Meloidogyne graminicola (Mg), commonly named the rice Root-Knot Nematode (RKN), is one of the most prevalent plant parasitic nematodes in rice agroecosystems while sustainable agriculture practices to treat the RKN are still limited. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of soil microbiomes extracted from different agricultural practices (CA, CAU, CT) in reducing RKN damage to rice plants. Soil microbiomes were isolated from the soil samples collected in Preah Vihear and Kampong Thom province of Cambodia in order to test the effectiveness of the microbiota against Mg on rice plants (Variety IR64). The experiment was conducted in test tubes using sterilized sand to grow rice and 250 juveniles (J2) were used to infect each tube. Three treatments were set up: 1) tubes infected with 25ml of microbiome suspensions from non-sterilized soil (M);2) infected 25 ml of microbiomes from sterilized soil (ST); 3) control with only J2(CTL). After 3 weeks of infection, rice plants were examined under microscopes to measure number of nematodes (J2 and eggs). The results showed that the number of nematodes was significantly higher under treatment ST (230±100.132) compared to treatment M (159±64.41). The data demonstrated that soil microbiomes in CA were effective in reducing RKN damage to rice roots, which would be operated as a biological control to lower RKN in rice plants. However, further research is required to make the assessment of the effects of microbiomes on rice development and yield, and the taxa of beneficial microbiomes the most beneficial to rice growth.

Mung bean makes up a relatively large part of the daily needs of every Vietnamese family. However, mung bean yield in the Mekong Delta is still low, variety is one of the main factors affecting this problem. Therefore, the study of new varieties with high yield and adapting to different environmental conditions is extremely necessary. We evaluated the genetic characteristics of introduced mung bean based on agronomic traits (plant height at flowering, plant height at harvesting, number of internodes, number of branches, number of pods/plant, theoretical yield), thereby creating a database of genetic characteristics for further breeding programs. The broad-sense heritability of studied traits including plant height at flowering and harvesting, number of internodes and branches, number of pods/plant, and theoretical yield varied from 0.0% to 63.6% in the first harvest and 33.3% to 78.4% in the second harvest. It can be seen that these traits were influenced by the environment. Hence, it is important to choose appropriate seasons to enhance the potential of the variety. Moreover, the correlation coefficient results showed a strong positive relationship between yield and number of pods per plant, indicating that number of pods/plant is one of the important factors affecting mung bean yield. Based on important agronomic traits including the number of pods per plant, 1000 seed weight, growth time and yield, two promising mung bean varieties were initially selected (VC 6494-986-S7 and VC 6518-50), of which VC 6494-986-S7 had superior yield, used as a material for further studies.

Crops grown on salt-affected soils may experience physiological drought stress, ion toxicity, and mineral shortage, resulting in lower growth and output. Salinity is the most important abiotic factor limiting crop development and output globally. Improving agri-food production in salt-prone locations is critical for meeting rising food demand in the near future. A pot experiment was conducted to study the impact of saline irrigation water on the chemical properties of sandy loam soil and their influence on growth, yield, and other biometric parameters of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), Cv KRL 213 in the farmer’s field at Karnal. Three irrigation water treatments i.e., Tube well water (TW), saline water (SW1, EC_iw 10.0 dS m^-1, SAR 5.0 mmol^1/2 L^-1/2), and concentrated saline water (SW2, EC_iw 10.0 dS m^-1, SAR 5.0 mmol^1/2L^-1/2) were applied in reclaimed normal soil (pHs 7.5 and ECe 1.0 dS m^-1). The results showed that, when low-quality water was applied to normal soil, salt increased, increasing the likelihood of normal soil deterioration. Continuous irrigation with concentrated salt water (SW2) raised the ECe of the root zone soil, which had a negative impact on wheat crop mortality (approximately 70%). In post-wheat samples, soil organic carbon, calcium carbonate, and cation exchange capacity (CEC) remained constant across all water treatments. Concentrated salty water (SW2) is not advised on its own, but it can be used in conjunction with other management practices (by mixing with rain, pond, or canal water) to reduce the negative impacts on soil chemical characteristics and crop development.

