The present study was aimed at isolating endophytic fungi from the Asian culinary and medicinal plant Lilium davidii and analyzing its antifungal and plant growth‐promoting effects. In this study, the fungal endophyte Acremonium sp. Ld‐03 was isolated from the bulbs of L. davidii and identified through morphological and molecular analysis. The molecular and morphological analysis confirmed the endophytic fungal strain as Acremonium sp. Ld‐03. Antifungal effects of Ld‐03 were observed against Fusarium oxysporum, Botrytis cinerea, Botryosphaeria dothidea, and Fusarium fujikuroi. The highest growth inhibition, i.e., 78.39 ± 4.21%, was observed for B. dothidea followed by 56.68 ± 4.38%, 43.62 ± 3.81%, and 20.12 ± 2.45% for B. cinerea, F. fujikuroi, and F. oxysporum, respectively. Analysis of the ethyl acetate fraction through UHPLC‐LTQ‐IT‐MS/MS revealed putative secondary metabolites which included xanthurenic acid, valyl aspartic acid, gancidin W, peptides, and cyclic dipeptides such as valylarginine, cyclo‐[L‐(4‐hydroxy‐Pro)‐L‐leu], cyclo(Pro‐Phe), and (3S,6S)‐3‐benzyl‐6‐(4‐hydroxybenzyl)piperazine‐2,5‐dione. Other metabolites included (S)‐3‐(4‐hydroxyphenyl)‐2‐((S)‐pyrrolidine‐2‐carboxamido)propanoic acid, dibutyl phthalate (DBP), 9‐octadecenamide, D‐erythro‐C18‐Sphingosine, N‐palmitoyl sphinganine, and hydroxypalmitoyl sphinganine. The strain Ld‐03 showed indole acetic acid (IAA) production with or without the application of exogenous tryptophan. The IAA ranged from 53.12 ± 3.20 μg ml^-1 to 167.71 ± 7.12 μg ml^-1 under different tryptophan concentrations. The strain was able to produce siderophore, and its production was significantly decreased with increasing Fe(III) citrate concentrations in the medium. The endophytic fungal strain also showed production of organic acids and phosphate solubilization activity. Plant growth‐promoting effects of the strain were evaluated on in vitro seedling growth of Allium tuberosum. Application of 40% culture dilution resulted in a significant increase in root and shoot length, i.e., 24.03 ± 2.71 mm and 37.27 ± 1.86 mm, respectively, compared to nontreated control plants. The fungal endophyte Ld‐03 demonstrated the potential of conferring disease resistance and plant growth promotion. Therefore, we conclude that the isolated Acremonium sp. Ld‐03 should be further investigated before utilization as a biocontrol agent and plant growth stimulator.

Abiotic stresses especially salinity, drought and high temperature result in considerable reduction of crop productivity. In this study, we identified AT4G18280 annotated as a glycine-rich cell wall protein-like (hereafter refer to as GRPL1) protein as a potential multistress-responsive gene. Analysis of public transcriptome data and GUS assay of pGRPL1::GUS showed a strong induction of GRPL1 under drought, salinity and heat stresses. Transgenic plants overexpressing GRPL1-3HA showed significantly higher germination, root elongation and survival rate under salt stress. Moreover, the 35S::GRPL1-3HA transgenic lines also showed higher survival rates under drought and heat stresses. GRPL1 showed similar expression patterns with Abscisic acid (ABA)-pathway genes under different growth and stress conditions, suggesting a possibility that GRPL1 might act in the ABA pathway that is further supported by the inability of ABA-deficient mutant (aba2-1) to induce GRPL1 under drought stress. Taken together, our data presents GRPL1 as a potential multi-stress responsive gene working downstream of ABA.

