Fusarium wilt, caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici, threatens global tomato production, with losses reaching 80%. Although chemical fungicides are effective, their prolonged use risks resistant strains, reduces soil biodiversity, and causes environmental damage, highlighting the urgent need for ecofriendly alternatives. This study investigated the viability of Salvia officinalis (sage) methanolic extract as a biocontrol agent against Fusarium wilt (FW), employing a comprehensive approach that incorporates in vitro, in vivo, and molecular docking techniques. Four distinct isolates of F. oxysporum were identified through molecular techniques, and their virulence was assessed by examining the presence of tomatinase genes. The antifungal properties of S. officinalis extract were found to be compelling, with a total phenolic content of 64.15 mg GAE/g and a remarkable antioxidant activity of 97.04%. In laboratory tests, S. officinalis exhibited potent antifungal activity, inhibiting mycelial growth by between 52.00% and 88.67% at a concentration of 20 mg/ml. Additionally, in vivo experiments demonstrated a significant reduction in disease severity in treated tomato plants. Molecular docking analyses revealed strong binding affinities between key phytochemicals in the extract and target receptors such as tomatinase, highlighting the potential of the extract as a sustainable and effective alternative to chemical fungicides for managing FW in tomato crops.

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) is an important vegetable in Ethiopia due to its nutritional value and culinary uses. However, its production is hindered by several challenges. Key issues include diseases like powdery mildew, fusarium wilt, and viral infections, which significantly reduce yields, and pests such as aphids, whiteflies, and fruit borers that further damage crops. The scarcity of improved okra varieties and insufficient drought management exacerbate these challenges. Farmers' perceptions of okra as a low-value crop affect investment and cultivation practices. Additionally, drought, compounded by poor irrigation infrastructure, poses a severe threat to okra production. Despite these challenges, Ethiopia's diverse agro-climatic conditions and fertile soils in regions like Amhara and Oromia offer favorable environments for cultivating okra, with potential yields reaching up to 20 tons per hectare under optimal management. To overcome these constraints, it is essential to improve disease and pest management, develop and distribute drought-resistant varieties, and educate farmers on better practices. Changing perceptions through awareness and community engagement, coupled with supportive government policies, are crucial for enhancing okra production, thereby improving food security and economic stability for Ethiopian farmers in the future.

More gentle washing methods are required in order to maintain the satisfactory appearance of delicate or luxury garments. In the current study, a new washing method with an up-down tapping action was introduced for delicate garments. The influence of tapping washing parameters used in the new washing method on the removal of five different types of IEC soiling from cotton fabrics was investigated. The cleaning performance of the tapping washing method mainly relies on the turbulent flow of the washing liquor and a gentle mechanical tapping action without a friction force being applied to fabrics during laundry. Tapping washing could maintain the good appearance of the fabrics without fibre damage and remove water-soluble soil but it had difficulty removing water-insoluble soil. However, the washing efficiency of water-insoluble soil could be improved by adjusting the levels of washing parameters. Further development and optimisation of the up-down tapping washing method could make a good balance between sufficient washing of soiled fabrics and the maintenance of fabric appearance without causing fibre damage.

This work describes the scientific process that transformed the pioneering empirical solution of jet grouting into an engineering technique. In its basic version, jet grouting involves drilling small holes in the ground and emitting jets of cement grout at very high speed while extracting and rotating the drill rods, to cut the soil, mix it with the binder and form cemented columns. The dimensions and mechanical properties of the columns depend on the ability of the jet to disintegrate the original soil fabric, mix particles and mortar homogeneously, and carry out the cement reaction. In this process the hydrodynamics of submerged turbulent jets play a fundamental role. Observation and theory intertwine to analyze, conceptualize, and simulate basic mechanisms. The result is a closed-form relationship, simple but complete, capable of capturing the role of the fundamental factors. Aim of this process is to reduce the subjectivity and uncertainties inherent in the applications and pave the way for the improvement of the technique. Finally, a practical application is reported to show the potential of the scientific approach on improving the technique.

