Water scarcity impacts soybean cultivation and productivity globally. The ability of plants to withstand drought stress involves complex molecular and physiological mechanisms that facilitate the restoration and maintenance of cellular homeostasis. This study identified genes associated with carbohydrate metabolism and GABA shunt pathway that respond to water deficit in two soybean varieties. These varieties exhibited contrasting responses to water scarcity, and were subjected to two distinct cropping systems. In the drought-tolerant variety, a strategy for conferring tolerance was observed through the pre-emptive priming of the drought response. By applying multivariate analysis, we identified a pivotal gene, GmBAM-like 1, which responds to water scarcity. GmBAM-like 1 encodes a β-amylase and showed rapid activation and elevated expression levels in root tissues of the tolerant variety, suggesting its potential involvement in the drought tolerance response. Transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing GmBAM-like 1 demonstrated enhanced tolerance to salt and osmotic stress, as evidenced by increased survival and germination rates. Additionally, after drought stress, these plants showed higher transpiration rates, larger leaf area, and greater relative water content upon rehydration. These findings demonstrate the potential of integrating the GmBAM-like 1 gene into plant breeding programs to develop cultivars with improved tolerance to water, salt, and osmotic stresses.

Gluten-free (GF) products are frequently characterized by reduced nutritional and sensory quality, as well as a higher glycemic index (GI) compared to conventional products. These attributes may pose challenges for individuals who adhere to a lifelong gluten-free diet (GFD). Sprouting has emerged as a promising strategy to enhance the nutritional profile of GF foods. This review evaluates the impact of sprouting on glycemic response and antioxidant activity in GF foods, with a particular focus on the underlying mechanisms.

This study evaluated the individual and combined effects of dietary ellagic acid (EA) and Bacillus coagulans (BC) on growth performance, physiological status, intestinal health, and resistance to Streptococcus agalactiae in striped catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus). Juvenile fish were assigned to four dietary treatments for 60 days, with four replicate hapas per treatment: a basal diet (control), EA at 100 mg kg⁻¹ diet, BC at 2.0 g kg⁻¹ diet (nominally 5.0 × 10⁶ colony-forming units [CFU] g⁻¹ diet), or the combined EA + BC diet. Dietary EA and/or BC improved growth and feed utilization, increased intestinal amylase, lipase, and protease activities, and favorably altered whole-body composition, with the greatest overall responses generally recorded in the EA + BC group (P < 0.05). Supplemented fish also showed higher erythrocyte, hemoglobin, and leukocyte values; increased serum protein fractions; enhanced hepatic antioxidant enzyme activities; and higher lysozyme activity, total circulating immunoglobulin M (IgM), and phagocytic responses. Serum aminotransferase activities, uric acid, total cholesterol, and hepatic malondialdehyde were reduced. Culture-based analyses showed higher presumptive counts of lactic acid bacteria and lower total culturable aerobic bacterial counts. Antioxidant-related transcripts (SOD, CAT, and GPx) were upregulated in the liver, whereas splenic TLR1 was upregulated and TNF-α and IL-1β were downregulated. Following the S. agalactiae challenge, descriptive cumulative mortality was about 87%, 31%, 21%, and 12% in the control, EA, BC, and EA + BC groups, respectively. Two-way ANOVA demonstrated substantial main effects of both additives and significant EA × BC interactions for selected indices. Generally, the combined diet produced the most consistent improvements across growth, physiological, intestinal, antioxidant, immune, and disease-resistance indicators.

Acidifiers are functional feed additives that may improve egg quality by modulating intestinal microbiota and host metabolism. This study investigated the effects of dietary acidifier supplementation on laying performance, yolk fatty acid composition, eggshell ultrastructure, intestinal function, cecal microbiota, serum metabolome, and antioxidant status in laying hens. Sixty 52-week-old Jingfen No. 6 laying hens were randomly assigned to either a control group or an acidifier-supplemented group for 6 weeks. Acidifier supplementation increased laying rate and egg mass while reducing the feed-to-egg ratio. It also increased the concentrations of seven yolk fatty acids, including tetradecanoic acid, myristoleic acid, palmitic acid, palmitoleic acid, stearic acid, cis-vaccenic acid, and arachidic acid. In addition, acidifier supplementation resulted in a denser eggshell microstructure, improved cecal mucosal morphology, and enhanced the activities of lipase, chymotrypsin, amylase, and trypsin. Although cecal microbial alpha diversity remained unchanged, acidifier supplementation altered the overall microbial community structure and enriched several genera, including Slackia_A, Megasphaera_A, Veillonella_A, Merdimonas, and Caccocola. Serum metabolomic analysis identified 395 differential metabolites, primarily associated with lipid, amino acid, energy, and bile acid metabolism. Representative altered metabolites included taurodeoxycholic acid 3-glucuronide, LysoPE (0:0/20:0), 15-HETE, cholic acid, malic acid, and succinic acid. Acidifier supplementation also favorably affected serum HDL-C, LDL-C, and calcium concentrations and enhanced antioxidant capacity. Collectively, these findings indicate that dietary acidifier supplementation improves laying performance, yolk fatty acid deposition, eggshell structure, intestinal function, and antioxidant status, accompanied by alterations in cecal microbiota and serum metabolism. These coordinated changes may contribute to the observed improvements in egg quality.

