Listeriosis is one of the most common foodborne diseases caused by Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes). A poor prognosis has been recorded for the invasive listeriosis, especially neurolisteriosis. In several countries throughout the world, foodborne infections with L. monocytogenes exceeded the legal safety limits in animal sourced foods. Therefore, we decided to investigate the variability, virulence and antimicrobial resistance profiles of this pathogen. Both phenotypic and genotypic methods were used for identifying L. monocytogenes isolates and confirming their virulence profiles. The antimicrobial resistances and their correlation analysis with the existence of virulence genes were detected. Additionally, sequencing and phylogenetic analysis based on L. monocytogenes inlA and inlB genes were undertaken. The prevalence rate (11.9%) and the resistance profiles of L. monocytogenes were shocking. The multi-drug resistance (MDR) phenotypes were common among our isolates (64.9%). Fortunately, the resistance phenotypes were always associated with low virulence arrays and the MDR strains possessed low virulence fitness. Herein, the high genotypic and phenotypic diversity of L. monocytogenes isolates and their weak clonality and adaptability highlighted the difficulty in controlling and managing this pathogen. Therefore, it is important to add more restriction guidelines from national authorities on the consumption of ready to eat foods.

Objective: Hyperglycemia and insulin resistance (IR) put obese women with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) at risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Methods: 150 T2DM women aged 30– 45 were studied cross-sectionally at Madinah Hospital lab to find T2DM risk factors and their association with adiponectin/leptin levels. Results: Women with T2DM showed greater fasting blood glucose (FBG), hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), triglycerides (TG), body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), insulin resistance (IR), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and CVD risk (high atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) and leptin), but decreased high-density lipoprotein (HDL-cholesterol) and poor insulin sensitivity with low adiponectin. Obese women with T2DM had increased leptin and reduced adiponectin. Leptin levels were significantly related to IR, BMI, and AIP (B= 3.97, P= 0.02) but not WC. Leptin levels were negatively correlated with insulin sensitivity (IS) and HDL-c (P< 0.05). In linear regression analysis, adiponectin levels had a significant association with IS and HDL-c (P= 0.03, P= 0.04) but an inverse relationship with IR, BMI, WC (B=− 2.91, P= 0.04), and AIP (P< 0.05). Conclusion: Increased leptin levels are related to high IR, AIP, and BMI among T2DM female patients. Similarly, adiponectin levels decrease IS and HDL-c. Therefore, obese T2DM women with high leptin and low adiponectin levels should be periodically checked to avoid or decrease consequences like CVD.

Drought is one of the most important wheat production limiting factor, and can lead to severe yield losses. This study was designed to examine the effect of drought stress on wheat physiology and morphology under three different field capacities (FC) viz. 80% (control), 50% (moderate) and 30% (severe drought stress) in a diverse collection of wheat germplasm including cultivars, landraces, synthetic hexaploid and their derivatives. Traits like grain weight, thousand grain weight and biomass were reduced by 38.23%, 18.91% and 26.47% respectively at 30% FC, whereas the reduction rate for these traits at 50% FC were 19.57%, 8.88% and 18.68%. In principal component analysis (PCA), the first two components PC1 and PC2 accounted for 58.63% of the total variation and separated the cultivars and landraces from synthetic-based germplasm. Landraces showed wide range of phenotypic variations at 30% FC compared to synthetic-based germplasm and improved cultivars. However, least reduction in grain weight was observed in improved cultivars which indicated the progress in developing drought resilient cultivars. Allelic variations of the drought-related genes including TaSnRK2.9-5A, TaLTPs-11, TaLTPs-12, TaSAP-7B-, TaPPH-13, Dreb-B1 and 1fehw3 were significantly associated with the phenological traits under drought stress in all 91 wheats including 40 landraces, 9 varieties, 34 synthetic hexaploids and 8 synthetic derivatives. The favorable haplotypes of 1fehw3, Dreb-B1, TaLTPs-11 and TaLTPs-12 increased grain weight, and biomass. Our results iterated the fact that landraces could be promising source to deploy drought adaptability in wheat breeding. The study further identified drought tolerant wheat genetic resources across various backgrounds and identified favourable haplotypes of water-saving genes which should be considered to develop drought tolerant varieties.

