Explore the vast range of titles available.

Drought stress triggers sugar accumulation in plants, providing energy and aiding in protection against oxidative damage. Plant hardening under mild stress conditions has been shown to enhance plant resistance to severe stress conditions. While sugar accumulation and metabolism under drought stress have been well-documented in crop plants, the effect of drought acclimation treatment on sugar accumulation and metabolism has not yet been explored. In this study, we investigated the impact of drought stress acclimation on sugar accumulation and metabolism in the leaves and root tissues of two commonly cultivated foxtail millet ( Setaria italica L.) genotypes, 'PI 689680' and 'PI 662292'. Quantification of total sugars (soluble sugar, fructose, glucose, and sucrose), their related enzymes (SPS, SuSy, NI, and AI), and the regulation of their related transcripts ( SiSPS1 , SiSuSy1 , SiSWEET6 , SiA-INV , and SiC-INV ) revealed that drought-acclimated (DA) plants exhibited levels of these indicators comparable to those of control plants. However, under subsequent drought stress conditions, both the leaves and roots of non-acclimated plants accumulated higher levels of total sugars, displayed increased activity of sugar metabolism enzymes, and showed elevated expression of sugar metabolism-related transcripts compared to drought-acclimated plants. Thus, acclimation-induced restriction of sugar accumulation, transport, and metabolism could be one of the metabolic processes contributing to enhanced drought tolerance in millet. This study advocates for the use of acclimation as an effective strategy to mitigate the negative impacts of drought-induced metabolic disturbances in millet, thereby enhancing global food security and promoting sustainable agricultural systems.

A genome-wide identification and expression analysis was performed to examine the response of the amino acid permease (AAP) gene family to drought stress in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). Ten AAP genes were identified across seven of the twelve chromosomes and classified into four subfamilies (I–IV) based on phylogenetic relationships. Expansion of the SlAAP family appears to have been driven mainly by segmental and tandem duplication events. Members within the same subfamily displayed high similarity in exon–intron organization and conserved motif architecture. Promoter analysis revealed the presence of multiple cis-acting elements associated with stress and defence regulation. Under drought stress, all putative genes exhibited significant transcriptional induction, with SlAAP8, SlAAP9 and SlAAP10 showing the strongest upregulation, suggesting their potential involvement in drought adaptation. Drought treatment also led to a marked decline in nitrate (NO3−) and total nitrogen (N) contents, while simultaneously increasing the accumulation of total amino acids, ammonium (NH4+), and proline in both leaf and root tissues of tomato. The expression profiles of the ten putative SlAAP genes showed strong positive correlations with total amino acid levels in both organs, suggesting their involvement in amino acid redistribution under stress. Collectively, these results underscore the functional complexity of the SlAAP gene family and provide a robust foundation for future investigations into their molecular roles and potential applications in enhancing drought tolerance in tomato and other crop species.

Businesses strive for effective working capital management (WCM) since ineffective WCM influences firms' failure in developing economies. However, the connection between WCM and the going concern of firms has not received significant quantitative attention. Hence, this study examines the impact of WCM on the going concern of manufacturing businesses in Ghana. The study goes beyond the edges and fills the literature gap on WCM and going concerns. Using panel data for 55 large-scale manufacturing companies in Ghana from 2002 to 2022, the study employed the Fixed Effect as the main estimation technique and the Random Effect as the robustness test estimator. The findings affirm the need for working capital management since it influences the going concerns of manufacturing firms. Hence, it is recommended that measures including effective mobilization of inventories, cash, debtors, and creditors should be the main motive of management and owners of the business.

The need for green business practices and green innovations underscores a growing recognition that climate change is now an existential threat not just to population health but also to the survival of businesses that are unable to embrace green practices with a sense of urgency. This paper contributes to the literature on market violence as an inhibitor of green innovations for sustainable waste management to curb the unneeded health effects of wastes in Africa. Our purpose is to problematize received wisdom, unquestioned assumptions, and incorrect diagnosis of the sources and health consequences of various forms of wastes in Africa. Much of the discourse on this issue remains ahistorical, and that risks leaving aside a vital question of exploitative extraction. By including this ‘out-of-the-box’ explanation through major case references, we are able to shed light on the critical issues that have hitherto received limited attention, thus enabling us to propose useful research questions for future enquiries. We propose a framework that delineates the structural composition of costs imposed by market violence that ranges from extraction to e-waste disposal. We advocate for the engineering of policies that create conditions for doing more with less resources, eliminating waste, and recycling as crucial steps in creating sustainable waste management innovations. Additionally, we highlight a set of fundamental issues regarding enablers and inhibitors of sustainable innovations and policies for waste management worth considering for future research. These include programmed obsolescence, irresponsible extraction, production, and consumption, all seen through the theoretical lens of market violence.

The inception of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) constitutes a major advancement in Africa's economic integration process. Diverging from what appears to be the norm in contemporary trade treaties, the agreement adopts a conditional Most Favoured Nation (MFN) clause hinged on the principle of reciprocity. Without the promise to reciprocate preferential treatment, the beneficiary state does not assume the right to demand MFN treatment. In broader discussions, this feature has been criticized for possessing the tendency to restrict trade. However, examining it in the context of Africa's trade paradigm, this paper argues that the non-automaticity of the AfCFTA's MFN clause is a cardinal feature safeguarding its existence.

