Effect of Some Plant Leaf Extracts on Mycelia Growth and Spore Germination of Botryodiplodia Theobromae Causal Organism of Yam Tuber Rot

Water and ethanol extracts of leaves of Cassia alata L., Azadirachta indica A. Juss., Citrus aurantifolia (Christm.) swingle and Anacardium occidentale L. were studied for in vitro activity against mycelia growth and spore germination of Botryodiplodia theobromae Pat, causal organism of yam tuber rot. The phytochemical screening of the extracts of the plant species revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, saponins, tannins, phytobatannins and terpenes. The water and ethanol extracts showed varying degrees of fungitoxicity with the ethanol extracts being more effective. Mycelial growth of B. theobromae was significantly (P < 0.05) reduced by ethanol extracts of C. aurantifolia (60.37 – 73.83%), A. indica (51.44 – 60.46%) and C. alata (50 – 58.51%) during the period of incubation. Spore germination was also significantly (P < 0.05) reduced by ethanol extract of C. aurantifolia (59.68%), A. indica (48.69%) and C. alata (47.19%). The present study showed the potentials of extracts of some plant species to control B. theobromae in yam. Keywords: Botryodiplodia theobromae, yam tuber rot, Cassia alata, Azadirachta indica, Citrus aurantifolia, Anacardium occidental

Effect of Citrus Aurantifolia Leaf Extract on Mycelial Growth and Spore Germination of Different Plant Pathogenic Fungi

The effect of cold water extract of leaves of Citrus aurantifolia (Christm.) swingle (lime) at 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% concentration on the in vitro growth and germination of Botryodiplodia theobromae Pat., Aspergillus niger Van Tiegh, Aspergillus flavus Link. and Penicillium oxalicum currie Thom. was investigated. Phytochemical studies on the pulverized leaves of the medicinal plant revealed the presence of flavonoids, glycosides, tannins and phlobatannins. The leaf extract of the plant significantly (P < 0.05) reduced the mycelial growth and spore germination of all the test pathogens at the different levels of concentration. The inhibitory action of the extract on mycelia growth and spore germination increased with increasing concentration, giving a toxicity profile of 40% > 30% > 20% > 10%. Penicillium oxalicum was the most sensitive fungi to C. aurantifolia extract, while Aspergillus flavus was the least. These findings indicate a promising potential of C. aurantifolia in controlling the test pathogens in plants. Keywords: Citrus aurantifolia, mycelial inhibition, spore inhibition, fungitoxic, pathogenic fungi

Antifungal Activity of Petroluem Ether Extracts of Moringa oleifera Leaves and Stem Bark against Some Plant Pathogenic Fungi

The petroleum ether extracts of the leaves and stem bark of Moringa oleifera Lam. were evaluated for their antifungal activity against Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc., Botryodiplodia theobromae Pat., Van Tiegh, Penicillium oxalicum Currie Thom. and Aspergillus niger Van Tiegh. The phytochemical analysis of the crude extract of the plant parts received the presence of saponins, alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, steroids, anthraquinones, reducing sugars, phlobatannins, cardiac glycosides, terpenes and phenols. The petroleum ether extracts of the plant parts were effective against all the fungi tested. Sclerotium rolfsii was the most susceptible, while A. niger was the least susceptible. The inhibition of S. rolfsii to both extract was significantly (P<0.05) different compared to the other fungi tested. The leaf extract exhibited more significant activity than the bark extract. The results obtained suggest that M. oleifera can be used in controlling the test fungal pathogens in plants. Keywords: Moringa oleifera, antifungal activity, leaves, stem bark, pathogenic fungi

Strategic Techniques for Enhancing Web Services Security in Cloud Computing Model

The 21st century has witnessed an integration of enterprise business process with emerging techniques in a quest to maximize opportunities and organisational strength. In spite of these, vulnerabilities and risks still abound due to the integration for an effective operational mechanism. Mitigating against these requires strategic techniques for enhancing web services security. It is on this background that this paper has been presented. A critical study of web services architecture and cloud computing model as an emerging technology has been given a succinct digest. Furthermore, an evaluation of recent trends in web services and cloud computing model security issues were x-rayed. The threat to web services application deployed in cloud computing were identified hence presenting strategic techniques for enhancing web services security as a proactive measure to enhancing enterprise success. This paper concludes by re-iterating the need to understanding various security threats and proactively and dynamically reacting to them. Keywords: Web Services, Cloud Computing, Cross Site Scripting, SQL Injection and Web Securit

