Frequent applications of synthetic insecticides might cause environmental pollution due to the high residue. In addition, increasing insecticide resistance in many insect pests requires novel pest ...control methods. Nanotechnology could be a promising field of modern agriculture, and is receiving considerable attention in the development of novel nano-agrochemicals, such as nanoinsectticides and nanofertilizers. This study assessed the effects of the lethal and sublethal concentrations of chlorantraniliprole, thiocyclam, and their nano-forms on the development, reproductive activity, oxidative stress enzyme activity, and DNA changes in the black cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon, at the molecular level. The results revealed that A. ipsilon larvae were more susceptible to the nano-forms than the regular forms of both nano chlorine and sulfur within the chlorantraniliprole and thiocyclam insecticides, respectively, with higher toxicities than the regular forms (ca. 3.86, and ca.2.06-fold, respectively). Significant differences in biological parameters, including developmental time and reproductive activity (fecundity and hatchability percent) were also observed. Correspondingly, increases in oxidative stress enzyme activities were observed, as were mutagenic effects on the genomic DNA of A. ipsilon after application of the LC50 of the nano-forms of both insecticides compared to the control. These promising results could represent a crucial step toward developing efficient nanoinsecticides for sustainable control of A. ipsilon.
The structure and dynamic of soil bacterial community play a crucial role in soil health and plant productivity. However, there is a gap in studying the un-/or reclaimed soil bacteriome and its ...impact on future plant performance. The 16S metagenomic analysis is expensive and utilize sophisticated pipelines, making it unfavorable for researchers. Here, we aim to perform (1)
and
validation of taxon-specific qPCR primer-panel in the detection of the beneficial soil bacterial community, to ensure its specificity and precision, and (2) multidimensional analysis of three soils/locations in Egypt ('Q', 'B', and 'G' soils) in terms of their physicochemical properties, bacteriome composition, and wheat productivity as a model crop. The
results disclosed that almost all tested primers showed high specificity and precision toward the target taxa. Among 17 measured soil properties, the electrical conductivity (EC) value (up to 5 dS/m) of 'Q' soil provided an efficient indicator for soil health among the tested soils. The 16S NGS analysis showed that the soil bacteriome significantly drives future plant performance, especially the abundance of Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria as key indicators. The functional prediction analysis results disclosed a high percentage of N-fixing bacterial taxa in 'Q' soil compared to other soils, which reflects their positive impact on wheat productivity. The taxon-specific qPCR primer-panel results revealed a precise quantification of the targeted taxa compared to the 16S NGS analysis. Moreover, 12 agro-morphological parameters were determined for grown wheat plants, and their results showed a high yield in the 'Q' soil compared to other soils; this could be attributed to the increased abundance of Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria, high enrichment in nutrients (N and K), or increased EC/nutrient availability. Ultimately, the potential use of a taxon-specific qPCR primer-panel as an alternative approach to NGS provides a cheaper, user-friendly setup with high accuracy.
Chitosan nanopar ticles (ChiNPs) are a potentially effective means for controlling numerous plant diseases. This study firstly describes the antiviral capabilities of ChiNPs to control plant viral ...diseases compared to its bulk form. Bean yellow mosaic virus (BYMV) was used as a model plant virus affecting faba bean plants and many other legumes. The antiviral effectiveness of ChiNPs and chitosan were evaluated as a curative application method, using six dosage rates (50, 100, 200, 250, 300 and 400 mg/L). Results indicated that ChiNPs curatively applied 48 h post virus inoculation entirely inhibit the disease infectivity and viral accumulation content at 300 mg/L and 400 mg/L. The virus titre was greatly alleviated within the plant tissues by 7.71% up to100% depending on ChiNP dosage rates. However, chitosan used in its bulk-based material form revealed a relatively low to an intermediate reduction in virus infectivity by 6.67% up to 48.86%. Interestingly, ChiNPs affect the virus par ticle's integrity by producing defective and incomplete BYMV viral par ticles, defeating their replication and accumulation content within the plant tissues. Simultaneously, ChiNP applications were appreciably shown to promote the pathogenesis-related (PR-1) gene and other defence-related factors. The mRNA of the PR-1 gene was markedly accumulated in treated plants, reaching its maximum at 400 mg/L with 16.22-fold relative expression change over the untreated control. Fur ther, the total phenol dynamic curve was remarkably promoted for 30 days in response to ChiNP application, as compared to the untreated control. Our results provide the first repor t that chitosan-based nanomaterials have a superior effect in controlling plant viruses as an antiviral curing agent, suggesting that they may feasibly be involved in viral disease management strategies under field conditions without serious health concerns and environmental costs.Significance: • Our findings show that chitosan nanoparticles have a powerful curing antiviral activity against BYMV disease. These findings open the door for the use of eco-friendly nano-based tools in controlling numerous plant viruses. The use of eco-friendly nano-based materials could result in a successful integrative control strategy for plant viruses under field conditions, negating the need for the conventional measure used to control most of the insect-transmitted plant viruses, that is insecticide application against vector insects.
