Shamsul Hayat

Aligarh Muslim University | AMU · Department of Botany

Heavy metals (HMs) have become a severe problem for all living organisms, including plants, because of their unprecedented bioaccumulation and biomagnification in the environment. When exposed to hazardous quantities of HMs, various essential cellular macromolecules, including DNA and nuclear proteins, can interact with HMs, causing an overproducti...

The ecological roles which plants play in their surroundings are numerous, and they also influence the local wildlife. Plants are essential to all living creatures on the planet, directly or indirectly (Cetin 2016). As reported by Cetin et al. (2017) and Guney et al. (2017), the capability of plants to perform their tasks is largely dependent on th...

Heavy metal (HM) toxicity of agricultural soils poses a major risk to plant health, human life, and global food chain. Crop output and health are negatively impacted when HM levels in agricultural soils reach hazardous points. The nano-biochar (nano-BC) mediated stress tolerance has attracted growing scientific interest because biochar has the pote...

Concerns regarding the effects of heavy metals (HMs) on agricultural productivity have grown over time. Because HM stress disrupts a number of the plants' physiological-biochemical and metabolic processes, it severely limits production. Phytohormones can effectively improve plants resistance to HM stress. This work was done to examine the comparati...

Plants being mostly sessile are exposed to several adverse environmental conditions. Many endogenous and exogenous factors play a vital role in acclimatizing plants in such varying environments. Plant growth regulators (PGRs) are one such endogenous factor that regulates the phenomenon of growth and development in plants. Strigolactone (SL) has bee...

World’s population is facing serious constrains due to the deposition of heavy metals (HMs) in soil since last decades. Over the years, there has been an increased concern in relation to the HMs impact on the agricultural production. The HMs stress causes severe constrains in yield due to disruption of several physio-biochemical and metabolic activ...

Melatonin is a hormone-like substance that serves as a secondary metabolite associated with a variety of physiological, hormonal, and natural processes at the cell, tissue, and organ levels. It acts as a plant biostimulant and increase tolerance against abiotic stresses like ssalinity, drought, heat, cold and heavy metals. Melatonin in plants, also...

In recent years, heavy metals (HMs) attain lot of consideration due to their toxic nature in the environment. Natural as well as anthropogenic activities like urbanization & industrialization, use of fertilizers, and waste management contamination increased HMs exposure to living organisms. Due to continuous encountering with HMs, plants facing oxi...

The discovery of melatonin in plants was started in the late 90s, but its functions, signaling, and crosstalk with various phytohormones is still unknown. The research on melatonin in plants has increased spectacularly during recent years and the function of this assumed plant hormone under stress (biotic and abiotic) conditions has also been accou...

Nanotechnology is the most fascinating field in modern scientific society, which plays multifunctional roles in different dimensions. Particles having a size between 1 nm and 100 nm are called nanoparticles (NPs). NPs contain remarkable physical and chemical characteristics that enable them to perform a variety of functions. The structural alterati...

A number of climate models indicate that crop productivity will drop dramatically as a result of global climate change, endangering the food security of an expanding population. It is anticipated that the arid and semi-arid regions would experience a rise in desertification as a result of climate change and shifting rainfall patterns, which will re...

Researchers are swarming to nanotechnology because of its potentially game-changing applications in medicine, pharmaceuticals, and agriculture. This fast-growing, cutting-edge technology is trying different approaches for synthesizing nanoparticles of specific sizes and shapes. Nanoparticles (NPs) have been successfully synthesized using physical a...

The changing global climate have given rise to abiotic stresses that adversely affect the metabolic activities of plants, limit their growth, and agricultural output posing a serious threat to food production. The abiotic stresses commonly lead to production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that results in cellular oxidation. Over the course of evo...

Quercetin is a bioactive natural compound with an antioxidative property that can potentially modify plant physiology. The current investigation aimed to gauge the effect of different concentrations of foliar spray of quercetin (0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2.0 mM) on several morphological and physio-biochemical performances of Abelmoschus esculentus L. (Moench...

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a dual role in the plant kingdom. Previously, they were recognized as an inevitable toxic byproduct of cellular metabolism but accepted as a central regulator of important signaling events in cells. ROS participates in several biological processes like seed germination, cell division and differentiation, pollen tu...

