Cadmium (Cd) is a widespread and strongly toxic environmental pollutant. In this study, the interaction between Cd and essential nutritional metals, such as iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn), was investigated in banana plants (Musa spp. cultivar Grand Nain), cultured in vitro, using Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) and physiological analysis. Plantlets were treated in vitro with Fe and Zn (200 and 500 mg/L) under 500 mg/L Cd exposure. The results showed that Cd toxicity increased Cd uptake and raised% of damage. However, Fe and Zn addition ameliorated the negative impact of Cd stress by reducing Cd and enhancing Fe, Zn, P, and K contents. The FT-IR analysis showed alterations within the bands correlated to the foremost macromolecules in plants under Cd stress and its interactions with Fe or Zn. The peaks of some functional groups at 3381.7 cm− 1 for carbohydrates, proteins, alcohols, and phenolic compounds 

In olive micropropagation, Copper (Cu) promotes metabolic activity at optimal levels but exerts toxic effects and induces stress and cellular damage when present at excessive concentrations. The present study examined in vitro olive (cv. Moraiolo) shoot cultures under varying Cu concentrations to evaluate the impact of Cu-induced stress on shoot growth and development, as well as the associated physiological and biochemical tolerance mechanisms. Olive shoots were cultured on OM medium (as a control) supplemented with 50, 100, 200, or 300 µM CuSO₄·5H₂O. Morphological and biochemical analyses showed that up to 50 µM Cu did not cause visible stress symptoms or impair growth, while higher concentrations (100–300 µM) significantly suppressed or inhibited vegetative growth, and caused a marked reduction in photosynthetic pigments. The contents of oxidative stress markers, hydrogen peroxide and malondialdehyde, increased with rising Cu concentrations, serving as reliable indicators of severe stress conditions. Non-enzymatic antioxidants, glutathione, ascorbic acid and proline, increased with higher Cu concentrations, playing a protective role against oxidative damage. These findings provide insight into the tolerance mechanisms of olive shoots under Cu stress, offering useful information for optimizing in vitro micropropagation and understanding Cu toxicity in plant tissue culture.

Pharmaceutical active compounds such as diclofenac (DCF) pose serious risks to aquatic ecosystems. Therefore, the development of safe and inexpensive phytoremediation strategies is essential. This study assessed the effect of foliar-applied biological gibberellin (BG; 0, 50, 100, and 150 mg L⁻¹), produced by Fusarium proliferatum, on the remediation capacity of Atriplex lentiformis halophyte grown hydroponically under DCF contamination (0, 15, and 30 μg L⁻¹). A. lentiformis effectively removed DCF from the medium, while BG implementation further boosted the DCF removal efficiency, bioaccumulation, and translocation factors. The application of 150 mg L⁻¹ BG to 30 μg L⁻¹ DCF achieved up to 80 % DCF removal and the maximum accumulation of DCF by 154.8 % over the control. BG also promoted plant growth and photosynthetic pigments while mitigating DCF toxicity by enhancing non-enzymatic antioxidants (AsA, GSH, phenolics, and proline) and antioxidant enzymes (APX, GPX, PPO, GR, and PAL), and reducing stress biomarkers (MDA, H₂O₂, and electrolyte leakage). BG treatments modified protein patterns and induced new isozyme profiles, reflecting a strengthened antioxidant system. Overall, BG is a promising solution that serves as an eco-friendly biostimulant to enhance phytoremediation efficiency. Extending this approach to soil systems may provide a sustainable strategy for managing pharmaceutical pollution.

Root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) are a major threat to pomegranate cultivation. Nanoparticles (NPs) present a possible substitute nematicide that lessens dependency on potentially dangerous chemical nematicides. This study assessed the efficacy of copper oxide (CuO) and iron oxide (Fe2O3) NPs to promote pomegranate (Punica granatum L. cultivar Hegazy) growth and provide protection against the root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne javanica). The application of the NPs as copper oxide (CuO) and iron oxide (Fe2O3) involved both drenching and spraying using 50 mg/L on one-year-old pomegranate (Punica granatum cultivar Hegazy) seedlings, nematode-infected with (Meloidogyne javanica). By assessing how CuO and Fe2O3 NPs affect nematode and pomegranate growth, and some biochemical traits. Treatments with NPs successfully reduced the number of pomegranate root egg masses, galls, and juvenile nematodes in soil. NP treatments exhibited increased side branching, leaf area, levels of photosynthetic pigments (chlorophyll a, b, and carotenoids), total antioxidants, thiol compounds [glutathione (GSH), non-protein thiols (NPTs), protein thiols (PTs)], and flavonoids. However, NP treatments reduced the accumulation of malondialdehyde (MDA) and proline, stress markers, in pomegranate plants infected with nematodes. NP treatments did not affect the production of phenolic compounds in pomegranates. These results indicate that the NP effect partially depends on the increased production of photosynthetic pigments, thiol compounds, and flavonoids. These results elucidate how nanoparticles control nematode infection

