The present study investigated the potential role of external salicylic acid (SA) in alleviating Arsenic (As) toxicity in sunflower leaves. The exposure of plants to 10 µM As inhibited biomass production and intensively increased the accumulation of As in both roots and leaves. The levels of some important parameters associated with oxidative stress, namely lipid peroxidation, electrolyte leakage, and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) production were increased. SA application alleviated the negative effect of As on growth and led to decrease in oxidative injuries. Furthermore, SA application led to higher activity of catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, and glutathione peroxidase, and concomitantly decreased superoxide dismutase and guaiacol peroxidase activities. As important antioxidants, ascorbate and glutathione contents in sunflower leaves exposed to As were significantly decreased by SA treatment. These results reveal that SA is more effective in alleviating As toxicity at higher concentrations than that at lower concentrations.

Accumulating data show the involvement of intestinal microbiota in the development and maintenance of numerous diseases. Many environmental factors influence the composition and function of the gut microbiota. An animal model subjected to the same environmental constraints that will allow better characterization of the microbiota–host dialogue is awaited. The domestic dog has physiological, dietary and pathological characteristics similar to those of humans and shares the domestic environment and lifestyle of its owner. This review exposes how the domestication of dogs has brought them closer to humans based on their intrinsic and extrinsic similarities which were discerned through examining and comparing the current knowledge and data on the intestinal microbiota of humans and canines in the context of several spontaneous pathologies, including inflammatory bowel disease, obesity and diabetes mellitus.

The present work aims to investigate the attractive ability of the newly isolated bacterium Serratia plymuthica BMA1, to release phosphorus (P) from rock phosphate (RP) and also to assess its beneficial effect in promoting the growth of Vicia faba. This strain exhibited the highest RP-solubilization activity ever reported, with 450 mg l⁻¹ of soluble P at 30 °C. At 10 and 20 °C, its RP-solubilization was estimated at 100 and 200 mg l⁻¹, respectively. HPLC analysis revealed that RP-solubilizing activity was associated with the release of gluconic acid. The hydroxyapatite (HA) solubilization activity concomitantly occurred with the secretion of gluconic acid and lactic acid. Under greenhouse conditions, application of BMA1 strain as an inoculant in presence of RP as the sole P source, considerably increased phosphorus uptake by V. faba L. and upgraded its overall growth in terms of dry weight and length by 76% and 39%, respectively. This growth promoting effect was accompanied by a substantial increase in chlorophyll contents. Additionally, phosphorus levels within roots and shoots of S. plymuthica BMA1-treated plants were approximately three times greater, compared to the non-inoculated control plants. When HA was used instead of RP, bacterization with BMA1 strain also enhanced the plant growth parameters and P contents, but significantly less than RP. These findings revealed that S. plymuthica BMA1 could be a potential candidate to improve the agronomic effectiveness of RP, toward a clean P-nutrition through the formulation of bio-phosphate fertilizers for plant growth promotion.