Congo red (CR) is an anionic dye that is released from various industries and demonstrates a negative effect on the environment and human health. Dye`s elimination from the environment is an important challenge; therefore, the aim of this study was the application of unhydrolyzed sugarcane bagasse wastes, after acid hydrolysis, drying, grinding and including cellulose acetate to form different composite sheets. The composite sheets were applied in the 3Rs (Removal of Congo red using the composite sheet, Recover of the Congo red after removal using ethanol, and Reuse of the composite sheet many times) processes. The Congo red removal efficiency by the composite sheets was optimized using two statistical methods, One Factor at A Time (OFAT) and General Factorial Design. Afterward, isotherms models and kinetics studies were investigated; moreover, the reusability was also examined. The results exhibited that, the Congo red removal efficiency of 76.27 % was achieved for 500 ppm of the dye using the composite sheet with a concentration of 7 g/L; at a pH value of 7.0 and a contact time of 240 min. Interestingly, the composite sheets have been applied for 3Rs (Removal, Recovery, Reuse) cycles 5 times.

Dairy cattle in Sudan are traditionally fed on separate concentrate and roughage diets. Because of the high cost of forages, feeding strategies should be attempted to reduce feeding costs. A traditional dairy ration (As-fed), composed of 49% sorghum grains (SG), 29.4% groundnut seed cake (GSC), 19.6% wheat bran (WB), 1% limestone (LS) and 1% salt (NaCl), was used as a control. The test ration was a total mixed ration (TMR) composed of 40% SG, 23% groundnut seed hulls (GSH), 20% GSC, 15% WB, 1% LS and 1 % NaCl. The control traditional ration was fed at 10 Kg/cow/day together with 7 Kg sorghum chaff. Two levels of TMR were used with alfalfa hay (AH); (17 Kg TMR + 1 Kg   AH/cow/day and 15 Kg TMR + 2 Kg AH. Three cross-bred dairy cows (European x Local) were used with the feeding regimes in a 3x3 Latin square design.  Cows consumed similar amounts of DM, CP and ME and produced similar quantities of milk (P > 0.05).  TMR had no effects (P > 0.05) on the composition of milk. The cost for TMR was decreased by 19%.TMR was thus effective in reducing feeding costs without affecting milk production and composition.

The honeybee, Apis mellifera, is a widespread pollinator insect. Colony collapse disorder (CCD) has recently caused a significant decline in honeybee numbers worldwide. The beekeeping industry, agriculture, and world biodiversity are threatened by the honeybee population decline. We examined the mRNA levels of heat shock protein gene 60 (hsp60), acetylcholinesterase 1, and acetylcholinesterase 2, as biomolecular markers of the insect response to three separate forms of environmental stress, including high temperature, low temperature, and insecticide. The obtained results indicated increased levels of hsp60 and acetylcholinesterase 2 after the exposure of worker bees to temperatures of 17, 32, and 40°C for one hour, as well as exposure to a low dose of pesticide for 24 h ingestion of imidacloprid solution (2 ppm); meanwhile, acetylcholinesterase 1 showed remarkable expression decrease under heat and cold stresses but increased under pesticide treatment.  The responses of honeybees to hsp60, acetylcholinesterase 1, and acetylcholinesterase 2 are diverse and very specific to various stimuli. According to this research, the distinct expression profiles of hsp60 and acetylcholinesterase 2 can serve as useful instruments for tracking honeybees' vulnerability to varied environmental effects. Due to its insufficient responsiveness, acetylcholinesterase 1 expression is not permitted for use as a biomarker.

The research aims to evaluate the efficacy of different levels of potassium fertilizer (8 g/plant K2O) as well as the insecticides neemix, spinosad, and imidacloprid at the rates of 6 ml, 0.33 ml, and 0.33 g/L water, respectively,  for the management of brinjal fruits and shoot borer. The two-factor randomized complete block design with three replications was used. Significant minimum shoot damage was recorded in the plots treated with imidacloprid (0%), spinosad (1.67%) and neemix (5.0%) at 81 days after planting. Similarly, a significant minimum fruit infestation (2.90%) was recorded with imidacloprid, which was lower than those of spinosad (15.16%) and neemix (19.63%). The application of potassium fertilizer at a rate of 8 g/plant showed a significant reduction in shoot infestation (2.50%) 81 days after planting. The minimum percentage yield of infested fruit was reported with spinosad (1.03%), which was at par with other insecticidal treatments. Considering the negative impacts of chemical pesticides, neemix 6 ml/L water in combination with potassium fertilizer at 8 g/plant is recommended.

