Sarvjeet Kukreja

Ageratum conyzoides L., long used in ethnomedicine for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antidiabetic and allelopathic effects, is one such species. To support its sustainable utilization, this study, conducted from March–December 2024, hypothesized that optimizing the balance of cytokinins and auxins can enhance shoot proliferation and secondary metabolite accumulation in Ageratum conyzoides L. Nodal explants were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with various plant growth regulators. Shoot proliferation was highest on media supplemented with 1.0 mg/L benzyladenine (BA), while rooting was most effective with 0.5 mg/L naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA); higher auxin concentrations inhibited root development. Extracts from in vitro grown aerial parts using multiple solvents were analyzed by GC-MS, identifying major compounds including Phenol, 2,4-bis (1,1-dimethylethyl)-, phosphite (3:1) (≈ 27.7 %), Neophytadiene (≈ 17.4 %), a benzopyran derivative (6,7-dimethoxy-2,2-dimethyl) (≈ 11.2 %), (E)-β-Farnesene (≈ 10.1 %), and Caryophyllene (≈ 6.5 %). These findings demonstrate that tissue culture provides a reliable propagation route while conserving the phytochemical integrity of A. conyzoides, supporting ex-situ conservation and sustainable utilization.

Maintaining global rapeseed production in the face of water scarcity necessitates creative techniques to improve crop adaptability. Since rapeseed requires substantial water and conventional irrigation methods are unsustainable, enhancing water usage efficiency is essential for sustaining production. As water scarcity poses a substantial challenge, there is an urgent necessity for sustainable strategies, including the application of bio-regulators such as salicylic acid, hydrogel, and sulphur, to improve rapeseed yield in water-restricted environments, thereby safeguarding food security and agricultural sustainability. A field experiment was conducted at the Agricultural Research Farm of Lovely Professional University during the rabi seasons of 2021–22 and 2022–23 to evaluate the performance of various sulphur sources in conjunction with salicylic acid and hydrogel treatment. The experiment utilized a split-plot design featuring 24 treatments, incorporating gypsum, bentonite sulphur, and elemental sulphur as distinct sulphur sources, alongside the application of hydrogel and salicylic acid during the blooming and pod development stages. The application of gypsum, among various sulphur sources, resulted in notable enhancements in growth and yield parameters, including plant height (175.74 cm), number of branches per plant (23.10), dry matter production (250.21 g), root length (8.83 cm), root dry weight (63.17 g), leaf area index (6.47), 1000-seed weight (4.38 g), siliqua length (5.42 cm), and siliquae per plant (354.07) compared to all other treatments. The treatment involving the application of hydrogel (2.5 kg/ha) and salicylic acid (150 ppm) at both 50% flowering and 50% pod formation phases demonstrates the most favorable outcomes for growth and yield parameters. The blend of gypsum and hydrogel at 2.5 kg/ha, combined with salicylic acid at 150 ppm during 50% flowering and 50% pod formation, demonstrates superior outcomes for both growth and yield parameters observed in the study.

The increasing global population requires an equivalent increase in food production to meet the global food demand. Crop production is challenged by various biotic and abiotic stresses, which decrease crop yield and production. Thus, proper disease management for crops ensures global food security. Various chemical, physical, and biological disease control methods have been devised and used for plant protection. However, due to the low efficiency of these methods, modern research has shifted to genetic engineering approaches. The recent advances in molecular techniques have revealed the molecular mechanisms controlling the plant’s innate immune system and plant-pathogen interactions. Earlier studies revealed that the pathogens utilize the susceptibility (S) genes in hosts for their sustainability and disease development. The resistance achieved by suppressing the S genes expression provides resistance against pathogens. Exploiting S genes for imparting/enhancing disease resistance would offer a more durable and effective alternative to conventional disease control methods. Therefore, the present review highlights the potential of this novel tool for inducing disease resistance in plants.

Disease causing phytopathogens are responsible for an approximately 15% reduction in worldwide food production. Therefore, for efficient management of plant diseases, a systematic understanding of the harmful impacts of pathogens on economic crops is essential. The practice of sustainable agriculture aims at the development of a system that supports the growth of plants but simultaneously induces adverse effects on the existence of pathogens. Therefore, the current research was designed to monitor the seed priming effects of Trichoderma virens (as Biocontrol Agent, BCA) and Jasmonic acid (a chemical inducer) in tomato plants infected with two devastating soil-borne pathogens viz., Fusarium oxysporum lycopersici (Fol) and Rhizoctonia solani. Application of these agents in infected plants alone or together leads to the establishment of various disease-suppressive mechanisms in the host plants as observed in the form of enhanced seedling vigour index, percentage germination, morphological growth, and a substantial decrease in the percentage of disease incidence. Furthermore, pathogen inoculation in diseased plants enhances the content of two compatible osmolytes i.e., proline and glycine betaine which themselves serve as defensive molecules by acting as osmoprotectants and signalling molecules in the induction of various defence-related pathways in the stressed plants. Our study provides important insights into the effectiveness of T. virens and JA in the amelioration of pathogen-induced damage in the host plants. The inferences obtained from this research highlight the better efficiency of combined applications of T. virens and JA against these two soil-borne pathogens.

Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. ciceris (FOC), an extremely destructive pathogen, infects chickpea plants leading to over 100% losses. Although using chemicals like Carbendazim and Mancozeb control the disease but ruin the soil’s natural flora and fauna. Also, the emergence of new FOC races threatens the current genotypes. Many efforts have been made towards improving chickpea genotypes through breeding and selection, but the situation has not been improved over the last 2 decades. The current research uses pot screening and molecular-based approaches to screen out the resistant chickpea cultivars. In that view, the present research uses 16 chickpea genotypes collected from diverse agro-climatic areas and checked against FOC race-3. After the pot screening and ANOVA (P<0.001), the genotypes were categorized as highly Resistant (C 235, HC 1), resistant (GNG 2477, PHULeG 0517, GNG 2171, HC 7, PHULe G 0127), susceptible (ICCV 10) and highly susceptible (PUSA 547, RSG 931, RSG 888, ICCV 512, CSJ 513, ICCV 6). In Marker-assisted selection (MAS), the DNA of genotypes was subjected to PCR with STMS markers TA-96 and TA-27. The results revealed that the genotypes ICCV 512, C 235, GNG 2171, ICCV 10, HC 7, PHULe G 0127 and HC 1 were resistant. These results are significant for selecting resistant genotypes and can be utilized in the future validation and development of more wilt-resistant chickpea genotypes. Our results based on pot-screening and molecular-based datasets suggested a more reliable identification system for screening of FOC resistance cultivar inhibiting, which can help narrow down the selection.