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Chloroplasts are the primary sites of photosynthesis, but growing evidence highlights their broader role as central hubs that coordinate plant responses to environmental challenges. They retain a semi-autonomous genetic system and communicate extensively with the nucleus through anterograde and retrograde signalling pathways, enabling coordinated cellular regulation. Beyond energy conversion, chloroplasts host key biosynthetic pathways and dynamically adjust their metabolic and redox states in response to developmental and environmental cues. This review summarizes the current knowledge of chloroplast functions in response to abiotic and biotic stresses, emphasizing their contribution to plant resilience, productivity and sustainability. Under abiotic stress, chloroplasts undergo structural, metabolic and redox reprogramming to maintain photosynthetic efficiency and metabolic homeostasis. During biotic stress, they act as a powerful signalling platform that integrates immune responses with metabolic and redox regulation. These functions rely on overlapping signalling pathways that are differentially tuned to support acclimation or defence. By coordinating stress responses with photosynthetic activity and metabolic efficiency, chloroplasts play a central role in sustaining plant productivity and represent promising targets for enhancing crop resilience and agricultural sustainability under climate change and increasing pathogen pressure.

The Mediterranean Diet (MD) is a lifestyle that involves not only dietary habits, well known for their effectiveness in preventing health risks by supplying well-balanced foods rich in bioactive compounds, but also daily habits that improve the quality of life. Older adults represent a segment of the population that can particularly benefit from this dietary pattern. However, the specific characteristics and needs of older individuals require a critical analysis of aspects that may limit adherence to the MD principles, including physical impairments related to eating, sensory and cultural aspects, accessibility of food sources, and the social context. The objective of this study was to review the potential benefits of the MD in relation to the needs, capacities and eating behaviors of older adults, focusing on the beneficial effects of plant-based food metabolites and their suitability for older adult diets. The results demonstrate how the MD can be tailored to meet the nutritional and functional needs of older adults, supporting healthy aging. Therefore, the Mediterranean lifestyle could be an effective tool in public health policies to promote healthy habits, thereby improving the quality of life in vulnerable population categories.

Background Drought is a major abiotic stress that significantly limits potato productivity and tuber quality. Microbial biostimulants have emerged as promising tools to improve crop resilience and promote sustainable agriculture. This study aimed to investigate the transcriptomic response to severe drought stress in three potato cultivars (Camelia, Cicero, and Agata) characterized by differing polyphenol content. In addition, the potential mitigating effects of a microorganism-based biostimulant mixture composed by two Trichoderma species, were evaluated. Results Severe drought stress led to a significant reduction in tuber yield in Camelia and Agata, whereas Cicero exhibited greater tolerance. Application of the microbial biostimulant slightly alleviated yield loss in Camelia but was associated with an increased proportion of non-commercial tubers. Polyphenol content varied according to genotype and treatment, Cicero displayed elevated polyphenol levels in the skin under drought, while Camelia showed increased levels in both skin and pulp when drought was combined with biostimulant application. Transcriptomic analysis revealed genotype-specific drought response strategies. Camelia exhibited enhanced proteostasis and osmoprotection via anthocyanin accumulation, while Cicero maintained photosynthetic activity, redox homeostasis, and genome stability. Trichoderma -based biostimulant treatment modulated these responses by enhancing endoplasmic reticulum protein quality control in Camelia, and promoting photosynthesis and sugar metabolism in Cicero. Conclusions Potato responses to drought are highly genotype-dependent and involve complex trade-offs among growth, stress defense, and metabolic reprogramming. Microbial biostimulants offer a promising approach to enhance drought resilience and tuber nutraceutical quality. However, their efficacy is genotype-specific and requires targeted application strategies for optimal results.

Mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) in higher plants can induce cytoplasmic male sterility and be somehow involved in nuclear-cytoplasmic interactions affecting plant growth and agronomic performance. They are larger and more complex than in other eukaryotes, due to their recombinogenic nature. For most plants, the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) can be represented as a single circular chromosome, the so-called master molecule, which includes repeated sequences that recombine frequently, generating sub-genomic molecules in various proportions. Based on the relevance of the potato crop worldwide, herewith we report the complete mtDNA sequence of two S. tuberosum cultivars, namely Cicero and Désirée, and a comprehensive study of its expression, based on high-coverage RNA sequencing data. We found that the potato mitogenome has a multi-partite architecture, divided in at least three independent molecules that according to our data should behave as autonomous chromosomes. Inter-cultivar variability was null, while comparative analyses with other species of the Solanaceae family allowed the investigation of the evolutionary history of their mitogenomes. The RNA-seq data revealed peculiarities in transcriptional and post-transcriptional processing of mRNAs. These included co-transcription of genes with open reading frames that are probably expressed, methylation of an rRNA at a position that should impact translation efficiency and extensive RNA editing, with a high proportion of partial editing implying frequent mis-targeting by the editing machinery.

Summary Genic‐cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) due to interactions between nuclear and cytoplasmic genomes is a well‐known phenomenon in some Solanum spp. hybrids, but genes involved are not known. In this study, the chondriomes of two isonuclear male‐fertile and sterile somatic hybrids (SH9A and SH9B, respectively) between the common potato (S. tuberosum Group Tuberosum, tbr) and the wild species S. commersonii were sequenced and compared to those of parental species to identify mitochondrial genes involved in the expression of male sterility. A putative novel gene (orf125) was found only in tbr and in male‐sterile hybrids. Physical or functional deletion of orf125 by mtDNA editing in SH9B and its allotopic expression in SH9A clearly demonstrated that orf125 affects male fertility. Besides knockout mutants induced by mitoTALEN and DddA‐derived cytosine base editing, specific orf125 missense mutations generated by the latter approach also induced reversion to male fertility in edited SH9B plants, prompting further studies on ORF125 structure–function relationship. The organization of the mitochondrial genome region implicated in CMS was found to be conserved across all common potato accessions, while an identical copy of tbr orf125 was detected in accessions belonging to the S. berthaultii species complex (ber). Such findings corroborate the hypothesis that ber accessions with T/β cytoplasm outcrossed as female with Andean potato, giving rise to the differentiation of the Chilean potato, and highlight the origin of mitochondrial factors contributing to genic‐cytoplasmic male sterility in some tuber‐bearing Solanum hybrids. Our results contribute to the development of innovative breeding approaches in potato.

The incorporation of artichoke bracts, a by-product of artichoke processing, into pasta formulations represents an innovative approach to enhancing the nutritional and functional properties of this staple food while promoting environmental sustainability. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of artichoke powder (AP) enrichment (10% / replacement of semolina) on the technological, nutritional, antioxidant, and sensory properties of pasta. The enriched pasta (P-AP) was compared to control pasta (P-CTR) through comprehensive physicochemical analyses, including cooking performance, polyphenol characterization, and in vitro digestion. Polyphenol analysis revealed that chlorogenic acid, dicaffeoylquinic acids, and flavonoids accounted for 87% of total identified phenolic compounds in P-AP. Despite a 42% reduction in free polyphenols due to cooking, in vitro digestion revealed a 47% increase in total identified polyphenols, attributed to the release of bound polyphenols. Antioxidant assays (DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP) confirmed a significantly higher antioxidant capacity in P-AP compared to P-CTR. Additionally, P-AP exhibited a lower predicted glycemic index (pGI = 56.67) than the control (pGI = 58.41), a beneficial feature for blood glucose regulation. Sensory analysis highlighted distinct differences between samples, with P-AP showing stronger vegetal, artichoke, and legume-like notes, as well as higher intensity in bitterness and astringency. While panelists rated P-CTR higher in overall liking, enriched pasta maintained acceptable sensory characteristics. These findings support the valorization of artichoke by-products in pasta production, demonstrating their potential to enhance nutritional quality and functional properties while contributing to a circular economy.

Biostimulants (BSs) are natural materials (i.e., organic or inorganic compounds, and/or microorganisms) having beneficial effects on plant growth and productivity, and able to improve resilience/tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Therefore, they represent an innovative alternative to the phyto- and agrochemicals, being environmentally friendly and a valuable tool to cope with extreme climate conditions. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of several biomolecules (i.e., Xylanase, β-Glucosidase, Chitinase, and Tramesan), alone or in combinations, on lettuce plant growth and quality. With this aim, the influence of these biomolecules on biomass, pigment content, and antioxidant properties in treated plants were investigated. Our results showed that Xylanase and, to a lesser extent, β-Glucosidase, have potentially biostimulant activity for lettuce cultivation, positively influencing carotenoids, total polyphenols, and ascorbic acid contents; similar effects were found with respect to antioxidative properties. Furthermore, the effect of the more promising molecules (Xylanase and β-Glucosidase) was also evaluated in kiwifruit cultured cells to test their putative role as sustainable input for plant cell biofactories. The absence of phytotoxic effects of both molecules at low doses (0.1 and 0.01 µM), and the significantly enhanced cell biomass growth, indicates a positive impact on kiwifruit cells.

