Greenhouse gas emissions continue raising the planet’s temperature by 1.5 °C since the industrial age, while the world population growth rate is 1.1%. So, studies aimed at food security and better land use are welcomed. In this paradigm, we choose Vigna unguiculata to test how it would behave in the face of severe abiotic stresses, such as drought and salt stress. This study shows that under abiotic stresses V. unguiculata tries to overcome the stress by emitting chlorophyll a fluorescence and promoting photobleaching. Thus, fewer photons are directed to photosystem I, to generate lethal reactive oxygen species. The antioxidant system showed a high activity in plants submitted to drought stress but fell in salt-stressed plants. Thus, the reductor power not dissipated by fluorescence or heat was captured and converted into hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) which was 2.2-fold higher in salt-stressed V. unguiculata plants. Consequently, the malondialdehyde (MDA) increased in all treatment. Compiling all data, we can argue that the rapid extinguishing of chlorophyll a fluorescence, mainly in non-photochemical quenching and heat can be an indicator of stress as a first defense system, while the H₂O₂ and MDA accumulation would be considered biochemical signals for plant defenses or plant injuries.

Intraspecific phenotypic diversity in clonally propagated crops is frequently constrained by narrow domestication histories and the widespread use of a limited number of elite cultivars. In Stevia rebaudiana, commercial production has largely centred on cv. ‘Morita II’, raising concerns about reduced diversity and adaptive potential. This study characterised and structured phenotypic diversity within a segregating population derived from ‘Morita II’ under tropical field conditions. Eighty-six progeny-derived genotypes (clonally propagated) plus the commercial control (87 genotypes total) were evaluated using 25 agromorphological descriptors (qualitative and quantitative). Quantitative traits showed broad variation, including plant height (28.26–119.50 cm) and dry yield rate (0.94–28.55 g plant⁻¹). Multivariate analyses of mixed descriptors (PCA and hierarchical clustering based on Gower distance) identified plant architecture, vegetative growth, and phenology as the main sources of differentiation. The first two principal components explained 19.65% and 12.58% of total phenotypic variance, respectively (32.23% cumulative). Hierarchical clustering (UPGMA; dissimilarity cut-off = 0.25) resolved four phenotypic groups (GI–GIV) with sizes n = 3, 1, 66, and 17, respectively, enabling the definition of contrasting ideotype candidates based on recurrent trait combinations. These results provide a quantitative baseline for phenotypic structuring, prioritization of materials for further evaluation, and management of clonal stevia collections in tropical production systems. These ideotype candidates should be considered preliminary until validated across environments and linked to chemical quality traits.

Fusarium wilt, caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense tropical race 4 (Foc TR4), threatens banana and plantain production throughout South America. Because Colombian biosafety regulations restrict in vitro work with Foc TR4, we tested the antifungal activity of Nostoc commune against F. oxysporum race 2 isolated from cv. ‘Manzano’ (Musa AAB). An ethanolic extract of the cyanobacterium (EEC) was profiled by gas chromatography and evaluated with a Kirby–Bauer assay (1000–4000 ppm; n = 4). Synthetic Sico^® and botanical Timorex^® served as positive controls, and solvent-free plates were the negative control. Growth reduction (GR) and percentage inhibition of radial growth (PIRG) were analysed with Student’s t-test (α = 0.05). Forty-two compounds—mainly fatty and carboxylic acids associated with antifungal activity—were detected. Sico achieved complete inhibition (100 ± 0%), Timorex suppressed 76 ± 2%, and 4 000 ppm EEC curtailed mycelial expansion by 45 ± 3% (p < 0.01). Although less potent than commercial fungicides, EEC impeded F. oxysporum growth, demonstrating that N. commune synthesises bioactive metabolites. Optimising cyanobacterial cultivation and formulation could yield a sustainable biocontrol alternative for managing Fusarium wilt in the region.

Renewable energy sources are essential to mitigating climate change, with biofuels offering a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Jatropha curcas, the best, non-edible, high-oil-yielding species, is a leading candidate for biodiesel production. However, ensuring a stable seed supply through effective storage is critical for biodiesel markets stability. This study evaluated the physiological and biochemical viability of J. curcas seeds stored at 4 °C with controlled humidity using 1.5 g of silica gel per gram of seed over 12 months. The results demonstrated that low-temperature, low-humidity storage significantly reduced metabolic activity, embryo respiration, and seed deterioration, preserving high germinability and oil quality. Despite a slight increase in mean germination time, seeds retained resilience in germination potential and viability. Additionally, preliminary assessments of salt tolerance revealed the potential of J. curcas seeds to germinate under saline conditions, supported by analyses of mineral nutrition and salt tolerance-related gene expression. These findings underscore the practicality of optimized storage conditions for maintaining seed quality and economic value, ensuring a consistent supply chain for biodiesel production. This study highlights the importance of integrating storage strategies into biodiesel systems to enhance sustainability and market resilience in the face of fluctuating production demands.

The molecular management of elite-relevant lines in clonally exploited crops requires more than broad genetic structure alone. In Stevia rebaudiana, breeding materials derived from cv. ‘Morita II’ may retain useful variation while also concentrating molecularly similar lines, increasing redundancy within selection pipelines. This study assessed whether a reduced five-locus SSR dataset could provide an operational molecular-affinity framework for redundancy screening and breeding-context interpretation of previously identified elite-relevant lines in a ‘Morita II’-derived breeding collection. A curated five-locus SSR dataset comprising 85 genotypes from a tropical breeding programme was analysed using the Wang relatedness estimator, operational molecular-affinity classes, UPGMA clustering based on Wang-derived dissimilarity and permutation-based assessment of mean Wang relatedness. The collection combined a broad fraction of comparisons showing no detectable positive molecular affinity with a relevant high-affinity component, and this pattern differed between the two reference molecular strata. One subset showed a compact high-affinity profile and higher mean Wang relatedness than expected under random reassignment, whereas the other was dominated by comparisons with no detectable positive molecular affinity. Importantly, the five-locus SSR framework is interpreted here as an operational, locally validated decision-support tool rather than as genome-wide or pedigree-level relatedness inference. These findings suggest that reduced SSR-derived molecular-affinity information can complement phenotypic, physiological and clonal evaluations by providing redundancy context for line retention, clonal advancement, and parental-diversification decisions in tropical stevia breeding.

Frosty pod rot (FPR), caused by Moniliophthora roreri, severely constrains cacao production in the Neotropics, yet evidence supporting molecular breeding for resistance remains fragmented and is often conflated with findings from witches’ broom disease. We conducted a structured critical review, not a systematic review, and classified each FPR-related claim with an author-developed, multidimensional evidence classification system (E0–E5) separating directness, genetic replication, mechanistic inference and breeding utility. The evidence supports a quantitative, partial and context-dependent architecture of resistance. The strongest QTL have been re-detected only within the Pound 7 × UF273 pedigree (E2a), and no FPR locus replicated in genetically independent material (E2b) was identified in the literature retrieved and verified. Genomic predictive ability reached 0.60–0.67 under random cross-validation within one clonal panel but averaged approximately 0.16 when models were transferred among related populations; these values answer different questions and are not directly comparable. Host and pathogen transcriptomics provide correlative evidence (E3a), and recombinant M. roreri effectors show biological activity in heterologous or cacao tissues (E3b-i), but no stable genetic manipulation altering FPR in a pod-challenge assay (E4) and no documented breeding utility (E5) were identified. We propose a Phenotyping and Reporting Guideline for FPR (PRG-FPR) and MIGGA, a modular, evidence-gated decision framework illustrated with a retrospective worked example; its effect on realised genetic gain remains to be tested.