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Abstract Soil salinity drastically hinders cotton productivity (Gossypium hirsutum), and fiber quality. The current study evaluated morpho-physiological and biochemical responses of fifty cotton genotypes under different salinity levels (control, 12 dS/m, and 17 dS/m) at the seedling stage. The experiment was performed in a factorial complete randomized design with three replications. Significant genotype × treatment interactions were observed for most traits, including shoot length (SL), root length (RL), fresh and dry shoot weight (FSW, DSW), fresh and dry root weight (FRW, DRW), total soluble protein (TSP), proline content, and antioxidant enzymes. Severe salinity stress reduces shoot length (SL) and root length (RL) along with notable decreases in biomass and altered biochemical responses, including increased antioxidant activities and proline content, indicating stress adaptation. Moreover, PCA and Pearson’s correlation analyses unveiled strong positive and negative correlations among studied attributes while MGIDI analyses assist in determining the salt-resilient cotton genotypes under applied treatments. The best-performing genotypes under control conditions were G2, G8, and G12, while G7, G43, and G30 showed resilience under severe salinity stress. MGIDI effectively identified genotypes with outstanding salinity tolerance, such as G2, G43, G40, and G26, across all stress levels. This research assists in determining the salinity stress-tolerant cotton genotypes using morpho-physiological and biochemical parameters and MGIDI is used as a precise method for identifying salt-resilient cotton accessions.

Abstract Heat stress poses a significant environmental challenge that profoundly impacts wheat productivity. It disrupts vital physiological processes such as photosynthesis, by impeding the functionality of the photosynthetic apparatus and compromising plasma membrane stability, thereby detrimentally affecting grain development in wheat. The scarcity of identified marker trait associations pertinent to thermotolerance presents a formidable obstacle in the development of marker-assisted selection strategies against heat stress. To address this, wheat accessions were systematically exposed to both normal and heat stress conditions and phenotypic data were collected on physiological traits including proline content, canopy temperature depression, cell membrane injury, photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate (at vegetative and reproductive stage and ‘stay-green’. Principal component analysis elucidated the most significant contributors being proline content, transpiration rate, and canopy temperature depression, which exhibited a synergistic relationship with grain yield. Remarkably, cluster analysis delineated the wheat accessions into four discrete groups based on physiological attributes. Moreover, to explore the relationship between physiological traits and DNA markers, 158 wheat accessions were genotyped with 186 SSRs. Allelic frequency and polymorphic information content value were found to be highest on genome A (4.94 and 0.688), chromosome 1A (5.00 and 0.712), and marker Xgwm44 (13.0 and 0.916). Population structure, principal coordinate analysis and cluster analysis also partitioned the wheat accessions into four subpopulations based on genotypic data, highlighting their genetic homogeneity. Population diversity and presence of linkage disequilibrium established the suitability of population for association mapping. Additionally, linkage disequilibrium decay was most pronounced within a 15–20 cM region on chromosome 1A. Association mapping revealed highly significant marker trait associations at Bonferroni correction P

Human activities and climate change have resulted in frequent and intense weather fluctuations, leading to diverse abiotic stresses on crops which hampers greatly their metabolic activities. Heat stress, a prevalent abiotic factor, significantly influences cotton plant biological activities resulting in reducing yield and production. We must deepen our understanding of how plants respond to heat stress across various dimensions, encompassing genes, RNAs, proteins, metabolites for effective cotton breeding. Multi-omics methods, primarily genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and phenomics, proves instrumental in studying cotton’s responses to abiotic stresses. Integrating genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomic is imperative for our better understanding regarding genetics and molecular basis of heat tolerance in cotton. The current review explores fundamental omics techniques, covering genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, to highlight the progress made in cotton omics research.

