, are very necessary sources of human food. Importantly, the key crop species that are members of the Brassicaceae family are genetically diverse and therefore their response reaction and adaptation to salinity varies greatly. Canola (Brassica napus L.) is commonly grown for edible oils and other uses such as biodiesel fuel production. Although most types of canola are identified as salt-resistant, plant yield and development are reduced significantly by rising salinity levels. In saline situations, the plant’s genome supports a range of physiological changes in some plant characteristics. Since the function of genes cannot indicate the exact condition of cells, proteomic approaches are emerged as methods to investigate the plant’s responses to stresses in the molecular levels. Exploring the proteome complements research at the genome and transcriptome level and helps elucidate the mechanism of salt tolerance in plants. Proteins are reliable indicators of salinity responses, as they are directly involved in forming the new phenotype providing adaptation to salinity. In this chapter, we review the response of the rapeseed proteome to salinity stress.

Plant ribosome–inactivating proteins (RIPs) are N–glycosidases which inhibit protein synthesis through depurination of the ribosomal RNA sequence. Type II RIPs are heterodimer proteins which can bind to cell surfaces. The cytotoxicity of these RIPs is different. Sambucus spp. are a rich source of RIP proteins with different properties. In the present study, a type II RIP was isolated from S. ebulus plant that grows widely in the north of Iran, and different bioinformatics tools were used for the evaluation of physicochemical, functional and 3D protein characteristics. The results showed significant differences among isolated RIP and other Sambucus RIP proteins. The study of these differences can not only expand our insight into the functioning mechanisms of plant RIPs but also provide information about a novel RIP protein with potential biological applications.