Since the beginning of agriculture, humans have bestowed their skill on developing plant breeding capabilities and exploiting the potential of wild relatives. With the passage of time, few crops have received more attention than others, while many remain unexplored, like the genus Vigna. Vigna family members, being of short duration and adaptable to multiple cropping systems, offer some unique benefits. Possibilities of inter-specific cross further enhance the creation of novel genetic combinations and their transfer. In the present review, light has been shed on the origin, geographical distribution, inter-specific crosses studies conducted among the Vigna species, and potential donors for different abiotic stresses like salt, drought, cold, and heat. Further, the nutritional profile, pharmaceutical component and medicinal importance have also been reviewed. This review will provide the readers with an insight into the work conducted to date on several aspects of Vigna species.

The interaction between plants and their surrounding soil ecosystems is complex, with plant-soil feedback acting as legacy effects from previous plants, influencing subsequent plant growth and insect interactions. Recent studies have shown that experiments focusing on individual factors in isolation do not accurately predict the outcomes of these complex interactions. Aboveground herbivores impact the development of root exudates and their surrounding microbiome, suggesting that herbivory indirectly shapes belowground biotic communities. Such impact of insect herbivory on plant-soil feedback is a crucial area of ecological research. Most studies focus on root-associated organisms and their influence on foliar herbivorous insects, and little attention has been given to the reverse interaction-how foliar herbivory affects the soil environment and PSF. This study explores the bidirectional influence of herbivory and PSF, revealing that aboveground insect herbivory can significantly alter plant-soil feedback mechanisms, influencing not only plant performance but also the broader community structure. A holistic approach that integrates soil microbial complexity with insect herbivory is needed to better predict community-level outcomes and enhance plant protection strategies. Our study thus highlighted the need for a community-based perspective when studying interactions among plants, insects and soil microorganisms.

Seaweeds, diverse marine macroalgae, are vital for ecosystems, offering significant environmental, nutritional, and economic advantages. Categorized as green, red, or brown based on pigments, they are widely used in food, medicine, and cosmetics. China leads in cultivating approximately 18 species, and innovative farming methods, like integrated multi-trophic aquaculture and advanced offshore systems, are rapidly expanding global seaweed production. This expansion considerably boosts sustainable agriculture, bioenergy, and food security. While seaweeds deliver high-value proteins, vitamins, dietary fibers, and bioactive compounds, and enhance crucial ecosystem services, their sustainable cultivation faces challenges from environmental stressors like ocean warming and pollution. Addressing these requires adaptive strategies, such as selecting resilient species and implementing effective monitoring and management. Biotechnological advancements, including tissue culture, mutation and selective breeding, and genetic engineering techniques like promoter engineering and CRISPR-based gene editing, offer promising avenues to improve yield, stress tolerance, and biochemical profiles. This comprehensive review uniquely integrates seaweed farming practices, nutritional benefits, environmental impacts, and biotechnological innovations with technological applications such as remote sensing, computational fluid dynamics, and numerical modeling for environmental monitoring and agricultural management. By synthesizing these elements, this review promotes sustainable seaweed utilization to address global challenges in food, health, and climate change.

Proline, traditionally recognized as an osmoprotectant, has emerged as a multifunctional metabolite intricately involved in plant signaling and developmental regulation. Beyond its classical role in osmotic adjustment, proline modulates redox homeostasis, reactive oxygen species (ROS) detoxification, and metabolic reprogramming under stress conditions. Recent studies reveal its function as a signaling molecule that integrates stress perception with phytohormonal pathways such as abscisic acid (ABA), salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA), and auxin. Proline also influences key developmental processes including root and shoot morphogenesis, floral induction, pollen fertility, embryogenesis, and seed maturation by coordinating redox cues and gene regulation. Furthermore, its participation in systemic acquired resistance (SAR) and legume-rhizobia symbiosis underscores its role in plant immunity and microbe interactions. Advances in understanding proline transport, mitochondrial catabolism, and gene regulation highlight its centrality in linking metabolic and signaling networks. This review consolidates current insights into the expanding roles of proline in plant signaling and development, emphasizing its potential as a metabolic hub for improving stress resilience and growth optimization in crops.