The potato (Solanum tuberosum) is the fourth most cultivated and consumed crop worldwide. The swelled stolonic region of the plant is economically important due to its considerable quantities of carbohydrates plus modest quantities of minerals and vitamins. Tuber formation is governed by various external and internal factors including light, oxygen...

The article reviews papers published within the Research Topic ‘An Update on Brassinosteroids: Homeostasis, Crosstalk, and Adaptation to Environmental Stress, Volume II’. It introduces the latest findings in the regulation of BR signaling, its interconnection with the phytohormonal and stress signaling pathways, and the role of BRs in plant adaptat...

Abiotic and biotic stresses hamper our agricultural productivity by reducing crop growth, leading to food crises all over the globe. At present, the main objective of environmentalists is to ensure food safety by improving crop production in stressful environment. To achieve this goal, nanotechnology is a promising tool to sustainably promote food...

Apocarotenoids are essential metabolites found in all photosynthetic and heterotrophic organisms. Apocarotenoids include phytohormones, signaling molecules, pigments, volatiles, and many other molecules used in flavor, aroma, food, and cosmetics. Apocarotenoids are a crucial component of horticulture crops’ quality and contribute to increasing thei...

In the current scenario, the rising concentration of heavy metals (HMs) due to anthropogenic activities is a severe problem. Plants are very much affected by HM pollution as well as other abiotic stress such as salinity and drought. It is very important to fulfil the nutritional demands of an ever-growing population in these adverse environmental c...

In the current scenario, the rising concentration of heavy metals (HMs) due to anthropogenic activities is a severe problem. Plants are very much affected by HM pollution as well as other abiotic stress such as salinity and drought. It is very important to fulfil the nutritional demands of an ever-growing population in these adverse environmental c...

The use of nanoparticles (NPs) in agricultural fields has risen to a level where people are considering NPs as an alternative to commercial fertilizers. The input of copper oxide NPs (CuO NPs) as seed primers was investigated in this study, and the growth indices of Brassica juncea such as phenotypic parameters, photosynthetic attributes, and bioch...

Nanoparticles (NPs) are playing an important role in addressing various environmental constraints by giving ingenious and successful resolutions. Heavy metal (HM) stress has gained significant importance in the last few years because of its speedy incorporation into agricultural sectors. Due to exclusive physiochemical properties, NPs can be effect...

Potassium (K⁺) plays a crucial role in plant homeostasis, and its deficiency significantly impacts photosynthesis, triggering a decrease in growth and crop production. K⁺ starvation induced a significant reduction in the net photosynthetic rate, and the drop is associated with resistance of CO2 diffusion through stomatal conductance, mesophyll cond...

: β-cyclocitral (βCC), a main apocarotenoid of β-carotene, increases plants’ resistance against stresses. It has recently appeared as a novel bioactive composite in a variety of organisms from plants to animals. In plants, βCC marked as stress signals that accrue under adverse ecological conditions. βCC regulates nuclear gene expression through sev...

Cadmium (Cd) is toxic to plants and other living beings present in the next trophic level. It inhibits growth of the plant. Since Brassica juncea is a hyperaccumulator plant for Cd, its consumption is hazardous to living beings. Hence, it is important to reduce the accumulation of Cd inside the foliage of mustard plants to make it safe for consumpt...

Phytoecdysteroids (PEs) are naturally occurring polyhydroxylated compounds with a structure similar to that of insect molting hormone and the plant hormone brassinosteroids. PEs have a four-ringed skeleton composed of 27, 28, 29, or 30 carbon atoms (derived from plant sterols). The carbon skeleton of ecdysteroid is known as cyclopentanoperhydrophen...

The present study evaluated the influence of melatonin (MEL) on copper toxicity in terms of morphophysiological, microscopic, histochemical, and stress resilience responses in Brassica juncea. Different levels of Cu (0, 30, and 60 mg kg–1) were given in air-dried soil, and 25 days after sowing (DAS), plants were sprayed with 30, 40, or 50 μM of MEL...

The involvement of auxin (IAA) in growth and development of plants is well known, but its role in the mitigation of metal stress, especially copper (Cu), is not fully understood; therefore, it is time to explore its involvement in minimizing the stress. A pot experiment was conducted to assess the protective function of IAA, applied to the folia...

