Alternaria species, mainly air-borne fungi, affect potato plants, causing black spots symptoms. Morphological identification, pathogenicity assessment, and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) molecular identification confirmed that all isolates were Alternaria alternata. The annotated sequences were deposited in GenBank under accession numbers MN592771–MN592777. HPLC analysis revealed that the fungal isolates KH3 (133,200 ng/g) and NO3 (212,000 ng/g) produced higher levels of tenuazonic acid (TeA) and alternariol monomethyl ether (AME), respectively. Beet ethanol extract (BEE) and beet methanol extract (BME) at different concentrations were used as antimycotoxins. BME decreased the production of mycotoxins by 66.99–99.79%. The highest TeA reduction rate (99.39%) was reported in the KH3 isolate with 150 µg/mL BME treatment. In comparison, the most effective AME reduction rate (99.79%) was shown in the NO3 isolate with 150 µg/mL BME treatment. In the same way, BEE application resulted in 95.60–99.91% mycotoxin reduction. The highest TeA reduction rate (99.91%) was reported in the KH3 isolate with 150 µg/mL BEE treatment, while the greatest AME reduction rate (99.68%) was shown in the Alam1 isolate with 75 µg/mL BEE treatment. GC-MS analysis showed that the main constituent in BME was the antioxidant compound 1-dodecanamine, n,n-dimethyl with a peak area of 43.75%. In contrast, oxirane, methyl- (23.22%); hexadecanoic acid, methyl ester (10.72%); and n-hexadecanoic acid (7.32%) were the main components in BEE found by GC-MS. They are probably antimicrobial molecules and have an effect on the mycotoxin in general. To our knowledge, this is the first study describing the antimycotoxigenic activity of beet extracts against A. alternata mycotoxins-contaminated potato crops in Egypt, aimed to manage and save the environment.

Three different concentrations of four (ethanol, acetone, methanol, and diethyl ether) extracts of licorice, doum, and banana peel were evaluated for antifungal and antimycotoxigenic efficiency against a maize aflatoxigenic fungus, Aspergillus flavus. Among them, the licorice diethyl ether 75% extract was intensely active, showing the best wet and dry weight inhibition and exhibiting the highest efficacy ratio (91%). Regarding aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) production, all the plant extracts tested were effective against AFB1 production after one month of maize storage, with average efficacy ratios ranging from 74.1% to 97.5%. At the same time, Thiram fungicide exhibited an efficacy ratio of 20.14%. The relative expression levels of three structural genes (aflD, aflP, and aflQ) and two regulatory genes (aflR and aflS) were significantly downregulated when compared to untreated maize grains or Thiram-treated maize grains. The doum diethyl ether 75% peel extract showed the highest total phenolic content (60.48 mg GAE/g dry extract wt.) and antioxidant activity (84.71 μg/mL). GC–MS analysis revealed that dimethoxycinnamic acid, aspartic acid, valproic acid, and linoleic acid might imbue the extracts with antioxidant capacities in relation to fungal growth and aflatoxin biosynthesis. Finally, the results suggest that the three plant extracts can be considered a promising source for developing potentially effective and environmentally safer alternative ways to control aflatoxin formation, thus creating a potentially protective method for grain storage.

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.

The detachment of organs is controlled by highly regulated molecular mechanisms. The position of the tomato abscission zone (AZ) is defined by the ratio of the proximal to distal part of the pedicel. In this study, the ratio was altered due to a shift in the position of the AZ which was attributed to shorter and longer pedicels of SlP4H3 RNAi and OEX lines due to changes on cell division and expansion in AZ and distal part. This might be associated with LM2- and JIM8-AGPs which increased in OEX and decreased in RNAi lines throughout the pedicel. The JIM13 AGPs were downregulated in the flower AZ of OEX lines, pointing to a role on abscission regulation. In addition, Co-IP in flower AZ with SlP4H3-GFP fusion proteins showed interaction with LM2-, JIM13- and JIM8-epitopes suggesting proline hydroxylation by SlP4H3. The lower content of methyl-esterified HGs and higher of demethyl-esterified HGs in the AZs of RNAi lines might be responsible for increased rigidity of the AZ cell walls, accounting for the higher force required for AZ tissue detachment to occur. Moreover, ethylene-induced flower abscission was accelerated in the RNAi lines and delayed in OEX lines, while exactly the opposite response was observed in the red ripe fruit AZs. This was partly attributed to alterations in the expression of cell wall hydrolases. Overall, these results indicate that P4Hs might regulate molecular and structural features of cell walls in the AZ as well as abscission progression by regulating the structure and function of AGPs.

