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There is a direct correlation between population growth and food demand. As the global population continues to rise, there is a need to scale up food production to meet the food demand of the population. In addition, the arable land over time has lost its naturally endowed nutrients. Hence, alternative measures such as fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides are used to fortify the soil and scale up the production rate. As efforts are being made to meet this food demand and ensure food security, it is equally important to ensure food safety for consumption. Food safety measures need to be put in place throughout the food production chain lines. One of the fundamental measures is the use of biofertilizers or plant growth promoters instead of chemical or synthesized fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides that poise several dangers to human and animal health. Biofertilizers competitively colonize plant root systems, which, in turn, enhance nutrient uptake, increase productivity and crop yield, improve plants’ tolerance to stress and their resistance to pathogens, and improve plant growth through mechanisms such as the mobilization of essential elements, nutrients, and plant growth hormones. Biofertilizers are cost-effective and ecofriendly in nature, and their continuous usage enhances soil fertility. They also increase crop yield by up to about 10–40% by increasing protein contents, essential amino acids, and vitamins, and by nitrogen fixation. This review therefore highlighted different types of biofertilizers and the mechanisms by which they elicit their function to enhance crop yield to meet food demand. In addition, the review also addressed the role of microorganisms in promoting plant growth and the various organisms that are beneficial for enhancing plant growth.

The quest for an extraordinary array of defense strategies is imperative to reduce the challenges of microbial attacks on plants and animals. Plant antimicrobial peptides (PAMPs) are a subset of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). PAMPs elicit defense against microbial attacks and prevent drug resistance of pathogens given their wide spectrum activity, excellent structural stability, and diverse mechanism of action. This review aimed to identify the applications, features, production, expression, and challenges of PAMPs using its structure–activity relationship. The discovery techniques used to identify these peptides were also explored to provide insight into their significance in genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and their expression against disease-causing pathogens.

Open dumps and poorly managed landfill sites pose significant environmental, health, and ecological risks. This study investigated the extent of heavy metal contamination in soils collected from two municipal landfill sites in the eastern Free State, South Africa, over the period 2022–2024. One of these sites remains operational, while the other has been abandoned. Soil samples were collected at 20‐cm depth and analyzed for physicochemical properties, heavy metal concentrations, and ecotoxicological effects on earthworms ( Eisenia fetida ) and collembolans ( Folsomia candida ). Elevated concentrations of heavy metals exceeding South African allowable limits were detected at both sites. At the abandoned landfill, chromium (65.8 ppb) and manganese (4920 ppb) concentrations exceeded permissible levels, while at the active landfill, copper (176 ppb) and manganese (4740 ppb) surpassed threshold values. Ecotoxicological assays revealed that approximately 65% of earthworms avoided soils from the active landfill, suggesting higher contamination and biological stress, whereas only 20% avoided soils from the abandoned landfill, indicating reduced but persistent contamination. Notably, manganese and copper concentrations, which were previously undetectable in 2022 at the abandoned site, reappeared and increased in 2024, suggesting remobilization of residue contaminants. These findings highlight the enduring environmental risks associated with abandoned landfills and underscore the importance of effective remediation strategies and robust waste management practices to reduce long‐term ecological impacts.

Background/Objectives Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) is one of the common causes of early-onset degenerative dementia and is a clinically and pathologically heterogeneous group of neurodegenerative disorders. Globally, Microtubule Associated Protein Tau ( MAPT ), progranulin ( GRN ), and Chromosome 9 open reading frame 72( C9orf72 ) are the common FTD genetic mutations. However, they have not been reported from India, and only one progranulin ( PGRN ) mutation has been reported so far. This study aims to describe the clinical features and radiological patterns of seven patients of FTD harbouring pathogenic MAPT mutations from an Indian cohort of Frontotemporal dementia, using whole-exome sequencing (WES) for the first time. Methods Subjects with dementia fulfilling the criteria for frontotemporal dementia were recruited from a teaching university hospital in South India. All of them underwent detailed clinical evaluation, neuroimaging, and genetic analysis by Whole Exome Sequencing (WES). Results Among 86 patients with FTD who underwent WES, seven had MAPT mutations. Notably, two are novel variants. Conclusion In the Indian context, pathogenic MAPT in FTD is being reported for the first time and notably from a single center by WES. Identifying pathogenic MAPT genes is important in planning mutation-specific clinical trials and understanding ethical and cultural differences in genetic FTD inheritance.

The use of biological control agents as opposed to synthetic agrochemicals to control plant pathogens has gained momentum, considering their numerous advantages. The aim of this study is to investigate the biocontrol potential of plant bacterial isolates against Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium proliferatum, Fusarium culmorum, and Fusarium verticillioides. Isolation, identification, characterization, and in vitro biocontrol antagonistic assays of these isolates against Fusarium species were carried out following standard protocols. The bacterial endophytes were isolated from Glycine max. L leaves (B1), Brassica napus. L seeds (B2), Vigna unguiculata seeds (B3), and Glycine max. L seeds (B4). The bacterial isolates were identified using 16S rRNA PCR sequencing. A phylogenetic analysis shows that the bacterial isolates are closely related to Bacillus subtilis (B1) and Bacillus tequilensis (B2–B4), with an identity score above 98%. All the bacterial isolates produced a significant amount (p < 0.05) of indole acetic acid (IAA), siderophores, and protease activity. In vitro antagonistic assays of these isolates show a significant (p < 0.05) growth inhibition of the fungal mycelia in the following order: F. proliferatum > F. culmorum > F. verticillioides > F. oxysporum, compared to the control. The results suggest that these bacterial isolates are good biocontrol candidates against the selected Fusarium species.