Lipoxygenases (LOXs), naturally occurring enzymes, are widely distributed in plants and animals. LOXs can be non-sulfur iron, non-heme iron, or manganese-containing dioxygenase redox enzymes. LOXs catalyze the oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids into fatty acid hydroperoxides. Linolenic acid, a precursor in the jasmonic acid (JA) biosynthesis,...

Nanotechnology permits advance research in several areas and opens a large scope in the field of biotechnology and agriculture industry due to unique physiochemical properties. To fulfill the increasing demand of world population higher agricultural productivity is needed to boost the yield. This review presents the current literature and key role...

Flavonoids are a special category of hydroxylated phenolic compounds having an aromatic ring structure. Among several subclasses of flavonoids, the flavonol subclass contains a special compound – quercetin. Quercetin is a bioactive natural compound built upon the flavon structure, i.e., C6(ring A)-C3(ring C)-C6(ring B). It facilitates several plant...

In the last few decades, use of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) has been increased significantly that eventually included as a growth stimulator. This makes it essential to examine their impact on several plants. In the study detailed here, we investigated the effects of CuO NPs on the growth, physiological efficiency, biochemical assays, and...

Moringa, belonging to Moringaceae, is known as the “Miracle Tree” that has versatile uses in both animals and plants. The extract from Moringa oliefera serves as a cheap, eco-friendly, novel biostimulator, and bioenhancer that increases sustainable agriculture practices and crop production. Moringa contains several essential components like mineral...

Crop productivity is declining on exposure to diverse abiotic stressesabiotic stresses, i.e. salinity, drought, extreme temperatures, heavy metals, ultraviolet radiations, etc. that became a major restriction for agricultural production across the globe. Therefore, it is vital to equip crops with multi-stress tolerance to provide adaptation against...

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are a cluster of naturally up plant steroidal compounds with extensive range of biological action that proffer the exclusive opportunity of growing crop productivity through both altering plant metabolism and defensive plants from environmental cues. Research on BRs, assisted by the new progress in knowledge, has interpreted...

Nanotechnology is an interdisciplinary science, growing rapidly due to its incorporation into various scientific sectors, such as medicine, engineering, pharmacy, industry, wastewater treatment, paper preservation, and agriculture. Nanoparticles (NPs) are aggregates of atoms or molecules at a nano-size, ranging from 1 to 100 nm. Nanomaterials have...

In the period of climate change, abiotic stresses are propitious menace to agriculture, restricting the production of crops by inflicting primary effects like osmotic and ionic stress, along with other impacts like oxidative stress, disturbance in hormonal balance, and nutrient imbalance. However, increasing evidences reveal that augmentation of na...

The transition metals (Fe, Zn, Cu, and Mn) which are also considered as the micronutrient are essential for plants as they regulate various cellular metabolic activities that promote proper plant growth and development. These transition metals are also involved in photosynthesis, respiration, chlorophyll synthesis, transcription, translation, cell...

Zinc (Zn) is the second most abundant transition element after iron in living organisms and is categorized as an essential micronutrient to plants. It takes part in various cellular and physiological functions of plants and exerts a positive role in growth, development and yield. Zn serves structural, catalytic and regulatory roles in enormous numb...

Minerals and organic materials present in soil are responsible for regulatory activity of cell organelles. Micronutrients such as zinc, boron, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum and chlorine are readily absorbed and found in lower concentrations in plant tissues. Micronutrients reduce ion toxicity, preserve water balance, improve mineral uptake an...

It is known that auxin and nitric oxide have the ability to ameliorate various abiotic stresses in plants individually. However, their interactive effects on the stress generated by salt in plants are not reported yet. Therefore, the present study was conducted to explore the effectiveness of sodium nitroprusside (SNP), a donor of nitric oxide and...

The salt stress limits the production of mustard throughout the world and it is one of the major abiotic stresses. Crop productivity is declining due to the limited area of fertile land. In order to investigate the effects NO donor on salt tolerance and the recovery of Brassica juncea. (L) cv. RGN-48, sodium nitroprusside (SNP) was applied at 1, 10...

PurposeCopper (Cu) is an essential micronutrient prerequisite for various metabolic processes in plants. At optimum concentration, it performs a vital role in plant growth and development, while as at supra-optimal levels, it disturbs the normal growth in plants. Due to its dual behavior (vital and harmful), the present experiment was designed to a...