The effect of low-dose, commercially available wastewater sludge compost (WSC; 15 t ha-1) treatment was examined with or without arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) inoculation on the nutritional status, heavy metal (HM) concentration and the rhizosphere activity of giant reed (Arundo donax L. var. BL clone (Blossom)) plants. Funneliformis mosseae (BEG12; AMF1), F. geosporum (BEG11; AMF2) or their combination (AMFmix) were applied as AMF treatments in a short-term pot experiment. The physiological and growth parameters of the host plants, the AMF root colonization and the microbiological enzyme activity of the mycorrhizosphere were examined. We assumed that the combined treatment (WSC + AMF) enhances the fertility of low-fertility acidic sandy soil. Neither the WSC treatment nor the AMF inoculations changed the extent of root colonization. Based on the results of root electrical capacitance and the phosphorous uptake, plant nutritional status was improved by WSC addition, without any negative impacts among the measured parameters. AMF treatments increased the enzyme activity in the soil and decreased the concentrations of the potentially toxic HMs (Cu, Mn, Pb, Zn) in roots, but that mitigation of Cu and Zn was compensated in shoots. According to the results of MicroResp™ measurements, the catabolic activity profile of the soil microbial community was changed in case of the AMF2 treatment. The efficient regulatory mechanism of giant reed might be able to adjust optimal/maximal colonization rate, and to select the preferential AMF partners, this supposed mechanism might be responsible for its invasiveness and tolerance to a wide range of environmental conditions.

Micronutrients contribute significantly to homeostasis at the cellular, physiological, and biological interface of silkworm growth and development. The silkworm cocoon traits are highly physiologically dependent, controlled by the optimum availability of micronutrient concentrations. Keeping this in view, two micronutrients, i.e., copper and iron, were investigated to understand their role in economic traits in popular bivoltine silkworm double-hybrid FC1 × FC2. The mulberry leaves were bio-fortified with copper and iron in the form of copper chloride and ferric chloride with concentrations of 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, and 0.5%, respectively. Irrespective of the micronutrients, all the studied pre- and post-cocoon parameters tend to increase at lower concentrations and decline at higher concentrations. ANOVA revealed a significant gain in larval weight (~ 9.28% and ~ 8.42%), single cocoon weight (~ 5.38% and ~ 6.45%), and filament length (~ 8.37%) when the silkworms were fed with the mulberry leaves fortified with a low concentration (0.2%) of copper and iron. The improvement in reelability (~ 4.92%), renditta (~ 1.91% and ~ 1.04%), and denier (~ 11.99% and ~ 7.19%) was maximum at 0.2% of copper- and iron-augmented leaves compared to the control. It is envisaged that copper and iron chlorides compounds have incremental impact in silk production. Therefore, feed bio-fortification with appropriate concentrations of copper and iron is recommended to improve cocoon production in both quality and quantity, thereby enhancing the economic returns for sericulture farmers.

Insects are considered as an alternative in vivo model for evaluating various biological activities. Among them, larvae stand out as experimental model due to the low economic value during maintenance, in addition to the low demand and easy handling. Tenebrio molitor larvae are receiving attention as alternative methods in determination of efficacy studies. Therefore, the present study aimed to review experimental models that use T. molitor larvae as alternatives in defining the biological activities, safety, and effectiveness of new drugs. The current review was conducted using online journal databases: PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase without geographical, publication date, or filtering restrictions. The search obtained a total of 5781 documents which were evaluated according to the focus of the review, reaching 14 articles. Thus, the systematic search strategy was developed to encompass all published papers that explore the use of larvae in experimental studies, particularly those investigating the biological activity and/or characterization of drugs/compounds. The selected articles were classified according to the methodologies used, such as toxicity, antimicrobial, and other types of assessments. Despite the results, there is still a lack of studies that use this model as a source for evaluating drugs and possible therapies.