Iodine is an essential microelement for human health, and the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of such element should range from 40 to 200 μg day⁻¹. Because of the low iodine contents in vegetables, cereals, and many other foods, iodine deficiency disorder (IDD) is one of the most widespread nutrient-deficiency diseases in the world. Therefore, investigations of I uptake in plants with the aim of fortifying them can help reach the important health and social objective of IDD elimination. This study was conducted to determine the effects of the absorption of iodine from two different chemical forms—potassium iodide (I⁻) and potassium iodate (IO⁻ ₃)—in a wide range of wild and cultivated plant species. Pot plants were irrigated with different concentrations of I⁻ or IO⁻ ₃, namely 0.05% and 0.1% (w/v) I⁻ and 0.05%, 0.1%, 0.2%, and 0.5% (w/v) IO⁻ ₃. Inhibiting effects on plant growth were observed after adding these amounts of iodine to the irrigation water. Plants were able to tolerate high levels of iodine as IO⁻ ₃ better than I⁻ in the root environment. Among cultivated species, barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) showed the lowest biomass reductions due to iodine toxicity and maize (Zea mays L.) together with tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) showed the greatest. After the screening, cultivated tomato and potato were shown to be good targets for a fortification-rate study among the species screened. When fed with 0.05% iodine salts, potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) tubers and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) fruits absorbed iodine up to 272 and 527 μg/100 g fresh weight (FW) from IO⁻ ₃ and 1,875 and 3,900 μg/100 g FW from I⁻. These uptake levels were well more than the RDA of 150 μg day⁻¹ for adults. Moreover, the agronomic efficiency of iodine accumulation of potato tubers and tomato fruits was calculated. Both plant organs showed greater accumulation efficiency for given units of iodine from iodide than from iodate. This accumulation efficiency decreased in both potato tubers and tomato fruits at iodine concentrations greater than 0.05% for iodide and at respectively 0.2% and 0.1% for iodate. On the basis of the uptake curve, it was finally possible to calculate the doses of supply in the irrigation water of iodine as iodate (0.028% for potato and 0.014% for tomato) as well as of iodide (0.004% for potato and 0.002% for tomato) to reach the 150 μg day⁻¹ RDA for adults in 100 g of such vegetables, to efficiently control IDD, although these results still need to be validated.

With the aim to examine its potential as a renewable resource to decontaminate polluted soils, electron microscopy combined with X-ray microanalysis was used to investigate the localization of copper in Cannabis sativa grown in hydroponic copper-rich culture. Cu was found to accumulate preferentially in the upper leaf epidermal cells; it was also detected in spiculae and in abaxial trichomes too. Primary bast fibres seem to be not involved in copper accumulation.

Life evolved in an acoustic world. Sound is perceived in different ways by the species that inhabit the Planet. Among organisms, also some algal species seem to respond to sound stimuli with increased cell growth and productivity. The purpose of this Short Communication is to provide an overview of the current literature about various organisms and sound, with particular attention to algal organisms, which, when subjected to sound applications, can change their metabolism accordingly.

We investigated the effect of auxin and acetylcholine on the expression of the tomato expansin gene LeEXPA2, a specific expansin gene expressed in elongating tomato hypocotyl segments. Since auxin interferes with clathrin-mediated endocytosis, in order to regulate cellular and developmental responses we produced protoplasts from tomato elongating hypocotyls and followed the endocytotic marker, FM4-64, internalization in response to treatments. Tomato protoplasts were observed during auxin and acetylcholine treatments after transient expression of chimerical markers of volume-control related compartments such as vacuoles. Here we describe the contribution of auxin and acetylcholine to LeEXPA2 expression regulation and we support the hypothesis that a possible subcellular target of acetylcholine signal is the vesicular transport, shedding some light on the characterization of this small molecule as local mediator in the plant physiological response.

Plants have long been considered passive, static, and unchanging organisms, but this view is finally changing. More and more knowledge is showing that plants are aware of their surroundings, and they respond to a surprising variety of stimuli by modifying their growth and development. Plants extensively communicate with the world around them, above and below ground. Although communication through mycorrhizal networks and Volatile Organic Compounds has been known for a long time, acoustic perception and communication are somehow a final frontier of research. Perhaps surprisingly, plants not only respond to sound, they actually seem to emit sound as well. Roots emit audible clicks during growth, and sounds are emitted from xylem vessels, although the nature of these acoustic emissions still needs to be clarified. Even more interesting, there is the possibility that these sounds carry information with ecological implications, such as alerting insects of the hydration state of a possible host plant, and technological implications as well. Monitoring sound emissions could possibly allow careful monitoring of the hydration state of crops, which could mean significantly less water used during irrigation. This review summarizes the current knowledge on sound perception communication in plants and illustrates possible implications and technological applications.