Rhizosphere engineering has emerged as a transformative strategy to address the pressing challenges of climate change, food security, and environmental sustainability. By harnessing the dynamic interactions between plants and microbes, and environmental processes, this approach offers innovative solutions for enhancing crop production, protecting against pests and diseases, and remediating contaminated environments. This review explores how rhizosphere engineering, both plant-based and microbe-based, can be leveraged to enhance crop productivity, manage pests and diseases, and remediate contaminated environments under shifting climate conditions. We examine the effects of climate change drivers such as elevated CO2, increased N deposition, rising temperatures, and altered precipitation patterns, on plant-microbe interactions and rhizosphere processes. We show that climate change impacts key functions, including respiration, decomposition and stabilization of soil organic matter, nutrient cycling, greenhouse gas emissions, and microbial community dynamics. Despite these challenges, engineered rhizospheres can mitigate adverse effects of climate change by improving rhizodeposition, nitrogen fixation, root architecture modification, selective microbe recruitment, and pathogen control, while enhancing carbon allocation and stabilization in soil. However, the deployment of these technologies is not without challenges. Ecological risks, such as unintended gene transfer and disruption of native microbial communities, as well as socioeconomic barriers, must be carefully addressed to ensure safe and scalable implementation. We identify critical research gaps such as the limited understanding of multi-taxon cooperation and scalability in engineered rhizosphere systems, and how mechanistic understanding of designer plants and microbes can advance crop production, protection, and environmental remediation in agriculture and agroforestry under global changes.

• Klíčová slova
• Crop productivity, Food security, Genome engineering, Global changes, Plant-microbe interactions, Rhizosphere engineering, Synthetic biology,
• MeSH
• klimatické změny MeSH
• půdní mikrobiologie MeSH
• rhizosféra * MeSH
• zajištění potravin * MeSH
• zemědělské plodiny * genetika   růst a vývoj   mikrobiologie   MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• přehledy MeSH

Apera spica-venti, a prevalent weed in Czech winter wheat fields, has developed resistance to ALS-inhibiting herbicides due to their frequent use. This study reports a biotype of A. spica-venti resistant to pyroxsulam, with cross and multiple resistance to iodosulfuron, propoxycarbazone, pinoxaden, and chlortoluron. Dose-response experiments revealed high resistance of both R1 and R2 biotypes to pyroxsulam, with resistance factors (RF) of 6.69 and 141.65, respectively. Pre-treatment with malathion reduced RF by 2.40× and 1.25× in R1 and R2, indicating the potential involvement of cytochrome P450 (CytP450). NBD-Cl pre-treatment decreased RF only in R2, suggesting possible GST involvement. Gene analysis revealed no mutations (at previously reported sites) or overexpression in the acetolactate synthase (ALS) gene. However, a significant difference in ALS enzyme activity between resistant and susceptible biotypes points to target-site resistance mechanisms. Studies with 14C-labeled pyroxsulam showed that reduced absorption and translocation were not likely resistance mechanisms. In summary, herbicide resistance in A. spica-venti appears to result from multiple mechanisms. Possible causes include target-site resistance from an unidentified ALS mutation (within coding or regulatory regions). Enhanced herbicide metabolism via CytP450s and GSTs is also a contributing factor. Further experimental validation is needed to confirm these mechanisms and fully understand the resistance. This evolution underscores the adaptive capacity of weed populations under herbicide pressure, emphasizing the need for alternative control strategies.

• Klíčová slova
• ALS-inhibiting herbicide, GSTs, cytochrome P450s, non-target-site resistance, selection pressure,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

This study investigates gender-based differences in eco-efficiency among Hungarian field crop farms, using data from the Farm Accountancy Data Network between 2015 and 2020. Applying Data Envelopment Analysis and Blinder-Oaxaca decompositions, we reveal a consistent eco-efficiency advantage for women-headed farms, particularly at mid-quantiles of eco-efficiency distribution. This advantage is largely attributed to women's ability to optimize resource use effectively, though unexplained factors also contribute, suggesting potential differences in management practices. Results highlight that women-led farms often adopt eco-efficient practices that may contribute to sustainability goals. These findings highlight the need for policies that support women farmers' access to resources, knowledge, and innovation in eco-friendly farming practices, helping to enhance sustainability in agricultural production. Encouraging women participation in sustainable agricultural entrepreneurship could play a critical role in driving eco-efficiency across the crop sector, ultimately contributing to environmental resilience and rural socio-economic development.