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.), a drought-sensitive crop, is drastically affected by drought stresses compromising its growth and yield. However, wild relatives of faba bean are considered a reservoir of potential genetic resources for tolerance against abiotic stresses. This study was conducted to characterize wild relatives of faba bean for identification of a specific tolerance system required for its improvement against drought stress. The study focused on physiological, biochemical, and anatomical responses of wild Vicia species under drought stress conditions. The experiment was carried out under various levels of drought stress imposed through different field capacities (FC) which included 80% FC ie (well-watered condition), 55% FC (moderate stress), and 30% FC (severe stress). When compared to plants grown in a control environment, drought stress significantly reduced the studied physiological attributes including soluble sugars (21.3% and 15.8%), protein contents (14.7 and 14.6%), and chlorophyll (8.4 and 28.6%) under moderate (55% FC) and severe drought stress (30% FC), respectively. However, proline content increased by 20.5% and 27.6%, peroxidase activity by 48.5% and 57.1%, and superoxide dismutase activity by 72.6% and 64.8% under moderate and severe stress, respectively. The studied anatomical attributes were also affected under drought stress treatments, including diameter of stem xylem vessels (9.1% and 13.7%), leaf lower epidermal thickness (8.05% and 13.34%), and leaf phloem width (5.3% and 10.1%) under moderate and severe stress, respectively. Wild Vicia spp. showed better tolerance to water-deficit conditions as compared to cultivated Vicia L. The observed potential diversity for drought tolerance in wild Vicia spp. may assist in improvement of faba bean and may also help in understanding the mechanisms of adaptations in drought-prone environments.

Water availability is considered as the main limiting factor of wheat growth illuminating the need of cultivars best adapted to drought situations for better wheat production and yield. Among these, the stay-green trait is thought to be related to the ability of wheat plants to maintain photosynthesis and CO₂ assimilation, and a detailed molecular understanding of this trait may help in the selection of high-yielding, drought-tolerant wheats. The current study, therefore, evaluated the physiological responses of the selected wheat genotypes under pot-induced water stress conditions through different field capacities. The study also focused on exploring the molecular mechanisms involved in drought tolerance conferred due to the stay-green trait by studying the expression pattern of the selected PSI-associated light-harvesting complex I (LHC1) and PSII-associated LHCII gene families related to pigment-binding proteins. The results revealed that the studied traits, including relative water content, membrane stability index and chlorophyll, were variably and negatively affected, while the proline content was positively enhanced in the studied wheats under water stress treatments. Molecular diagnosis of the selected wheat genotypes using the expression profile of 06 genes, viz. TaLhca1, TaLhca2, TaLhca3, TaLhcb1, TaLhcb4 and TaLhcb6 that encodes for the LHCI and LHCII proteins, indicated variable responses to different levels of drought stress. The results obtained showed the relation between the genotypes and the severity of the drought stress condition. Among the studied genotypes, Chirya-1 and SD-28 performed well with a higher level of gene expression under drought stress conditions and may be used in genetic crosses to enrich the genetic background of common wheat against drought stress.

In recent years, the biological synthesis of silver nanoparticles has captured researchers’ attention due to their unique chemical, physical and biological properties. In this study, we report an efficient, nonhazardous, and eco-friendly method for the production of antibacterial silver/silver chloride nanoparticles utilizing the leaf extract of Stachys emodi. The synthesis of se-Ag/AgClNPs was confirmed using UV-visible spectroscopy, DPPH free radical scavenging activity, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). An intense peak absorbance was observed at 437 nm from the UV-visible analysis. The Stachys emodi extract showed the highest DPPH scavenging activity (89.4%). FTIR analysis detected various bands that indicated the presence of important functional groups. The SEM morphological study revealed spherical-shaped nanoparticles having a size ranging from 20 to 70 nm. The XRD pattern showed the formation of a spherical crystal of NPs. The antibacterial activity performed against Erwinia carotovora showed the maximum inhibition by centrifuged silver nanoparticles alone (se-Ag/AgClNPs) and in combination with leaf extract (se-Ag/AgClNPs + LE) and leaf extract (LE) of 98%, 93%, and 62% respectively. These findings suggested that biosynthesized NPs can be used to control plant pathogens effectively.