The investigation of the response mechanisms of Cyperus esculentus to water and salt stresses is crucial for the enhancement of the productivity of saline soils. Previous studies have indicated that plant hormones, antioxidant systems, and osmoregulation may contribute to the stabilization of yield. However, the contributions and interactions of these mechanisms remain poorly understood under combined water and salt stress in natural environments. A dual-factor (salt and water) orthogonal test was used to investigate the growth and biochemical responses of C. esculentus, under combined salt and water stress in a field experiment conducted on a typical saline area in northern China. The findings reveal that C. esculentus adjusted its biomass allocation strategies and activated hormone responses, antioxidant system, and osmoregulation mechanisms to maintain stable yield. Due to the negative synergism when salt and water stress coexist, the homogeneous limitations of both are weakened. Thus, the key to maintaining yields under combined water and salt stress may depend on indirectly enhancing tolerance to oxidative damage through abscisic acid, rather than focusing on accumulating low molecular weight osmoregulants and antioxidant enzymes to directly alleviate homogeneous limitations. Also, under combined salt and water stress, insufficient irrigation may have a greater impact on morphological characteristics than high salinity. The above results contribute to a deeper understanding of the process of adapting C. esculentus to combined salt and water stress.

Meloidogyne spp. are the most devastating plant-parasitic nematodes affecting tomato worldwide. Although resistant cultivars and rootstocks are used, selection for virulence occurs in the pathogen. Consequently, using other resistance sources, such as Solanum torvum, could improve resistance durability. Several experiments in microplots and plastic greenhouses were carried out to determine the potential use of S. torvum as a tomato rootstock to protect against M. incognita and M. javanica. In microplots, the relationship between nematode density at transplanting (Pi) and multiplication rate did not differ between Meloidogyne species in either ungrafted or grafted tomato. However, maximum multiplication rate and maximum density on grafted tomato were 1.27% and 2.93% those on ungrafted, respectively. The grafted tomato plants yielded between 2.9 and 7.5 more times than the ungrafted plants at Pi >= 100 eggs + J2s per 100 cm(3) of soil, but no differences were observed in plastic greenhouse where a large amount of scion-rooting occurred. In microplots, the quality of the tomato fruits of ungrafted and grafted plants was affected by the Pi. In parallel, some pot experiments were conducted on S. torvum and susceptible eggplant to determine the putative selection for nematode virulence to S. torvum and the nematode fitness cost. These showed that the nematode subpopulations infected and reproduced less on S. torvum than on eggplant. However, the female fertility was only reduced after development of three or four subpopulations on S. torvum. Finally, a histopathological study showed that nematode infection and development in S. torvum was delayed compared to eggplant.

Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) are the third largest food crop globally and are pivotal for global food security. Widespread N fertilizer waste in potato cultivation has caused diverse environmental issues. This study employed microbial metagenomic sequencing to analyze the causes behind the declining N use efficiency (NUE) and escalating greenhouse gas emissions resulting from excessive N fertilizer application. Addressing N fertilizer inefficiency through breeding has emerged as a viable solution for mitigating overuse in potato cultivation. In this study, transcriptome and metabolome analyses were applied to identify N fertilizer-responsive genes. Metagenomic sequencing revealed that excessive N fertilizer application triggered alterations in the population dynamics of 11 major bacterial phyla, consequently affecting soil microbial functions, particularly N metabolism pathways and bacterial secretion systems. Notably, the enzyme levels associated with NO3 - increased, and those associated with NO and N2O increased. Furthermore, excessive N fertilizer application enhanced soil virulence factors and increased potato susceptibility to diseases. Transcriptome and metabolome sequencing revealed significant impacts of excessive N fertilizer use on lipid and amino acid metabolism pathways. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was adopted to identify two genes associated with N fertilizer response: PGSC0003DMG400021157 and PGSC0003DMG400009544.

