Mulberry trees suffer from many pest infestations. To control these pests, some natural compounds such as Techno Oil and Top 9 and some other chemicals such as Mospilan® and Chinook® were used. Mulberry trees, Morus nigra were treated with three different concentrations of each of Chinook, Techno Oil® and Top 9® to reduce infestation with Icerya sp. and Ferrisia virgate. A high reduction rate of more than 90% occurred when using these pesticides. On the other hand, the corrected mortality of mulberry silkworm larvae was 93.3%, 0.0% and 6.7% respectively after 8 days of treatment. When treating mulberry trees Morus alba with two different concentrations of each of pesticides; Mospilan and Techno Oil against whitefly, the average rate of infestation reduction was 100% and 94.94%, respectively. The corrected mortality of mulberry silkworms' larvae was 100% and 0.0% after 8 days of treatment respectively. This study proved that natural compounds could be used safely instead of chemical pesticides to reduce the pest population without affecting the life of silkworm larvae or cocoon properties.

Drought stress is considered one of the main factors that reduce plant growth, development and production. Therefore, studying plants during drought stress is highly useful to discover the newly gained characteristics of plants. The potato is considered one of the most important crop with economic value in Egypt and over the whole world. The main target is the proline-rich protein extracted from potato plants under drought stress. A stress experiment was applied to two potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) cultivars Desiree and Diamante. The stress experiment was conducted by poly-ethylene glycol (PEG) 4000; the used water potentials were: zero (control), (PEG 2%), (PEG 4%) and (PEG 8%), after drought stress, the solutes accumulation in the two potato cultivars were determined. Increasing drought stress through elevating PEG decreased leaf area as well as shoot and root lengths. Incontorary, the chlorophyll and proline contents increased with increasing PEG treatments. The proline-rich protein gene was cloned to the pGEM-T Easy vector and was submitted to the gene bank to be used later for enhancing drought resistance in other cultivars.

This study examines fermented soya bean (SBM) and sunflower meal (SFM) with three biological treatments: Aspergillus Oryza, Ruminococcus flavefaciens and Lactobacillus plantarum, as well as the effects of these treatments on chemical composition, cell wall constituents, in vitro dry matter disappearance (IVDMD), and enzyme activity of the fermented SBM and SFM. After 2 h of ruminal incubation, all biological treatments (fungi, Bacteria, fungi with Bacteria) improved the IVDMD for Fermented SBM compared to that of the control (19.47, 20.65 and 18.38%, respectively). The maximum improvement values of IVDMD for SBM were recorded after 4 h and 6 h of incubation for all treatments. In addition, SFM after 2 h of ruminal incubation with any examined biological treatment (fungi, Bacteria, fungi with Bacteria), the IVDMD values have improved compared to that of the control group. Moreover, enzyme activities (cellulase, amylase, xylanase, and protease) have increased in all treatments. It was determined that SSF with A. oryzae and Ruminococcus boosted the protein content and digestibility of soybean and sunflower meals.

This study was conducted to examine the effects of the foliar application of moringa and germinated fenugreek extracts on the growth and biochemical parameters of wheatgrass grown under saline conditions. Aqueous moringa extract (MLE) was used at concentrations of 1.25, 0.83, 0.62 and 0.31%, whereas fenugreek extract (GFE) was used at concentrations of 0.25, 0.20, 0.15 and 0.10%. Optimum germination conditions were investigated under normal and NaCl stress (2000 ppm) conditions. Exposure to saline stress significantly reduced seed germination and grass yield as well as shoot and seedling fresh and dry weights. Ideal germination conditions were MLE 0.31% and GFE 0.15%, resulting in increased growth traits compared with the other concentrations and control. Foliar application of MLE or GFE improved growth traits, total antioxidants, phenols, Ca, Mg, K, Mn, Cu, Zn and Fe in the presence or absence of NaCl. In addition, wheatgrass powder was used to replace wheat flour in developing biscuits at 5, 10 and 15% levels. Wheatgrass showed high feasibility for formulating nutrient-rich biscuits with acceptable sensory qualities. These findings provide useful information for enhancing the nutrients in biscuits, with potential use as a natural source of bioactive compounds in functional food products.

Genetic diversity (GD) helps in the selection of valuable parents which is the key to improving heterosis breeding and thus GD within the collected or derived germplasm should be explored. The present study aims to quantify the GD of restorer lines of rapeseeds based on seed yield components. An experiment was conducted in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. The first four principal components explained 35%, 24%, 16% and 10% of total variance, respectively. PC1 exhibited a positive relationship with branches/plant, pods/plant, thousand-seed weight, and seed yield/plant. The PC1 and PC2, projected branches/plant and pods/plant, showed a positive correlation with seed yield/plant. There were also positive correlations among plant height and days with first blooming and 100% flowering and maturity. Cluster study revealed that the restorer lines were clustered into 4 clusters where Tori was the only one (cluster 4) that did not coalesce with the rest of the R lines. Clusters 1-3 consist of 10, 13 and 11 R lines. Based on the above findings, diverse genotypes can be selected for the development of high-yielding variety through hybridization.

