Wheat is one of the world’s most commonly consumed cereal grains. During abiotic stresses, the physiological and biochemical alterations in the cells reduce growth and development of plants that ultimately decrease the yield of wheat. Therefore, novel approaches are needed for sustainable wheat production under the changing climate to ensure food and nutritional security of the ever-increasing population of the world. There are two ways to alleviate the adverse effects of abiotic stresses in sustainable wheat production. These are (i) development of abiotic stress tolerant wheat cultivars by molecular breeding, speed breeding, genetic engineering, and/or gene editing approaches such as clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-Cas toolkit, and (ii) application of improved agronomic, nano-based agricultural technology, and other climate-smart agricultural technologies. The development of stress-tolerant wheat cultivars by mobilizing global biodiversity and using molecular breeding, speed breeding, genetic engineering, and/or gene editing approaches such as CRISPR-Cas toolkit is considered the most promising ways for sustainable wheat production in the changing climate in major wheat-growing regions of the world. This comprehensive review updates the adverse effects of major abiotic stresses and discusses the potentials of some novel approaches such as molecular breeding, biotechnology and genetic-engineering, speed breeding, nanotechnology, and improved agronomic practices for sustainable wheat production in the changing climate.

The trace element selenium (Se) is a crucial element for many living organisms, including soil microorganisms, plants and animals, including humans. Generally, in Nature Se is taken up in the living cells of microorganisms, plants, animals and humans in several inorganic forms such as selenate, selenite, elemental Se and selenide. These forms are converted to organic forms by biological process, mostly as the two selenoamino acids selenocysteine (SeCys) and selenomethionine (SeMet). The biological systems of plants, animals and humans can fix these amino acids into Se-containing proteins by a modest replacement of methionine with SeMet. While the form SeCys is usually present in the active site of enzymes, which is essential for catalytic activity. Within human cells, organic forms of Se are significant for the accurate functioning of the immune and reproductive systems, the thyroid and the brain, and to enzyme activity within cells. Humans ingest Se through plant and animal foods rich in the element. The concentration of Se in foodstuffs depends on the presence of available forms of Se in soils and its uptake and accumulation by plants and herbivorous animals. Therefore, improving the availability of Se to plants is, therefore, a potential pathway to overcoming human Se deficiencies. Among these prospective pathways, the Se-biofortification of plants has already been established as a pioneering approach for producing Se-enriched agricultural products. To achieve this desirable aim of Se-biofortification, molecular breeding and genetic engineering in combination with novel agronomic and edaphic management approaches should be combined. This current review summarizes the roles, responses, prospects and mechanisms of Se in human nutrition. It also elaborates how biofortification is a plausible approach to resolving Se-deficiency in humans and other animals.

The requirement for agricultural crops continues to enhance with the continuous growth of the human population globally. Plant pathogenic diseases outbreaks are enhancing and threatening food security and safety for the vulnerable in different regions worldwide. Silicon (Si) is considered a non-essential element for plant growth. It regulates the biological functions, plant development and productivity, and balance the defense mechanism in response to fungal, bacterial and pest attacks. The optimum crop yield can be achieved by applying Si in agricultural systems through different methods to replace or minimize the use of synthetic fertilizers. This approach can be effective on crop production during limited resources, extreme climates, pests and diseases, and environmental pollution. Silicon can be applied as foliar spray, priming of seeds, soil water irrigation, soil amendment and soilless medium (hydroponic) to enhance plant performance and stress tolerance capacity during stress conditions. This article summarized the effective roles of Si and the ability to perform in agroecosystems for better crop production, food security and safety for sustainable agriculture in the future.