The global population is on the path of an increasing trajectory with a simultaneous decline in arable land resources through salinization and desertification that have resulted mainly from climate change and other anthropogenic activities. Rising temperatures will cause changes in the entire ecosystem, resulting in significant alterations in global climate paradigms and a threat to food security. This review focuses on how the highly resilient Chenopodium quinoa Willd. can sustainably mitigate some of the detrimental impacts, such as starvation, and support or provide ecosystem services. In comparison, compared with the traditional staple food crops, quinoa has remarkable tolerance to abiotic stresses and is highly nutritious, with a unique balance and higher amounts of nutrients, and can therefore be an important crop for food security and nutritional adequacy. This crop has the potential to ameliorate global challenges with respect to increase in global population, effects of climate change, desalinization, phytoremediation, satisfying nutrient deficiency, and alleviating poverty.

Matto AA, Jaikishun S, Ram M. 2023. Impacts of different salinity levels on seedling growth and survival of black mangrove (Avicennia germinans). Asian J For 7: 67-73. Mangroves are important for coastal protection and provide numerous ecosystem services such as breeding, feeding, and nursery grounds for commercial fishes. This research examined the survivability of black mangrove (Avicennia germinans (L.) L.) seedlings in seven salinity concentrations. Growth parameters were collected every ten days, and a post-harvest analysis was done at the end of the data collection period. The results indicated that as the salinity level increased, the growth of the seedlings was reduced. Salinity can affect the different parameters collected in the growth of young seedlings. In the control, which was given zero salinity (0 ppt), it was noted that the growth parameters were not significantly affected. The lower treatments, such as T2 (15 ppt), 3 (30 ppt), and 4 (45 ppt), indicated that the seedlings strive better in these conditions. In treatment 7, which was the highest salinity level (90 ppt), the growth parameters of the seedlings were reduced. The findings of this research indicated that black mangrove seedlings need a low salinity level to have a good growth establishment. Given the adaptability of A. germinans, these mangrove species are anticipated to be flexible to cope with a wide range of future climatic circumstances.

Dandruff, a common scalp condition affecting 50% of the world’s population, is mainly caused by the fungus M. globosa. In this study, the antifungal effect of M. citrifolia, commonly known as noni, was tested against M. globosa. M. citrifolia fruit, leaf, and stem contain phytochemicals including alkaloids, phenols, flavonoids, and glycosides. Extracts of the three plant parts were obtained by maceration method using ethanol, and prepared in concentrations of 100%, 75%, 50% and 25%. The scalps of 6 individuals were swabbed to obtain a sample of M. globosa. The susceptibility of M. globosa to M. citrifolia extracts was tested in triplicate using the disc diffusion method, and a measure of the extent of susceptibility was ascertained by the size of the inhibition zones. It was found that of the 3 extracts, noni fruit showed the highest inhibitory effect with 20/48 discs having inhibition zones, noni stem showed moderate inhibition with 12/48 inhibition zones, while noni leaf exhibited no inhibition zones, indicating its lack of inhibitory effect against M. globosa. Notably, noni fruit at 100% and 75% concentrations proved to be most effective against M. globosa, and at 25% concentrations, noni stem was most effective. However, statistical analysis using both ANOVA and Kruskal Wallis tests indicated that the observed data was insignificant since the p-values were > 0.05. It can therefore be concluded that noni fruit, leaf, and stem extracts have little to no significant inhibitory effect on the growth of M. globosa, notwithstanding, a change in various experimental factors including agar type and extract preparation may prove otherwise.

