Clonostachys rosea is an important mycoparasite, with great potential for controlling numerous plant fungal diseases. Understanding the mechanisms and modes of action will assist the development and application of this biocontrol fungus. In this study, the highly efficient C. rosea 67-1 strain was marked with the green fluorescent protein (GFP), and the transformant possessed the same biological characteristics as the wild-type strain. Fungal interactions with Botrytis cinerea during co-culture and encounter on tomato leaves were assessed by fluorescence confocal and electron microscopy. The results indicated that once the two fungi met, the hyphae of C. rosea grew alongside those of B. cinerea, then attached tightly to the host and developed special structures, via which the biocontrol fungus penetrated the host and absorbed nutrients, eventually disintegrating the cells of the pathogen. Mycoparasitism to B. cinerea was also observed on tomato leaves, suggesting that C. rosea can colonize on plants and act following the invasion of the pathogenic fungus.

In the scenario of global climate change, understanding how plants respond to drought is critical for developing future crops that face restricted water resources. This present study focuses on the role of WRKY transcription factors on drought tolerance in tomato, Solanum lycopersicum L., which is a significant vegetable crop. WRKY transcription factors are a group of proteins that regulate a wild range of growth and developmental processes in plants such as seed germination and dormancy and the stress response. These transcription factors are defined by the presence of a DNA-binding domain, namely, the WRKY domain. It is well-known that WRKY transcription factors can interact with a variety of proteins and therefore control downstream activities. It aims to simulate the effect of curcumin, a bioactive compound with regulatory capacity, on the protein–protein interaction events by WRKY transcription factors with an emphasis on drought stress. It was found that curcumin binds to WRKY with an energy of −11.43 kcal/mol with inhibitory concentration (K_i) 0.12 mM and has the potential to improve fruit quality and reinforce drought tolerance of S. lycopersicum, according to the results based on bioinformatics tools. The root means square deviation (RMSD) of the C-α, the backbone of 2AYD with ligand coupled complex, displayed a very stable structure with just a little variation of 1.89 Å. MD simulation trajectory of Cα atoms of 2AYD bound to Curcumin revealed more un-ordered orientation in PC1 and PC10 modes and more toward negative correlation from the initial 400 frames during PCA. Establishing the binding energies of the ligand–target interaction is essential in order to characterize the compound’s binding affinity to the drought transcription factor. We think we have identified a phyto-agent called curcumin that has the potential to enhance the drought tolerance. Compared to the part of the mismatch repair-base technique that can be used to fix drought related genes, curcumin performed better in a drop-in crop yield over time, and it was suggested that curcumin is a potential candidate factor for improving drought tolerance in tomatoes, and it needs future validation by experiments in laboratory and field.

Genetic variations are a crucial source of germplasm heterogeneity, as they contribute to the development of new traits for plant breeding by offering an allele resource. Gamma rays have been widely used as a physical agent to produce mutations in plants, and their mutagenic effect has attracted much attention. Nonetheless, few studies have examined the whole mutation spectrum in large-scale phenotypic evaluations. To comprehensively investigate the mutagenic effects of gamma irradiation on lentils, biological consequences on the M₁ generation and substantial phenotypic screening on the M₂ generation were undertaken. Additionally, the study followed the selected mutants into the M₃ generation to evaluate the agronomic traits of interest for crop improvement. Seeds of lentil variety Moitree were irradiated with a range of acute gamma irradiation doses (0, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, and 350 Gy) to induce unique genetic variability. This research focused on determining the GR₅₀ value while considering seedling parameters and examining the status of pollen fertility while comparing the effects of the gamma irradiation dosages. The GR₅₀ value was determined to be 217.2 Gy using the seedling parameters. Pollens from untreated seed-grown plants were approximately 85% fertile, but those treated with the maximum dosage (350 Gy) were approximately 28% fertile. Numerous chlorophyll and morphological mutants were produced in the M₂ generation, with the 300 Gy -treated seeds being the most abundant, followed by the 250 Gy -treated seeds. This demonstrated that an appropriate dosage of gamma rays was advantageous when seeking to generate elite germplasm resources for one or multiple traits. Selected mutants in the M₃ generation showed improved agronomic traits, including plant height, root length, number of pods per plant, and yield per plant. These investigations will contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the mutagenic effects and actions of gamma rays, providing a basis for the selection and design of suitable mutagens. This will facilitate the development of more controlled mutagenesis protocols for plant breeding and help guide future research directions for crop improvement using radiation-induced mutation breeding techniques.

Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) are rhizosphere-dwelling microorganisms which hold a great deal of potential for both plant growth stimulation and disease prevention. The characterization of PGPR will aid in the advancement and deployment of biocontrol agents. In this present work, rhizospheric soils were collected from several locations of Sylhet Agricultural University in order to obtain plant growth promoting rhizobacteria. Nineteen bacterial samples were extracted from a variety of fifteen distinct vegetable crops, viz. tomato, brinjal, beans, okra, cabbage, cauliflower, pumpkin, amaranth, malabar spinach, bitter gourd, ridge gourd, spiny gourd, sponge gourd, wax gourd, and snake gourd. These isolates were examined morphologically, biochemically, and screened for plant growth stimulating capability as well as their efficacy in combating the plant pathogen Fusarium oxysporum through antifungal activity. Among the isolates, only Lysinibacillus macroides (RB2), Lysinibacillus fusiformis (RB6) and Acinetobacter baumannii (RB15 and RB17) showed antifungal and growth promotion potentials. Therefore, the present study indicates that the vegetable rhizosphere contains potential rhizobacteria which could be utilized to enhance plant development and reduce disease incidence on vegetable crops.