A total of 9347 fungal and bacterial endophytes were isolated from the roots, stem and leaves of chia plant. Roots harbored more number of fungal endophytes than either stem or leaves whereas stem supported more number of bacterial endophytes than either roots or leaves. The nutritious plant supported more of gram negative compared to gram positive bacterial endophytes. The most common bacteria isolated were Pseudomonas Bacillus, and Cocci. The fungal endophytes isolated from root, stem and leaves of the chia plant showed the presence of Penincillium, Aspergillus, Fusarium, and Macrophomina spps. Dominant fungal endophyte was Aspergillus spp. which was found in all the plant parts instigated. Roots of the plant possessed maximum nitrogen fixers followed by stem and leaves. A proportion of 55% for the bacterial endophytes isolated from the plant chia plant were able to fix nitrogen whereas 25% were able to solubilize phosphorous. The phosphate solubilization efficiency was found to be highest for the Aspergillus spp at 83%.

Brassica carinata is an important underutilized cruciferous vegetable that has strong potential for reducing food insecurity and boosting crop production due to its drought and pest resistant qualities. The vegetable supported a total of 5128 colonies with bacterial colonies higher at 4440 while fungal colonies were 688. Bacterial colonies were isolated in high
amounts at 10-1 while fungal colonies were highly recovered at 10-5. Bacterial results revealed that 37% were circular shaped while rhizoid form were lowest at 4.5% and the majority were gram positive. The Bacilli bacteria were more dominant over the cocci shaped bacteria. The roots harbored higher number of nitrogen fixing bacteria at 75% of the isolated endophytes as compared to roots and stem. Additionally, the roots contributed 60% of the endophytes that had the ability to solubilise phosphates. Antifungal results showed that four endophytes inhibited the growth of Colletotrichum higginsianum. Fungal isolates exhibited more Fusarium species isolated but Aspergillus spp had the highest phosphorous stabilization efficiency (PSE). One Fusarium spp had the capacity to inhibit the growth of C. higginsianum.

Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) is recognized as an endocrine-disrupting compound and is widely adopted as a plasticizer. Evidence links its reproductive toxicity to the tumor suppressor PTEN, genomic stability is crucially maintained by DNA damage repair (DDR). PTEN loss promotes DNA damage accumulation and cellular senescence. Resveratrol (RES), a natural polyphenol, exhibits antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities and shows protective potential for the male urogenital system. Nevertheless, the mechanisms associated with testicular senescence due to DEHP exposure and RES protection remain incompletely understood. This study employed in vivo and in vitro models, including cell viability assays, testosterone ELISA, cell cycle distribution analysis, senescence marker staining, Western blotting, and PTEN modulation. DEHP exposure significantly reduced testosterone levels in rat testis and TM3 cells, which was ameliorated by RES. DEHP/MEHP treatment upregulated senescence markers (β-Gal, p21, p16, γH2AX), downregulated PTEN and CDK2, and increased p-CHK2. These changes were reversed by RES. PTEN overexpression attenuated MEHP-induced senescence, G1 arrest, and testosterone reduction, while PTEN inhibition abolished RES protection. These findings elucidate the mechanism by which RES protects against DEHP-induced senescence via inhibiting PTEN loss.