Exposure to stressful low temperatures during development can cause chilling injury, leading to impaired physiological performance. In insects, chilling injury is often associated with metabolic imbalance, oxidative stress and disruption of energy homeostasis, which can collectively compromise survival and growth. Because Tuta absoluta (Meyrick, 1917) is a tomato pest adapted to warm environments, we hypothesized that low-temperature exposure would induce chilling injury by disrupting metabolism and cellular function. We investigated the responses of T. absoluta larvae to three thermal regimes (25, 15 and 5 °C) over a 7-day period, using integrated physiological, metabolomic and transcriptomic analysis. Low-temperature stress reduced survival and feeding performance, accompanied by suppressed digestive enzyme activities (α-amylase, lipase and trypsin) and depletion of glycogen reserves, indicating impaired energy acquisition. In contrast, increased trehalose and proline accumulation suggested a shift toward protective metabolism. Importantly, low temperature induced a pronounced decoupling of energy metabolism and redox homeostasis, characterized by reduced antioxidant capacity (peroxidase; POD and superoxide dismutase; SOD) and elevated levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Metabolomic and transcriptomic analysis of stressed larvae revealed alterations in amino acid and carbohydrate metabolism, showing differential regulation of the genes involved in energy production, oxidative stress responses and growth. Integrative analysis demonstrated that metabolic reprogramming and transcriptional regulation are tightly linked under low-temperature conditions, revealing a resource allocation trade-off between growth and stress defense. Together, these findings identify metabolic and redox imbalances as mechanisms underlying cold-induced physiological decline, providing new insight into how low temperature constrains insect performance.

To investigate the effects of interplanting Morchella (morel mushrooms) between rows of apple trees on orchard soil properties and apple tree performance, a field experiment was conducted using a cultivation system combining small-arch tunnels with plastic film covering. The Morchella was interplanted in a five-year-old apple orchard, with plots without Morchella cultivation serving as the control. Measurements included Morchella yield and quality, apple fruit quality, and leaf photosynthetic performance. Additionally, soil physicochemical properties and enzyme activities were analyzed across the 0-40 cm soil layer at different depths. The results demonstrated that: (1) Intercropping Morchella in apple interrows proved to be agronomically feasible, yielding a fresh mushroom production of 1333.74 g/m[2]. Moreover, this cultivation system significantly enhanced the nutritional quality of the harvested morels, as evidenced by marked increases in crude fiber, total sugars, reducing sugars, and free amino acid contents. (2) In the 0-20 cm soil layer, the Morchella cultivated plots exhibited significantly higher natural water content compared to the control. The measured values for soil pH, alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen, organic carbon, catalase activity, and sucrase activity were 5.46, 6.73 mg/kg, 38.30 g/kg, 411.86 μ mol/h/g, and 9.89 mg/d/g, respectively, all significantly greater than those in the control (p < 0.05). In the 20-40 cm layer, however, soil available potassium and organic carbon contents were 418.37 mg/kg and 28.45 g/kg, respectively, both significantly lower than the control (p < 0.05). Across both treatments, the values of soil pH, alkali -hydrolyzable nitrogen, organic carbon, available phosphorus, available potassium, and the activities of urease, amylase, catalase, and sucrase generally decreased with increasing soil depth. Notably, in the non-cultivated control plots, the contents of alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen and organic carbon increased with depth. (3) Interplanting Morchella improved apple fruit quality to a certain extent, significantly increasing individual fruit fresh weight, fruit shape index, and the contents of reducing sugars, total sugars, and soluble solids. (4) Interplanting Morchella also enhanced the photosynthetic rate of apple trees to some degree, significantly increasing transpiration rate, intercellular CO2 concentration, and stomatal conductance. Collectively, interplanting Morchella in apple orchards can produce a reasonably high yield of high-quality mushrooms, increase individual apple fruit fresh weight, improve the physicochemical properties of the 0-20 cm soil layer, and enhance the photosynthetic performance of the apple trees. These combined benefits demonstrate clear practical potential and support the promotion and application of this intercropping system in orchard production.