Natural products have served as primary remedies since ancient times due to their cultural acceptance and outstanding biodiversity. To investigate whether
L. modulates an inflammatory process, we ...carried out bioassay-guided isolation where the extracts and isolated compounds were tested for their modulatory effects on several inflammatory indicators, such as nitric oxide (NO), reactive oxygen species (ROS), proinflammatory cytokine; tumour necrosis factor (TNF-
), as well as the proliferation of the lymphocyte T-cells. The aqueous ethanolic extract of the plant inhibited the intracellular ROS production, NO generation, and T-cell proliferation. The aqueous ethanolic crude extract was partitioned by liquid-liquid fractionation using
-hexane (
-C
H
), dichloromethane (DCM), ethyl acetate (EtOAc),
-butanol (
-BuOH), and water (H
O). The DCM and
-BuOH extracts showed the highest activity against most inflammatory indicators and were further purified to obtain compounds
-
. The structures of 3,5-dihydroxy-4',7-dimethoxyflavone (
) and 3,5-dihydroxy-4-methoxybenzoic acid methyl ester (
) from the DCM extracts; and kaempferol (
), and 3-hydroxy-4-methoxy-(
)-cinnamic acid (
) from the
-BuOH extract were elucidated by different spectroscopic tools, including MS, NMR, UV, and IR. Compound
inhibited the production of ROS and TNF-
, whereas compound
showed inhibitory activity against all the tested mediators. A better understanding of the potential aspect of
L. derivatives as anti-inflammatory agents could open the door for the development of advanced anti-inflammatory entities.
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•P. indica colonization improved tomato biomass and growth performance.•Chlorophyll b, IAA, CAT, SOD increased in leaves of colonized tomato in salt stress.•Na+/K+ ratio in colonized ...plants were markedly lower than non-colonized plants.•Leaves of colonized plants resulted in an increase in LeNHX1 under salt stress.•Colonization with P. indica enhanced tomato fruit yield.
The utilization of symbiosis with beneficial microorganisms provides a strategy to alleviate salt stress that reduces existing gaps in crops production. The root endophytic fungus Piriformospora indica has shown to improve plant growth in diverse plant species under biotic stress, while limited reports have discussed the interaction of P. indica with tomato under salt stress. In this study, the impact of P. indica on tomato exposed to 200 mM NaCl for one month in soil-free culture was examined. Growth performance, marker osmolytes, antioxidant enzymes and expression of LeNHX1-4 genes of tomato leaves were measured. Results show that colonization of roots by P. indica improved root branching, fresh and dry weight of salt-stressed plants. Likewise, P. indica colonization increased levels of chlorophyll b, indole acetic acid, catalase and superoxide dismutase in leaves of tomato under salt stress. Meanwhile, P. indica reduced the increase of abscisic acid and proline levels when compared to non-colonized plants. Importantly, Na+/K+ ratios in shoots and roots of colonized plants were lower than in the corresponding non-colonized plants, which may be attributed to the higher K+ concentration observed in leaves and roots of colonized plants under saline water irrigation condition. This change in ion homeostasis was combined with an increase in LeNHX1 transcripts in leaves of colonized plants. Moreover, compared to non-treated plants, colonization with P. indica enhanced fruit yield by 22% and 65% under normal and saline water irrigation, respectively. Our study shows that P. indica enhances the growth and yield of tomato plants under normal and salt stress conditions, opening up a window of opportunity for its application in desert agriculture.
Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are a potentially effective tool for preventing viral plant diseases. This study was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of AgNPs for managing bean yellow mosaic ...virus (BYMV) disease in faba bean plants from the plant-virus-vector interaction side. AgNPs were evaluated as foliar protective and curative agents. In addition, the effect of AgNPs on virus acquisition and transmission by its vector aphid was investigated. The results indicated that AgNPs exhibited curative viricidal activity and were able to inactivate BYMV when applied 48 hours after virus inoculation. The occurrence of disease was prevented using an AgNP concentration as low as 100 mg L
-1
, whereas virus infection was completely inhibited when plants were preventatively treated with AgNPs at a concentration of to 200 mg L
-1
24 h before virus inoculation. AgNPs proved to be highly bio-reactive, binding to viral particles and suppressing their replication and accumulation within plant tissues. Moreover, AgNPs, at all concentrations tested, were found to upregulate the pathogenesis-related gene PR-1 and induce the production of defense-related oxidizing enzymes in treated plants. Exposure of aphids to AgNPs-treated plants before virus acquisition reduced BYMV acquisition and transmission efficiency by 40.65 to 100% at 24 h post-application, depending on the AgNP dosage. At 10 days after treatment, virus acquisition was reduced by 36.82% and 79.64% upon exposure to AgNPs at a concentration of 250 and 300 mg L-
1
, respectively. These results suggest that AgNPs have curative viricidal activity due to targeting the virus coat protein and affecting virus-vector interactions. Accordingly, AgNPs may contribute to alleviating the natural disease and virus transmission under field conditions. This is the first report on the activity of nanomaterials against plant virus acquisition and transmission by insects.