Genetic distances among different chickpea varieties and evaluation of their free amino acid profiles were determined on the basis of Sodium dodecyle sulphate polyacrylamide gels electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Total soluble proteins were resolved on 10% SDS Polyacrylamide gel. Low variability in tested varieties was observed. Dendogram based on electrophoretic data clustered the genotypes into 2 groups. The results showed that the average protein content of all the varieties was 26.01% within the range 22.8% for Thal-2006 to 34.06% Sheenghar-2000 of dry seed weight. On the basis of total protein content Bittal-98, Dasht and Sheen Ghar-2000, Karak-3 and CM-98, Paidar -91 and Fakhr-e-Thal, C-44, Balaksar and KK-1showed similar concentrations for protein contents among each other but showed variation from the rest of the varieties. Different proteins were separated on the basis of changes in their molecular weights by means of Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Dasht, CM-98, and Sheen Ghar showed 100% similarity. Balaksar and Fakhr-e- Thal, KK-2 and Chattan and KC-98, KK-1 and Lawaghar were 100% similar among each other but showed variation from the rest of the accessions. The overall dendrogram showed high and low level of variation among the accessions. The concentration of free amino acids varied among the 16 chickpea varieties. A significant difference of both essential and non-essential amino acids was found among the chickpea cultivars. The total concentration of essential amino acid was recorded 40.81 g/100 g protein while non-essential was recorded 59.18343 g/100 g protein in the given cultivars. The highest concentration of essential amino acids was found in C-44 followed by KK-2, KK-1 and Fakhr E Tal while the lowest concentration was recorded in Cm-98, Paidar-91 and Sheen Ghar-2000 respectively. Cultivars TAL-2006, Chattan and Karak-3 showed maximum concentration of both essential and endogenous amino acids. In conclusion; for broadening the genetic pools in breeding programs or to search for exotic characters, for instance new disease resistance alleles, accession with low similarity coefficients (Lawaghar and Battal-98) may be utilized. Furthermore the information acquired from this study could be used to device a proficient breeding approach intended at improving nutritional as well as broadening the genetic base of this essential food crop of Pakistan.

Zinc (Zn) is an important micronutrient with vital biological roles and its deficiency causes serious complications both in plants and human cells. The present research aims to introduce a sustainable intervention to improve zinc bioavailability, partitioning and biofortification in wheat genotypes through the use of zinc solubilizing bacteria. Three bacterial strains; Pseudomonas lurida (DJ4), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (DJ5) and Pseudomonas fluorescens (DJ13), previously isolated from a forest soil in Dir, Pakistan with zinc solubilization potential were used during this study. The maximum of 242.34 and 108.08 µg·l⁻¹ gluconic and glucuronic acid, respectively, was produce by the bacterial strain DJ13 in the presence of zinc oxide and consequently, a decrease in medium pH from 7.0 to 4.63 was noted. Further, root colonization potential of these bacterial strains with wheat genotypes (Atta Habib, Sirin and Pak China) was confirmed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). Similarly, the zinc uptake and translocation potential of the eight wheat genotypes under no zinc, ZnSO₄.7H₂O supplementation or inoculation with DJ13 was evaluated in a pot experiment in greenhouse. Wheat genotypes Zincol 2016, Sirin and Atta Habib attained higher grain zinc content after DJ13 inoculation (57.87, 63.55 and 60.47 mg·kg⁻¹ respectively). Genetic differences in zinc uptake, translocation and grain accumulation in wheat genotypes under different growth conditions were noted to be because of differential expression of ZIP transporters. High expression levels of TaZIP1, TaZIP4, TaZIP13, and TabZIP1 were correlated with increased root uptake, TaZIP1 and TabZIP1 were correlated with zinc translocation and TaZIP5 with grain accumulation. In conclusion, this research demonstrated the capacity to solubilize zinc and establish a synergistic interaction with wheat by specific bacterial strains, particularly Pseudomonas fluorescens (DJ13), significantly enhancing zinc uptake, translocation, and mobilization. These strains also modulated the expression of ZIP genes, leading to increased zinc partitioning in wheat grains. Consequently, these rhizobacteria present a highly effective biofertilizer strategy for zinc biofortification of grains and the optimization of wheat growth and development.