Adverse childhood experiences are associated with long-term metabolic disturbances, yet their effects on the exocrine pancreas remain poorly understood. Using maternal separation (MS) as a model of early-life stress, this study examined whether MS modifies the exocrine pancreatic response to a post-weaning high-fat diet (HFD) in male C57BL/6 mice. Animals were exposed to MS or standard rearing conditions and fed a control diet or HFD for 16 weeks. Body and pancreatic mass, plasma amylase and lipase activities, exocrine pancreatic histopathology, and apoptosis were assessed. HFD increased body mass and reduced the pancreas-to-body mass ratio independently of MS, without altering absolute pancreatic mass. Lipase activity increased significantly in response to both MS and HFD, whereas amylase showed a non-significant upward trend. Histopathological analysis revealed condition-dependent exocrine pancreatic remodeling, including acinar hypertrophy, autophagic vacuolization, focal necrosis, vascular alterations, interstitial edema, and ductal changes. These alterations were mild in HFD-only mice but more pronounced in MS-exposed animals, particularly when combined with HFD. Apoptosis was strongly influenced by early-life stress and modulated by diet, with significant effects of MS and the MS × diet interaction. Overall, early-life stress induces persistent structural and functional alterations in the exocrine pancreas, increasing susceptibility to nutritional challenges in adulthood.

This study developed a compound enzyme-assisted microbially fermented concentrate for Yanbian steers. The enzyme formulation was optimized using response surface methodology, with acid-soluble protein/crude protein ratio (ASP/CP), ammonia-N/total N ratio (AN/TN), and pH as response variables. The optimized enzyme preparation contained 619.15 U/g protease, 742.08 U/g amylase, and 257.75 U/g β-mannanase. The measured ASP/CP, AN/TN, and pH values were 31.74%, 3.56%, and 4.32, respectively, closely agreeing with the predicted values of 32.00%, 3.55%, and 4.28. Membership function analysis, which normalized positive and negative indicators to a common 0-1 scale and integrated them into a comprehensive score, supported the selection of day 5 as the most balanced fermentation duration under the primary equal-indicator weighting scheme. Thirty Yanbian steers were randomly assigned to receive microbially fermented concentrate without compound enzyme addition (MF) or compound enzyme-assisted microbially fermented concentrate (MEF) at 500 g/head/day on an as-fed basis for 100 days. After adjustment for initial body weight using ANCOVA, MEF increased final body weight by 3.9% and average daily gain by 35.7% compared with MF (both p < 0.001). MEF also increased dry matter intake by 12.1% (p = 0.018) and reduced feed conversion ratio by 18.4% (p = 0.008). MEF increased dry matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber, and acid detergent fiber digestibility by 4.3%, 5.4%, 22.6%, and 15.6%, respectively, and reduced blood urea nitrogen by 18.9%. MEF also increased ruminal total volatile fatty acids and decreased ruminal NH3-N and the acetate-to-propionate ratio (p < 0.05). Observed ASVs, Chao1, and Shannon indices did not differ between treatments, whereas PERMANOVA detected a significant difference in overall rumen bacterial community structure (R[2] = 0.180, p = 0.023). VIF-based redundancy analysis indicated that variation in rumen bacterial community structure were correlated with crude protein digestibility, total volatile fatty acids, and blood urea nitrogen. Overall, within the microbial-fermentation system evaluated in this study, compound enzyme addition increased growth performance and apparent nutrient digestibility, reduced ruminal NH3-N and blood urea nitrogen concentrations, and improved feed efficiency in Yanbian steers.

This study evaluated the influence of dietary fermented pineapple pomace (FPP) supplementation on growth performance, intestinal health, and antioxidant capacity in juvenile largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides). Six experimental diets containing 0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, and 10% FPP were formulated and fed for 10 weeks, with FPP replacing equivalent proportions of wheat flour in the basal diet. The results showed that dietary FPP did not impair the growth performance of largemouth bass. The FP4 and FP6 diets significantly increased the villus height, whereas the FP4, FP6, and FP8 diets significantly increased the villus width. Dietary FPP also enhanced several intestinal digestive and absorptive enzyme activities, including lipase, amylase, trypsin, lactase, and alkaline phosphatase, although the responsive inclusion levels differed among enzymes. Dietary FPP generally reduced intestinal mucosal permeability, alleviated barrier damage, and enhanced mucosal barrier integrity. In addition, FPP supplementation improved intestinal chemical and immune barrier function, as reflected by increased lysozyme activity, mucin 2 level, secretory immunoglobulin T level, and immunoglobulin M level at appropriate inclusion levels. Dietary FPP improved antioxidant status by increasing serum catalase activity and total antioxidant capacity at appropriate inclusion levels, while low-level FPP supplementation increased the serum superoxide dismutase activity and decreased the serum malondialdehyde level. Overall, replacing wheat flour with dietary FPP did not impair growth performance and improved intestinal digestive and absorptive functions, mucosal barrier integrity, and antioxidant capacity. Therefore, 4-6% may be considered a favorable dietary inclusion range for FPP in largemouth bass feed under the present experimental conditions. Because an unfermented pineapple pomace comparison group was not included, these effects should be interpreted as the effects of dietary FPP as a whole rather than as fermentation-specific effects.

