How interactions between plants, the rhizosphere, and contaminated soil affect environmental sustainability is still under research. We tested the effects of two root endophytic fungi, the arbuscular mycorrhiza fungus (AMF) Rhizophagus irregularis and the beneficial endophyte Serendipita indica, on sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum) growing on soil contaminated with lead and copper in a pot experiment under defined greenhouse conditions. Both fungi caused an increase in shoot and root dry weight of sweet basil plants under all conditions and decreased the amount of lead in shoots. The amount of copper was reduced by S. indica, while the AM fungus showed this effect only when the soil is contaminated with both copper and lead. Furthermore the AMF, but not the endophyte S. indica caused a strong increase on the concentrations of the essential oils linalool and eucalyptol even on sweet basil growing on contaminated soils. Hence, cultivating sweet basil in combination with beneficial fungi in case of difficult environmental conditions could be of interest for industry located in countries with widespread land pollution, because quantity and quality of plants are increased while the amount of heavy metals is generally reduced.

Accumulation of the Municipal Sewage Sludge (MSS) is considered as one of the most harmful renewable ecological and human health problems. MSS is a renewable resource that could be used as a soil organic amendment. This study aims to reduce the Heavy Metals (HMs) from the sludge content and sludge compost. Furthermore, this study is considered the first to assess the mycotoxins content in sludge and sludge compost via a new biological treatment using the fungus Serendipita indica or a mixture of lactic acid bacteria, thus providing safer nutrients for the soil amendment for a longer time and preserving human health. The HMs and mycotoxins were determined. The results exhibited that the biotic remediation of bio-solid waste and sewage sludge compost succeeded; a new bio-treated compost with a very low content of heavy metals and almost mycotoxins-free contents was availed. Also, the results indicated that the Lactobacilli mixture realized the best results in reducing heavy metals contents and mycotoxins. Afterward, S. indica. biotic remediation of bio-solid waste and sewage sludge compost minimized the health risk hazards affecting the human food chain, allowing for the different uses of sludge to be safer for the environment.

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Aims: The work investigated the effects of plant seeds such as fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.), wheat grains (Triticum aestivum L.), and hot red pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) which are traditionally used as natural food preservatives or at least to minimize the used concentrations of artificial preservative, meantime to serve as antibacterial agents against certain positive and negative gram bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213 and Enterobacter cloacae Enk1 LT592256 and the effectiveness of using germinated seeds in reducing bacterial growth. Study Design: The experiments were designed as one way completely randomized design. Place and Duration of Study: The experiments were carried out at the Regional Center for Food and Feed (RCFF), Agricultural Research Center, and Faculty of Agriculture Saba Basha, Alexandria University, Egypt. Methodology: The living bacterial cells in each treatment was estimated after 5 days of incubation at 25°C the total viable bacterial counts were determined using the plate count agar method. Microbial numbers in all samples were determined using serial dilutions also, determine the total flavonoids, antioxidant activity, and total phenol contents of the tested seeds and their germs. Results: Our results demonstrated that the maximum number of S. aureus bacteria in 10-1 on wheat germinated seeds extract at 1000 µl that is 290 CFU and the maximum number of E. cloaceae was 370 CFU was found in wheat non-germinated seeds at 500µl concentration, however, the highly inhibitory concentration of S. aureus 1000 µl was realized using non-germinated red pepper seeds extract (97.9%) and (92.9%) in the case of E. cloaceae bacteria. The maximum inhibition percentage was found with red pepper non-germinated seeds for (S. aureus) it was (97.9%) and for the (E. cloaceae) was (92.9%) under the concentration 1000 µl. The results showed that germs extract was less effective as an antibacterial agent than seed extract. S. aureus was more susceptible than E. cloacae. The use of hot red pepper seeds extracts then fenugreek extract was highly effective in reducing the growth of both the tested bacteria. Conclusion: Hot pepper and fenugreek extracts can be used as natural alternative preventives to control food poisoning diseases. Non Germinated seeds are  most effective against studied bacteria growth.

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Background and Objectives: Sustainability in agricultural systems without compromising the environmental quality and conservation is one of the major concerns of today’s world. The excessive use of agrochemicals is posing serious threats to the environment. Therefore identification of efficient plant growth promoting (PGP) bacteria as an alternative to chemically synthesized fertilizers is of great interest. Materials and Methods: In the present investigation, forest soil samples collected were used for isolation of efficient plant growth promoting bacteria. Results: Total of 14 bacteria were isolated, and tested for various PGP properties. Out of the 14 isolates, four isolates la- belled as BKOU-1, BKOU-8, BKOU-13 and BKOU-14 showed significant plant growth promoting traits, hydrolytic enzyme production and effectively restricted the mycelial development of phyto-pathogenic fungi (Fusarium oxysporum and Mac- rophomina phaseolina). 16 S rRNA gene sequences of the bacterial isolates BKOU-1, BKOU-8, BKOU-13 and BKOU-14 were found to have maximum identity with Bacillus aerius, Bacillus infantis, Alcaligenes faecalis and Klebsiella Oxytoca respectively. All four bacterial isolates nucleotide sequences were submitted to GenBank and NCBI accession numbers were generated as follows: OL721916, OL721918, OL721919 and OL721926. Conclusion: According to the findings of the study, these PGPR could be employed as biofertilizers/ biopesticides to boost crop yield of different crops in sustainable manner.

Access to drinking water is a universal right of human beings that has not been achieved globally, so it is necessary to continue working to achieve it. Humans and other living things depend on water for life and health. Forests have long been seen as an important source of clean drinking water. The high cost of treated water makes most rural communities resort to readily available sources that are normally of low quality, exposing them to water-brown diseases. In this light, this research was carried out to confirm the effectiveness of powder extracted from maturedried seeds of Moringa oleifera, Parkinsonia aculeate, and Jatropha curcas for clarification of water. In the present study, various doses of Moringa oleifera, Parkinsonia aculeate and, Jatropha curcas seeds coagulant were added as 5 ,10 and 20 grams per liter of decanted water. Treated water was kept stable for 0 (control), 12, 24 and 48 hours. With increasing coagulant doses. The measured parameters such as pH, turbidity, TDS, TSS, watercolor, colony-forming unit (CFU), temperature, and electrical conductivity were decreased. Also, the lowest turbidity was achieved by settling time T4, since it displayed 4.29 (NTU), 9.42 (NTU) and 8.72 (NTU) for M. oleifera, P. aculeate and J. curcas seed powder, respectively. Furthermore, the total bacterial count at settling time T1(control) gave the highest CFU 232.48×10 3 cfu∕ ml, 301×10 3 cfu∕ ml and 297.71×10 3 cfu∕ ml for M. oleifera, P. aculeate and J. curcas seed, respectively. On the other hand, the total coliform detected the highest total bacterial count in water samples treated with Parkinsonia aculeate tree as compared with the two other trees; it was 391.3×10 2 at the second concentration. Therefore, the main objective of this experiment was to evaluate the efficiency of natural absorbents from Moronga oleifera, Parkinsonia aculeante, and Jatropha curcas in treating drinking water.