Salinity is a widespread abiotic stress that devastatingly impacts wheat growth and restricts its productivity worldwide. The present study is aimed at elucidating biochemical, physiological, anatomical, gene expression analysis, and agronomic responses of three diverse wheat genotypes to different salinity levels. A salinity treatment of 5000 and 7000 ppm gradually reduced photosynthetic pigments, anatomical root and leaf measurements and agronomic traits of all evaluated wheat genotypes (Ismailia line, Misr 1, and Misr 3). In addition, increasing salinity levels substantially decreased all anatomical root and leaf measurements except sclerenchyma tissue upper and lower vascular bundle thickness compared with unstressed plants. However, proline content in stressed plants was stimulated by increasing salinity levels in all evaluated wheat genotypes. Moreover, Na+ ions content and antioxidant enzyme activities in stressed leaves increased the high level of salinity in all genotypes. The evaluated wheat genotypes demonstrated substantial variations in all studied characters. The Ismailia line exhibited the uppermost performance in photosynthetic pigments under both salinity levels. Additionally, the Ismailia line was superior in the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase activity (CAT), peroxidase (POX), and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) enzymes followed by Misr 1. Moreover, the Ismailia line recorded the maximum anatomical root and leaf measurements under salinity stress, which enhanced its tolerance to salinity stress. The Ismailia line and Misr 3 presented high up-regulation of H+ATPase, NHX2 HAK, and HKT genes in the root and leaf under both salinity levels. The positive physiological, anatomical, and molecular responses of the Ismailia line under salinity stress were reflected on agronomic performance and exhibited superior values of all evaluated agronomic traits.

The use of functional foods’ phytochemicals in the chemoprevention of different cancer diseases has become one of the hot scientific areas in the clinical nutrition field. For instance, the Khalas palm cultivar (KPC; Phoenix dactylifera) is one of the natural sustainable resources that have high bioactivity and functionality. This study aimed to investigate the antiproliferative activity and mode of action of KPC’s different parts on prostate (Pc3) and pancreatic (panc1) cancer cells at a molecular level. In the methods, KPC’s leaves, seeds, and fruits’ chemical composition and phytochemical analysis were analyzed. Also, the cytotoxic effects of each extract were assessed against pc3 and panc1 cell lines. Besides, induction of apoptosis, cell cycle analysis, and gene expression of both Cap3 and Cap9 were studied. The obtained results indicated that KPC leaves extract exhibited the highest significant (P < 0.01) anti-proliferation activity against the utilized cancer cell lines compared to fruits and seeds extracts. Also, there were significant (P < 0.05) differences in the phenolic contents, flavonoid of compounds, and antioxidant power of the leaves when compared to the seeds and fruits. Additionally, the highest cytotoxic effect (lowest IC₅₀) was recorded with leave extract than seeds and fruits. Meanwhile, the seeds extract induced (P < 0.05) the apoptosis and arrested cells in the G2/M phase as well as up-regulated the gene expression of the apoptotic-related genes (Casp3 and Casp9) compared to the control group. In conclusion, this study showed that the presence of bioactive components in the KPC different parts extracts have the significant ability to induce the apoptotic pathway that could down-regulate the proliferation of prostate (pc3) and pancreatic (panc1) cancer cells. The pathway mechanism of action was induced by the phytol molecule presented in its leaves extract.

The harmful impacts of ozone (O₃) on plant development and productivity have been excessively studied. Furthermore, the positive influences of its low concentrations still need to be explored further. The present study was performed to assess the impact of low concentrations of O₃ on two sweet pepper hybrids under cold stress. The ozonated water was utilized for seed soaking or foliar application at concentrations of 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 ppm. Seed soaking using ozonated water for 1 h was compared to soaking in distilled water as a control. Moreover, exogenously ozonated water was sprayed thrice at three-day intervals compared with untreated control. The differences between the applied methods (seed soaking and foliar application using ozonated water) were not statistically detected in most of the evaluated parameters. On the other hand, the evaluated hybrids displayed significant differences in the studied parameters, with the superiority of the Lirica evident in most germination and seedling growth parameters. Both applied methods significantly improved germination and seedling growth parameters. In particular, the concentration of 40 ppm displayed the highest enhancement of the germination index, coefficient velocity, and seedling quality. In addition, it promoted the seedling maintenance of high relative water content (RWC), chlorophyll, proline, and ascorbate peroxidase activity under cold stress conditions. Moreover, it protected the cell wall from damage by decreasing membrane permeability (MP). Generally, the best results were obtained from 40 ppm followed by 30 ppm of O₃ as seed soaking or foliar spray. The results pointed out the possible use of O₃ in a low concentration to protect the plants from cold stress during germination and early plant growth.

Drought is one of the major environmental stresses that devastatingly impact squash development, growth, and productivity. Potassium silicate can attenuate the injuries caused by water stress. Hence, this study was designed to investigate the influence of three concentrations of potassium silicate; 10, 15, and 20 g/L on squash plants versus untreated control under three irrigation regimes; 100, 75, and 50% of estimated crop evapotranspiration (ET). The obtained results indicated that moderate (75% ET) or severe (50% ET) drought stress conditions gradually declined photosynthetic pigments, relative water content (RWC), mineral content, physiological parameters, and anatomical characteristics. These deleterious impacts were reflected on all growth and yield traits, i.e., plant height, fresh and dry weight of root and shoot, and fruit yield. On the other hand, the antioxidant enzyme activities; superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and peroxidase (POX) significantly increased under severe drought stress at 50% ET followed by 75% ET. However, all evaluated exogenous applications of potassium silicate substantially enhanced photosynthetic pigments, RWC, N, P, and K content, antioxidant enzyme activities, and anatomical characters (periderm thickness, cortex thickness, midrib thickness, mesophyll thickness, number of xylem vessels per main vascular bundle, thickness of vascular bundle, thickness of collenchymatous tissue and upper epidermis, and thickness of collenchymatous tissue and lower epidermis). These desirable impacts were reflected in enhancing all growth and yield parameters. Conclusively, this study alludes that the exogenously applied of potassium silicate, particularly at 20 g/L, can alleviate the deleterious effects of drought stress and enhance the growth and productivity of squash plants, especially in arid environments.

The genetic variability and relationships between ten bottle gourd cultivars were evaluated based on morphological, biochemical, and molecular parameters. The results displayed high variability among selected cultivars in terms of photosynthetic pigments, total free amino acids, total phenol content, isozymes pattern, and protein electrophoresis. Furthermore, differences in molecular markers were revealed by the SCoT technique. The peroxidase (POD) and polyphenyl oxidase (PPO) isozymes patterns did not detect significant differences in bands among cultivars. The protein patterns revealed seventeen bands ranging from 126 to 9 kDa and five polymorphic bands representing 29.41%. On the other hand, eight SCoT primers were used to evaluate the genetic variability and relationships between the ten Egyptian bottle gourd cultivars. The results of SCoT analysis detected 44 amplicons with 50% polymorphism. In addition, the results of the phylogenetic tree that is constructed based on the similarity coefficient revealed by SCoT analysis confirm the results of biochemical analysis indicating a genetic relationship between the most efficient bottle gourd cultivars (S1 and S2 cultivars). In addition, there is a genetic relationship among the less efficient bottle gourd cultivars (S4 and S5 cultivars). These results could be beneficial to distinguish among bottle gourd cultivars in the plant breeding programs.