Metallocenes are toxic chemical that is used for the growth of carbon nanotubes. The study of toxicity of metallocenes on plants is very important. It governs the issues of genetics. The toxicity studies should be considered with (I) studies of growth kinetics of carbon nanotubes, (II) studies of chemical reaction of metallocenes inside carbon nanotubes, and (III) investigations of the electronic properties of filled carbon nanotubes. The toxicity studies are influenced with the investigation of growth process of metallocene-filled carbon nanotubes, evaporation of metals, formation of multiple-walled carbon nanotubes. The toxicity studies are also influenced by investigations of the modification of the Fermi level of filled carbon nanotubes. Metallocenes are filled inside carbon nanotubes with different methods, which are discussed here. They include the solution methods, gas phase method, which are different in methodics and require optimization. Many authors published different methodics of filling of carbon nanotubes with metallocenes. They lead to high filling ratios, and allow future modifications of the electronic properties of carbon nanotubes. Kinetics of growth of carbon nanotubes is investigated with different methods. Environmental transmission electron miscroscopy is applied to study with the time resolution of several nanoseconds. Here, we use Raman spectroscopy to study the growth process, which is revealed with activation energies, growth rates, temperature dependence. This is needed for tailoring the toxicity of metallocene-filled carbon nanotubes on plants.

Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) is a potential threat for the successful cultivation of cotton all over the world. Despite of the modern management strategies, the damage by the pest is increasing. The repeated exposure of the pest to Bacillus thuringenisis (Bt) crops resulted in resistance development which has threatened the continued success of Bt cotton. Salicylic acid has been reported to enhance efficiency of the crops. Present investigations were carried out to determine the impact of salicylic acid on the oviposition and feeding behavior of Pink Bollworm larvae in cotton varieties i.e., CIM-70 and NIAB-78 at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan. In 1^st experiment, leaves and bolls treated with different concentrations of salicylic acid were kept in oviposition chamber and adults were released in chamber with the ratio of 5:5 male and female respectively. Experiment was performed following Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications and six concentrations of salicylic acid (0, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160 ppm). In 2^nd compliment of the experiment, salicylic acid was evaluated against feeding behavior i.e., larval duration, pre-feeding time, feeding time, post-feeding time and percentage mortality of the Pink Bollworm. In both experiments, results revealed that application of salicylic acid at maximum concentration in NIAB-78 proved effective against pink bollworm oviposition and feeding in comparison to CIM-70. It is concluded that salicylic acid has the potential to reduce pink bollworms risks and present investigations will help researchers as well as farmers for the timely sustainable management of Pink Bollworm.

Pleurotus ostreatus has potent antibacterial, antifungal, and antioxidant properties. In this study, bioactive compounds were extracted from Pleurotus ostreatus and screened against bacterial and fungal phytopathogens. Antibacterial activity was determined against four plant pathogenic bacterial species, viz. Erwinia carotovora, Pseudomonas syringae, Ralstonia solanacearum, and Xanthomonas axonopodis In antibacterial experiment, extract of n-hexane showed maximum activity as compared to other organic extracts. The zones of inhibition caused by n-hexane and ethyl acetate extracts on Xanthomonas axonopodis were 88.55 mm and 99.67 mm, respectively. n-hexane extract of Pleurotus ostreatus also showed the highest antifungal activity. As compared to controls, 25 mg/ml caused 76, 82, 82, 83, and 60% decreases in fungal biomass against, Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus flavus, Drechslera australiensis, Fusarium oxysporum and Macrophomina phaseolina, respectively. The most susceptible fungus observed in the present investigation was Fusarium oxysporum, although extracted fractions inhibited other test fungi as well. Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis was performed on n-hexane extract depicting the presence of 26 compounds. Out of these compounds, one compound identified as Toluene (Molecular weight= 92) exhibited maximum peak area as 91 % followed by another significant compound named as Aziridine 2-methyl-3-(1-methylethyl)- (Mol. Weight = 99) was identified only one time and show maximum hit of 84% showing peak area 56%. During this investigation, it was determined that the bioactivities observed were due to these compounds, which exploited that, Pleurotus ostreatus could be a potent biocontrol antagonist against the plant pathogens.

