Increasing life expectancy has been accompanied by a higher prevalence of age-associated conditions, underscoring the need to better understand biological mechanisms of aging and to identify accessible biomarkers. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are lipid-bilayer vesicles that mediate intercellular communication by transporting proteins, lipids, and regulatory RNAs, including microRNAs (miRNAs). Here, we investigated whether the...

Corn is a globally important crop; however, pest infestations during storage represent a major challenge. The maize weevil, Sitophilus zeamais (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is a primary pest of stored maize, commonly controlled through phosphine fumigation. Nevertheless, extensive reliance on this insecticide has led to the emergence of resistant populations. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the contact and fum...

Aluminum (Al) toxicity is a major limiting factor for plants, but its effects in hydroponic systems, particularly on chlorophyll and the photosystem, remain poorly understood. Among horticultural crops, lettuce is notable for its production versatility in diverse systems, which may be susceptible to exposure to this metal. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of Al on the growth, tissue accumulation, chloroplasti...

Earth's biodiversity is central to ecosystem health and resilience, providing essential functions and services. The Red Sea is a recognised marine biodiversity hotspot with high endemism and unique environmental conditions that support extensive but poorly resolved biodiversity. Here, we applied metagenomic analyses to sediment samples collected from coastal to deep‐sea environments during the Red Sea Decade Expedition 2022 to...

Host phenology is an important determinant of the microbial community, yet how it shapes the evolution and function of endophytic fungi in native plants of the Cerrado remains poorly understood. We investigated cultivable foliar fungal communities in Connarus suberosus (evergreen) and Diospyros lasiocalyx (deciduous) using an integrative approach. A total of 365 isolates were obtained, and most belonged to the genus Diaporthe...

Understanding spatial patterns of extreme precipitation trends is essential for climate risk assessment, particularly in regions characterized by strong climatic heterogeneity and limited monitoring networks, where locally significant trends may be overinterpreted if field significance is not explicitly assessed. This study presents a regional analysis of trends in ten extreme precipitation indices calculated for each of 62 ra...

Marine algae are recognized as promising sources of natural biostimulants in agriculture, with potential applications in seed physiological conditioning. However, the environmental implications of their production, management, and disposal remain insufficiently addressed. This study evaluated the ecotoxicological effects of a commercial Kappaphycus alvarezii extract on Zea mays and Ceriodaphnia silvestrii . Conditioning assays...

Air pollution remains a persistent environmental and public health concern in urban regions. This study presents a 22-year analysis (2001–2022) of coarse particulate matter (PM 10 ) concentrations across 15 monitoring stations in the Porto Metropolitan Area (PMA), Portugal. The stations, pre-classified by national authorities as traffic, background-urban, background-suburban, or industrial, were used to assess long-term tempor...