Soil salinity is a major environmental constraint that threatens global food security by significantly inhibiting seed germination and early seedling establishment. Salinity disrupts all three phases of seed germination: Phase I (imbibition), where reduced water absorption capacity reduces seed hydration and delays metabolic reactivation; Phase II (lag phase), where ionic toxicity and oxidative stress impair enzyme activity, reserve mobilization, and cellular metabolism; and Phase III (radicle protrusion), where limited cell division and length prevent radicle emergence and seedling establishment. These disturbances reduce germination percentage, germination rate, germination index, germination energy, and plant vigor, while increasing average germination time. At the morpho-physiological level, salinity impairs water absorption, membrane stability, photosynthetic pigment accumulation, and root-shoot development. Biochemically, excessive accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and malondialdehyde (MDA) causes cellular damage and metabolic dysfunction. At the molecular level, salinity alters the expression of the aquaporin gene family (PIPs, TIPs, NIPs, and SIPs), suppresses starch mobilization by reducing α-amylase, enhances abscisic acid (ABA) signaling, and inhibits gibberellic acid (GA) biosynthesis, all of which cause inhibition of germination and early growth. As a result, an effective strategy is needed to improve seed germination under saline conditions. Therefore, the second focus of this review is to critically evaluate the potential of nanoparticles (NPs) and nanobiochar (NBC) as emerging tools to mitigate salinity stress during seed germination. Current evidence suggests that NPs and NBC enhance water absorption, maintain membrane strength, improve nutrient availability, promote antioxidant defense systems, and regulate osmotic adjustment in saline environments. Furthermore, these nanomaterials alter key molecular pathways involved in aquaporin expression, hormonal homeostasis, and reserve mobilization, thereby promoting successful germination and seedling establishment. By combining recent advances in physiological, biochemical, and molecular research, this review provides a comprehensive understanding of salinity-induced germination disruption and highlights the potential of NP- and NBC-based approaches to improve crop establishment under saline conditions.

Raphanus raphanistrum L. (wild radish), a member of the Brassicaceae family, is an edible herb widely utilized in traditional medicine for the treatment of various ailments. This study aimed to evaluate the chemical composition, antioxidant capacity, enzyme inhibitory potential, and cytotoxic activity of extracts derived from its aerial parts. Among the tested extracts, the 70% ethanol extract contained the highest total phenolic content. A total of 38 compounds, mainly phenolic acids and flavonoids, were identified by HPLC-ESI-MS/MS analysis. The aqueous extract contained the highest levels of individual phenolic compounds, particularly ferulic acid and p-coumaric acid. The 70% ethanol extract showed the strongest antioxidant activity in all assays. The ethyl acetate extract exhibited the highest acetylcholinesterase and α-amylase inhibitory activities. Cytotoxicity assays revealed that the 70% ethanol extract was active against A549 lung cancer cells with an IC50 value of 56.77 µg mL[-1] and a selectivity index of 1.6. In vivo zebrafish developmental toxicity assays demonstrated dose-dependent embryotoxic effects. Early exposure (0 hpf) caused increased mortality, reduced hatching, and morphological abnormalities, such as axial curvature and pericardial edema, whereas exposure at 72 hpf showed markedly reduced sensitivity. Overall, the findings suggest that R. raphanistrum is a promising natural source of bioactive compounds that could be used in the nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical industries.

This study systematically compared the yield, physicochemical composition, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and bioactivities of pomace from seven wine grape varieties prior to and following fermentation. The results showed that fermentation significantly reduced pomace yields, particularly in the skins, while effectively liberating phenolics and universally enhancing in vitro α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities. The VOC profiles shifted fundamentally from aldehydes and terpenoids to high-value alcohols and esters. Distinct varietal specificities were observed. Dunkelfelder skins exhibited notable phenolic and tannin retention, Malbec skins uniquely accumulated anthocyanins, and Marselan, Syrah, and Petit Verdot seeds stood out for their exceptionally high phenolic content, rich volatile profiles (fatty acid ethyl esters and phenylethyl alcohol), and strong in vitro α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities. Notably, Petit Verdot seeds uniquely exhibited a tannin "release-type" pattern with significantly increased content following fermentation. These findings provide a theoretical basis for the targeted, high-value valorization of varietal grape pomace.