Millet, a vital and nutritionally dense cereal extensively cultivated in Sub-Saharan Africa, plays a key role in ensuring food security. This study investigates the starch synthase (SS) gene family, which is crucial for starch biosynthesis and influences various plant functions and stress responses. While the specific roles of SS genes in millet under drought conditions are not fully elucidated, this research provides a thorough analysis of the SS gene family in millet. A total of twelve millet SS genes (SiSSs) were identified and classified into four subfamilies (I–IV) through gene structure and phylogenetic analysis. The SiSS genes were unevenly distributed across millet chromosomes, with cis-acting elements associated with plant growth and stress defense being identified. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) revealed dynamic and varied expression patterns of SiSSs in different tissues under drought stress. Millet plants subjected to drought conditions showed higher tissue starch content and increased starch synthase activity compared to controls. Importantly, the expression levels of the twelve SiSSs were positively correlated with both starch content and synthase activity, suggesting their significant role in drought tolerance. This study enhances our understanding of the millet SS gene family and highlights the potential of these genes in breeding programs aimed at developing drought-resistant millet varieties. Further research is recommended to validate these findings and delve deeper into the mechanisms underlying drought tolerance.

Plant U-box E3 ubiquitin ligase (PUB) is involved in various environmental stress conditions. However, the molecular mechanism of U-box proteins in response to abiotic stress in wheat remains unknown. In this study, two U-box E3 ligase genes (TaPUB2 and TaPUB3), which are highly expressed in response to adverse abiotic stresses, were isolated from common wheat, and their cellular functions were characterized under drought stress. Transient expression assay revealed that TaPUB2 was localized in the cytoplasm and Golgi apparatus, whereas TaPUB3 was expressed only in the Golgi apparatus in wheat protoplasts. Additionally, TaPUB2 and TaPUB3 underwent self-ubiquitination. Moreover, TaPUB2/TaPUB3 heterodimer was identified in yeast and the cytoplasm of wheat protoplasts using a pull-down assay and bimolecular fluorescence complementation analysis. Heterogeneous overexpression of TaPUB2 and TaPUB3 conferred tolerance to drought stress. Taken together, these results implied that the heterodimeric form of U-box E3 ubiquitin ligases (TaPUB2/TaPUB3) responded to abiotic stress and roles as a positive regulator of drought stress tolerance.

Over the years, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has become the pollution haven for most industrious companies around the globe due to foreign direct investment (FDI) activities. As a result, policymakers and researchers are striving to implement policies to guide the conduct of FDI since ineffective policies and strategies on FDI will increase carbon emissions in SSA. Also, integrating the mediating and moderating roles of industrialization and trade openness is yet to receive significant research attention in developing economies like SSA. Hence, this current study fills the gap in the literature and provides novel insight into FDI and carbon emissions. Taking into account the mediating and moderating roles of industrialization and trade openness. The study employed panel data comprising 30 countries in SSA from 2000 to 2022, which was used for the empirical investigation. The study utilized the common correlated effects mean group as the primary estimator and the augmented mean group as the robustness estimator. The findings affirm the need for the government in SSA to strengthen policies governing FDI to reduce carbon emission since FDI inflows positively affect carbon emission, while FDI outflows negatively affect carbon emission. Also, the mediating role results affirm the need for government restructuring policies governing industrialization to reduce carbon emissions in SSA. Lastly, the moderating findings demonstrate the need for effective policies on trade openness to reduce carbon emissions.

This study investigated how trade openness influenced the connection between industrialization and emissions of carbon in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We utilized purposive sampling technique to select 28 SSA countries from 2003 to 2021. The study used Generalised Methods of Moments as the main estimator and Pooled Mean Group as the robustness estimator for the empirical analysis. The findings revealed that industrialization positively impacts carbon emissions in SSA nations. Additionally, the link between industrialization and carbon emissions in SSA nations is positively moderated by trade openness. The findings validate the necessity for governments in Sub-Saharan African nations to restructure their industrialization initiatives in order to lower emissions of carbon. Additionally, strict measures should be implemented to regulate free trade in the SSA region.

Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) continue to seek pathways that can accelerate industrial growth. Among the various drivers, foreign direct investment (FDI) has emerged as a key determinant of industrialization in the region. However, previous studies on the FDI–industrialization nexus have largely overlooked the moderating role of trade openness. This study therefore examines the impact of FDI on industrialization in SSA, with particular attention to the role of trade openness. Using panel data from 30 SSA countries covering the period 2000 to 2022, the analysis employs both Fixed Effects and Random Effects estimators. The results indicate that FDI inflows significantly and positively influence industrialization, whereas FDI outflows exert a negative effect. Moreover, trade openness moderates this relationship by strengthening the positive effect of FDI inflows and intensifying the negative effect of FDI outflows on industrialization. These findings highlight the importance for SSA governments to design and reinforce policies that encourage FDI inflows and expand trade openness in order to foster industrial development. In addition, the results underscore the need for policies that support local industries, thereby enhancing their competitiveness and capacity to attract foreign investors.