The mining of heavy metals from the environment leads to an increase in soil pollution, leading to the uptake of heavy metals into plant tissue. The build-up of toxic metals in plant cells often leads to cellular damage and senescence. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to produce plants with improved tolerance to heavy metals for food security, as well as to limit heavy metal uptake for improved food safety purposes. To achieve this goal, our understanding of the signaling mechanisms which regulate toxic heavy metal uptake and tolerance in plants requires extensive improvement. In this review, we summarize recent literature and data on heavy metal toxicity (oral reference doses) and the impact of the metals on food safety and food security. Furthermore, we discuss some of the key events (reception, transduction, and response) in the heavy metal signaling cascades in the cell wall, plasma membrane, and cytoplasm. Our future perspectives provide an outlook of the exciting advances that will shape the plant heavy metal signaling field in the near future.

Abiotic and biotic stress factors negatively influence the growth, yield, and nutritional value of economically important food and feed crops. These climate-change-induced stress factors, together with the ever-growing human population, compromise sustainable food security for all consumers across the world. Agrochemicals are widely used to increase crop yield by improving plant growth and enhancing their tolerance to stress factors; however, there has been a shift towards natural compounds in recent years due to the detrimental effect associated with these agrochemicals on crops and the ecosystem. In view of these, the use of phenolic biostimulants as opposed to artificial fertilizers has gained significant momentum in crop production. Seaweeds are marine organisms and excellent sources of natural phenolic compounds that are useful for downstream agricultural applications such as promoting plant growth and improving resilience against various stress conditions. In this review, we highlight the different phenolic compounds present in seaweed, compare their extraction methods, and describe their downstream applications in agriculture.

The global increase in cancer mortality and economic losses necessitates the cautious quest for therapeutic agents with compensatory advantages over conventional therapies. Anticancer peptides (ACPs) are a subset of host defense peptides, also known as antimicrobial peptides, which have emerged as therapeutic and diagnostic candidates due to several compensatory advantages over the non-specificity of the current treatment regimens. This review aimed to highlight the ravaging incidence of cancer, the use of ACPs in cancer treatment with their mechanisms, ACP discovery and delivery methods, and the limitations for their use. This would create awareness for identifying more ACPs with better specificity, accuracy and sensitivity towards the disease. It would also promote their efficacious utilization in biotechnology, medical sciences and molecular biology to ease the severity of the disease and enable the patients living with these conditions to develop an accommodating lifestyle.

Raphanus sativus also known as radish is a member of the Brassicaceae family which is mainly cultivated for human and animal consumption. R. sativus growth and development is negatively affected by heavy metal stress. The metal zirconium (Zr) have toxic effects on plants and tolerance to the metal could be regulated by known signaling molecules such as methylglyoxal (MG). Therefore, in this study we investigated whether the application of the signaling molecule MG could improve the Zr tolerance of R. sativus at the seedling stage. We measured the following: seed germination, dry weight, cotyledon abscission (%), cell viability, chlorophyll content, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, conjugated diene (CD) content, hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) content, superoxide (O 2 •− ) content, MG content, hydroxyl radical ( · OH) concentration, ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, glyoxalase I (Gly I) activity, Zr content and translocation factor. Under Zr stress, exogenous MG increased the seed germination percentage, shoot dry weight, cotyledon abscission, cell viability and chlorophyll content. Exogenous MG also led to a decrease in MDA, CD, H 2 O 2 , O 2 •− , MG and · OH, under Zr stress in the shoots. Furthermore, MG application led to an increase in the enzymatic activities of APX, SOD and Gly I as well as in the complete blocking of cotyledon abscission under Zr stress. MG treatment decreased the uptake of Zr in the roots and shoots. Zr treatment decreased the translocation factor of the Zr from roots to shoots and MG treatment decreased the translocation factor of Zr even more significantly compared to the Zr only treatment. Our results indicate that MG treatment can improve R. sativus seedling growth under Zr stress through the activation of antioxidant enzymes and Gly I through reactive oxygen species and MG signaling, inhibiting cotyledon abscission through H 2 O 2 signaling and immobilizing Zr translocation.

Pneumonia remains one of the leading causes of infectious mortality and significant economic losses among our growing population. The lack of specific biomarkers for correct and timely diagnosis to detect patients’ status is a bane towards initiating a proper treatment plan for the disease; thus, current biomarkers cannot distinguish between pneumonia and other associated conditions such as atherosclerotic plaques and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are potential candidates for detecting numerous illnesses due to their compensatory roles as theranostic molecules. This research sought to generate specific data for parental AMPs to identify viral and bacterial pneumonia pathogens using in silico technology.