Acetic acid:a cheap but chief metabolic regulator for abiotic stress tolerance in plants

As sessile organisms,plants constantly face a variety of abiotic stresses,such as drought,salinity,and metal/metalloid toxicity,all of which possess significant threats to plant growth and yield potential.Improving plant resilience to such abiotic stresses bears paramount importance in practicing sustainable agriculture worldwide.Acetic acid/acetate has been recognized as an important metabolite with multifaceted roles in regulating plant adaptation to diverse abiotic stresses.Recent studies have elucidated that acetic acid can potentiate plants’inherent mechanisms to withstand the adverse effects of abiotic stresses through the regulation of lipid metabolism,hormone signaling,epigenetic changes,and physiological defense mechanisms.Numerous studies also underpin the potential use of acetic acid in boosting crop production under unfavorable environmental conditions.This review provides a comprehensive update on the understanding of how acetic acid regulates plant photosynthesis,acts as an antitranspirant,detoxifies reactive oxygen species to alleviate oxidative stress,interacts with phytohormones to regulate physiological processes,and improves soil fertility and microbial diversity,with a specific focus on drought,salinity,and metal toxicity.We also highlight the eco-friendly and economic potential of acetic acid that may attract farmers from developing countries to harness the benefits of acetic acid application for boosting abiotic stress resistance in crops.Given that acetic acid is a widely accessible,inexpensive,and eco-friendly compound,the revelation of acetic acid-mediated regulatory pathways and its crosstalk with other signaling molecules will have significant importance in developing a sustainable strategy for mitigating abiotic stresses in crops.

Biochar potentially enhances maize tolerance to arsenic toxicity by improving physiological and biochemical responses to excessive arsenate

Metalloid pollution,including arsenic poisoning,is a serious environmental issue,plaguing plant productivity and quality of life worldwide.Biochar,a carbon-rich material,has been known to alleviate the negative effects of environmental pollutants on plants.However,the specific role of biochar in mitigating arsenic stress in maize remains relatively unexplored.Here,we elucidated the functions of biochar in improving maize growth under the elevated level of sodium arsenate(Na_(2)AsO_(4),AsV).Maize plants were grown in pot-soils amended with two doses of biochar(2.5%(B1)and 5.0%(B2)biochar Kg^(−1) of soil)for 5 days,followed by exposure to Na_(2)AsO_(4)(’B1+AsV’and’B2+AsV’)for 9 days.Maize plants exposed to AsV only accumulated substantial amount of arsenic in both roots and leaves,triggering severe phytotoxic effects,including stunted growth,leaf-yellowing,chlorosis,reduced photosynthesis,and nutritional imbalance,when compared with control plants.Contrariwise,biochar addition improved the phenotype and growth of AsV-stressed maize plants by reducing root-to-leaf AsV translocation(by 46.56 and 57.46%in‘B1+AsV’and‘B2+AsV’plants),improving gas-exchange attributes,and elevating chlorophylls and mineral levels beyond AsV-stressed plants.Biochar pretreatment also substantially counteracted AsV-induced oxidative stress by lowering reactive oxygen species accumulation,lipoxygenase activity,malondialdehyde level,and electrolyte leakage.Less oxidative stress in‘B1+AsV’and‘B2+AsV’plants likely supported by a strong antioxidant system powered by biochar-mediated increased activities of superoxide dismutase(by 25.12 and 46.55%),catalase(51.78 and 82.82%),and glutathione S-transferase(61.48 and 153.83%),and improved flavonoid levels(41.48 and 75.37%,respectively).Furthermore,increased levels of soluble sugars and free amino acids also correlated with improved leaf relative water content,suggesting a better osmotic acclimatization mechanism in biochar-pretreated AsV-exposed plants.Overall,our findings provided mechanistic insight into how biochar facilitates maize’s active recovery from AsV-stress,implying that biochar application may be a viable technique for mitigating negative effects of arsenic in maize,and perhaps,in other important cereal crops.