Global climate change and associated adverse abiotic stress conditions, such as drought, salinity, heavy metals, waterlogging, extreme temperatures, oxygen deprivation, etc., greatly influence plant growth and development, ultimately affecting crop yield and quality, as well as agricultural sustainability in general. Plant cells produce oxygen radicals and their derivatives, so-called reactive oxygen species (ROS), during various processes associated with abiotic stress. Moreover, the generation of ROS is a fundamental process in higher plants and employs to transmit cellular signaling information in response to the changing environmental conditions. One of the most crucial consequences of abiotic stress is the disturbance of the equilibrium between the generation of ROS and antioxidant defense systems triggering the excessive accumulation of ROS and inducing oxidative stress in plants. Notably, the equilibrium between the detoxification and generation of ROS is maintained by both enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidant defense systems under harsh environmental stresses. Although this field of research has attracted massive interest, it largely remains unexplored, and our understanding of ROS signaling remains poorly understood. In this review, we have documented the recent advancement illustrating the harmful effects of ROS, antioxidant defense system involved in ROS detoxification under different abiotic stresses, and molecular cross-talk with other important signal molecules such as reactive nitrogen, sulfur, and carbonyl species. In addition, state-of-the-art molecular approaches of ROS-mediated improvement in plant antioxidant defense during the acclimation process against abiotic stresses have also been discussed.

Reactive Oxygen Species and Antioxidant Defense in Plants under Abiotic Stress: Revisiting the Crucial Role of a Universal Defense Regulator

Alpine Plant Life Functional Plant Ecology Of High Mountain Ecosystems

Lead toxicity in plants: Impacts and remediation.

Biodiversity contributes significantly towards human livelihood and development and thus plays a predominant role in the well being of the global population. According to WHO reports, around 80 % of the global population still relies on botanical drugs; today several medicines owe their origin to medicinal plants. Natural substances have long served as sources of therapeutic drugs, where drugs including digitalis (from foxglove), ergotamine (from contaminated rye), quinine (from cinchona), and salicylates (willow bark) can be cited as some classical examples.Drug discovery from natural sources involve a multifaceted approach combining botanical, phytochemical, biological, and molecular techniques. Accordingly, medicinal-plant-based drug discovery still remains an important area, hitherto unexplored, where a systematic search may definitely provide important leads against various pharmacological targets.Ironically, the potential benefits of plant-based medicines have led to unscientific exploitation of the natural resources, a phenomenon that is being observed globally. This decline in biodiversity is largely the result of the rise in the global population, rapid and sometimes unplanned industrialization, indiscriminate deforestation, overexploitation of natural resources, pollution, and finally global climate change.Therefore, it is of utmost importance that plant biodiversity be preserved, to provide future structural diversity and lead compounds for the sustainable development of human civilization at large. This becomes even more important for developing nations, where well-planned bioprospecting coupled with nondestructive commercialization could help in the conservation of biodiversity, ultimately benefiting mankind in the long run.Based on these findings, the present review is an attempt to update our knowledge about the diverse therapeutic application of different plant products against various pharmacological targets including cancer, human brain, cardiovascular function, microbial infection, inflammation, pain, and many more.

Medicinal plants, human health and biodiversity: a broad review.

Thiamine is an essential micronutrient that plays a key role in energy metabolism. Many populations worldwide may be at risk of clinical or subclinical thiamine deficiencies, due to famine, reliance on staple crops with low thiamine content, or food preparation practices, such as milling grains and washing milled rice. Clinical manifestations of thiamine deficiency are variable; this, along with the lack of a readily accessible and widely agreed upon biomarker of thiamine status, complicates efforts to diagnose thiamine deficiency and assess its global prevalence. Strategies to identify regions at risk of thiamine deficiency through proxy measures, such as analysis of food balance sheet data and month-specific infant mortality rates, may be valuable for understanding the scope of thiamine deficiency. Urgent public health responses are warranted in high-risk regions, considering the contribution of thiamine deficiency to infant mortality and research suggesting that even subclinical thiamine deficiency in childhood may have lifelong neurodevelopmental consequences. Food fortification and maternal and/or infant thiamine supplementation have proven effective in raising thiamine status and reducing the incidence of infantile beriberi in regions where thiamine deficiency is prevalent, but trial data are limited. Efforts to determine culturally and environmentally appropriate food vehicles for thiamine fortification are ongoing.