Molecular marker technologies which rely on DNA analysis provide powerful tools to assess biodiversity at different levels, i.e., among and within species. A range of different molecular marker ...techniques have been developed and extensively applied for detecting variability in date palm at the DNA level. Recently, the employment of gene-targeting molecular marker approaches to study biodiversity and genetic variations in many plant species has increased the attention of researchers interested in date palm to carry out phylogenetic studies using these novel marker systems. Molecular markers are good indicators of genetic distances among accessions, because DNA-based markers are neutral in the face of selection. Here we describe the employment of multidisciplinary molecular marker approaches: amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), start codon targeted (SCoT) polymorphism, conserved DNA-derived polymorphism (CDDP), intron-targeted amplified polymorphism (ITAP), simple sequence repeats (SSR), and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) to assess genetic diversity in date palm.
Potato plants and their tubers in Egypt are affected by one of the most renowned soil-borne pathogen, Ralstonia solanacearum, that caused brown rot in potato tubers and wilt in plants. There is no ...efficient therapeutic bactericide so; control of bacterial wilt is very rough.
The study investigated three different concentrations of seven essential plant oils under in vitro and in vivo conditions as a result of their effects on Ralstonia solanacearum growth and their possibility use as potato seed pieces dressing for controlling bacterial wilt disease incidence. In vitro, anise oil at the three tested different concentrations (0.04, 0.07, and 0.14% vol/vol) was the most effective one inhibiting the growth of T4 and W9 isolates of Ralstonia solanacearum then pursued by thyme, lemongrass, and clove oils. On the other hand, rocket oil at the tested concentration was the least effective one followed by fennel oil. However, wheat germ oil was not completely effective. In vivo, experiment revealed that anise oil at the three concentrations significantly reduced disease incidence and severity in sponta and hermes potato cultivars and their effect was associated with increase of peroxidase, polyphenoloxidase, phenols and the foliar fresh weight of treated plants as well as the weight of tubers/plant followed by thyme and lemongrass oils compared to the infected untreated control.
Morphological differences in bacterial cell structure have been observed using a transmission electron microscope (TEM). Anise oil at higher concentration caused of cell wall rupture and degraded cellular components.
Two n-alkyl-quaternary ammonium compounds were studied as corrosion inhibitors for acid corrosion of mild steel using electrochemical and weight loss methods. The two compounds are ...hexadecylpyridinium bromide (HDPB) and hexadecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (HDTB). The influence of the structure of the ionic head on the inhibition action of the two cationic surfactants was studied by analyzing the data at different concentrations and temperatures. The inhibition efficiency increases with the concentration. It increases with temperature in the case of HDPB but decreases in the case of HDTB. The apparent activation energy, E a of corrosion in the presence of HDPB was found to be lower than in blank (0.5 m H2SO4). In the case of HDTB, E a was larger than that of the blank. A larger extent of adsorption for HDPB on the metal surface was evident from the larger negative values of the free energy of adsorption. The results yielded the extent and mode of adsorption of the inhibitors on mild steel. The stronger adsorption of HDPB was attributed to the differences in the molecular structures of the inhibitors.
Urine-derived stem cells (USCs) have gained the attention of researchers in the biomedical field in the past few years . Regarding the several varieties of cells that have been used for this purpose, ...USCs have demonstrated mesenchymal stem cell-like properties, such as differentiation and immunomodulation. Furthermore, they could be differentiated into several lineages. This is very interesting for regenerative techniques based on cell therapy. This review will embark on describing their separation, and profiling. We will specifically describe the USCs characteristics, in addition to their differentiation potential. Then, we will introduce and explore the primary uses of USCs. These involve thier utilization as a platform to produce stem cells, however, we shall concentrate on the utilization of USCs for therapeutic, and regenerative orofacial applications, providing an in-depth evaluation of this purpose. The final portion will address the limitations and challenges of their implementation in regenerative dentistry.
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•Challenges of utilizing urine-derived stem cells for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.•Importance of standardizing collection procedures, establishing qualifying criteria for donors, and detecting pollutants in urine.•Potential of urine-based stem cells in replacing autografts and allografts for bone defect treatments.•Differentiation potential of urine-derived stem cells and their application in orofacial tissue reconstruction.•Future directions of using urine-based stem cells in regenerative dentistry and maxillofacial surgery.
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