Government College University Faisalabad

Huanglongbing (HLB) is a major global threat to citrus production, driven by complex interactions among citrus hosts, insect vectors, and bacterial pathogens. The disease is primarily associated with interactions among ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’, Asian citrus psyllid (Diaphorina citri) and citrus hosts. Ecological and molecular processes strongly influence how the pathogen is transmitted, established, and maintained. This review integrates current knowledge of citrus-D. citri-‘Ca. L. asiaticus’ interactions and presents a structured framework for sustainable HLB management. It examines D. citri ecology, focusing on transmission biology, life-stage susceptibility, and spatial factors affecting population dynamics. In addition, it explores plant-pathogen interactions, including immune responses, pathogen virulence mechanisms, and opportunities for breeding resistant varieties. Special emphasis is placed on ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’-induced changes in the psyllid-microbiome and their potential ecological and epidemiological consequences. Furthermore, the review evaluates a three-part management strategy that targets the pathogen, strengthens host resilience, and controls the vector through coordinated actions. It highlights ecology-based vector management and explains the limits of chemical control, while emphasizing innovative approaches based on behavior, sensory systems, and molecular tools. Recent advances in genomics, transcriptomics, CRISPR-based gene editing, and chemical ecology have deepened our understanding of interactions among citrus hosts, D. citri, and ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’. Cultural practices, including certified planting, early detection, removal of infected trees, and precision agriculture, are also essential. These insights clarify pathways of HLB transmission and persistence. Consequently, they create opportunities to disrupt infection. However, effective control requires integrated biological, technological, and cultural strategies to achieve sustainable, long-term, and resilient HLB management across citrus production systems.

This study combines machine learning, fragment-based molecular generation, and synthetic-accessibility analysis to identify promising small molecule acceptors (SMAs) for organic solar cells. Twelve regression algorithms were assessed using 60% training, 20% validation, and 20% test partitions. Gradient Boosting showed the strongest generalization, with a test R2 of approximately 0.84-0.85. BRICS decomposition of 1027 parent molecules produced 3779 unique fragments, which were recombined to generate 50,000 unique, chemically valid candidates. The trained model predicted electron reorganization energies for the generated library, while the synthetic accessibility (SA) score was used to estimate synthetic feasibility. Chemical-space analysis using principal component analysis and t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding confirmed broad structural diversity. The 1000 candidates with the lowest predicted reorganization energies were retained, after which 40 structures with the most favorable SA scores were prioritized. Similarity-matrix, hierarchical-clustering, t-SNE, and network analyses showed that the selected candidates span several structural families.

BACKGROUND:Wild plant species serve as significant models for evaluating the effects of anthropogenic activities on terrestrial ecosystems. In recent years, phytoremediation has garnered significant attention as a sustainable approach to remediate metal-contaminated soils, due to its ability to maintain soil structure while facilitating potential metal recovery. This study assessed the phytoremediation capabilities of seven indigenous wild plant species in soils impacted by phosphate mining operations. METHODS:Metal concentrations in soil and plant samples were measured by atomic spectroscopy. Ten biologically distinct rhizosphere soil samples were collected for each of the seven wild plant species; each biological replicate was made up of pooled material from five individual plants. The effectiveness of phytoremediation was evaluated by computing the Biological Accumulation Coefficient (BAC), Bioaccumulation Factor (BF), Element Accumulation Index (EAI), and Translocation Factor (TF) for selected trace metals. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:Metal bioavailability was significantly associated with soil pH and organic matter content. The concentration of soil macronutrients was low. The bioconcentration factor exceeded one for most tested elements. Mn and Zn in Bidens pilosa and Conyza bonariensis were the sole exceptions. All metals except Mn had biological accumulation coefficients greater than 1. TF values suggested variable translocation potential among the studied plant species. CONCLUSION:The results indicate that the examined native plant species can tolerate elevated metal concentrations and sequester them, thereby endorsing their potential application in the remediation of phosphate-mining-affected metal-contaminated soils.

Soil salinity is a major nutritional challenge with poor agriculture production characterized by high sodium (Na+) ions in the soil. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) and biochar have received attention as a sustainable strategy to reduce biotic and abiotic stress. However, there is a lack of information regarding the incorporation of ZnO NPs with biochar to ameliorate the salinity stress (0, 50,100 mM). Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the potentials of ZnO NPs application (priming and foliar) alone and with a combination of biochar on the growth and nutrient availability of spinach plants under salinity stress. Results demonstrated that salinity stress at a higher rate (100 mM) showed maximum growth retardation by inducing oxidative stress, resulted in reduced photosynthetic rate and nutrient availability. ZnO NPs (priming and foliar) alone enhanced growth, chlorophyll contents and gas exchange parameters by improving the antioxidant enzymes activity of spinach under salinity stress. While, a significant and more pronounced effect was observed at combined treatments of ZnO NPs with biochar amendment. More importantly, ZnO NPs foliar application with biochar significantly reduced the Na+ contents in root 57.69%, and leaves 61.27% of spinach as compared to the respective control. Furthermore, higher nutrient contents were also found at the combined treatment of ZnO NPs foliar application with biochar. Overall, ZnO NPs combined application with biochar proved to be an efficient and sustainable strategy to alleviate salinity stress and improve crop nutritional quality under salinity stress. We inferred that ZnO NPs foliar application with a combination of biochar is more effectual in improving crop nutritional status and salinity mitigation than priming treatments with a combination of biochar.

Humanity's main issues in improving life standards are water pollution and energy shortages. Nanotechnology has been proven to be a feasible field for solving these issues. In this regard, the green synthesis of the pristine ZnO NPs, NiO NPs, and ZnO-NiO nanocomposite (ZnO-NiO NCs) is reported here. The nanomaterials have been characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and UV-visible spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), zeta potential (ZP), dynamic light scattering (DLS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. Due to the better charge separation capability of heterojunction, ZnO-NiO NCs was evaluated for the optimiation of the photodegradation of Ciprofloxacin Hydrochloride (CF). The photodecomposition of the CF was optimized using statistical tool, i.e., Box-Behnken Design (RSM-BBD) based response surface methodology. The ZnO-NiO NCs showed maximum degradation of CF (92 %) with a rate constant of 2.2 x 10-2 min-1. Based on electrochemical and radical scavenging experiments, a formation of Z-scheme heterojunction has been proposed in the catalyst. The optimized ZnO-NiO NCs were also employed to catalyze the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) by formic acid (FA) decomposition. The ZnO-NiO NCs showed excellent HER activity with a TOF value of 3171.9 h-1. The effect of parameters such as pH, temperature, solvent, and base on HER potential was studied, and the activation energy of the reaction was calculated. All these potential applications of ZnO-NiO NCs demonstrate their significance for water purification and overcoming the energy crisis.