Nine Penicillium digitatum isolates were isolated from citrus fruits and tested for their pathogenicity on Navel orange fruit (Citrus sinensis L.). In this regard, the isolates exhibited three different levels of virulence. The isolates were identified morphologically using malt extract agar (MEA) and Czapek yeast extract agar (CYA) for colony characteristics, and MEA for microscopic features. Each one of the isolates has the unique features of P. digitatum, especially the largest conidia (6.1-11.9 µm long X 3.2-8 µm width), and phialides (10.1-21.4 µm long X 4-5.1 µm width). In addition, the isolates were identified on a molecular basis using ITS1 and ITS4 primers to confirm morphological identification. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that there was high variance among the isolates, and there were different relations between some of our isolates and other P. digitatum registered strains originating from different countries all over the world. The sequences were submitted to respective GenBank nucleotide databases with accession No. OR198852, OR198853, OR198854, OR198855, OR198856, OR198857, OR198858, OR198859 and OR198860. We also isolated a new P. digitatum (OB15: OR198859) strain with high virulence and rapid sporulation

The green bean crop (Phaseolus vulgaris) is infested with many insects such as whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci). An investigation was carried out to study the insecticidal activity of whitefly (Bemisia tabaci), five pesticides were used, namely Thiamothoxam, Sulfoxaflor, Spirotetramat, Pymetrozine, and Flonicamid, and three commercial natural pesticides, namely Superrego, Topnine, and Bernastar. Pesticides and natural pesticides were sprayed during the two seasons of 2020 and 2021. The obtained results in terms of the reduction rate of the insects' number were as follows: The highest rate of reduction appeared in Thiamothoxam and Sulfoxaflor treatments, where it reached above 80%, while the other pesticides were in the range of 40% to 60%, and the lowest reduction rate was 34.33% and 36.00 % for Bernastar during season 2020 and 2021 respectively. When evaluating the toxicity of these pesticides and natural pesticides against honeybees (Apis mellifera), the pesticides did not reveal any toxicity to honeybees, except for Thiamothoxam, Sulfoxaflor, and Superrego The LC50 and LD50 values against honeybees were 0.2 ppm and 0.000005µg/one honeybee for Thiamothoxam, 4.5 ppm and 0.0001125 µg/one bee for Sulfoxaflor, and 0.95 ppm and 0.00002375 µg /one bee for Superego respectively.

The efficiency of three different types of pollen-collection traps namely, Front Drawer Pollen Traps (Type, 1), Bottom Pollen Traps (Type,2) and Plastic Slide Traps (Type,3) were evaluated. The data indicated that in type 2, which had Bottom Pollen Traps, a significantly high amount of bee pollen was collected (383.30g/colony) followed by type 1, (179.37g/colony) while type 3 had the lowest amount of collected bee pollen (123.80 g/colony). The highest amount of bee pollen collected during summer was from type (2) during 20 -29 July, followed by that from the same group during the periods 1-10 July and 9-18 August, and then type (1) during the peri-od 20-29 July. The results also revealed that the lowest amount of bee pollen collected by the traps was during the last week of August and September.

This study aimed to determine the effect of different salinity and anti-transpiration levels on the growth and biochemical composition of Panicum maximum plants (Guinea grass) during the spring and summer of 2020. Two different anti-transpiration treatments [molasses (sugarcane) (5 mL/L), kaolin (50 g/L) and control] and three salinity levels (S1 well water as the control and salinity S2 2000 ppm; S3 4000 ppm, S4 6000 ppm) were used in 12 treatments in 72 pots (3 anti-transpiration treatments × 4 salinity treatments × 6 replicates); a randomized complete design was used. Results revealed that the plants achieved the highest plant height (123.77 cm) and dry weight (521.87 g/m2) with kaolin and no salt addition treatment during summer. A higher percentage of proteins and carbohydrates were found in spring than in summer, but there was no significant difference in the salinity levels. A high percentage of ash and fiber contents was also observed during summer, with no significant differences between the anti-transpiration treatments. It could be concluded that P. maximum, as one of the most important fodder crops, could be cultivated in marginal lands, especially during the summer season.

The present study was conducted to evaluate 50 wheat genotypes for their productivity and stability under eight environmental conditions. Wheat genotypes were sown at two planting dates under two nitrogen fertilization treatments during the winter seasons of 2018/2019 and 2019/202. The analysis of variance showed that the mean squares of genotypes, sowing dates, and nitrogen fertilization treatments were significant for the number of spikes/plants, the number of kernels/spikes, 1000-kernel weight, and grain yield/plant. The results showed that sowing at the favorable date using 80 kg N/fed increased all studied traits. This study revealed that line numbers 9 and 10 exhibited general adaptability across different environments; hence, these lines are considered promising and could be exploited in breeding programs for wheat improvement.