In various crops, genetic bottlenecks occurring through domestication can limit crop resilience to biotic and abiotic stresses. In the present study, we investigated nucleotide diversity in tomato chloroplast genome through sequencing seven plastomes of cultivated accessions from the Campania region (Southern Italy) and two wild species among the closest (Solanum pimpinellifolium) and most distantly related (S. neorickii) species to cultivated tomatoes. Comparative analyses among the chloroplast genomes sequenced in this work and those available in GenBank allowed evaluating the variability of plastomes and defining phylogenetic relationships. A dramatic reduction in genetic diversity was detected in cultivated tomatoes, nonetheless, a few de novo mutations, which still differentiated the cultivated tomatoes from the closest wild relative S. pimpinellifolium, were detected and are potentially utilizable as diagnostic markers. Phylogenetic analyses confirmed that S. pimpinellifolium is the closest ancestor of all cultivated tomatoes. Local accessions all clustered together and were strictly related with other cultivated tomatoes (S. lycopersicum group). Noteworthy, S. lycopersicum var. cerasiforme resulted in a mixture of both cultivated and wild tomato genotypes since one of the two analyzed accessions clustered with cultivated tomato, whereas the other with S. pimpinellifolium. Overall, our results revealed a very reduced cytoplasmic variability in cultivated tomatoes and suggest the occurrence of a cytoplasmic bottleneck during their domestication.

In a circular economy era the transition towards renewable and sustainable materials is very urgent. The development of bio-based solutions, that can ensure technological circularity in many priority areas (e.g., agriculture, biotechnology, ecology, green industry, etc.), is very strategic. The agricultural and fishing industry wastes represent important feedstocks that require the development of sustainable and environmentally-friendly industrial processes to produce and recover biofuels, chemicals and bioactive molecules. In this context, the replacement, in industrial processes, of chemicals with enzyme-based catalysts assures great benefits to humans and the environment. In this review, we describe the potentiality of the plastid transformation technology as a sustainable and cheap platform for the production of recombinant industrial enzymes, summarize the current knowledge on the technology, and display examples of cellulolytic enzymes already produced. Further, we illustrate several types of bacterial auxiliary and chitinases/chitin deacetylases enzymes with high biotechnological value that could be manufactured by plastid transformation.

Background Drought is a major constraint for plant growth and crop productivity that is receiving an increased attention due to global climate changes. Chloroplasts act as environmental sensors, however, only partial information is available on stress-induced mechanisms within plastids. Here, we investigated the chloroplast response to a severe drought treatment and a subsequent recovery cycle in tomato through physiological, metabolite and proteomic analyses. Results Under stress conditions, tomato plants showed stunted growth, and elevated levels of proline, abscisic acid (ABA) and late embryogenesis abundant gene transcript. Proteomics revealed that water deficit deeply affects chloroplast protein repertoire (31 differentially represented components), mainly involving energy-related functional species. Following the rewatering cycle, physiological parameters and metabolite levels indicated a recovery of tomato plant functions, while proteomics revealed a still ongoing adjustment of the chloroplast protein repertoire, which was even wider than during the drought phase (54 components differentially represented). Changes in gene expression of candidate genes and accumulation of ABA suggested the activation under stress of a specific chloroplast-to-nucleus (retrograde) signaling pathway and interconnection with the ABA-dependent network. Conclusions Our results give an original overview on the role of chloroplast as enviromental sensor by both coordinating the expression of nuclear-encoded plastid-localised proteins and mediating plant stress response. Although our data suggest the activation of a specific retrograde signaling pathway and interconnection with ABA signaling network in tomato, the involvement and fine regulation of such pathway need to be further investigated through the development and characterization of ad hoc designed plant mutants.