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Thiamine deficiency disorders: diagnosis, prevalence, and a roadmap for global control programs

Mints are perennial aromatic herbs used both for medicinal and aromatic purposes. Flora of Pakistan has reported six species of genus Mentha. Taxonomy of genus Mentha is more complex and confusing due to inter specific hybridization. The present research is the first documented report from Pakistan for the purpose to dissect Mentha specimens using molecular tools. A total of 17 SCoT and SSR markers used to dissect genetic diversity among 41 Mentha specimens. The results revealed substantial variation among Mentha specimens. The molecular data analyzed through NTSYS and Power marker software’s. Dendrogram constructed on the base of similarity coefficients generated using weighted pair group method of arithmetic means (UPGMA) recorded high level of polymorphism. Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) for molecular markers recorded in the range of 5-8. Mean genetic distance (GD) was estimated in the range from 0.35% to 100%. The minimum and maximum GD recorded in one combination each as P2-P4 and M41-P10. The present study was explored the efficiency of SCoT and SSR markers for evaluating the genetic diversity of medicinal plants. The present research was concluded that both morphological and molecular dendrogram determined considerable level of diversity among Mentha species. Furthermore, specific primers and DNA chloroplast technology could be needed for further molecular analysis to refine the data more up to varietal level.

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Estimation of Genetic Diversity in Genus Mentha Collected From Azad Jammu And Kashmir, Pakistan

Carbohydrate metabolism in plants is influenced by thermodynamics. The amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere is expected to rise in the future. As a result, understanding the effects of higher CO2 on carbohydrate metabolism and heat stress tolerance is necessary for anticipating plant responses to global warming and elevated CO2. In this study, five wheat cultivars were exposed to heat stress (40 °C) at the onset of anthesis for three continuous days. These cultivars were grown at two levels of CO2 i.e. ambient CO2 level (a[CO2], 380 mmol L-1) and elevated CO2 level (e[CO2], 780 mmol L-1), to determine the interactive effect of elevated CO2 and heat stress on carbohydrate metabolism and antioxidant enzyme activity in wheat. Heat stress reduced the photosynthetic rate (Pn) and grain yield in all five cultivars, but cultivars grown in e[CO2] sustained Pn and grain yield in contrast to cultivars grown in a[CO2]. Heat stress reduced the activity of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase, UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase, invertases, Glutathione reductase (GR), Peroxidase (POX), and Superoxide dismutase (SOD) at a[CO2] but increased at e[CO2]. The concentration of sucrose, glucose, and fructose mainly increased in tolerant cultivars under heat stress at e[CO2]. This study confirms the interaction between the heat stress and e[CO2] to mitigate the effect of heat stress on wheat and suggests to have in-depth knowledge and precise understanding of carbohydrate metabolism in heat stressed plants in order to prevent the negative effects of high temperatures on productivity and other physiological attributes. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12298-021-01080-5.

Elevated carbon dioxide offers promise for wheat adaptation to heat stress by adjusting carbohydrate metabolism.

Phylogenetic and ancestral area reconstruction of Zingiberales from plastid genomes

Studies on dietary survey methodology-a comparison between recall and weighing method in Bangladesh.

Wheat is an important food crop that provides vital calories and nutrients essential for human health. However, climate extremities threaten wheat yields and hence food security around the globe. Improving wheat productivity under changing climate scenario is one of the major challenges of agriculturists and plant scientists. Environmental stresses further aggravate the situation. Wheat responds to oxidative stresses through regulation of a series of mechanisms at morphological, physiological, and molecular levels. Accumulation of low molecular weight organic solutes, known as osmolytes, is one of the prime defense strategies to reduce oxidative stress-induced damages in wheat. This chapter would appraise new insights into osmotic adjustment strategies of wheat against various abiotic stresses. In addition, recent studies on the role of exogenously applied osmoprotectants in improving abiotic stress tolerance of wheat are also discussed.

Khawaja Shafique Ahmad

Papers

Estimation of Genetic Diversity in Genus Mentha Collected From Azad Jammu And Kashmir, Pakistan

Elevated carbon dioxide offers promise for wheat adaptation to heat stress by adjusting carbohydrate metabolism.

Phylogenetic and ancestral area reconstruction of Zingiberales from plastid genomes

Studies on dietary survey methodology-a comparison between recall and weighing method in Bangladesh.

Use of Osmolytes in Improving Abiotic Stress Tolerance to Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)