Drought is the main limiting abiotic environmental stress worldwide. Water scarcity restricts the growth, development, and productivity of crops. Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a fundamentally cultivated cereal crop. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of grain-priming with arginine (0.25, 0.5, and 1 mM) on growth performance and some physiological aspects of wheat plants under normal or drought-stressed conditions. Morphological growth parameters, photosynthetic pigments, soluble sugars, free amino acids, proline, total phenols, flavonoids, and proteins profiles were determined. Drought stress lowered plant growth parameters and chlorophyll a and b contents while increasing carotenoids, soluble sugars, free amino acids, proline, total phenols, and flavonoids. Soaking wheat grains with arginine (0.25, 0.5, and 1 mM) improves plant growth and mitigates the harmful effects of drought stress. The most effective treatment to alleviate the effects of drought stress on wheat plants was (1 mM) arginine, that increased root length (48.3%), leaves number (136%), shoot fresh weight (110.5%), root fresh weight (110.8%), root dry weight (107.7%), chlorophyll a (11.4%), chlorophyll b (38.7%), and carotenoids content (41.9%) compared to the corresponding control values. Arginine enhanced the synthesis of soluble sugars, proline, free amino acids, phenols, and flavonoids in wheat plants under normal or stressed conditions. Furthermore, the protein profile varies in response to drought stress and arginine pretreatments. Ultimately, pretreatment with arginine had a powerful potential to face the impacts of drought stress on wheat plants by promoting physiological and metabolic aspects.

Drought stress is a significant environmental variable affecting wheat growth and development. Plant stress tolerance is intimately related to growth regulators of plants as polyamines. The study assessed the impact of drought (50% water irrigation and 100% water irrigation), priming of grains in putrescine (0.25, 0.5, and 1 mM), and their interactions on the growth, yield, and physiological attributes of wheat plants. Drought conditions declined plant height, fresh and dry weights, leaves and tillers numbers, and flag leaf area. However, applying putrescine, especially at (1 mM), enhanced wheat growth performance in normal or water-deficit conditions. Drought stress decreased spike length (28.6%), number of spikelets (15.6%), number of grains (30.3%), the weight of the spike (23.5%), and the weight of the grains/spike (37.5%). In addition, drought decreased the contents of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, free amino acids, and total phenols, while applying putrescine enhanced wheat plant growth performance in normal or drought conditions. Putrescine at (1 mM) achieved the highest increase in plant height (38.8%), root length (50%), leaves number (166%), tillers number (80%), flag leaf area (70.3%), shoot fresh weight (99.4%), shoot dry weight (98.4%), root fresh weight (97.8%), root dry weight (210%) compared to the untreated plants. Moreover, pretreatment with putrescine improved chlorophyll a (13.3%), chlorophyll b (70.3%), carotenoids (61.8%), soluble sugars (49.1%), amino acids (42.7%), phenols (52.4%), number of spikelets (59.3%), number of grains (81.1%), and weight of spike (45.4%). Moreover, variations in the protein profile of wheat plants were due to drought conditions and putrescine application. In conclusion, priming wheat grains with putrescine effectively induces protective mechanisms against water stress and improves wheat plants’ physiological attributes and yield components.

Nanotechnology is one of the most dynamic research areas and the fastest-growing market. Developing eco-friendly products using available resources to acquire maximum production, better yield, and stability is a great challenge for nanotechnology. In this study, copper nanoparticles (CuNP) were synthesized via the green method using root extract of the medical plant Rhatany (Krameria sp.) as a reducing and capping agent and used to investigate the influence of microorganisms. The maximum production of CuNP was noted at 70 °C after 3 h of reaction time. The formation of nanoparticles was confirmed through UV-spectrophotometer, and the product showed an absorbance peak in the 422–430 nm range. The functional groups were observed using the FTIR technique, such as isocyanic acid attached to stabilize the nanoparticles. The spherical nature and average crystal sizes of the particle (6.16 nm) were determined using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffractometer (XRD) analysis. In tests with a few drug-resistant pathogenic bacteria and fungus species, CuNP showed encouraging antimicrobial efficacy. CuNP had a significant antioxidant capacity of 83.81% at 200 g/m⁻¹. Green synthesized CuNP are cost-effective and nontoxic and can be applied in agriculture, biomedical, and other fields.

