Agricultural productivity is constantly being forced to maintain yield stability to feed the enormously growing world population. However, shrinking arable and nutrient-deprived soil and abiotic and biotic stressor (s) in different magnitudes put additional challenges to achieving global food security. Though well-defined, the concept of macro, micronutrients, and beneficial elements is from a plant nutritional perspective. Among various micronutrients, selenium (Se) is essential in small amounts for the life cycle of organisms, including crops. Selenium has the potential to improve soil health, leading to the improvement of productivity and crop quality. However, Se possesses an immense encouraging phenomenon when supplied within the threshold limit, also having wide variations. The supplementation of Se has exhibited promising outcomes in lessening biotic and abiotic stress in various crops. Besides, bulk form, nano-Se, and biogenic-Se also revealed some merits and limitations. Literature suggests that the possibilities of biogenic-Se in stress alleviation and fortifying foods are encouraging. In this article, apart from adopting a combination of a conventional extensive review of the literature and bibliometric analysis, the authors have assessed the journey of Se in the "soil to spoon" perspective in a diverse agroecosystem to highlight the research gap area. There is no doubt that the time has come to seriously consider the tag of beneficial elements associated with Se, especially in the drastic global climate change era.

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.

The interaction between selective nutrients and linked genes involving a specific organ reveals the genetic make-up of an individual in response to a particular nutrient. The interaction of genes with food opens opportunities for the addition of bioactive compounds for specific populations comprising identical genotypes. The slight difference in the genetic blueprints of humans is advantageous in determining the effect of nutrients and their metabolism in the body. The basic knowledge of emerging nutrigenomics and nutrigenetics can be applied to optimize health, prevention, and treatment of diseases. In addition, nutrient-mediated pathways detecting the cellular concentration of nutrients such as sugars, amino acids, lipids, and metabolites are integrated and coordinated at the organismal level via hormone signals. This review deals with the interaction of nutrients with various aspects of nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics along with pathways involved in nutrient sensing and regulation, which can provide a detailed understanding of this new leading edge in nutrition research and its potential application to dietetic practice.

Burgeoning the human population with its required food demand created a burden on ever-decreasing cultivated land and our food production systems. This situation prompted plant scientists to breed crops in a short duration with specific traits. Marker-assisted selection (MAS) has emerged as a potential tool to achieve desirable results in plants with the help of molecular markers and improves the traits of interest in a short duration. The MAS has comprehensively been used in plant breeding to characterize germplasm, diversity analysis, trait stacking, gene pyramiding, multi-trait introgression, and genetic purity of different cereals, pulses, oilseeds, and fiber crops, etc. Mapping studies pointed out several marker-trait associations from different crop species, which specifies the potential application of MAS in accelerating crop improvement. This chapter presents an overview of molecular markers, their genesis, and potential use in plant breeding.

The widespread distribution of proteinase inhibitors (PIs) in various plant parts has made them the most abundant class of defensive proteins. PIs restrict microbial developmental processes by attenuating respective proteases, making them a highly promising area of research. In our current investigation, we evaluated the bactericidal potential of a serine proteinase inhibitor (SPI), specifically the Cocculus hirsutus trypsin inhibitor (ChTI). Recombinant ChTI was expressed, purified using a Sepharose-4B affinity column, and utilized in bioassays against both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. Pre-incubation of bacterial trypsin-like proteinase (TLP) with 400 TIU/mg of ChTI resulted in TLP inhibition rates of 64%, 61.7%, and 56.4%, with IC50 values of 1.67 µg/ml, 1.74 µg/ml, and 1.90 µg/ml for Xanthomonas axonopodis, Escherichia coli, and Ralstonia solanacearum, respectively. Further evaluation against bacterial pathogens Leuconostoc citreum and Lactobacillius fructivorans, associated with postharvest tomato loss, indicated ChTI's potential in extending tomato shelf life. ChTI-treated tomatoes remained viable for over 20 days compared to 11 days for control fruits. Bacterial populations on treated fruits were significantly reduced, with ChTI inhibiting up to 49% and 36% of TLP for L. citreum and L. fructivorans, respectively. The inhibition pattern of bacterial proteinase was further confirmed through in-gel activity assays and bacterial cell mortality assays conducted by incubating live cells with ChTI. The study confirmed ChTI’s strong affinity for bacterial cell wall proteins, as demonstrated by affinity column purification, SDS-PAGE, and western blotting. Overall, the inhibitory properties of ChTI, demonstrated through bacterial bioassays, indicate its significant antibacterial activity and potential for post-harvest preservation.

Rare earth elements (REEs) are traditionally regarded as emerging environmental contaminants. Due to their increasing anthropogenic release and interactions with essential mineral nutrients, they are attracting growing interest for their potential applications in sustainable agriculture. The REEs are a unique group of 17 chemically similar elements, including scandium (Sc), yttrium (Y), and lanthanides. Most existing reviews treat REEs as a single group, with limited emphasis on concentration-dependent uptake mechanisms or species-related responses. However, based on atomic weight, REEs are classified into light and heavy rare earth elements (LREEs/HREEs). LREEs enter the plant system through multiple routes-fertilizer, irrigation, and mining residues; however, their cellular roles and modes of action remain insufficiently understood. Accumulating evidence indicates that LREEs exert concentration-dependent effects on plant growth and metabolism, including decreased growth, oxidative stress, modulation of photosynthesis, chlorophyll and carotenoid accumulation, antioxidant metabolism, secondary metabolite production, and enzyme activities. LREE uptake occurs predominantly via calcium-permeable channels, with limited involvement of transporters, followed by root sequestration and restricted long-distance translocation. At the cellular level, LREEs influence redox balance, membrane stability, chloroplast ultrastructure, and mineral nutrient homeostasis, and interact with multiple signaling pathways, including calcium- and hormone-mediated networks. Most studies on LREEs focused on lanthanum and cerium, attributed to their abundance in soil. Unlike previous reviews addressing REEs broadly, this review specifically focuses on LREE-mediated regulation of plant growth and development, mineral nutrition with emphasis on concentration-dependent responses, uptake and transport, and associated signaling mechanisms and hormonal interactions. Key gaps in current knowledge regarding LREE molecular targets, transport, dose-dependent mechanisms, molecular regulation, and species-specific responses are highlighted to guide future research. By integrating environmental entry routes with cellular and molecular responses, this review provides a mechanistic framework for future studies on LREE plant interactions.