In past few years, salinity has become one of the important abiotic stresses in the agricultural fields due to anthropogenic activities. Salinity is leading towards yield losses due to soil infertility and increasing vulnerability of crops to diseases. Fluorescent pseudomonads are a diverse group of soil microorganisms known for promoting plant growth by involving various traits including protecting crops from infection by the phytopathogens. In this investigation, salt tolerant plant growth promoting bacterium Pseudomonas hunanensis SPT26 was selected as an antagonist against Fusarium oxysporum, causal organism of fusarium wilt in tomato. P. hunanensis SPT26 was found capable to produce various antifungal metabolites. Characterization of purified metabolites using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and liquid chromatography-electron spray ionization-mass spectrometry (LC-ESI/MS) showed the production of various antifungal compounds viz., pyrolnitrin, pyochelin and hyroxyphenazine by P. hunanensis SPT26. In the preliminary examination, biocontrol activity of purified antifungal metabolites was checked by dual culture method and results showed 68%, 52% and 65% growth inhibition by pyrolnitrin, 1- hydroxyphenazine and the bacterium (P. hunanensis SPT26) respectively. Images from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed the damage to the mycelia of fungal phytopathogen due to production of antifungal compounds secreted by P. hunanensis SPT26. Application of bioinoculant of P. hunanensis SPT26 and purified metabolites significantly decreased the disease incidence in tomato and increased the plant growth parameters (root and shoot length, antioxidant activity, number of fruits per plant, etc.) under saline conditions. The study reports a novel bioinoculant formulation with the ability to promote plant growth parameters in tomato in presence of phytopathogens even under saline conditions.

Cassava root rot is a highly destructive disease that causes great damage in Brazil. Identification of the causal agents is essential for the management of this disease. Roots of cassava plants (Manihot esculenta Crantz) with symptoms of root rot were collected from a cassava crop in the municipality of Garanhuns, Pernambuco State, Brazil. This study aimed to identify a Diaporthe species isolated from cassava root rot in Brazil and evaluate pathogenicity in cassava plants and roots. At 7 days after inoculation (DAI), tuberous roots showed necrotic lesions, a soft appearance, and pink color in the center and brown to greenish at the edges, while seedlings showed root rot, wilting, yellowing, drying out, and leaf fall at 66 DAI in the soil. All plants in the control group were asymptomatic. After reisolations and confirmation of Koch's postulates, the causal agent was conclusively identified as Diaporthe ueckeri through the multilocus phylogenetic analyses involving the ITS, TEF1-alpha, TUB2, CAL, and HIS genes. The results showed that the morphological characteristics, such as colonies with abundant aerial mycelium, formation of pycnidia and alpha conidia, were consistent with those described for species of the genus Diaporthe. This is the first report of D. ueckeri causing cassava root rot in Brazil and worldwide.

Salinity is an abiotic factor limiting plant fitness and therefore forest crop productivity, and salt-affected areas have been expanding throughout the world. Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi can improve the salt tolerance of woody plants, including Eucalyptus species To screen for salt-resistant Pisolithus albus (PA) isolates, 16 PA isolates were cultivated on modified Melin-Norkrans agar containing NaCl at concentrations of 0, 10, 20, and 30 dS m(-1). The P. albus isolate PA33 had the greatest salt resistance under 10 and 20 dS m(-1) NaCl, which are soil salinity levels in salt-affected areas of Thailand. We studied the effect of PA33 on Eucalyptus camaldulensis x E. pellita cuttings under salt stress (0 and 16 dS m(-1)) for 1 month. PA enhanced the growth of the Eucalyptus seedlings, as indicated by higher relative growth rates in height and root collar diameter of inoculated seedlings compared with non-inoculated seedlings. Moreover, the inoculated seedlings had less cell damage from NaCl, as indicated by significantly lesser leaf thickness and electrolyte leakage than the controls. These findings could lead to practices conferring socioeconomic and environmental benefits, as abandoned salt-affected areas could be reclaimed using such Eucalyptus seedlings inoculated with salt-tolerant ECM fungi.