Different species belonging to the genus Nephthea (Acyonaceae) are a rich resource for bioactive secondary metabolites. The literature reveals that the gastroprotective effects of marine secondary metabolites have not been comprehensively studied in vivo. Hence, the present investigation aimed to examine and determine the anti-ulcer activity of 4α,24-dimethyl-5α-cholest-8β,18-dihydroxy,22E-en-3β-ol (ST-1) isolated from samples of a Nephthea species. This in vivo study was supported by in silico molecular docking and protein–protein interaction techniques. Oral administration of ST-1 reduced rat stomach ulcers with a concurrent increase in gastric mucosa. Molecular docking calculations against the H⁺/K⁺-ATPase transporter showed a higher binding affinity of ST-1, with a docking score value of −9.9 kcal/mol and a pK_i value of 59.7 nM, compared to ranitidine (a commercial proton pump inhibitor, which gave values of −6.2 kcal/mol and 27.9 µM, respectively). The combined PEA-reactome analysis results revealed promising evidence of ST-1 potency as an anti-ulcer compound through significant modulation of the gene set controlling the PI3K signaling pathway, which subsequently plays a crucial role in signaling regarding epithelialization and tissue regeneration, tissue repairing and tissue remodeling. These results indicate a probable protective role for ST-1 against ethanol-induced gastric ulcers.

Receptor for activated C kinase 1 (RACK1) is WD-40 type scaffold protein, conserved in all eukaryote organisms. Many reports implicated RACK1 in plant hormone signal transduction pathways including in auxin and diverse stress signaling pathways; however, the precise molecular mechanism of its role is not understood. Previously, a group of small compounds targeting the Arabidopsis RACK1A functional site-Tyr²⁴⁸ have been developed. Here, the three different small compounds are used to elucidate the role of RACK1A in auxin mediated lateral root development. Through monitoring the auxin response in the architecture of lateral roots and auxin reporter assays, a small molecule- SD29-12 was found to stabilize the auxin induced RACK1A Tyr²⁴⁸ phosphorylation, thereby stimulating auxin signaling and inducing lateral roots formation. In contrast, two other compounds, SD29 and SD29-14, inhibited auxin induced RACK1A Tyr²⁴⁸ phosphorylation resulting in the inhibition of auxin sensitivity and alternation in the lateral roots formation. Taken together, auxin induced RACK1A Tyr²⁴⁸ phosphorylation is found to be the critical regulatory mechanism for auxin-mediated lateral root development. This work leads to the molecular understanding of the role RACK1A plays in the auxin induced lateral root development signaling pathways. The auxin signal stimulating compound has the potential to be used as auxin-based root inducing bio-stimulant.

Alzheimer’s disease, characterized by a decline in cognitive functions, is frequently associated with decreased levels of acetylcholine due to the overactivity of acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Inhibiting AChE has been a key therapeutic strategy in treating Alzheimer’s disease, yet the search for effective inhibitors, particularly from natural sources, continues due to their potential for fewer side effects. In this context, three new alkaloids—oleracone L, portulacatone B, and portulacatal—extracted from Portulaca oleracea L., have recently shown promising anticholinesterase activity in vitro. However, no experimental or computational studies have yet explored their binding potential. This study represents the first comprehensive in silico analysis of these compounds, employing ADME prediction, molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulations, and MM-PBSA calculations to assess their therapeutic potential. The drug-likeness was evaluated based on Lipinski, Pfizer, Golden Triangle, and GSK rules, with all three alkaloids meeting these criteria. The ADME profiles suggested that these alkaloids can effectively cross the blood–brain barrier, a critical requirement for Alzheimer’s treatment. Molecular docking studies revealed that oleracone L had the highest binding affinity (−10.75 kcal/mol) towards AChE, followed by portulacatal and portulacatone B, demonstrating significant interactions with crucial enzyme residues. Molecular dynamics simulations over 200 ns confirmed the stability of these interactions, with RMSD values below 2 Å for all complexes, indicating stable binding throughout the simulation period. RMSF and the radius of gyration analyses further corroborated the minimal impact of these alkaloids on the enzyme’s overall flexibility and compactness. Moreover, MM-PBSA calculations provided additional support for the binding efficacy, showing that oleracone L, with the most favorable binding energy, could be a superior inhibitor, potentially due to its stronger and more consistent hydrogen bonding and favorable electrostatic interactions compared to the other studied alkaloids. These computational findings highlight the binding efficiency and potential therapeutic viability of these alkaloids as AChE inhibitors, suggesting they could be promising candidates for Alzheimer’s disease treatment. The study underscores the importance of further validation through in vitro and in vivo experiments to confirm these predictions.