Climate change poses a serious threat to agricultural production. Water deficit in agricultural soils is one of the consequences of climate change that has a negative impact on crop growth and yield. Selenium (Se) is known to be involved in plant defense against biotic and abiotic stress through metabolic, structural, and physiological activity in higher plants. The aim of this study was to investigate the physiological response of Se-biofortified soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) seedlings under osmotic stress. For this research, we used biofortified soybean grain obtained after foliar Se biofortification in 2020. The experiment was conducted in a growth chamber with two cultivars (Lucija and Sonja) grown on filter paper in three replicates. The experiment was carried out with two watering treatments: distilled water (PEG-0) and 2.5% polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG-2.5) on Se-biofortified seeds (Se) and nonbiofortified seeds (wSe). Contents of lipid peroxidation product (LP), free proline (PRO), total phenolic content (TP), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and ascorbic acid (AA) were analyzed in 7-days-old seedlings. Significant differences were detected in the Se content of soybean grains between the two cultivars. A milder reaction to PEG-2.5 was observed in cultivar Lucija in both Se and wSe treatments, which might represent the mitigating effects of Se on osmotic stress in this cultivar. Contrarily, in cultivar Sonja, Se adversely affected all analyzed traits in the PEG-2.5 treatment. Ultimately, Se is a pro-oxidant in Sonja, whereas it represents an anti-oxidant in Lucija. In conclusion, different soybean cultivars show contrasting physiological reactions to both osmotic stress and Se. However, the activation of antioxidant pathways in Sonja can also be interpreted as added value in soybean seedlings as a functional food.

Nitrogen fertilizer efficiency in grapevine production is an important objective for solving the trade-off between improving yield and quality in agroecosystems and reducing environmental impacts. Influence of soil nitrogen fertilization and Fe foliar application on iron dynamics in soil and grapevine leaves of the ‘Graševina’ cultivar on carbonate soil was conducted in a two-year study in 2018 and 2019. The experiment was settled in three replicates on a total of seven fertilization treatments that differed in used form of nitrogen fertilizer and foliar application of Fe before and after the flowering of the grapevine: control (C); calcium ammonium nitrate (KAN); calcium ammonium nitrate + foliar Fe (KAN^+F); ammonium sulfate (AS); ammonium sulfate + foliar Fe (AS^+F); ammonium sulfonitrate + foliar Fe (ASN^+F); urea + foliar Fe (U^+F). Mineral fertilization with acid-forming nitrogen fertilizers (AS and ASN) significantly affected local acidification of alkaline soil, i.e., reducing the actual and exchangeable soil pH reaction, which resulted in increased soil Fe availability. Despite the increase in soil iron availability, no increased iron bioaccumulation in the grapevine leaves was found in the flowering and veraison stages at treatments where foliar fertilization was omitted. Of all the observed treatments, only foliar fertilization had a positive effect on iron concentration in the grapevine leaves, which leads to the conclusion that this is an effective way to solve iron deficiency symptoms and chlorosis occurrence. The use of mineral fertilizers with acid-forming nitrogen fertilizers for many years can result in a reduction of required foliar treatments and thus significantly affect the ecological and economic aspects of grape production. Thus, integrated iron management is needed to meet the needs of the grapevine for this micronutrient and to reduce the occurrence of leaf chlorosis in carbonate soil.

Dipeptidyl peptidase III (DPP III), a zinc-dependent exopeptidase, is a member of the metalloproteinase family M49 with distribution detected in almost all forms of life. Although the physiological role of human DPP III (hDPP III) is not yet fully elucidated, its involvement in pathophysiological processes such as mammalian pain modulation, blood pressure regulation, and cancer processes, underscores the need to find new hDPP III inhibitors. In this research, five series of structurally different coumarin derivatives were studied to provide a relationship between their inhibitory profile toward hDPP III combining an in vitro assay with an in silico molecular modeling study. The experimental results showed that 26 of the 40 tested compounds exhibited hDPP III inhibitory activity at a concentration of 10 µM. Compound 12 (3-benzoyl-7-hydroxy-2H-chromen-2-one) proved to be the most potent inhibitor with IC₅₀ value of 1.10 μM. QSAR modeling indicates that the presence of larger substituents with double and triple bonds and aromatic hydroxyl groups on coumarin derivatives increases their inhibitory activity. Docking predicts that 12 binds to the region of inter-domain cleft of hDPP III while binding mode analysis obtained by MD simulations revealed the importance of 7-OH group on the coumarin core as well as enzyme residues Ile315, Ser317, Glu329, Phe381, Pro387, and Ile390 for the mechanism of the binding pattern and compound 12 stabilization. The present investigation, for the first time, provides an insight into the inhibitory effect of coumarin derivatives on this human metalloproteinase.

Drought stress during germination and early seedling growth can impair soybean performance, while silicon nanoparticle (SiNP) seed priming may modulate early stress responses. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of SiNP seed priming on the germination, early seedling growth, and biochemical responses of 11 soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) genotypes under non-stressed conditions and two levels of PEG-induced drought stress (5% and 10% PEG 6000), and to assess how these responses varied with stress intensity and genotype. Seeds were untreated, hydroprimed, or primed with SiO₂ nanoparticles at 500 or 1000 mg L⁻¹. Across genotypes and stress levels, priming generally increased germination energy and total germination and reduced non-germinated seeds, with similar improvements observed following hydropriming and SiNP priming, whereas normal seedling development was not consistently improved. Increasing stress strongly inhibited shoot elongation and seedling fresh mass, whereas root growth was comparatively maintained. SiNP priming generally resulted in higher seedling fresh mass, with SiNPs 500 producing higher values than the untreated control in most genotypes under mild stress and all genotypes under severe stress. SiNP priming also increased proline accumulation and total amylolytic activity, with SiNPs 1000 showing the highest values under mild and severe stress. Overall, SiNP seed priming most consistently improved soybean germination under PEG-induced drought stress, whereas its effects on early seedling growth and biochemical responses varied with nanoparticle concentration, genotype, and stress intensity.