Quinoa (C. quinoa) is considered a gluten-free food with abundant nutrients and high tolerance to multiple abiotic stresses, which is the potential to become a major crop in future. Genetic manipulation will provide powerful tools to investigate the function and mechanism of those important genes in the regulation of quinoa development and stress responses, and further improve the quinoa in the field. However, the efficient plant transformation system for quinoa has not been well developed yet. Here, we established two rapid and efficient transformation systems for quinoa by using hairy roots and agroinfiltration of leaves, which provide useful tools for quick analysis of gene function. Hairy roots were obtained from three types of explants: cotyledon-nod with hypocotyl, cotyledon itself, and hypocotyl pieces. Interestingly, explants of cotyledon-nod with hypocotyl showed the highest transformation efficiency at 67.9%, and cotyledon displayed medium efficiency at 42.2%, while hypocotyl explants with the lowest at 31.6%. We also obtained transgenic quinoa roots successfully in-vivo, which showed low efficiency but provides a potential method to test gene functions in live plants. By using young leaves for agroinfiltration, direct injection showed a better transgenic effect compared with vacuum penetration. In juxtaposition, the transformation systems using both hairy root and leaf infiltration establish an efficient and convenient way to manipulate and analyze gene functions in quinoa, and a potential strategy for transgenic quinoa.

Chenopodium quinoa is a promising species for future food security and combating climate change due to its nutritional content and halophytic nature. This study focuses on the temporal differential responses of the salt-tolerant (Chadmo) and the salt-sensitive (Kankolla) under control (CK) and 400 mM NaCl arranged under the randomised block designed (RBD). Biochemical features assessed and results indicate a significant difference (p<0.05) being identified by ANOVA and Tukey analyses in total chlorophyll (CHL), carotenoids (CAR), proline, glycine betaine (GB), soluble sugars, K⁺, Na⁺, K⁺/Na⁺ ratio, Mg²⁺ and Ca²⁺ in both genotypes between the CK and 400 mM NaCl. Na⁺ increased while K⁺ and the bivalent ions Mg²⁺ and Ca²⁺ decreased progressively with time points (CK and 24 h) in both genotypes but more pronounced in Kankolla. Proline increased by 24.45 and 18.63% between the CK and 24 h after exposure to 400 mM NaCl in Chadmo and Kankolla, respectively. Similarly, significant increases were observed in ABA, glycine betaine and soluble sugars from the CK to 24 h after exposure to 400 mM NaCl in both genotypes. Using these biochemical responses to salinity, Chadmo proved to be the better-performing genotype when exposed to 400 mM NaCl and hence identified as the salt-tolerant genotype.

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is poised to be a global life changer with its ability to adapt to a wide range of abiotic stresses and as a highly nutritious and sustainable food source. A trial on screening of salt tolerance was conducted at the germination and seedling stages of 69 quinoa genotypes in different concentrations of NaCl 0 (CK), 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 mM for 21 days in the MS/2 mixture. This results in 16 genotypes with >50% germination at 400 mM NaCl. These were reassessed in germination indices and relative growth. Results indicated that Chadmo had the highest germinability of 97% and 32.76% relative height among the 16 genotypes. Considering the germination indices, Chadmo had significantly different values (3.05±0.19 day^-1) in mean germination time, coefficient of variation of the germination time (38.76±1.97%), the velocity of germination (0.23±0.01 day^-1), the uncertainty of germination (0.54±0.08 bit), synchrony of germination (0.42±0.05 and Timson’s index (48.89) with significant differences (P<0.05) among the genotypes. Moreover, Chadmo had the highest membrane stability index (MSI) (60.03±11.84) at 400 mM NaCl and the least relative change between the CK and 400 mM NaCl with 30.87±2.01%. Assessing the stress inhibitory effect of the 16 genotypes, Chadmo had the least relative difference between the CK and 400 mM NaCl with shoot length of 34.34%, root length of 25.57%, fresh weight of 22.05%, dry weight of 3.62% and moisture content of 1.99% with Tukey analyses identifying significant differences (p<0.05). To select the salt-sensitive genotype, an assessment was done on five genotypes that exhibited the least germination at 200 mM NaCl. Kankolla had the least germinability with 12 and 4% at 100 and 200 mM NaCl, respectively. Considering all these parameters, Chadmo and Kankolla were selected as salt-tolerant and salt-sensitive for further analyses.