• Klíčová slova
• Agricultural output, Crop farms, Decomposition models, Eco-efficiency, Environmental impacts, European union, Gender,
• MeSH
• farmy MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• pěstování plodin * MeSH
• sexuální faktory MeSH
• zachování přírodních zdrojů MeSH
• zemědělci * MeSH
• zemědělské plodiny MeSH
• zemědělství * metody   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Maďarsko MeSH

Halophytes display distinctive physiological mechanisms that enable their survival and growth under extreme saline conditions. This makes them potential candidates for their use in saline agriculture. In this research, tomato (Solanum lycopersium Mill.) was cultivated in moderately saline conditions under two different managements involving Arthrocaulon macrostachyum L., a salt accumulator shrub: intercropping, i.e., co-cultivation of tomato/halophyte; and crop rotation, in which tomato is grown where the halophyte was previously cultivated. The effect of these crop managements was evaluated in tomato plants in comparison with tomato in monoculture, with regards to physiological and biochemical variables and metabolomic and proteomic profiles. Both halophyte-based managements reduced soil salinity. Crop rotation enhanced photosynthesis and protective mechanisms at the photosynthetic level. In addition, both crop managements altered the hormone profile and the antioxidant capacity, whereas a reactive oxygen species over-accumulation in leaf tissues indicated the establishment of a controlled mild oxidative stress. However, tomato production remained unchanged. Metabolomic and proteomic approaches suggest complex interactions at the leaf level, driven by the influence of the halophyte. In this regard, an interplay of ROS/lipid-based signalling pathways is proposed. Moreover, improved photosynthesis under crop rotation was associated with accumulation of sugar metabolism-related compounds and photosynthesis-related proteins. Likewise, acylamino acid-releasing enzymes, a class of serine-proteases, remarkably increased under both halophyte-based managements, which may act to modulate the antioxidant capacity of tomato plants. In summary, this work reveals common and distinctive patterns in tomato under intercropping and crop rotation conditions with the halophyte, supporting the use of A. macrostachyum in farming systems.

• MeSH
• fotosyntéza MeSH
• halotolerantní rostliny * metabolismus   fyziologie   MeSH
• listy rostlin metabolismus   fyziologie   MeSH
• metabolomika MeSH
• proteomika MeSH
• reaktivní formy kyslíku metabolismus   MeSH
• rostlinné proteiny metabolismus   MeSH
• salinita MeSH
• Solanum lycopersicum * metabolismus   fyziologie   MeSH
• zemědělské plodiny MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• reaktivní formy kyslíku MeSH
• rostlinné proteiny MeSH

The Bohemian Forest Ecosystem encompasses various wildlife management systems. Two large, contiguous national parks (one in Germany and one in the Czech Republic) form the centre of the area, are surrounded by private hunting grounds, and hunting regulations in each country differ. Here we aimed at unravelling the influence of management-related and environmental factors on the distribution of red deer (Cervus elaphus) and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) in this ecosystem. We used the standing crop method based on counts of pellet groups, with point counts every 100 m along 218 randomly distributed transects. Our analysis, which accounted for overdispersion as well as zero inflation and spatial autocorrelation, corroborated the view that both human management and the physical and biological environment drive ungulate distribution in mountainous areas in Central Europe. In contrast to our expectations, protection by national parks was the least important variable for red deer and the third important out of four variables for roe deer; protection negatively influenced roe deer distribution in both parks and positively influenced red deer distribution in Germany. Country was the most influential variable for both red and roe deer, with higher counts of pellet groups in the Czech Republic than in Germany. Elevation, which indicates increasing environmental harshness, was the second most important variable for both species. Forest cover was the least important variable for roe deer and the third important variable for red deer; the relationship for roe deer was positive and linear, and optimal forest cover for red deer was about 70% within a 500 m radius. Our results have direct implications for the future conservation management of deer in protected areas in Central Europe and show in particular that large non-intervention zones may not cause agglomerations of deer that could lead to conflicts along the border of protected, mountainous areas.

