Powdery mildew disease of squash is one of the most devastating diseases that affect cucurbits around the world. The current study compared the use of bio-agents (Trichoderma harzianum, T. viride, Bacillus subtilis, B. chitinosporus, B. megaterium, B. pumilus, and B. polymexa) to a systemic fungicide "Topas-100" and distilled water in treating powdery mildew disease on a susceptible cultivar (Eskandarani). Treatment with bio-agents reduced the amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS), particularly hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and superoxide (O2.-). Most treatments, especially T. harzianum and T. viride, significantly boosted catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POX), and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity when compared to the control. The membrane permeability was reduced by using a bio-agent. As a result of the majority of treatments, squash fruit output improved dramatically. Our findings showed that using bio-agents, specifically B. subtilis and T. harzianum, to control powdery mildew disease on squash plants was an effective alternative to fungicide and minimised the detrimental effects of reactive oxygen species.      

Despite the fact that moringa genus has nutritional and medicinal values as leaves are effectively used for malnutrition alleviation in various countries, its growth and development has been adversely affected by salt stress. Recent reports showed that chitosan (CS) is involved in salt-stress mitigation. Nevertheless, scarce information is available about CS impacts on medicinal and aromatic plants, especially moringa under salt stress conditions. This study was, therefore, conducted to investigate the effects of CS on salt-stress mitigation in moringa. Plants were exposed to 25, 50 or 75 mM NaCl as salt stress treatments, while CS was applied as a foliar spray at 1% level. The results indicate that salinity significantly reduced the photosynthetic pigments compared to the control, however CS treatment prevent this reduction. Proline content, total phenolics and antioxidant enzyme activity (catalase, superoxide dismutase and ascorbate peroxidase) were slightly increased under salt stress conditions but they considerably enhanced when CS treatment was applied relative to stressed plants. Therefore, CS application alleviated the oxidative damage caused by salinity, indicated by lower accumulations of malondialdehyde and H2O2, thereby maintaining the membrane function and enhancing salt tolerance in moringa plants.      

The objective of the present investigation was to evaluate of the seven varieties under different environments to recommend the best genotypes for each location. Field conditions vary from location to another, so the gene expression differs accordingly to this condition. The seven varieties divided to groups, the one group from Extra-long staple category (Giza 87, Giza 88, Giza 92, Giza 93 and Giza 96) and the two group, from long staple category (Giza 86 and Giza 94) and these varieties were grown at seven locations in lower Egypt (Delta) over the two growing seasons of 2013 and 2014 and the sowing date was done in the second week of April of both seasons. The varieties were compared in a randomized complete block design with four replications to estimate earliness, cotton yield (k/f) and yield components. Absolutely, Giza 94 from long staple category surpassed in all locations for most characters, followed by Giza 86. Into extra long staple category, the varieties Giza 92 and Giza 96 surpassed in all locations fro most characters, while Giza 87 was the best locations under Sedi Salem, Kafr Saad and Kafr El-Batekh and Giza 88 under Edko, Kafr Saad and Kafr El-Batekh locations. The best location for Giza 93 was Kafr Saad (Damietta location).      

Two field experiments were conducted at the Farm of Kuotor - EL- Gharbia Governorate during 2016/17 and 2017/18 growing seasons to study the effect of three sowing methods [Broadcasting on beds method, Drilling on beds method and Hills on beds method] and three seeding rates (45, 52,5 and 60 kg seeds/fad.) on growth and yield of three bread wheat cultivars (Triticumaestivum L.). Regarding hills sowing method was better for growing wheat plants and gradually increased grain yield/fad than drilling and broadcasting methods. Giza 171 variety gave the highest values No. of spikes/m2, No. of grains/spike, 1000-grain weight, biological yield, grain yield and straw yield compared with the other varieties in the first and second seasons. planting by hills on bed method increased significantly No. of spikes/m2, No. of grains/spike, 1000- grain weight/spike, biological yield, grain yield and straw yield compared with the other sowing methods in the first and second seasons. The highest values of no. of grains/spike, 1000-grain weight and grain yield were found with seed rate (45 kg/fad.), in both seasons. No. of spikes/m2, biological yield, grain yield and straw yield were affected by the interaction between wheat varieties and planting methods with seeding rates in the first and second seasons except harvest index in the first season.      

