Catharanthus roseus is a medicinal plant that produces indole alkaloids, which are utilized in anticancer therapy. Vinblastine and vincristine, two commercially important antineoplastic alkaloids, are mostly found in the leaves of Catharanthus roseus. ĸ-carrageenan has been proven as plant growth promoting substance for a number of medicinal and agricultural plants. Considering the importance of ĸ-carrageenan as a promoter of plant growth and phytochemical constituents, especially alkaloids production in Catharanthus roseus, an experiment was carried out to explore the effect of ĸ-carrageenan on the plant growth, phytochemicals content, pigments content, and production of antitumor alkaloids in Catharanthus roseus after planting. Foliar application of ĸ-carrageenan (at 0, 400, 600 and 800 ppm) significantly improved the performance of Catharanthus roseus. Phytochemical analysis involved determining the amount of total phenolics (TP), flavonoids (F), free amino acids (FAA), alkaloids (TAC) and pigments contents by spectrophotometer, minerals by ICP, amino acids, phenolic compounds and alkaloids (Vincamine, Catharanthine, Vincracine (Vincristine), and vinblastine) analysis uses HPLC. The results indicated that all examined ĸ-carrageenan treatments led to a significant (p ≤ 0.05) increase in growth parameters compared to the untreated plants. Phytochemical examination indicates that the spray of ĸ-carrageenan at 800 mg L⁻¹ increased the yield of alkaloids (Vincamine, Catharanthine and Vincracine (Vincristine)) by 41.85 μg/g DW, total phenolic compounds by 3948.6 μg gallic/g FW, the content of flavonoids 951.3 μg quercetin /g FW and carotenoids content 32.97 mg/g FW as compared to the control. An amount of 400 ppm ĸ-carrageenan treatment gave the best contents of FAA, Chl a, Chl b and anthocyanin. The element content of K, Ca, Cu, Zn and Se increased by treatments. Amino acids constituents and phenolics compounds contents were altered by ĸ-carrageenan.

Understanding the role of cysteine-rich receptor-like kinases (CRKs) in plant defense mechanisms is crucial for enhancing wheat resistance to leaf rust fungus infection. Here, we identified and verified 164 members of the CRK gene family using the Triticum aestivum reference version 2 collected from the international wheat genome sequencing consortium (IWGSC). The proteins exhibited characteristic features of CRKs, including the presence of signal peptides, cysteine-rich/stress antifungal/DUF26 domains, transmembrane domains, and Pkinase domains. Phylogenetic analysis revealed extensive diversification within the wheat CRK gene family, indicating the development of distinct specific functional roles to wheat plants. When studying the expression of the CRK gene family in near-isogenic lines (NILs) carrying Lr57- and Lr14a-resistant genes, Puccinia triticina, the causal agent of leaf rust fungus, triggered temporal gene expression dynamics. The upregulation of specific CRK genes in the resistant interaction indicated their potential role in enhancing wheat resistance to leaf rust, while contrasting gene expression patterns in the susceptible interaction highlighted potential susceptibility associated CRK genes. The study uncovered certain CRK genes that exhibited expression upregulation upon leaf rust infection and the Lr14a-resistant gene. The findings suggest that targeting CRKs may present a promising strategy for improving wheat resistance to rust diseases.

Compared to seeds and mature tissues, sprouts are well known for their higher nutritive and biological values. Fruits of Pimpinella anisum (anise) are extensively consumed as food additives; however, the sprouting-induced changes in their nutritious metabolites are hardly studied. Herein, we investigated the bioactive metabolites, phytochemicals, and antioxidant properties of fruits, sprouts (9-day-old), and mature tissue (5-week-old) of anise under laser irradiation treatment (He-Ne laser, 632 nm). Laser treatment increased biomass accumulation of both anise sprouts and mature plants. Bioactive primary (e.g., proteins and sugars) and secondary metabolites (e.g., phenolic compounds), as well as mineral levels, were significantly enhanced by sprouting and/or laser light treatment. Meanwhile, laser light has improved the levels of essential oils and their related precursors (e.g., phenylalanine), as well as enzyme activities [e.g., O–methyltransferase and 3-Deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate-7-phosphate synthase (DAHPS)] in mature tissues. Moreover, laser light induced higher levels of antioxidant and anti-lipidemic activities in sprouts as compared to fruits and mature tissues. Particularly at the sprouting stage, anise was more responsive to laser light treatment than mature plants.

A sand culture experiment was carried out to study the effects of sulfur deprivation on heat stress tolerance of two cluster bean (Cymopsis tetragonoloba L. Taub) cultivars (GC-1 and Pusa Nau Bahar (PNB)). Three weeks old sulfur-starved and sulfur-supplemented plants were subjected to heat stress (45°C/35°C) treatment for 24 h. Total dry weight, chlorophyll content, Chlorophyll a:b ratio, electrolyte leakage, malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation, H₂O₂ content, sugar, glucose-6-phosphate (G-6-P), fructose-6-phosphate (F-6-P), ascorbate and glutathione concentrations and antioxidant enzyme activity (superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT)) were monitored, at the end of the heat stress treatment. Heat stress enhanced and sulfur starvation depleted the contents of sugar metabolites, but the accumulation of sugar, G-6-P and F-6-P were not related with heat stress tolerance. Antioxidant enzyme activities of SOD and CAT were influenced significantly more by sulfur starvation than heat stress. The results showed that under heat stress, the addition of sulfur helps to mitigate the oxidative damage in both the cultivars. However, GC-1 was more heat tolerant as it was characterized by significantly higher total dry weight, chlorophyll content, ascorbate and glutathione content and lower H₂O₂, MDA, electrolyte leakage than PNB.

Artemisia judaica L. (Compositae) are shrubby herbs growing wildly in Tabuk region and distributed in the desert regions. This region is characterized by extremely variable environmental conditions where the temperature varies from extreme low to extreme high. These temperature regimes have a profound effect on morphology, growth physiology and biochemistry of the plants. The plant samples were collected from Tabuk-Jordan road (760 m above sea level) in the month of January, April, July and October 2013 to evaluate the effect of temperature dynamics on A. judaica L. in four different seasons. Physiological, biochemical alterations and heat shock proteins (HSPs) were studied during these seasons in order to evaluate the environmental adaptation and stress tolerance in response to temperature variations. Plant growth parameters showed a significant increase in height, fresh and dry matter accumulation, total chlorophyll, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, artemisinin and leaf relative water contents investigated in the month of April and October. Growth of plant was suppressed and an active role of carbonic anhydrase (CA), catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) was observed to cope with the extreme low temperature in January and extreme high temperature in July 2013. However, the plants collected in October and April did not show a statistical difference. Inductions in the expression of HSP90 were recorded in all the plants collected during April and October 2013 with no statistically significant difference. Therefore, based on the results it is recommended that during April and October the environmental conditions are best suitable for growth, development and medicinal use of Artemisia.