• MeSH
• lesy * MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• veřejné parky * MeSH
• vysoká zvěř * MeSH
• zachování přírodních zdrojů * MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika MeSH
• Německo MeSH

Abiotic stresses, including drought, salinity, extreme temperature, and pollutants, are the main cause of crop losses worldwide. Novel climate-adapted crops and stress tolerance-enhancing compounds are increasingly needed to counteract the negative effects of unfavorable stressful environments. A number of natural products and synthetic chemicals can protect model and crop plants against abiotic stresses through induction of molecular and physiological defense mechanisms, a process known as molecular priming. In addition to their stress-protective effect, some of these compounds can also stimulate plant growth. Here, we provide an overview of the known physiological and molecular mechanisms that induce molecular priming, together with a survey of the approaches aimed to discover and functionally study new stress-alleviating chemicals.

• Klíčová slova
• Biostimulants, Hydrogen peroxide, Molecular priming,
• MeSH
• fyziologický stres * MeSH
• období sucha * MeSH
• oxidační stres MeSH
• salinita MeSH
• vývoj rostlin MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• přehledy MeSH

An increasing demand for environmentally acceptable alternative for traditional pesticides provides an impetus to conceive new bio-based strategies in crop protection. Employing induced resistance is one such strategy, consisting of boosting the natural plant immunity. Upon infections, plants defend themselves by activating their immune mechanisms. These are initiated after the recognition of an invading pathogen via the microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) or other microbe-derived molecules. Triggered responses inhibit pathogen spread from the infected site. Systemic signal transport even enables to prepare, i.e. prime, distal uninfected tissues for more rapid and enhanced response upon the consequent pathogen attack. Similar defense mechanisms can be triggered by purified MAMPs, pathogen-derived molecules, signal molecules involved in plant resistance to pathogens, such as salicylic and jasmonic acid, or a wide range of other chemical compounds. Induced resistance can be also conferred by plant-associated microorganisms, including beneficial bacteria or fungi. Treatment with resistance inducers or beneficial microorganisms provides long-lasting resistance for plants to a wide range of pathogens. This study surveys current knowledge on resistance and its mechanisms provided by microbe-, algae- and plant-derived elicitors in different crops. The main scope deals with bacterial substances and fungus-derived molecules chitin and chitosan and algae elicitors, including naturally sulphated polysaccharides such as ulvans, fucans or carageenans. Recent advances in the utilization of this strategy in practical crop protection are also discussed.

• Klíčová slova
• Algae polysaccharides, Biochar, Chitosan, Compost, Elicitor, Induced resistance, Plant extracts,
• MeSH
• dřevěné a živočišné uhlí farmakologie   MeSH
• imunita rostlin * účinky léků   MeSH
• nemoci rostlin mikrobiologie   MeSH
• odolnost vůči nemocem * účinky léků   MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• přehledy MeSH
• Názvy látek
• biochar MeSH Prohlížeč
• dřevěné a živočišné uhlí MeSH

Wild boars are an opportunistic wildlife species that has successfully colonized the human-modified landscape in Europe. However, the current population boom has negative consequences, which result in a rapid increase in human-wildlife conflicts and disease transmission, including African swine fever (ASF). The increasing frequency of conflicts requires adequate solutions for these issues through various measures. Application of deterrents is a common non-lethal measure whose effects have been insufficiently verified until recently. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of odor fences, often applied as a barrier against wild boar movement. For this purpose, 18 wild boars were marked with GPS collars. After 22 days of initial monitoring, 12 sections of odor fences were installed on their home ranges. The monitored wild boars crossed the area 20.5 ± 9.2 times during the pre-installation period and 19.9 ± 8.4 times after the odor fence installation. Moreover, the average home range varied between 377.9 ± 185.0 ha before and 378.1 ± 142.2 ha after the odor fence installation. Based on GPS telemetry results, we do not support using odor repellent lines for crop protection or for limiting wild boar movement to lessen ASF outbreaks.