A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the role of salicylic acid (SA) in salt stress mitigation in rosemary. The plants were irrigated with saline water that contained NaCl at 0, 100, 150 mM while, SA was used at 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 mM levels. The results clearly indicate that all vegetative growth (plant height, number of branches, fresh and dry weight/ plant) were significantly decreased with increasing the levels of salinity in comparison to the control. On the other hand, SA treatment enhanced the growth even under salinity. Despite the increase in volatile oil percentage due to salinity, a gradual reduction in volatile oil yield per plant was observed with increasing salinity level compared to unstressed plants, however SA application improved the volatile oil content under salt stress. The percentages of N, P and K were gradually decreased while Na and Cl contents due to salinity treatments compared to the control but SA treatment retarded this reduction in salt stressed plants. Moreover, all salinity treatments significantly reduced total chlorophyll, carotenoids and total carbohydrate contents, however increased proline content in leaves compared to the control, however, SA treatment improved the contents of total chlorophyll, carotenoids, total carbohydrate and proline in salt stressed plants. Collectively, SA is able to alleviate the adverse effects of salinity in rosemary through some physiological and biochemical modifications in plant tissues.      

Moringa is very important nutritional and medicinal tree worldwide that has been used in human's nutrition and therapy. Salinity adversely affects the growth of moringa and few information about mitigating the salt stress in moringa is available. Thus, this investigation aimed to evaluate the effect of chitosan (CS) in salt stress alleviation in moringa tree. The salinity levels used in this study were 25, 50 and 75 mM while CS was used at 1% concentration as foliar spray treatment. Salinity treatment significantly reduced the vegetative growth parameters compared to the control. Plant height, branch number and number of leaves were markedly decreased due to salt stress treatment in comparison with unstressed plants. Furthermore, the fresh and dry weights of shoots and roots were markedly declined by all levels of salinity. On the other hand, CS treatment significantly enhanced all the above-mentioned growth parameters under salinity. The salinity treatment also decreased the percentages of N, P and K elements but increased Na content in leaves, however CS application improved these elements under salinity. Collectively, CS application afforded considerable protection against salt stress damage in moringa.      

Abbreviations: Pgt, Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici; Px, Podosphaera xanthii; H2O2, hydrogen peroxide; NBT, nitro blue tetrazolium; DAB, 3, 3- diaminobenzidine ;O2.-, superoxide anion; SOD, superoxide dismutase; APX, ascorbate peroxidase ; NHR, Nonhost resistance. Abstract: Cucurbit powdery mildew disease caused by Podosphaera xanthii is one of the most serious diseases, which attack squash plants. The mechanisms of host and nonhost resistance in susceptible and resistant squash cultivars were investigated through inoculated squash plants with adapted (P. xanthii) or non-adapted (Puccinia graminis f.sp. tritici) pathogens. As a result of inoculation squash plants with a non-adapted pathogen, levels of hydrogen peroxide and superoxide anion were significantly accumulated early 24 hours after inoculation in both host and nonhost plants as compared with the control plants. Activities of catalase, peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase were early up-regulated and the expression of superoxide dismutase, ascorbate peroxidase and catalase genes were overexpressed. Additionally, disease severity percentage was significantly decreased. These results might support plant breeders with the key role of reactive oxygen species and antioxidants in plant disease resistance.      

Two field experiments were carried out in the two seasons 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 to evaluate the effect of Abscisic acid and proline on the morpho-physiological features, and yield component of two wheat cultivars (Sids14 and Giza171) under water deficit stress (moderate drought and severe drought). Our results displayed that number of tillers, leaf area, spike length (cm), relative growth rate, spike length (cm), plant height (cm), number of grains/spike, 1000 grains weight (g), grain yield (ton/ha), harvest index (%) negatively affected under both moderate and severe drought in the two cultivars. Moreover, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b concentration and relative water content were significantly reduced under drought conditions in the two seasons. Application of Abscisic acid and proline led to improve morphological characters such as spike length (cm), relative growth rate, spike length (cm), plant height (cm), number of grains/spike, 1000 grains weight (g), grain yield (ton/ha), harvest index (%) in the drought stressed plants compared with untreated drought stressed plants. Additionally, the treatment with Abscisic acid and proline under drought conditions led to improve chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b concentration and relative water content in the stressed wheat plants compared with untreated stressed plants in both seasons. It can conclude that, application of Abscisic acid and proline can ameliorate the negative effects of water deficit on wheat cultivars Sids14 and Giza171 and improve grain yield.      