Improving fruit quality and reducing pre-harvest fruit drop are critical goals for Citrus reticulata production in Pakistan, where climatic and nutritional challenges affect yield and juice quality. This study evaluated the combined effects of plant growth regulators (salicylic acid and indole acetic acid) and nutrients (potassium and zinc) on fruit drop and juice volume in Citrus reticulata L. Field trials were conducted at three locations in Punjab, Pakistan (Layyah, Faisalabad, and Sargodha) using a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with five replications per treatment. Nutrients (K and Zn at 100 mg/L each) and growth regulators (SA at 100 mg/L and IAA at 5 mg/L) were applied individually or in combination at three growth stages. Statistical analyses, including PCA, ANOVA, and GGE biplot, were used to identify the most effective treatments for improving fruit juice quality and reducing fruit drop. The combined foliar application of SA + K + Zn was the most effective across all parameters, except fruit drop, juice citric acid contents, and juice pH, which were negatively affected. The highest juice potassium content was observed with K application. The PCA and GGE biplot analysis indicated that the Sargodha orchard performed best, with the SA + K treatment being the most effective there, while SA + K + Zn showed the best results at Layyah and Faisalabad for reducing fruit drop, enhancing juice volume, and improving fruit quality. However, individual fruit, juice, and juice nutrient contents traits analyses revealed that the most significant improvements in fruit and juice quality were observed at the Sargodha site instead of Layyah and Faisalabad. The treatment SA + K + Zn proved to be the most stable and consistent in enhancing citrus fruit and juice quality across all three selected locations. The findings suggest that adopting the SA + K + Zn treatment could be a practical approach for citrus farmers aiming to enhance crop yield and fruit quality, thereby supporting agricultural productivity and export potential in Pakistan.

Nano-biochar is a source of blackish carbonaceous material, a prerequisite for sustainable crop productivity. By using a variety of feedstock materials, nanobiochar synthesis can be employed via pyrolysis. Therefore, a project was initiated to explore the morpho-physio-biochemical alteration at the vegetative stage of wheat crops after the foliar application of nanobiochar suspension (NBS). This investigation was conducted at the Botanical Research Area of the University of Lahore in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) arrangement, with four treatments (0, 1, 3, and 5% NBS) by maintaining three replications for each treatment using the wheat variety “Zincol”. Nano biochar suspension in above mentioned concentrations were foliarly applied at the end of tillering/beginning of leaf sheath elongation of wheat seedlings to assess the morphological changes (root length, shoot length, number of leaves, fresh biomass/plant, dry biomass/plant), physio-biochemical alterations (total free amino acids, total sugars, chlorophyll content, protein, phenols, flavonoids), and nutrient uptake (Na, K, Ca, Mg, N, P contents. Our findings indicate that the foliar application of 3% NBS yielded the most favorable results across all measured attributes. Furthermore, Treatment-4 (5% NBS) specifically improved certain traits, including leaf area, total soluble proteins, and leaf calcium content. Finally, all NBS resulted in a decrease in carotenoid and sodium content in wheat seedlings.

The present investigation was conducted to explore the role of potassium nutrition in improving biomass and physio-chemical alterations to reduce the adverse effects of salinity in mungbean. A sand-culture experiment was carried out under different salinity levels (0, 50, and 100 mM NaCl) with two levels of potassium (0 and 50 mM K2SO4) and two mungbean cultivars (NM-92 and Ramzan), and the alterations in mungbean biomass and metabolic activities were investigated. The results suggested that salinity significantly reduced the biomass, nitrate reductase activity (NRA), nitrite reductase activity (NiRA), total soluble proteins, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, nitrogen, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorous contents in both mungbean cultivars in comparison to the control. However, K2SO4 at 50 mM significantly improved all the parameters in both mungbean cultivars except for the sodium content. A significant increase in the total free amino acids, carotenoids, and sodium content in both mungbean cultivars was observed due to salt stress. Moreover, principal component analysis and heatmaps were developed individually for both mungbean cultivars to assess the variability and correlation among the studied attributes under all applied treatments. Under saline conditions, the mungbean ‘Ramzan’ showed more marked reductions in almost all the growth parameters as compared to ‘NM-92’. The results suggest that the application of K2SO4 ameliorates the adverse effects of salinity by regulating osmolyte production, NRA, and NiRA, thus promoting plant growth and productivity.