No abstract

Even though the green revolution was a significant turning point in agriculture, it was also marked by the widespread use of chemical pesticides, which prompted severe concerns about their influence on human and environmental health. As a result, the demand for healthier and more environmentally friendly alternatives to control plant diseases and avoid food spoilage is intensifying. Among the proposed alternatives, food by-product extracts, especially from the most consumed fruits in Egypt, eggplant, sugar apple, and pomegranate peel wastes, were largely ignored. Hence, we chose them to evaluate their antifungal and antiaflatoxigenic activities against maize fungus, Aspergillus flavus. All the extracts exhibited multiple degrees of antifungal growth and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) inhibitory activities (35.52% to 91.18%) in broth media. Additionally, diethyl ether 50% eggplant, ethanol 75% sugar apple, and diethyl ether 25% pomegranate extracts exhibited the highest AFB1 inhibition, of 96.11%, 94.85%, and 78.83%, respectively, after one month of treated-maize storage. At the same time, Topsin fungicide demonstrated an AFB1 inhibition ratio of 72.95%. The relative transcriptional levels of three structural and two regulatory genes, aflD, aflP, aflQ, aflR, and aflS, were downregulated compared to the infected control. The phenolic content (116.88 mg GAEs/g DW) was highest in the 25% diethyl ether pomegranate peel extract, while the antioxidant activity was highest in the 75% ethanol sugar apple extract (94.02 µg/mL). The most abundant active compounds were found in the GC-MS analysis of the fruit peel extracts: α-kaurene, α-fenchene, p-allylphenol, octadecanoic acid, 3,5-dihydroxy phenol, hexestrol, xanthinin, and linoleic acid. Finally, the three fruit peel waste extracts could be a prospective source of friendly ecological compounds that act as environmentally safer and more protective alternatives to inhibit AFB1 production in maize storage.

This trial was conducted at Mallawy Agricultural Research Station, El-Minia, Egypt, during the summer seasons of 2003 and 2004 to investigate the role of some antioxidant treatments on potato yield and quality. Three antioxidants i.e. salicylic acid (SA), acetylsalicylic acid (Aspirin) (ASA) and n-propylgallate (PG) at three levels; 0.1, 0.5, and 1.0 Mm, were used as tuber seed soaking and foliar application treatments on potato plants, Solanum tuberosum L. cv. Diamant at the tuberization time. The results revealed that these antioxidants enhanced the content of chlorophyll (Chl) a, b and carotenoids in the leaves. Propylgallate at 0.5 mM in both seasons and 1.0 mM only in the second season gave the highest content of Chl. a, b and carotenoids. Also, SA at 0.5 mM and ASA at all tested levels recorded a significant increase in carotenoids. However, 1.0 mM SA showed a decrease in this respect. PG at 1.0 mM increased the tested pigments except Chl. a in the first season. The results indicated the importance of PG against photodamage of potato plants.Significant increase in the plant height (cm) was noticed with propylgallate (PG) treatment in both seasons. The increment of plant height was corresponding with raising the concentrations. The other antioxidant treatments recorded the lowest values. Moreover, the increasing of SA or ASA levels, led to reduce plant height with insignificant differences as compared with the control. These results suggest that the higher concentration of ASA may be used as growth inhibitors, and the lower one as potato tuber promotion. Improvement in the reduction of the % of potato feathering by using SA treatment at 1.0 mM represents 24.86 % and 27.48 % in both seasons. The low levels of antioxidant treatments at 0.1 mM showed the highest value of tuber grading (10.67 % with SA). The other levels of antioxidant treatments (0.5 and 1.0 mM) showed the lowest and decreased the unmarketable potato tubers. The highest percentage of potato tubers (over 340g) was obtained by using PG at 0.5 mM in the first season and at 1.0 mM in the second season (7.08 % and 7.14 %) followed by PG at 0.5 mM in the second season (5.99), whereas SA and ASA at 1.0 mM showed a reverse effect.PG at 1.0 mM in the two seasons improved the increasing of the dry matter percentage, specific gravity, total yield (ton /fed.) which was (10.50% in the first and 9.54 % in the second season) and starch % followed by SA at low levels (0.1mM or 0.5 mM). Acetylsalicylic acid gave a highly effective reducing agent in improving the colour value. Also, low levels of SA, PG and ASA at 0.1 and 0.5mM showed improvement in the colour value. The obtained results could be summarized as follows: a-Propylgallate at 1.0 mM improved the pigment contents yield (ton /fed.), plant height (cm), dry matter, specific gravity, and starch. b-Low levels of these antioxidants improved the production of potato seed tubers. c-Improvement in the reduction of the potato feathering % was recorded by using SA at 1.0 mM. So, SA may play a role in the promoti...

The cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley is an invasive polyphagous pest species causing severe economic damage to a wide range agricultural crops. Five different toxicants of different groups were evaluated for their effectiveness in reducing mealybug incidence on cotton under both laboratory and field conditions as well as their effectiveness against its associated predators (Chrysoperla carnea (Steph.), Hyperaspis vinciguerrae Capra) under field conditions. Chlorpyrifos and Imidacloprid were the most toxic insecticides after 24h and 72h of exposure compared with Pyriproxyfen, Buprofezin and Emamectin benzoate against third instar nymphs of P. solenopsis under laboratory conditions. Based on field experiments, Chlorpyrifos significantly superior in reducing the cotton mealybug population followed by Imidacloprid, Pyriproxyfen, Emamectin benzoate and finally Buprofezin with average reduction between 96.24 to 43.99%. IGRs toxicants (Buprofezin and Pyriproxyfen) found to safer to the predacious insects than other toxicant groups.