Tetraploids induction, characterization, and stress tolerance evaluation of Jatropha integerrima ABSTRACT: Plant tolerance of environmental stress is necessary for survival and is a key factor in agricultural productivity. Abiotic stresses such as drought and salinity have profound effects on plant growth and development and are among the major factors which lead to serious yield losses to agriculture worldwide. Developing genetic tools to enhance plant stress tolerance has become an important objective of ornamental plant breeding. This study intended to develop an effective technique to induce tetraploids of Jatropha integerrima. The morphological changes are expected to alter the plant's ability to tolerate stressful conditions such as growing in environments with limited or poor nutrients or change leaf photosynthetic rate and lifespan. Treatments with 0.2% colchicine resulted in higher frequencies of pure tetraploids (44.4 %) and lower seedling mortality compared to higher concentrations (0.3% and 0.4%). Compared to diploids, J. integerrima tetraploids showed significant changes in morphology. Tetraploid plants were more compact and 27.72% shorter; their leaves were 46.0% larger and had 81.8% higher fresh and dry weight. Stomata on tetraploid leaves were 50.38% lower in density and 14.81% larger in size than those on diploid leaves. This study represents the first report of an effective technique for induction of pure tetraploids in this invasive species and characterization of nuclear DNA content and morphological changes from chromosome doubling. The availability of these puretetraploids in J. integerrima will facilitate investigation into tetraploidy-induced morphological changes and how they will impact J. integerrima plant physiology and tolerance to abiotic stresses such as droughts. In this sense, the induced tetraploids will be very valuable for physiological and horticultural research, in addition to their utility for triploid production and development of new cultivars with reduced or elminated invasive potential.      

شهدت السنوات األخيرة نموا و االهتمام العالمي والمحلي بقضايا البيئة وأهمهاا ً ملحوظاً ومتزايداً ظاهرة التغيرات المناخية كظاهرة عالمية لماا لهاا ما أثاار علا البشارية، وما المتوعا أ تغيار المناخ سوف يكو أكثر خطورة في المستقبل عما هو مقدر في الوعت الحالي. واستنادا إل القيم البيئية الواردة برؤية مصر2030 ،ونص الدساتور المصار 2014 فاي الماادة ً 29 علا لتلتازم الدولاة بحماياة الرععاة الزراعياة، وحماياة الاريايي ما المخااطر البيئياةل، مماا يستوجب مواجهة التغيرات المناخية فاي مجااالت البيئاة األربا ؛ البيئاة المنزلياة والبيئاة المزرعياة والبيئة الطبيعية والبيئية االجتماعية. ويمك مواجهة التغيرات المناخية م خالل ثالثة مداخل هاي المدخل التشريعي، والمدخل العالجي، والمدخل المعرفي. وتعتبر الزراعة المصرية ذات حساسية خاصة للتغيرات المناخية، حيث يقدر إجمالي حجام ااازات االحتباس الحرار الناتج م النشاط الزراعي ب 6,15 %م إجمالي اازات االحتباس الحرار التي تؤد إل التغيرات المناخية. وم هناا نادرك أ عطاا الزراعاة ياؤثر فاي ظااهرا التغيارات المناخية وفي ناس الوعت يتأثر بها، ويق عل اإلرشاد الزراعي عبء مواجهاة التغيارات المناخياة )المدخل المعرفي( للتوعية بخاض وتعديل الممارسات الزراعية التي تؤد لزياادة انبعااث ااازات االحتباس الحرار )طريقة التخايف(، وفي ناس الوعت كياية التغلب عل الظاهرة بتوعياه الازرا بالممارسات الزراعية التي تحد م أثر التغيرات المناخية عليهم )طريقة التكيف(. ويأتي دور الزراعة الذكية في ظل ظاهرة التغييرات المناخية باعتبارها نظام يعتمد عل التكنولوجيا المتقدمة في زراعة األاذية بطرق مساتدامة ونظيااة، وترشايد اساتخدام الماوارد الطبيعياة ال سايما المياا، العتمادها عل نظم إدارة وتحليل المعلوماات التخااذ أفضال عارارات اإلنتاا الممكناة بأعال التكااليف، وكاذلك فاي العملياات الزراعي اة كاالر ، ومكافحاة اوفاات، ومراعباة الترباة، ومراعباة المحاصيل. حيث تتميز المزار الذكي ة بإمكانية حقيقية لتقديم إنتا زراعي أكثار إنتاجياة واساتدامة استنادًا إل نهج أكثر كااءة في استخدام الموارد.      

