Fungal infestations, particularly from Rhizopus stolonifer, pose significant post-harvest challenges for strawberries, compromising their shelf life and quality. Traditional preservation methods, including refrigeration, offer limited protection against such pathogens. This study introduces an innovative approach, utilizing edible films infused with Bacillus subtilis strains GOS 01 B-67748 and HFC 103, known for their antifungal properties. We demonstrate that these bioactive films not only inhibit fungal growth effectively but also enhance the preservation of strawberries at varying temperatures. The inclusion of Bacillus subtilis in edible films represents a significant advancement in extending the viability of strawberries, surpassing the efficacy of conventional methods. Our findings suggest a promising avenue for natural, safe food preservation techniques, aligning with current consumer preferences for additive-free products. This research contributes to the broader understanding of microbial-based food preservation strategies, offering potential applications across a range of perishable commodities.

Intentional use of low dosage of herbicides has been considered the cause of non-target resistance in weeds. However, herbicide drift could be a source of low dosage that could be detected by weeds and change their metabolism. Furthermore, the minimum dose that a plant can detect in the environment is unknown, and it is unclear whether low doses could modify the response of weeds when they are first exposed to herbicides (priming effects). In this study, we determined the metabolomic fingerprinting using GC-MS of susceptible Avena fatua L. plants exposed to a gradient of doses (1, 0.1, 0.001, 0.0001, and 0x) relative to the recommended dose of clodinafop-propargyl. Additionally, we evaluated the primed plants when they received a second herbicide application. The results showed that even a 10,000-fold dilution of the recommended dose could induce a significant change in the plants’ metabolism and that this change is permanent over the biological cycle. There was no evidence that priming increased its resistance level. However, hormesis increased biomass accumulation and survival in A. fatua plants. Better application methods which prevent herbicide drift should be developed in order to avoid contact with weeds that grow around the crop fields.

Herbicide resistance is an evolutionary process that affects entire agricultural regions’ yield and productivity. The high number of farms and the diversity of weed management can generate hot selection spots throughout the regions. Resistant biotypes can present a diversity of mechanisms of resistance and resistance factors depending on selective conditions inside the farm; this situation is similar to predictions by the geographic mosaic theory of coevolution. In Mexico, the agricultural region of the Bajio has been affected by herbicide resistance for 25 years. To date, Avena fatua L. is one of the most abundant and problematic weed species. The objective of this study was to determine the mechanism of resistance of biotypes with failures in weed control in 70 wheat and barley crop fields in the Bajio, Mexico. The results showed that 70% of farms have biotypes with target site resistance (TSR). The most common mutations were Trp–1999–Cys, Asp–2078–Gly, Ile–2041–Asn, and some of such mutations confer cross-resistance to ACCase-inhibiting herbicides. Metabolomic fingerprinting showed four different metabolic expression patterns. The results confirmed that in the Bajio, there exist multiple selection sites for both resistance mechanisms, which proves that this area can be considered as a geographic mosaic of resistance.

Herbicide resistance is an evolutionary process that may involve changes in physiological and ecological traits related to plant fitness. This type of resistance occurs in littleseed canarygrass ( Phalaris minor ). This study was aimed to determine the effect of resistance to ACCase-inhibiting herbicides on fitness of seed accessions of littleseed canarygrass. Seed characteristics are important because they may determine the outcome of competition between susceptible (S) and resistant (R) biotypes. Experiments were performed to determine whether differences between S and R accessions in embryo size, dormancy, longevity, and germination speed might occur. Differences in plant fitness associated to herbicide resistance were found in seed physiological characteristics. The embryo size of R accessions was reduced up to 50 % (on a dry weight basis), which resulted in an increase in the number of days required to germinate and a reduction in the germination speed. Damage to membranes, which is related to longevity, was more severe in the R accessions. The observed decrease in seed vigor could affect the establishment of seedlings, which may explain the low success of R accessions under herbicide selection pressure.