No abstract

A wide range of biotic stresses (BS) and abiotic stresses (AS) adversely affect plant growth and productivity worldwide. The study of individual genes cannot be considered as an effective approach for the understanding of tolerance mechanisms, since these stresses are frequent and often in combination with each other, and a large number of genes are involved in these mechanisms. The availability of high-throughput genomic data has enabled the discovery of the role of transcription factors (TFs) in regulatory networks. A meta-analysis of BS and AS responses was performed by analyzing a total of 391 microarray samples from 23 different experiments and 2,336 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) involved in multiple stresses were identified. We identified 1,862 genes differentially regulated in response to BS was much greater than that regulated by AS, 835 genes, and found 15.4% or 361 DEGs with the conserved expression between AS and BS. The greatest percent of genes related to the cellular process (>76% genes), metabolic process (>76% genes) and response to stimulus (>50%). About 4.2% of genes involved in BS and AS responses belonged to the TF families. We identified several genes, which encode TFs that play an important role in AS and BS responses. These proteins included Jasmonate Ethylene Response Factor 1 (JERF1), SlGRAS6, MYB48, SlERF4, EIL2, protein LATE ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL (LHY), SlERF1, WRKY 26, basic leucine zipper TF, inducer of CBF expression 1-like, pti6, EIL3 and WRKY 11. Six of these proteins, JERF1, MYB48, protein LHY, EIL3, EIL2 and SlGRAS6, play central roles in these mechanisms. This research promoted a new approach to clarify the expression profiles of various genes under different conditions in plants, detected common genes from differentially regulated in response to these conditions and introduced them as candidate genes for improving plant tolerance through genetic engineering approach.

Despite the presence of various approaches for controlling diabetes mellitus (DM), such as dietary adjustment (Asif, 2014) and hypoglycemic agents, some patients do not receive the full advantages of current methods due to several restrictions, such as medication costs, accessibility, and concern about the adverse effects of drugs (Sasani et al., 2021). Due to the potentially severe complications of DM, recognizing new applicable approaches for prevention and controlling DM is critical. Identifying and utilizing functional foods (FFs) is one of these new strategies (Mirmiran et al., 2014), where FFs are products in the form of food, not drugs, which provide positive health effects when they are consumed in a normal amount in a usual diet (Amiri Ardekani et al., 2020).Throughout history, acorn, the oak fruit, has been considered as a food and is a part of the usual daily diet in various regions, globally (Burlacu et al., 2020). Acorn contains notable amounts of carbohydrates, protein, and unsaturated fatty acids, such as oleic acid (Taib & Bouyazza, 2021). Moreover, it contains a high amount of phenolic compounds, saponins, and tannins (Şöhretoğlu & Sakar, 2004), which confers antidiabetic effects by enhancing

Systemic arterial hypertension is an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease, stroke, heart failure, and chronic kidney diseases. Spirulina is microalgae with nutritious ingredients and has potential attenuating effects on chronic diseases including hypertension. Spirulina can be added to food products in order to develop functional foods. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of 8-week consumption of a salad dressing containing 2 g of spirulina platensis powder versus a placebo dressing on patients with hypertension. In this triple-blind randomized clinical trial, 48 patients with hypertension were enrolled to receive daily either spirulina-fortified dressing or placebo for 2 months. A total of 41 patients completed this study. We observed that the consumption of spirulina dressing significantly reduced systolic blood pressure (p = .02), diastolic blood pressure (p = .03), serum triglyceride (p = .01), total cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels, compared to nonsignificant changes in the placebo group. Significant changes in TAC and hs-CRP levels were observed in none of the groups. According to our findings, spirulinafortified dressing as a functional food can be used a supportive treatment for patients with hypertension along with standard antihypertensive drugs. However, further investigations are required for a more comprehensive conclusion.