Jasmonic acid (JA) and its methyl ester, methyl jasmonates (MeJAs), is categorized under phytohormones. It is ubiquitously found all over the plant kingdom but varies in concentration from species to species. Chemically, it is known as derivatives of the fatty acid metabolism. JAs are synthesized from α-linolenic acid (α-LeA/18:3) via the octadecan...

Phytocannabinoids are a structurally diverse class of bioactive naturally occurring compounds found in angiosperms, fungi, and liverworts and produced in several plant organs such as the flower and glandular trichrome of Cannabis sativa, the scales in Rhododendron, and oil bodies of liverworts such as Radula species; they show a diverse role in hum...

Over the last three decades, there have been significant advances in the understanding of brassinosteroid (BR) biosynthesis and signaling, particularly in the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana. BRs regulate a variety of morphogenetic and physiological processes throughout plant life. Notably, BR biosynthesis and signaling are interconnected...

The pandemic of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic represents an unpredicted health concern and declared as ‘public-health emergency of international concern” by the World Health Organization on 30 January 2020. The virus that is responsible for COVID-19 is known as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and infecte...

Nitric oxide (NO) acts as a gaseous diffusible plant growth regulator. It plays an important role in growth and development of plants. Therefore, in present study mustard plants were sprayed with different concentrations of sodium nitroprusside (0, 10–4 M, 10–5 M and 10–6 M), a donor of NO, at 25 days after sowing to assess different physiological...

Silicon (Si) is the second most abundant element present on the lithosphere and a quasi-essential element for plants' cellular and developmental processes. Si is associated with augmented germination, growth, photosynthesis, gas exchange, photosystem efficiency, and yield attributes in unstressed and stressed plants. The exogenous application of Si...

Nitric oxide (NO) plays a vital role in plant defense against various environmental stresses. However, the study on the defensive effect of NO on the phytotoxicity induced by zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) remains scarce. In the present study, sodium nitroprusside (SNP, a NO donor) was used to investigate the mechanism of NO in ameliorating the...

Flavonoids are a special category of hydroxylated phenolic compounds having an aromatic ring structure. Quercetin is aspecial subclass of flavonoid. It is a bioactive natural compound built upon the flavon structure nC6(ring A)-C3(ring C)-C6(ring B). Quercetin facilitates several plant physiological processes, such as seed germination, pollen growt...

Copper (Cu) is an essential mineral nutrient for the proper growth and development of plants; it is involved in myriad morphological, physiological, and biochemical processes. Copper acts as a cofactor in various enzymes and performs essential roles in photosynthesis, respiration and the electron transport chain, and is a structural component of de...

Over the last three decades, there have been significant advances in the understanding of brassinosteroid (BR) biosynthesis and signaling, particularly in the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana. BRs regulate a variety of morphogenetic and physiological processes throughout plant life. Notably, BR biosynthesis and signaling are interconnected...

Nanotechnology has greatly expanded the applications of nanoparticles (NPs) domain in the scientific field. In this context, the zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) and 24-epibrassinolide (EBL) has been revealed to positively regulate plant metabolism and growth. In the present study, we investigated the role of ZnO-NPs and EBL in the regulation of...

The contribution of nanoparticles (NPs) in physiology of the plants became the new area of interest for the physiologists; as it is very much cost effective compared to the phytohormones. Our present investigation was also based on this interest in which the same doses (50 mg/L) of four different NPs were sprayed on stressed and non-stressed foliag...

Flavonoids are a special category of hydroxylated phenolic compounds having an aromatic ring structure. Quercetin is a special subclass of flavonoid. It is a bioactive natural compound built upon the flavon structure nC6(ring A)-C3(ring C)-C6(ring B). Quercetin facilitates several plant physiological processes, such as seed germination, pollen grow...

Nanotechnology now plays a revolutionary role in many applications; nanomaterials have experienced significant importance in both basic and applied sciences as well as in bio-nanotechnology. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) have become one of the most important metal oxide NPs in biological applications due to their beneficial impacts. The purpos...

24-epibrassinolide (EBL) and iron (Fe) individually are well recognized for their significant role in various biological functions of plants but their interactive effect on iron transport, stress biomarkers, photosynthetic and biochemical parameters in Brassica juncea is poorly investigated. Therefore, this study was conducted to reveal the effect...

Glucose is recognized as signaling molecule that regulates g