In contrast to the global countries, ectomycorrhizae members are not common in Egypt, however, they are very important in the afforestation of poor lands. Their occurrence in Pinus sp., Clerodendrum sp., and Eucalyptus sp. may help to explain why these trees are the most extensively dominant around the world, especially in Egypt. The identification and characterization of numerous ectomycorrhizal fungi often involve large morphological descriptions of sporocarps alone, which consequently, in some instances, raise arguments about the accuracy of these studies. The present work was achieved to isolate, identify, and characterize three ectomycorrhizal fungi from sporocarps combining morphological and molecular techniques. The morphological characteristics of tested species were assessed and compared to standard taxonomic literature. ITS-rDNA was utilized for molecular analysis using the universal fungal primers ITS1. Identification of these species was confirmed by comparing the sequences of amplified genomes of these species with respective species sequences in GenBank, followed by blast analysis.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of amino acid and vitamin foliar applications on improving iceberg lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) production and quality during the summer. First, two hybrids (Patagonia and Bruma) were grown hydroponically in June 2018 and 2019. Then, for five consecutive weeks, plants were sprayed once a week with Stress Free (a commercial product comprising 0.5% vitamins [vitamin B complex/ascorbic acid] and 0.5% selenomethionine) at concentrations of 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 g/L and Aminomad (20% free amino acids) at concentrations of 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 cm3 /L. Investigations revealed that all plant growth aspects were positively improved with all foliar spray treatments than with the control. Furthermore, while mineral contents (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and magnesium) showed positive responses to the applied treatments, the highest dose of amino acids showed the highest marketable and total yield effects among all foliar spray treatments with the Patagonia hybrid. However, the marketable and total yield of lettuce heads was lowest with the control treatment without spraying.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of salt stress on amino acid profile and proximate analysis of fenugreek germination samples of two varieties: Giza 2 and Giza 30 for three days. The germination of sterilized fenugreek seeds was conducted using tap water and NaCl solution (2,000 ppm) where higher salt concentration lowered fenugreek germination quality. The germination of fenugreek seeds using tap water or brine increased the crude protein in both dry Giza 2 and Giza 30 seed varieties. Furthermore, sedative sprouts of Giza 30 recorded the highest crude protein (30.60%), fat (6.20%) and energy (333.13 kcal/g) while the use of sterilized Giza 2 seed variety recorded a higher percentage of carbohydrates (43.3%), fiber (8.10%) and ash (6.60%). Alternatively, although amino acid profiles indicated that aspartic acid and proline were most abundant in fenugreek sprouts, sulfur amino acids (cysteine and methionine) demonstrated the least values of the two varieties. Adopting saline water in germinating fenugreek seeds for the two Giza 2 and Giza 30 varieties decreased all amino acid contents compared with those of tap water treatment.

In this study, we examined eight white inbred lines of maize and their F1 crosses under normal and drought stress conditions to estimate their combining ability for grain yield and associated traits. The results showed significant correlation (mean squares) of irrigation treatment with the studied traits. The effects of parents, crosses, and genotypes were all determined to be highly significant under both irrigation levels. Grain yield and other traits showed significant differences (mean squares) associated with both General combining ability (GCA) and Specific combining ability (SCA) under both irrigation regimes, demonstrating the importance of both additive and nonadditive genetic effects in the expression of performance traits. The parental line (P-86) had positive and highly significant GCA effects, as well as the crosses (P-17×P-96), (P-8×P-96), (P-8×P-171), (P-24×P-86), (P-86×P-96), (P-86×P-171), and (P-96×P-171) which then gave the highest specific combinations under both irrigation regimes for grain yield and some of the associated traits. The highest level of heterosis (heterobeltiosis) for grain yield was obtained in the crosses (P-8×P-96), (P-8×P-137), (P-8×P-171), (P-96×P137), and (P-96×P-171) under both irrigation regimes.

The second sugar crop of sugar production after sugar cane world-wide is sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.). This plant is subjected to the infestation of several insect pests that cause considerable damage, especially leafhoppers, that can transmit phytopathogens (e.g., phytoplasma). In this work, we identified and described the leafhopper, Hebata (Alboneurasca) decipiens, in addition to detection and molecular identification of Candidatus Phyto-plasma that was transmitted by this leafhopper on sugar beet plants from naturally infected sugar beet plants to an uninfected one. The 16S rDNA gene from phytoplasma was amplified by a nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay and directly sequenced using specific primer pairs DNA fragments. The resulting sequences were analyzed and compared with another phytoplasma sequence available at GenBank sequences performing BLAST using DNAMAN.