The purpose of the research was to improve the morpho-anatomical and physiological features of somatic embryos (SEs) of date palms in tissue culture media that have the potential to produce green and healthy plantlets. Copper sulfate (CuSO4) and cobalt chloride (CoCl2) were supplemented to date palm maturation medium at various concentrations, separately or combined. Adding CoCl2 to the media of maturation produced the greatest relative growth and differentiation percentages of date palm embryogenic calli, particularly at 0.52 mgL-1. In comparison to the control, when combined treatments were administered alone, the quantity of the produced somatic embryos rose dramatically (17/jar). Total sugars and free amino acids were the highest in SEs grown on a maturation medium with CoCl2 at 0.26 mgL-1. Moreover, total phenols and indoles were picked significantly at their higher levels in the generated SEs that were cultured on a medium enhanced with 0.52 mgL-1. When the maturation medium was administered along with both as a treatment, the antioxidant enzyme, ascorbate peroxidase, reached its maximum activity. Whereas, adding 0.52 mgL-1 of CoCl2 to the culture medium enhanced the activities up to of highest levels of ascorbate peroxidase,  polyphenol oxidase and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase.

Water scarcity necessitates the implementation of various strategies to manage irrigation processes, aiming to optimize water usage for sustainable development, particularly in Semi-Arid regions. This research investigates the impact of using a sustainable deficit irrigation (SDI) technique alongside a drip irrigation system on the efficiency of water use and the growth and productivity of "KEITT" mango trees. The experiment examined four levels of irrigation requirements (IR) at 50%, 60%, 75% and 100%, using four different dripper spacing distances (60, 50, 40 and 30 cm). The average tree productivity during the 2022 season was 26.060, 24.100, 25.740 and 24.330 kg/tree, respectively, while in the 2023 season, it was 25.940, 24.760, 25.250 and 24.380 kg/tree. The average water use efficiency (WUE) values were 4.950, 3.880, 3.240 and 2.320 kg/m³ for the 50%, 60%, 75% and 100% IR treatments, respectively. The results indicated no significant differences in the growth and productivity of the mango crop across different irrigation levels. It was found that irrigating at 50% IR achieved the highest water use efficiency, saving more than 3500 m³ of water per fedden per season. These findings suggest that policymakers can adopt sustainable deficit irrigation techniques to enhance WUE without compromising crop productivity.

Forty-six bacterial isolates were obtained from seven rhizosphere samples using nutrient agar and glucose agar media. These isolates were morphologically categorized into long rods, short rods, and cocci, comprising 52%, 17%, and 31% of the total count, respectively. The collected isolates from the rhizosphere were assessed for their capability to produce indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). The initial qualitative screening revealed diverse abilities among isolates for IAA production, with notable variations in productivity levels. Quantitative analysis of the top ten isolates revealed that cocci-shaped isolates produced the highest IAA levels (4.80 to 6.30 mg/100 mL), with the SS1 isolate achieving the maximum value (6.30 mg/100 mL). Genetic identification of the highest IAA producer (SS1) through 16S rRNA gene sequencing showed that it belongs to the genus Kocuria. Phylogenomic analysis confirmed a high similarity to Kocuria rosea, with 98% identity.

This study was conducted to determine the impact of sodium chloride (2000 ppm) and salicylic acid (SA) concentrations (0, 50, 100, 150, and 200 ppm) on the nutritional value and germination of radish microgreens. The experiment was based on a completely random design with three replicates. Results indicated that applying SA at 50 and 100 ppm mitigates the negative effects of salinity, even better than higher concentrations, on the nutritional value and bioactive contents of radish microgreens where SA at 50 ppm lowered the sodium contents from 1.75 to 1.10 ppm in addition to increasing the moisture content. Applying SA at 50 and 100 ppm caused a noticeable increase in carbohydrates, proteins, fats, fibers and energy under unstressed condition. In addition, SA at 50 ppm caused a significant increase in oxalic and malic acid contents under both normal and salinity conditions while SA at 100 ppm significantly enhanced the levels of total phenols, flavonoids and antioxidants under salinity conditions. This practical study highlights the significant role of salicylic acid, at 50 and 100 ppm, in increasing the levels of phytochemicals and minerals, hence improving the nutritional value of microgreen radishes.