Management of the Root-Knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita on Tomato in Egypt

Abstract: The efficacy of carbofuran at 1 mg a.i./kg soil, Serratia marcescens (1 x 10 9 bacterium cells/ml water) at 2 ml of the suspension/kg soil, and three different Trichoderma harzianum isolates each separately added at 50 ml./kg soil against the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita on two tomato cultivars Super Strain B and Alisa was assessed in the glasshouse. Fresh and dry weight of shoots were higher (P ≤ 0.05) in nematode-free plants of the two cultivars than both M. incognita-infested plants and the above-mentioned treatments. Carbofuran followed by S. marcescens and T. harzianum generally decreased nematode development and reproduction parameters compared to the untreated control. Although chemical nematicide viz. carbofuran showed a significant effect in increase of growth parameters and in suppression of Meloidogyne incognita multiplication, it can be replaced to some extent by microbial antagonists viz. Serratia marcescens and Trichoderma harzianum isolates to comply with environmental issues confronting the use of chemicals. Our results revealed differences in activities of peroxidase and chitinase related to the above-mentioned treatments on both local (in roots) and systematic (in leaves) levels but late in the growing season as well

Study of DNA methyl transferase 3A mutation in acute myeloid leukemic patients

Background: Recent studies have shown that somatic mutations in DNA methyltransferase (DNMT3A) might affect the prognosis of AML.Objective: The aim of this work was to investigate the frequency and prognostic impact of the most frequent mutation of DNMT3A, R882H mutation in AML using simple and rapid molecular techniques.Patients and methods: We have used allele-specific blocker (ASB-PCR) and endonuclease restriction for the detection of DNMT3A R882H mutation in 56 adult patients with AML.Results: DNMT3A R882H mutation was detected in 7/56 (12.5%) of patients. R882H mutation positive patients were older compared to the wild-type AML (p = 0.08). No association was found with initial laboratory parameters including white blood cells (WBC), hemoglobin (HGB) and Bone marrow (BM) blasts (p > 0.05). Thirty-two patients (57.1%) achieved complete remission (CR), 11/56 (19.6%) died before day 28 induction death (ID) and 13/56 (23.2%) had resistant disease (RD). DNMT3A R882H positive patients were not different regarding the response to induction chemotherapy (CR) compared to the negative group (wild-type) (p > 0.05). Median follow-up period for all patients was 1.6 months, Overall survival (OS) was 65%, and the median was 9.89 months. OS of DNMT3A positive patients was not statistically significant compared to wild-type patients (p = 0.09). Disease free survival (DFS) was 54.6% for all patients, with no difference between wild and mutants (0.59) patients.Conclusion: DNMT3A R882H is a frequent mutation in adult de novo AML. The frequency of the mutation tends to increase with age. The two methods used in the study are easy to interpret and are recommended for rapid detection of the mutation required for risk stratification.Keywords: AML, DNMT3A, ASB-PCR, PCR-RFLP, Endonuclease restrictio

Assessment of the distal runoff in patients with long standing diabetes mellitus and lower limb ischemia: MDCTA versus DSA

AbstractObjectiveThe purpose of our study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of multidetector computed tomography angiography (MDCTA) in comparison with digital subtraction angiography (DSA) in patients with long standing diabetes mellitus and chronic lower limb ischemia.Subjects and methodsOne hundred patients with long standing DM and chronic limb ischemia underwent both CT angiography and DSA. The distal runoff of each lower limb was divided into 13 arterial segments. The status of each segment was graded as: 1, (normal or less than 10% stenosis); 2, (10–49% stenosis); 3, (50–99% stenosis); 4, occlusion. The effect of calcification on the diagnostic accuracy of CT angiography was evaluated. CTA findings were compared with DSA findings for each arterial segment. The sensitivity and specificity of CT angiography were determined using DSA as the gold standard.ResultsA total of 100 patients were included (mean age, 58years; 70% men). The sensitivity and specificity of CT angiography were significantly affected by the degree of vessel wall calcification, and increase the need for additional imaging.ConclusionVessel wall calcifications decrease the diagnostic accuracy of CT angiography in patients with long standing DM and peripheral arterial disease

Negative plant-soil feedback in Arabidopsis thaliana: Disentangling the effects of soil chemistry, microbiome, and extracellular self-DNA

Nutrient deficiency, natural enemies and litter autotoxicity have been proposed as possible mechanisms to explain species-specific negative plant-soil feedback (PSF). Another potential contributor to negative PSF is the plant released extracellular self-DNA during litter decay. In this study, we sought to comprehensively investigate these hypotheses by using Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh as a model plant in a feedback experiment. The experiment comprised a conditioning phase and a response phase in which the conditioned soils underwent four treatments: (i) addition of activated carbon, (ii) washing with tap water, (iii) sterilization by autoclaving, and (iv) control without any treatment. We evaluated soil chemical properties, microbiota by shotgun sequencing and the amount of A. thaliana extracellular DNA in the differently treated soils. Our results showed that washing and sterilization treatments mitigated the negative PSF effect. While shifts in soil chemical properties were not pronounced, significant changes in soil microbiota were observed, especially after sterilization. Notably, plant biomass was inversely associated with the content of plant self-DNA in the soil. Our results suggest that the negative PSF observed in the conditioned soil was associated to increased amounts of soilborne pathogens and plant self-DNA. However, fungal pathogens were not limited to negative conditions, butalso found in soils enhancing A.thaliana growth. In-depth multivariate analysis highlights that the hypothesis of negative PSF driven solely by pathogens lacks consistency. Instead, we propose a multifactorial explanation for the negative PSF buildup, in which the accumulation of self-DNA weakens the plant's root system, making it more susceptible to pathogens