Research on nanoparticles (NPs) is gaining great attention in modulating abiotic stress tolerance and improving crop productivity. Therefore, this investigation was carried out to evaluate the effects of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO-NPs) on growth and biochemical characteristics in two maize hybrids (YH-5427 and FH-1046) grown under normal conditions or subjected to saline stress. A pot-culture experiment was carried out in the Botanical Research Area of “the University of Lahore”, Lahore, Pakistan, in a completely randomized design. At two phenological stages, both maize hybrids were irrigated with the same amount of distilled water or NaCl solution (EC = 5 dS m−1) and subjected or not to foliar treatment with a suspension of CuO-NPs. The salt stress significantly reduced the photosynthetic parameters (photosynthetic rate, transpiration, stomatal conductance), while the sodium content in the shoot and root increased. The foliar spray with CuO-NPs improved the growth and photosynthetic attributes, along with the N, P, K, Ca, and Mg content in the roots and shoots. However, the maize hybrid YH-5427 responded better than the other hybrid to the saline stress when sprayed with CuO-NPs. Overall, the findings of the current investigation demonstrated that CuO-NPs can help to reduce the adverse effects of salinity stress on maize plants by improving growth and physio-biochemical attributes.

To investigate the toxic effects of lead (Pb) on key metabolic activities essential for proper germination and seedling growth of maize seeds, experiments were carried out with different levels of Pb (0 to 120 mg of Pb L−1 as PbCl2) applied through growth medium to two maize hybrids H-3310S and H-6724. The research findings indicated that growth and metabolic activities were adversely affected by increased Pb contamination in growth medium; however, a slow increase in these parameters was recorded with increasing time from 0 to 120 h. Protease activity decreased with an increase in the level of Pb contamination but increased with time; consequently, a reduction in seed proteins and an increase in total free amino acids were observed with time. Similarly, α-amylase activity decreased with an increase in Pb concentration in growth medium while it increased with increasing time from 0 to 120 h; consequently, reducing and non-reducing sugars increased with time but decreased with exposure to lead. The roots of both maize hybrids had higher Pb contents than those of the shoot, which decreased the uptake of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. All these nutrients are essential for optimal plant growth; therefore, the reduction in growth and biomass of maize seedlings could be due to Pb toxicity that altered metabolic processes, as sugar and amino acids are necessary for the synthesis of metabolic compounds, rapid cell division, and proper functioning of enzymes in the growing embryo, but all were dramatically reduced due to suppression of protease and α-amylase by toxicity of Pb. In general, hybrid H-3310S performed better in Pb-contaminated growth medium than H-6724.

Nutrient deficiency negatively affects the yield and quality of citrus fruit. The present experiment was carried out to investigate the improvement in fruit yield and juice quality of Kinnow (Citrus reticulata L.) by foliar application of nano-biochar suspension (NBS). The experiment was carried out in a citrus farmer’s orchard with a history of low fruit yield, using a randomized complete block design. Four NBS treatments, i.e., 0% (control), 1, 3, and 5%, were applied through foliar application at the flowering stage. Foliar application of NBS at 5% and 3% significantly (p < 0.05) improved flowering, fruit retention, fruit set, fruit size, length, weight, diameter, juice volume levels, and minimized fruit dropping. The electrical conductivity of the juice was significantly decreased by increases in NBS concentration. Total dissolved solids increased slightly with treatments as compared to control. However, NBS foliar application did not show significant effects on nitrogen (N), potassium (K), and sodium (Na) leaf contents, but had some effect on phosphorus (P) content. Principal component analysis and a correlation matrix revealed significant (p < 0.05) positive and negative associations among the studied traits. The results of the current experiment showed that all parameters were significantly improved with the application of NBS at 3 and 5%, except that N, K, and Na levels were unaffected. The most encouraging results were achieved at a concentration of 5% NBS. In conclusions, the foliar application of NBS had a significant positive impact on fruit yield and juice quality.