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 present study evaluated the ability of different extracts of cinnamon and black cumin seeds to inhibit the growth of the phytopathogenic fungus Rhizoctonia solani and its extracellular cell wall degrading enzymes. Concentrations of 300 and 450 ppm of methylene chloride and hexane extracts of cinnamon completely inhibited the growth of R. solani after 72 hours of incubation at 25±1°C in vitro. Methylene chloride or hexane extracts of black cumin seeds at 4000 ppm after 72 hours inhibited the growth of R. solani by 37 and 39% respectively. Moreover, black cumin seed hexane extract at 2000 ppm inhibited 55% and 38% of the activity of pectin lyase (PL) and polygalacturonase (PG) respectively. In addition, the methanolic extract of black cumin seeds at 2000 ppm exhibited a significant reduction of exo-protease activity (74.8%). GC-MS analysis results showed that linoleic acid is the main component of the fixed oil fraction of black cumin seed hexane extract while (E) cinnamaldehyde is the main component in both hexane and methylene chloride extracts of cinnamon. HPLC-MS analysis of black cumin seeds methanolic extract showed that amentoflavone was the main component. Docking was used to identify the major component interaction with pectin lyase A and exo-protease.

This study examined the macro and trace element contents as well as the cytotoxicity of Laurencia obtusa, Ulva lactuca, and Padina pavonica algae collected from the Mediterranean coast of Egypt (Alexandria coast). The results indicated that the seaweed samples contained high concentrations of Ca, Cl, Mg, K, Na, P and Fe. The Cu and Zn contents of the algae were in the ranges of 0.39-0.95 mg/100 g dw and 0.11-0.49 mg/100 g dw respectively. Fresh red algae contained the highest level of Zn and Cu, whereas the iodine level was 1.52, 1.27 and 1.01 mg/100g in fresh each of Padina pavonica, Laurencia obtuse and Ulva lactuca respectively. Fresh red, fresh green, dry green, dry red, in addition to fresh and dried brown algae had maximum lead (Pb) levels of 0.16, 0.14, 0.13, 0.12, 0.04 and 0.02 g/100 g respectively. Fresh red algae contained the highest Cd and Mn levels, whereas dried brown algae exhibited the lowest Cd and Mn concentrations. Different extracts of fresh and dried brown algae exhibited significant larvicidal activity against brine shrimp. LC50 values indicated that dry samples were more cytotoxic than fresh samples.

The study aimed to evaluate the performance of 15 exotic indeterminate genotypes of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) to determine their suitability for cultivation under greenhouse conditions. The study material was obtained from two globally known gene banks, namely, the Center for Genetic Resources of the Netherlands and the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System (GRIN-Global) of the United States Department of Agriculture. One locally registered hybrid, Asya, was used as the control. The experimental layout was a complete randomized block design with three replications. The data collected were vegetative, flowering, and fruit characteristics as well as the number of fruits and both early and total yield per plant. High significant differences were observed among the exotic genotypes and control for all the studied attributes. The mean control values of fruit weight, firmness and pericarp thickness were significantly high, and several of the exotic genotypes exceeded the control values for vegetative, flowering, and yield characteristics under study. The genotypes coded as G.21 (Allround), G.18 (Alicante), G.6 (Marsol), G.7 (Harzer Kind) and G.3 (Robar) are promising for their overall performance in the total yield per plant and can be recommended for further exploitation to produce hybrids.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of five essential oils (garlic, Allium sativum; camphor, Cinnamomum camphor; menthol, Mentha sp.; cinnamon, Cinnamomum erum; and clove, Dianthus sp.) on wax moth larvae and adult honeybee workers under laboratory conditions. Cinnamon, garlic, menthol, clove, and camphor oils were found to be highly effective against wax moth larvae, with 100 percent mortality achieved after 48 and 96 hours for cinnamon and garlic oils respectively, and after 120 hours for clove and mint oils. Camphor oil provided 96.60% accumulative mortality after 120 hrs. Moreover, all the essential oils were highly safe for adult honeybee workers under laboratory conditions. Accumulative corrected mortality rates after 72 hr were 15.96, 9.02, 13.18, 29.16, and 8.88% for treatments with cinnamon, clove, camphor, mint, and garlic oils respectively.

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.