Many pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) enter agroecosystems during reuse of treated wastewater and biosolids, presenting potential impacts on plant development. Here, acetaminophen, one of the most-used pharmaceuticals, was used to explore roles of glutathione (GSH) conjugation in its biotransformation in crop plants. Acetaminophen was taken up by plants, and conjugated quickly with GSH. After exposure to 5 mg L acetaminophen for 144 h, GSH-acetaminophen conjugates were 15.2 ± 1.3 nmol g and 1.2 ± 0.1 nmol g in cucumber roots and leaves, respectively. Glutathione-acetaminophen was also observed in common bean, alfalfa, tomato, and wheat. Inhibition of cytochrome P450 decreased GSH conjugation. Moreover, the GSH conjugate was found to further convert to cysteine and N-acetylcysteine conjugates. Glutathione S-transferase activity was significantly elevated after exposure to acetaminophen, while levels of GSH decreased by 55.4% in roots after 48 h, followed by a gradual recovery thereafter. Enzymes involved in GSH synthesis, regeneration and transport were consistently induced to maintain the GSH homeostasis. Therefore, GST-mediated conjugation likely played a crucial role in minimizing phytotoxicity of acetaminophen and other PPCPs in plants.

There is a growing interest in the production of hemp for the extraction of cannabidiol (CBD) due to reported therapeutic benefits. Recent policy reform has permitted state hemp pilot programs, including the land grant research institutions, the ability to investigate the potential of growing and harvesting Cannabis sativa plants (≤0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol) for these purposes in the U.S. There are vast gaps of knowledge regarding the fertility requirements of hemp cultivars grown in a horticultural production setting for floral attributes such as the cannabinoid constituents. Foliar tissue analysis provides an avenue to determine adequate ranges for nutrient uptake and estimating fertilizer requirements prior to visual symptoms of deficiency or toxicity. To facilitate a survey range of elemental nutrient acquisition in hemp cultivars propagated for CBD production, foliar analysis was executed using the most recently mature leaves (MRML) of mother stock plants. All plants were maintained in the vegetative stage for twelve weeks, prior to initiation of cutting for clone harvesting. A total of thirteen cultivars were utilized to broaden previously reported baseline survey ranges. Significant differences were found among all thirteen cultivars in accumulation of both micro and macro essential nutrients, widening the range of the fertility requirements of Cannabis plants grown in this production model for CBD harvesting.

Vermicomposting of pig manure is a waste management approach that has been shown to be economically and technologically feasible and yields a value-added end product, vermicompost (VC), that contains plant-available nutrients. The objective of this study was to determine if conventional nursery crop inputs could be replaced by commercially available VC (derived from pig manure) for production of Hibiscus moscheutos ‘Luna Blush’ L. (hibiscus). Hibiscus was grown in 3.8-L containers containing pine bark amended with 11% sand (by vol.), 1.8 kg·m−3 dolomitic limestone, and 0.9 kg·m−3 micronutrient package (PBS) or pine bark amended with 20% VC (by vol.) (20VC). Plants were topdressed with one of three controlled-release fertilizers (CRF) containing only nitrogen (N); N and potassium (K); or N, phosphorus (P), and K. The four treatments included PBS with 17–6–12 (PBS + NPK), 20VC with 17–6–12 (20VC + NPK), 20VC with 17–0–12 (20VC + NK), and 20VC with 17–0–0 (20VC + N). The PBS + NPK treatment, which was supplied with conventional nursery crop nutrient inputs (limestone, sulfated micronutrients, and CRF containing NPK), served as the control treatment to represent the industry standard. All treatments were irrigated to maintain a leaching fraction (LF = volume leached ÷ volume applied) of 0.24. Daily inorganic nitrogen (IN-N) and dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) effluent contents were determined. Plants were harvested at 35 and 56 d after potting (DAP). Total plant nutrient contents of P, calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and sulfur (S), iron (Fe), manganese, zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), and boron (B) were equivalent or greater for all three 20VC treatments compared with PBS + NPK. However, total plant K content of 20VC + N was less than 20VC + NPK, 20VC + NK, and PBS + NPK. Regardless of lower K content in the 20VC + N treatment, all three 20VC treatments had equivalent total plant dry weight and number of flowers. Furthermore, all three 20VC treatments averaged 58% and 40% greater plant dry weight than PBS + NPK at 35 and 56 DAP, respectively, and 93% more flowers than PBS + NPK at 56 DAP. All three 20VC treatments had similar IN-N and DRP effluent contents. However, the three 20VC treatments averaged 4.3× more IN-N effluent content and 59× DRP effluent content than PBS + NPK. The nutrient use efficiencies for all treatments were similar, in which nitrogen use efficiency ranged from 9% to 15% and phosphorus use efficiency ranged from 7% to 12%. In conclusion, this source of VC provided equivalent or greater P, Ca, Mg, S, Fe, Zn, and Cu but less K for plant uptake compared with the industry standard (control) treatment and produced larger plants with more flowers than the control. This suggests that dolomitic lime, sulfated micronutrients, and P can be eliminated as substrate additives.

Arabidopsis thaliana cells and cucumbers and radishes can uptake and metabolize the diazepam • • Metabolism of diazepam in resulted in the formation of the bioactive metabolites • Extensive mineralization was observed for radish seedlings • Exposure to diazepam resulted in changes to glycosyltransferase activity

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