Use of Java RMI on Mobile Devices for Peer to Peer Computing

In this paper, the use of Java RMI on mobile devices for peer-to-peer computing is presented. An overview of the commonly used distributed middleware systems are described by looking into remote procedure call (RPC) and object oriented middleware java remote method invocation (Java RMI). The differences between this middleware are equally detailed in this work. A review of some related literature was carried out and some of the features required for the proposed prototype were also extracted accordingly. This paper also provides an overview of peer-to-peer networking and some of the application areas linked to the platform implementation. Detailed design and implementation of the artifact for peer-to-peer network using Java 2 platform programming language were carried out. Finally, on the process of this research, three applications were developed and peered together to show that java RMI is a tool for peer-to-peer computing. Keywords: - Remote method invocation, Remote procedure call, Stub, Skeleton, Peer-to-Pee

Effects of water quality of the Buguma creek on tilapia culture

Ecological parameters of water samples of the Buguma creek were evaluated. The parameters varied between high and low tide, with the maximum salinity level of 20&rdquo;ppt&rdquo;and lowest level 9&rdquo;ppt&rdquo;. The highest pH value of 7.7 occurred in January and lowest 5 in May. Simi larly, maximum ammonia level of 2mg/l was observed in May and consistently low levels(< 0.5mg/l) in the other months. We discussed the viability of tilapia aquaculture and suitability of Buguma creek for its culture

Productivity and limitations of plantain (Musa spp. cv AAB) production in compound gardens in southeastern Nigeria

This paper, based on a socio-economic survey, investigates the productivity of compound plantain production and constraints to large scale production on the basis of the compound production method. The paper shows that production under the compound system results in nearly four times as much yield as in non-compound system. This is attributed to regular application of kitchen and other compound wastes, close cultural attention given by the farmer, and to nutrient recycling to the benefit of the compound plantains from deep rooted perennial tree crops inter-planted large scale production employing the compound methods is limited by supply of organic matter and by available market for plantains. Available market can be expanded by increased production during the slack period of June to September when output is low and by packaging to reduce damage in transit to take advantage of distant markets

Relative changes in the nutrient composition of six cultivars of white yam grown in three ecozones of southeastern Nigeria

The relative changes in the composition of six cultivars of white yam (Dioscorea rotundata Poir) were investigated in three major yam ecozones in southeastern Nigeria. The component parameters measured were crude protein, starch and total soluble sugar of the six cultivars at maturity. Each of the six cultivars was grown in the three locations which represent su bh umid savanna (Zaki-Biam), forest-savanna transition (Abakaliki) and riverine alluvial areas (At ani) for two seasons (1986 and 1987). Samples analyzed were obtained from unfertilized plots which formed part of the split plot design used in each location with fertilizer as main plot and cultivar as subplot treatments. The study showed that some cultivars (e.g., Agatu) performed better in their test sites because increase in protein contents of up to 53 percent, starch contents of up to 33 percent and soluble sugar content of up to 16 percent were obtained in the test site. On the other hand, some cultivars (e.g., Nyeji) performed better in their source site and decrease of up to 43 percent protein, 56 percent soluble sugar and 10 percent starch were obtained. The soil properties that may contribute to these variations are soil acidity and base saturation, organic matter and total nitrogen. When these properties are adequately amended in each of the locations, the quality of the yam cultivars grown in each location is likely to be higher

The performance of six cultivars of white yam derived from three sources and evaluated across three zones in southern Nigeria

Growers of yam demarcate certain areas as being suitable for yam culture and the factors responsible are suspected to relate to both prevailing soil and aerial environments. No empirical evidence to substantiate this suggestions has been documented. Two popular cultivars were selected from each of the three major yam-growing zones in Nigeria: one in sub humid savanna (Zakibiam), one in hydromorphic and gravelly soil (Abakaliki) and one in riverine alluvial deposits along the river Niger (Atan1). The yield of the six cultivars was evaluated across all three test sites using a split -split plot design with location (source), fertilizer and cultivars as the treatment factors. The study showed that location, fertilizer, cultivar and location x cultivar interaction effects were highly Significant. The mean yields indicated that Zakibiam was the best location for the production of virtually all the cultivars while Atani was the worst except for the cultivar Agatu (source: Zakibiam). Agatu is likely to be more tolerant to higher soil acidity and poorer aeration prevalent in Atani soils than other cultivars