Marine fungi inhabiting algae represent an ecologically and taxonomically interesting group of microorganisms. Algal host is the best known for fungi. The information of fungal community associated with algae is necessary to give the initial data for discovering secondary metabolites. Ulva Lactuca linnaeus, Enteromorpha intestinalis Linnaeus, and Dictyota sp are marine macroalgae associated with fungal community collected from Suez Canal and seashore in the Mediterranean Sea at Port Said governorate . Collected Algae was surveying for fungal biota. Fungi were isolated, identified and surveyed for studying the effect of their secondary metabolites on plant growth and as a biocontrol agent. The most abundant of fungal community are belonged to phylum Ascomycota and genera Penicillium, Cladosporium, Fusarium and Aspergillus that were associated with Dictyota sp, U. lactuca and E. intestinalis .Algal candidates samples were dissected into 3 mm of small pieces then culturing on plates with Czapek’s yeast extract agar amended by chloramphenicol and rose bengal. Fungi were identified by macroscopic and microscopic observation . organisms are let to produce natural secondary metabolites into the broth media and after a week Ethyl acetate was added with 1:1 ratio and incubated at 25 0C and shaking at 160 rpm . Collection of crude extract is done using separating funnel and Rotavapour was used for solvent separation and concentration of crude extract . Secondary metabolites of the taxa Penicillium crustosum and Trichoderma. Harzainum were tested for their effect on eggplant.It was found to cause significant increasing in length of shoot and root system of eggplant and also affect the whole plant by increasing its dry weight. Marine fungi have been discovered as good source for natural secondary metabolites and their secondary metabolites is good candidates for plant growth promotion      

White rot is a destructive disease caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum that can infect all above-ground parts of bean plants. In the current study, we used integrative metabolomic, bioinformatics, and transcriptomic approaches to investigate the potential role of two non-proteinogenic amino acids (β-Alanine and γ-Aminobutyric acid [GABA]) and one diamine (orthenine) bean response to Sclerotinia infection. All tested compounds showed in vitro antifungal activity against S. sclerotiorum with superiority to β-Alanine. Moreover, all tested compounds reduced the disease severity of Sclerotinia white rot in pots experiments with a greater effect of GABA which was comparable with the recommended commercial fungicide. Additionally, the application of all tested compounds enhanced the endogenous contents of the stress-associated phytohormones (salicylates, auxins, trans-Jasmonic acid, and abscisic acid) and the transcript levels of their biosynthetic genes. Furthermore, targeted gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) running in selective ion monitoring (SIM) mode showed that Sclerotinia infection induces accumulation of cytosolic GABA via the conversion of α-ketoglutarate-glutamine-GABA. In silico analysis showed that the bean genome possesses a putative GABA permease gene that connects the GABA shunt with the TCA cycle. Collectively, our findings suggest that GABA shunt might contribute to the non-cyclic flux toward succinate rather than an intact TCA cycle in citrus. Moreover, the findings of the current study enhance our understanding of plant response(s) to Sclerotinia white rot disease. Keywords: Bean; Sclerotinia; GABA; Bioinformatics; Phytohormones; GC-MS; TCA cycle.