Chemical Profiling of Significant Antioxidant and Phytotoxic Microwave-Extracted Essential Oil from Araucaria heterophylla Resin

Due to the various hazards of using synthetic chemical compounds in pharmaceutics, agriculture, and industry, scientists and researchers do their best to explore and assess new green natural compounds from natural resources with potent activity. The essential oil (EO) from the resin collected from Araucaria heterophylla Salisb. was extracted by the microwave technique and chemically characterized via GC-MS analysis. Furthermore, the extract EO was assessed for its antioxidant and phytotoxic activities. The EO has 33 compounds, mainly terpenes (98.23%), and the major compounds were α-pinene (62.57%), β-pinene (6.60%), germacrene D (5.88%), and β-caryophyllene (3.56%). The extracted EO showed substantial antioxidant activity, where it showed IC50 values of 142.42 and 118.03 mg L−1 for DPPH and ABTS, respectively. On the other hand, the EO revealed considerable phytotoxicity against the weed Chenopodium murale, where the EO showed IC50 values of 304.0, 230.1, and 147.1 mg L−1, for seed germination, seedling shoot growth, and seedling root growth, respectively. Moreover, the EO showed the same pattern of allelopathic inhibition against the weed Sonchus oleraceus, where it showed IC50 values of 295.7, 224.5, and 106.1 mg L−1, for seed germination, seedling shoot growth, and seedling root growth, respectively. The present study showed that the extraction technique affects the constituents of the EO, particularly the quantitative composition. The EO of A. heterophylla resin also revealed considerable antioxidant and phytotoxic activity against weeds. Therefore, it can be considered a promising natural resource that could be integrated into the weed management approach. However, further study is recommended for deep characterization of their authentic compounds and evaluation of their mode of action(s) on a wide spectrum of weeds

Microbiota management for effective disease suppression: A systematic comparison between soil and mammals gut

Both soil and the human gut support vast microbial biodiversity, in which the microbiota plays critical roles in regulating harmful organisms. However, the functional link between microbiota taxonomic compositions and disease suppression has not been explained yet. Here, we provide an overview of pathogen regulation in soil and mammals gut, highlighting the differences and the similarities between the two systems. First, we provide a review of the ecological mechanisms underlying the regulation of soil and pathogens, as well as the link between disease suppression and soil health. Particular emphasis is thus given to clarifying how soil and the gut microbiota are associated with organic amendment and the human diet, respectively. Moreover, we provide several insights into the importance of organic amendment and diet composition in shaping beneficial microbiota as an efficient way to support crop productivity and human health. This review also discusses novel ways to functionally characterize organic amendments and the proper operational combining of such materials with beneficial microbes for stirring suppressive microbiota against pathogens. Furthermore, specific examples are given to describe how agricultural management practices, including the use of antibiotics and fumigants, hinder disease suppression by disrupting microbiota structure, and the potentiality of entire microbiome transplant. We conclude by discussing general strategies to promote soil microbiota biodiversity, the connection with plant yield and health, and their possible integration through a “One Health” framework

Video Object Extraction using the Curvelet Transform

In this paper a novel scheme for video object extraction based on the second generation of the curvelet transform which is called Fast Discrete Curvelet Transform (FDCT) via wrapping is introduced. The main advantages of using FDCT are the approximate properties and the high directional sensitivity of this transform. An imaginary component of the curvelet coefficients to extract the moving objects in the video sequence is used. The proposed algorithm is mainly divided into two steps. The first step is based on estimating the static background from the initial frames using FDCT, the seconded step is based on subtracting the background from each video frame for obtaining the moving objects. Experimental results show a promising results than traditional wavlelet transform, where the accuracy ratios of each video frame is maximized while the error ratios are minimized compared with the wavelet transform

Limit theory for bivariate central and bivariate intermediate dual generalized order statistics

Burkschat et al. 2003 have introduced the concept of dual generalized order statistics dgos to unify several models that produce descendingly ordered random variables rv’s like reversed order statistics, lower k-records and lower Pfeifer records. In this paper we derive the limit distribution functions df’s of bivariate central and bivariate intermediate m-dgos. It is revealed that the convergence of the marginals of the m-dgos implies the convergence of the joint df. Moreover, we derive the conditions under which the asymptotic independence between the two marginals occurs.Burkschat et al. 2003 have introduced the concept of dual generalized order statistics dgos to unify several models that produce descendingly ordered random variables rv’s like reversed order statistics, lower k-records and lower Pfeifer records. In this paper we derive the limit distribution functions df’s of bivariate central and bivariate intermediate m-dgos. It is revealed that the convergence of the marginals of the m-dgos implies the convergence of the joint df. Moreover, we derive the conditions under which the asymptotic independence between the two marginals occurs