Nutrient-Responsive Small Signaling Peptides and Their Influence on the Root System Architecture

Small but mighty: Peptides regulating abiotic stress responses in plants

Throughout evolution, plants have developed strategies to confront and alleviate the detrimental impacts of abiotic stresses on their growth and development. The combat strategies involve intricate molecular networks and a spectrum of early and late stress-responsive pathways. Plant peptides, consisting of fewer than 100 amino acid residues, are at the forefront of these responses, serving as pivotal signalling molecules. These peptides, with roles similar to phytohormones, intricately regulate plant growth, development and facilitate essential cell-to-cell communications. Numerous studies underscore the significant role of these small peptides in coordinating diverse signalling events triggered by environmental challenges. Originating from the proteolytic processing of larger protein precursors or directly translated from small open reading frames, including microRNA (miRNA) encoded peptides from primary miRNA, these peptides exert their biological functions through binding with membrane-embedded receptor-like kinases. This interaction initiates downstream cellular signalling cascades, often involving major phytohormones or reactive oxygen species-mediated mechanisms. Despite these advances, the precise modes of action for numerous other small peptides remain to be fully elucidated. In this review, we delve into the dynamics of stress physiology, mainly focusing on the roles of major small signalling peptides, shedding light on their significance in the face of changing environmental conditions.

Smart systems in producing algae-based protein to improve functional food ingredients industries

Production and extraction systems of algal protein and handling process of functional food ingredients need to control several parameters such as temperature, pH, intensity, and turbidity. Many researchers have investigated the Internet of Things (IoT) approach for enhancing the yield of microalgae biomass and machine learning for identifying and classifying microalgae. However, there have been few specific studies on using IoT and artificial intelligence (AI) for production and extraction of algal protein as well as functional food ingredients processing. In order to improve the production of algal protein and functional food ingredients, the implementation of smart system is a must to have real-time monitoring, remote control system, quick response to sudden events, prediction and characterisation. Techniques of IoT and AI are expected to help functional food industries to have a big breakthrough in the future. Manufacturing and implementation of beneficial smart systems are important to provide convenience and to increase the efficiency of work by using the interconnectivity of IoT devices to have good capturing, processing, archiving, analyzing, and automation. This review investigates the possibilities of implementation of IoT and AI in production and extraction of algal protein and processing of functional food ingredients.

Small signaling peptides mediate plant adaptions to abiotic environmental stress

Peptide-receptor complexes activate distinct downstream regulatory networks to mediate plant adaptions to abiotic environmental stress. Plants are constantly exposed to various adverse environmental factors; thus they must adjust their growth accordingly. Plants recruit small secretory peptides to adapt to these detrimental environments. These small peptides, which are perceived by their corresponding receptors and/or co-receptors, act as local- or long-distance mobile signaling molecules to establish cell-to-cell regulatory networks, resulting in optimal cellular and physiological outputs. In this review, we highlight recent advances on the regulatory role of small peptides in plant abiotic responses and nutrients signaling.