Greenhouse cultivation of vegetables, especially cucumber in hydroponic/soilless culture, has been developed in different parts of the world. There is an expanding interest in hydroponics because they can produce fresh food closer to urban areas. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of the biopesticides: matrine (extract from Sophora flavescens), spintoram (derived from soil bacterium Saccharopolyspora spinosa), azadirachtin (neem extract), and Annona squamosa (custard apple extract) against the cotton aphid (Aphis gossypii Glov.) and the twospotted spider mite, (Tetranychus urticae Koch.). A drip-irrigation hydroponics system (DIHS) was designed and used for this study. Fourteen-day-old seedlings of cucumber plants were shifted in DIHS, and nutrient requirements were maintained during the period of experiment. Randomized complete block design (RCBD) was used for this experiment with 3 replicates and with 5 treatments. Data were collected 24 h pre-treatment and 1, 3, 7, and 14 days post-treatment. Results revealed that the custard apple extract showed the highest efficiency (80 and 76%) reduction against the aphid and the mite, respectively, followed by matrine (legend) and neem extract (73%), and spintoram (radiant) (69%) in case of the aphid, while it was followed by matrine (legend) (75%), spintoram (radiant), (66%), and neem extract (56%) in the case of the mite.

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Generation of reactive oxidation species in response to different types of stress is a general phenomenon observed in plants. It is considered to be a molecular signaling mechanism of plants to encounter adverse effects. Radical-induced cell death 1 (rcd1 or Atrcd1) gene of Arabidopsis thaliana is a stress responsive gene known to interact with several transcription factors during different types of stress. It is predicted to provide scaffold for mediating interactions between two proteins using its WWE and RST domains. It also has an inactive PARP catalytic domain forming the Similar like rcd1 (SRO) family of plant PARPs along with its homologs. In this study a new homolog from Brassica napus genome (Bnsro1) was identified. Analysis of Bnsro1 was done to predict function on computational basis by comparison with its homolog. Bnsro1 has similarities with Atrcd1 at sequence level and contains same globular domains. It is predicted to be catalytically active as it conserves the 16 amino acids required for NAD

The capability of symbiotic bacteria of entomopathogenic nematodes against the termite, Microtermes mycophagus D. (Isoptera: Termitidae), was assessed. Different fractions of Pakistani isolates of entomopathogenic bacteria viz., Xenorhabdus indica strain (Pak.S.B.50), X. indica strain (Pak.S.B.56), X. stockiae strain (Pak.S.B. 65), and X. steinernematis strain (C.B.10) were assessed against M. mycophagus by direct contact method (spraying method) and sand assay in laboratory conditions. Mortality response of cell-free filtrates after 24 h at 20°C for X. indica (Pak.S.B.50), T 2 = X. indica (Pak.S.B.56), T 3 = X. stockiae (Pak.S.B. 65), and T 4 = X. steinernematis (C.B.10) ranged (88.3-100%) as 33 ± 9.34, 98.33 ± 6.22, 88.33 ± 7.22, and 100.00% ± 0.00, respectively. In the case of sand assay, the most effective treatment was T 4 , where (100%) mortality rate was recorded 24 h post application of B.S. (bacterial suspension) (4 × 10 4 CFU/ml) and CFF (cell-free filtrate) (100 μl/10 ml) at 20 and 25°C.

. After development of root, in vitro plantlets were shifted from growth room to green house in polythene bags containing garden soil and humus mixture in ratio (1:1).

Sugarcane is an important perennial, polyploidy crop. Based on the growing demand, it has now attracted great attention as cash crop. Tissue culture technique, an alternative method for solving production problem and increasing production, was used in this study. The work was carried out at the Nuclear Institute of Agriculture (NIA), Tandojam, Pakistan. Standardization of protocol for proliferation of callus and induction of callus were established through in vitro culture using young meristem of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) as explants to enhance genetic variation in sugarcane varieties. Three varieties (NIA-2012, Gulabi-95 and NIA-105) were used. The shoot tips were supplemented with Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium modified with three auxins (2, 4-D, Picloram, NAA). All the auxins were applied in 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 mg L -1. MS basal medium was used as control free from concentration of auxins. Highly significant (p < 0.05) variations were observed in sugarcane varieties for all parameters of callus culture; while interactive effect of variety x treatment x concentration was non-significant for proliferation weight of callus. Among all the tested auxins 2, 4-D at 3.0 mgL -1 concentration proved to be the most effective auxin for callus proliferation and weight of all the sugarcane varieties. In light of the present research, it is concluded that auxins are preferable for future work in relation to in vitro callus induction for all varieties of sugarcane.