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of adding modified bone char, bone char with sulfur and humic acid on some chemical properties and phosphorus availability in calcareous sandy soil. This experiment consisted of twelve treatments, viz, control (CK), bone + sulfur (B+S), bone + humic acid (B+HA), bone char + sulfur (BC+S), bone char + humic acid (BC+HA), modified bone char (MBC), modified bone char + humic acid (MBC+HA), bone char acidified with 0.1 N sulfuric acid (0.1ABC), bone char acidified with 1 N sulfuric acid (1ABC), phosphate rock (RP), phosphate rock + sulfur (RP+S), phosphate rock + humic acid (RP+HA). This experiment was incubated for 0, 7, 15, 30, 60, and 90 days under laboratory conditions. At the end of the incubation period, adding B+S, B+HA, BC+S, BC+HA, MBC, MBC+HA, 0.1ABC, 1ABC, RP+S, and RP+ led to a significant increase in available phosphorus compared to the control. The results obtained from this study revealed that the highest contents of phosphorus released from bone char were observed in BC+S, MBC+HA, and MBC treatments. In addition, available P in the soil increased with increasing incubation time. Soil pH significantly decreased with increasing incubation periods under adding B+S, B+HA, BC+S, BC+HA, MBC, MBC+HA, RP, RP+S, and RP+HA compared to the control. Accordingly, we can suggest applying bone char with sulfur as an alternative and safe source of phosphate fertilizers in sustainable agriculture

To face the current crisis in global fertilizer prices, especially in developing countries where their food security has been greatly affected, alternative sources must be found for phosphate fertilizers, whose main source is phosphate rock, which is non-renewable and subject to depletion. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the effect of the incubation period on the availability and fractionation of phosphorus in saline sandy soil under bone char addition. About 100 g of soil was placed in an airtight plastic jar and mixed thoroughly by adding 0.4 g of bone char. This experiment was incubated for 7, 16, 35, 65, and 84 days. The results obtained from this study revealed a significant increase (p ≤ 0.01) in available phosphorus with applying bone char in saline soil after 7, 16, and 35 days of incubation compared to the initial soil (before the incubation and unamended). Relative to the initial soil, the concentration of available phosphorus increased by 33.7%, 19.5%, and 12.3% after 7, 16, and 35 days, respectively. The results showed that increasing the incubation time significantly decreased phosphorus availability in saline soil after bone char application. The NaHCO3-Pi, HCl-Pi, and Res-Pi fractions increased significantly with the addition of bone char to the soil under study at all incubation periods compared to the initial soil. Inorganic phosphorus fractions after bone char application to saline sandy soil followed the order of HCl-Pi > Res-P > NaHCO3-Pi > NaOH-Pi > NH 4Cl-Pi. In this context, these findings concluded that bone char amendment could be a potential P-source for agriculture in saline sandy soils to confront the high prices of phosphate fertilizers. 
 

This study investigated the effects of applying modified bone char by sulfur (MBC) with humic acid and co-applying bone char (BC) with sulfur (S) or humic acid (HA) on chemical properties, phosphorus (P) availability, and spinach growth in calcareous sandy soil. This pot experiment has twelve treatments: Control (CK), bone + S (BS), bone + HA (BHA), BC + S (BCS), BC + HA (BCHA), MBC, MBC + HA (MBCHA), acidified BC with 0.1 N H2SO4 (0.1ABC), acidified BC with 1 N H2SO4 (1ABC), rock phosphate (RP), RP + S (RPS), and RP + HA (RPHA). The B, BC, MBC, 0.1ABC, 1ABC, and RP were added at 300 mg P kg− 1 soil doses. Spinach was grown in this experiment. Applying all treatments significantly increased soil phosphorus availability. Available phosphorus increased from 11.61 mg kg− 1 (CK) to 19.70, 19.76, 21.82, 22.25, 22.45, 26.09, 19.58, 21.01, 15.26, 18.95, and 17.77 mg kg− 1 for BS, BHA, BCS, BCHA, MBC, MBCHA, 0.1ABC, 1ABC, RP, RPS, and RPHA, respectively. The effectiveness of the treatments in this study on the available phosphorus improvement was in the order of MBCHA > MBC > BCHA > BCS > 1ABC > BHA > BS > 0.1ABC > RPS > RPHA > RP > control. Compared to the control treatment, applying BHA, BCS, BCHA, MBC, MBCHA, 1ABC, RPS, and RPHA to the soil significantly increased the fresh shoot of the spinach plant. Fresh shoot of spinach increased from 46.02 g pot− 1 for CK to 54.41, 54.36, 56.94, 50.39, 51.91, 48.83, 54.24, and 49.52 g pot− 1 for BHA, BCS, BCHA, MBC, MBCHA, 1ABC, RPS, and RPHA, respectively. The effectiveness of treatments in improving the fresh weight of spinach was in the order of BCHA > BHA ≈ BCS > RPS > MBCHA > MBC > RPHA > 1ABC > control > RP > BS > 0.1ABC. Our results concluded that co-applying bone char with sulfur is optimal for enhancing soil quality indicators and improving fresh and dry shoots of spinach. Due to its cheaper price, it is preferable to add sulfur with bone char rather than humic acid.