Rim Nefissi Ouertani

This study investigated the impact of seed coat removal (decortication) on the phenolic composition and antioxidant activities of two Tunisian faba bean (Vicia faba L.) cultivars (Local Nabeul and Local Beja). The total phenolic, flavonoid, and tannin contents, alongside three antioxidant activity assays (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging, β-carotene bleaching inhibition, and total antioxidant ability), were measured in whole and decorticated seeds. The results indicated that decortication did not significantly alter total phenolic and flavonoid content but variably influenced specific antioxidant activities depending on the cultivar. Notably, DPPH radical scavenging activity improved by 25–35% following decortication, suggesting that removal of the seed coat eliminated interfering compounds such as tannins, thereby enhancing the extract's free radical neutralizing efficiency. Conversely, total antioxidant ability slightly decreased, indicating the loss of some pro-oxidant or metal-reducing compounds concentrated in the hull. Tannin content was identified as the primary discriminating variable between cultivars and was significantly reduced by the process. Multivariate analyses, including Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering, demonstrated distinct discrimination among samples. Local Beja Whole Seeds (LBWS) clustered distinctly due to its high tannin content, while decorticated samples from both cultivars grouped together. This reveals that processing can dominate cultivar-based differences in functional properties. This study demonstrates that decortication's effect is not uniform but rather dependent on both the specific cultivar and the antioxidant mechanism evaluated, providing crucial insights for optimising faba bean processing to balance nutritional retention with sensory improvement.

Salt stress is one of the major threats affecting crop yield. We assessed the behaviour of three barley genotypes, Ardhaoui, Manel, and Testour under 200 mM NaCl with the aim of evaluating the physiological and molecular mechanisms involved in barley salinity tolerance. Results revealed that salinity stress significantly decreases plant growth and water-holding capacity, particularly in the salt-sensitive genotype Testour. Tissue ionic content assessment demonstrated significantly distinct salinity-induced responses. The salt-tolerant genotype Ardhaoui accumulated more K⁺ and less Na⁺ content in both leaves and roots compared with the two other genotypes, leading to an increased K⁺/Na⁺ ratio. Furthermore, the genotype Ardhaoui exhibited a stronger selectivity transport capacity of K⁺ over Na⁺ from root to leaf compared to both Manel and Testour. This effect was due to enhanced K⁺ retention and Na⁺ exclusion, regulated by HvHKT expression. Indeed, higher HvHKT2;1 gene transcript abundance was detected in both leaves and roots of the Ardhaoui genotype, as well as an upregulation of HvHKT1;1 and HvHKT1, mainly in Ardhaoui roots. In view of the severe impact of salinity on plant development, these findings could be applied to the genetic improvement of plant salinity tolerance.

Application of date palm waste compost is quite beneficial in improving soil properties and crop growth. However, the effect of its application on soil microbial communities is less understood. High-throughput sequencing and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) were used to evaluate the effect of compost application on the soil microbial composition in a barley field during the tillering, booting and ripening stages. The results showed that compost treatment had the highest bacterial and fungal abundance, and its application significantly altered the richness (Chao1 index) and α-diversity (Shannon index) of fungal and bacterial communities. The dominant bacterial phyla found in the samples were Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria while the dominant fungal orders were Ascomycota and Mortierellomycota. Interestingly, compost enriched the relative abundance of beneficial microorganisms such as Chaetomium, Actinobacteriota, Talaromyces and Mortierella and reduced those of harmful microorganisms such as Alternaria, Aspergillus and Neocosmospora. Functional prediction based on Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States (PICRUSt) showed that amplicon sequence variant (ASV) sequences related to energy metabolism, amino acid metabolism and carbohydrate metabolism were associated with compost-treated soil. Based on Fungi Functional Guild (FUNGuild), identified fungi community metabolic functions such as wood saprotroph, pathotroph, symbiotroph and endophyte were associated with compost-treated soil. Overall, compost addition could be considered as a sustainable practice for establishing a healthy soil microbiome and subsequently improving the soil quality and barley crop production.

Proteomic analysis was performed to investigate the differentially abundant proteins (DAPs) in barley roots during the tillering stage. Bioinformatic tools were used to interpret the biological function, the pathway analysis and the visualisation of the network amongst the identified proteins. A total of 72 DAPs (33 upregulated and 39 downregulated) among a total of 2580 proteins were identified in response to compost treatment, suggesting multiple pathways of primary and secondary metabolism, such as carbohydrates and energy metabolism, phenylpropanoid pathway, glycolysis pathway, protein synthesis and degradation, redox homeostasis, RNA processing, stress response, cytoskeleton organisation, and phytohormone metabolic pathways. The expression of DAPs was further validated by qRT-PCR. The effects on barley plant development, such as the promotion of root growth and biomass increase, were associated with a change in energy metabolism and protein synthesis. The activation of enzymes involved in redox homeostasis and the regulation of stress response proteins suggest a protective effect of compost, consequently improving barley growth and stress acclimation through the reduction of the environmental impact of productive agriculture. Overall, these results may facilitate a better understanding of the molecular mechanism of compost-promoted plant growth and provide valuable information for the identification of critical genes/proteins in barley as potential targets of compost.

Composts are an emerging biofertilizers used in agronomy that can improve crop performance, but much less is known regarding their modes of action. The current study aimed to investigate the differentially abundant proteins (DAPs) in barley leaves associated with growth promotion induced by application of date palm waste compost. Morphophysiological measurements revealed that compost induced a significant increase in plant height, chlorophyll content, gas exchange parameters and plant biomass. LC-MS/MS analyses indicate that compost induced global changes in the proteome of barley leaves. A total of 62 DAPs (26 upregulated and 36 downregulated) among a total of 2233 proteins were identified in response to compost application. The expression of DAPs was further validated based on qRT-PCR. Compost application showed altered abundance of several proteins related to abiotic stress, plant defense, redox homeostasis, transport, tricarboxylic acid cycle, carbohydrate, amino acid, energy and protein metabolism. Furthermore, proteins related to metabolic processes of phytohormone, DNA methylation and secondary metabolites were induced. These results indicate that barley responds to compost application by complex metabolism pathways and may result in a positive alteration in a physiological and metabolic barley plant state which consequently could lead to improved growth and stress adaptation observed in compost-treated plants.

Salt stress negatively impacts crop production worldwide. Genetic diversity among barley (Hordeum vulgare) landraces adapted to adverse conditions should provide a valuable reservoir of tolerance genes for breeding programs. To identify molecular and biochemical differences between barley genotypes, transcriptomic and antioxidant enzyme profiles along with several morpho-physiological features were compared between salt-tolerant (Boulifa) and salt-sensitive (Testour) genotypes subjected to salt stress. Decreases in biomass, photosynthetic parameters, and relative water content were low in Boulifa compared to Testour. Boulifa had better antioxidant protection against salt stress than Testour, with greater antioxidant enzymes activities including catalase, superoxide dismutase, and guaiacol peroxidase. Transcriptome assembly for both genotypes revealed greater accumulation of differentially expressed transcripts in Testour compared to Boulifa, emphasizing the elevated transcriptional response in Testour following salt exposure. Various salt-responsive genes, including the antioxidant catalase 3, the osmoprotectant betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase 2, and the transcription factors MYB20 and MYB41, were induced only in Boulifa. By contrast, several genes associated with photosystems I and II, and light receptor chlorophylls A and B, were more repressed in Testour. Co-expression network analysis identified specific gene modules correlating with differences in genotypes and morpho-physiological traits. Overall, salinity-induced differential transcript accumulation underlies the differential morpho-physiological response in both genotypes and could be important for breeding salt tolerance in barley.