Annual species of 'Medicago' genus play an important role in improving fodder production in Algeria. Medicago truncatula Gaertner is the plant model of leguminous. This kind of plant is very important for natural soil fertilisation and also good quality nutrition for animals and human for their richness in protein. However, abiotic stresses like salinity are the major cause of land degradation and crop productivity limitation around the world and affects physiology and metabolism in legumes. In this study, we analyzed the behaviour of pollen tube growth in two contrasting Medicago truncatula ecotypes under salt stress (Tru 42, tolerant and Tru 242, sensitive one) with different concentration of NaCl. (68, 102 and 137 mM) because pollen tube growth mechanisms can be affected by environmental stresses such water and salt stress. The salinity stress can prevents male gametophyte to accomplish reproduction and it’s Important to understand the male gametophyte physiological responses to accomplish reproduction. The analysis showed that the tolerant ecotype has good pollen tube elongation compared to the sensitive one and it’s interesting to introduce the tolerant genotype in selection program for leguminous breeding. Actually, no enough information was available on pollen tolerance mechanism to salt stress in Medicago truncatula or other Medicago species.

Drought stress is a major abiotic stress, limiting crop production and yield. Overall, drought reduces flower number and size, also affecting the viability and durability of flowers. Thus, understanding its impacts has become a major aim for the sustainability of the horticultural industry. Calendula officinalis L. (pot marigold) is a widely used plant in the ornamental horticulture and also used in traditional medicine due to its wide range of secondary metabolites, flavonoids and carotenoids contents. Nevertheless, it is highly affected by drought, although some genotypes show some tolerance to water scarcity.

In this study, we compared the impacts of moderate and severe drought in four different pot marigold genotypes, evaluating its responses in photosynthetic pigments (chlorophylls and carotenoids), in the levels of proline and malondialdehyde in leaves and flowers, and in the enzymatic activity of catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POX), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX), as well as in the production of flowers.

Overall results showed a high resilience to moderate drought, although highly dependent on the genotypes evaluated. In contrast, severe drought had a harsh impact on most genotypes, especially in the production of flowers, despite the high activities of APX, CAT, and POX enzymes. These results also show that a considerable variation in drought tolerance occurs in pot marigolds that can be used to screen useful tolerance traits.

The aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) on embryogenesis and green plant regeneration in wheat anther culture. Three winter bread wheat genotypes, Altındane, Dariel, and Pehlivan, were used as plant materials. The effect of five nutrient mediums (MS1, MS2, CHB-3, CHB-3+MS2, and CHB-3+1% DMSO) and the addition of 1% DMSO to the sterilization solution were investigated. Spikes of all three genotypes were sterilized with 70% ethanol for one minute. In addition, simultaneously for genotype Pehlivan, we mixed 70% ethanol with 1% DMSO. Our results showed that the Altindane genotype produced the highest (97) embryoids from 45 anthers cultured in CHB-3 medium whereas Dariel and Pehlivan genotypes produced 3 and 0 embryoids respectively. On the other hand, the addition of 1% DMSO to the same medium adversely affected embryoid production compared to the medium without DMSO. A 70% ethanol solution mixed with 1% DMSO for the sterilization of spikes was effective in increasing the embryoid count from approximately 0 to 17.8% and 1 to 48.4% in CHB-3 and CHB-3+DMSO induction medium, respectively. Furthermore, the Altindane genotype produced 10 plantlets (8 albino and 2 green plants) and 8 albino plantlets in CHB-3 and CHB-3+DMSO, respectively. In the Pehlivan genotype which was sterilized with 1% DMSO, the number of embryoids increased from 0 to %4.4 in the CHB-3+DMSO medium. According to our results, the use of DMSO in induction medium did not encourage embryogenesis but the use of 1%DMSO in sterilization solution increased the numbers of embryoids but did not support green plant production.

Late blight caused by Oomycete Phytophthora infestans (Mont.) de Bary is a destructive disease on Solanaceous crops such as tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). Late blight is generally controlled by fungicides applications which quickly become ineffective due to the appearance of new P. infestans genotypes which can overcome the resistance of improved tomato cultivars and cause total production losses.

The aim of this study is to assess the resistance level of tomato cultivars. Inoculation were carried out on tomato leaflets (cv. Trakia, Saint Pierre and Marmande) using inoculums of the major P. infestans clonal lineages present in Algeria such as EU_13_A2 (n=1), EU_23_A1 (n=2) and EU_2_A1 (n=1) under controlled condition.

Aggressiveness components were assessed such as incubation (IP) and latency period (LP), lesion area (LA) and sporangia production (SP). The results showed that Marmande was the most susceptible cultivar to all P.infestans genotypes, whereas, Saint Pierre and Trakia showed a higher level of resistance. The EU_23_A1 was the most aggressive genotype on tomato cultivars in general.

The aim of this investigation is to show that the choice of resistant cultivars can help control late blight and provide economic and environmental advantages by reducing the use of inputs.