• Klíčová slova
• African swine fever, GPS telemetry, crop protection, deterrents,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Pythium is a genus of parasitic oomycetes which target plants and both nonvertebrate and vertebrate animals, including fish and mammalian species. However, several Pythium spp., such as P. oligandrum, function as mycoparasites of pathogenic fungi, bacteria, and oomycetes in soil and thus as advantageous biocontrol agents. This review primarily focuses on biochemical processes underlying their positive effects. For example, P. oligandrum degrades host cell wall polysaccharides using chitinases, cellulases, endo-β-1,3-glucanases, and various exoglycosidases. Proteases from various classes also participate in the cell wall hydrolysis. All these processes can modify cell surface structures and help Pythium spp. compete for space and nutrition. Accordingly, enzyme secretion most likely plays a key role in plant root colonisation. Plant-P. oligandrum interactions, nevertheless, do not involve tissue injury but instead activate plant defence mechanisms, thereby strengthening future plant responses to pathogen attacks. Priming induces the phenylpropanoid and terpenoid pathways and thus synthesis of secondary metabolites, including lignin, for cell wall fortification and other metabolic adjustments. Such metabolic changes are mediated by elicitins, cell wall glycoproteins and oligandrins produced by P. oligandrum. As homologous proteins of β-cinnamomin from Phytophthora cinnamomi with similar essential amino acids for sterol binding, oligandrins stand out for their structure, which they share with cell wall glycoproteins, albeit without the Ser-Thr-rich O-glycosylated domain for cell wall attachment. P. oligandrum also provides plant with tryptamine used for auxin synthesis, promoting plant growth. Overall, in addition to discussing plant metabolic and phytohormonal changes after P. oligandrum inoculation, we review data on P. oligandrum applications as researchers increasingly search for effective and environmentally friendly ways to protect crops. In this context, P. oligandrum emerges as a highly suitable biotechnological solution.

• Klíčová slova
• Biological control agents, Growth promotion, Mycoparasitism, Oomycetes, Plant protection, Sustainable agriculture,
• MeSH
• hydrolýza MeSH
• kyseliny indoloctové metabolismus   MeSH
• nemoci rostlin mikrobiologie   prevence a kontrola   MeSH
• Phytophthora * MeSH
• Pythium * MeSH
• tryptaminy MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• přehledy MeSH
• Názvy látek
• kyseliny indoloctové MeSH
• tryptaminy MeSH

The study aims to provide a basis for measures reducing the consequences of a nuclear accident in its late phase, when plant contamination occurs mainly through the root system. Samples of the above-ground biomass of crops and soil were taken in 2020 in the vicinity of the Temelín and Dukovany nuclear power plants (Czech Republic). The 137Cs activities were determined using gamma spectrometry, and the 90Sr activities were measured through beta radiation. From the obtained values, the radionuclide transfer factors (TFs) from soil to crop biomass were calculated. The average area activity of 137Cs in the soil around Dukovany and Temelín was 1700 and 2400 Bq m-2, respectively. The average area activity of 90Sr around Dukovany and Temelín was 211 and 184 Bq m-2, respectively. The TF 137Cs ranged from < 6.3 × 10-6 to 7.9 × 10-3, with a mean of 3.5 × 10-4 m2 kg-1, and the TF 90Sr ranged from 2.7 × 10-4 to 6 × 10-2, with a mean of 1.7 × 10-2 m2 kg-1.

• MeSH
• půda MeSH
• radioaktivní látky znečišťující půdu * analýza   MeSH
• radioizotopy cesia * analýza   MeSH
• radioizotopy stroncia analýza   MeSH
• transfer faktor analýza   MeSH
• zemědělské plodiny MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• Cesium-137 MeSH Prohlížeč
• půda MeSH
• radioaktivní látky znečišťující půdu * MeSH
• radioizotopy cesia * MeSH
• radioizotopy stroncia MeSH
• Strontium-90 MeSH Prohlížeč
• transfer faktor MeSH