Fusarium wilt is an economically important disease of cucumber caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cucumerinum (Foc). It causes severe losses in the yield and quality of cucumber and is extremely difficult to control conventionally using chemical fungicides. Biological control offers an eco-friendly alternative to chemical pesticide for sustainable plant disease management. In this context, biocontrol activity of rhizosphere soil bacteria was investigated against Foc in vitro. Thirty-five rhizobacterial isolates were screened for antagonistic activity in dual culture, and isolate BA5 showed the highest antagonistic activity (58.33% mycelial growth inhibition) against Foc. Maximum fungal biomass reduction (90.20%) was found in King's B broth in shake flask culture. Cell-free culture filtrate and ethyl acetate crude extract inhibited mycelial growth of Foc by 56.66 and 25.0%, respectively. Further, the selected isolate produced siderophores, volatile compound(s), hydrocyanic acid, and protease. Siderophores and volatile compound(s) were involved in the isolate-induced antagonism. In addition, the isolate exhibited several plant growth-promoting traits, including phosphate and zinc solubilization, ammonia production, organic acid production, and in vitro biofilm formation. Based on the morphological, physiological, biochemical characteristics, and phylogeny analysis, the isolate BA5 was identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and the 16S rDNA sequence was submitted in the NCBI GenBank under the strain name RKA5. Because of the novel antifungal and plant growth promotion potentials, the strain can be used as a promising biocontrol agent against the fungal pathogen Foc.

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Biopreservation systems in foods are of increasing interest for industry and consumers. Bacteriocin producing Lactobacillus spp. is considered Generally Recognize as Safe (GRAS), useful to control the fast development of pathogens and spoiling microbes in food and feed. Lactobacillus spp. was isolated from traditional winter fermented vegetable cucumber & carrot by the use of selective media. Especially De Man, Rogosa and Sharpe (MRS) Agar media were used to isolate the Lactobacillus species. Morphologically identified by gram staining & colony morphology. Biochemically recognized by catalase, oxidase, MRVP & carbohydrate fermentation test. Antimicrobial activity of Lactobacillus spp. was confirmed by Well Diffusion Method. Molecular characterization of bacteriocin protein and molecular weight determined by SDS PAGE method. The isolate was found to be facultative anaerobic, Gram positive, and catalase negative. The result of antimicrobial activity measured by the Arbitrary Unit (AU/ml) of zone of the inhibition. Six isolates found from the sample but most activities exhibited isolate 4 against Bacillus megaterium (55 mm) zone of diameter. The molecular weight of the washed bacteriocin was calculated to be about 40 kDa (Isolate 1) and 15 kDa & 30 kDa (Isolate 5). Bacteriocin protein reduces chemical preservatives and uses in future as biopreservative in food industry.

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Half of the population is women who need to be incorporated in nation's workforce for the sustainable economic development. In the context of Bangladesh, the development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) can be considered as a vital instrument for poverty alleviation and can ensure the rapid industrialization. This study attempts to explore the forces that encouraged women entrepreneurs to start their SMEs. The study was made on the entrepreneurs of Khulna, a metropolitan city of the country. The data was collected through a survey on five major dimension those are assumed to have influence on entrepreneurial decision namely socio-demographic, motivational, financial, regulatory and business environmental dimensions. Respondents' opinions from the survey were analyzed through simple descriptive statistics such as percentage and mean to draw findings. From the study it was found that women entrepreneurs in Khulna were mostly encouraged to start SMEs for motivational or pull factors such as gaining self-independence, providing financial support to family, improving quality of life and passing leisure time etc. Among the others factors found to be influential were inspiration from friends and relatives, availability of markets, profits potential etc. The study also revealed that as like other developing countries, women entrepreneurs of Khulna suffer from lack of financial support, complexity of regulatory systems, gender based discrimination, lack of adequate training facility and environmental support. Government and private initiative is important in this regard to overcome the hurdles and encouraging more and more participation of women in SME sector.

In this study we assayed on antimicrobial activity of peel, pulp, waxy coating of Benincasa hispida. Various parts of the plant are reported as antibacterial agents worldwide. Leaves, flower, root, seed are the most studied elements as antibacterial agent. Some fruits are also proved as antibacterial agent and used as herbal medicine as well as nutritional supplements during disease. Different parts of mature and immature winter melon fruits were extracted with different organic solvents viz., methanol, ethyl acetate and chloroform. These extracts were subjected to test against selected pathogenic bacterial (Bacillus subtilis IFO 3026, Sarcina lutea IFO 3232, Xanthomonas campestris IAM 1671, Escherichia coli iw 3310 IFO 3007, Pseudomonas denitrificans KACC 32026, and fungal (Fusarium oxysporum, Aspergillus niger KTCC 1700, Collectotrichum melongenae) strains using the well diffusion method. The waxy coating and peel of mature fruit of B. hispida extracts has strong antibacterial activities than immature fruit. In these cases, the minimum inhibitory concentration was 128 μg/ml. Ethyl acetate and chloroform extracts of waxy coating of B. hispida showed inhibition rate against fungal infection 43% and 33%, respectively against F. oxysporum but there is no inhibition against A. niger, C. melongenae. These results suggested that. So, the B. hispida would be a potential source that may help to develop natural antimicrobial agents.