The use of engineered nanomaterials has increased as a result of their positive impact on many sectors of the economy, including agriculture. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are now used to enhance seed germination, plant growth, and photosynthetic quantum efficiency and as antimicrobial agents to control plant diseases. In this study, we examined the effect of AgNP dosage on the seed germination ...

Pseudoperonospora cubensis, the causal agent of cucurbit downy mildew (CDM), is known to exhibit host specialization. The virulence of different isolates of the pathogen can be classified into pathotypes based on their compatibility with a differential set composed of specific cucurbit host types. However, the genetic basis of host specialization within P. cubensis is not yet known. Total genom...

Following publication of the original article [1] author Hatem Shabana wrote to say that one of her affiliations was missing. The affiliation is as follows: Departmento de Biología Vegetal, Universidad de Málaga, P. O. Box 59, 29080 Málaga, Spain.

In this study, some anti-nutritional factors present in oil-free seeds of egusi (Citrullus colocynthis L.) seed cake were determined. Oil was extracted from the oil-free egusi seed by the Soxhlet extraction method. The anti-nutritional factors were determined using the standard methods. The result of anti-nutritional factors analysis revealed that the seed contains phytate (3.09 ± 0.65mg/100g),...

allelopathy refers to the chemical inhibition or stimulation of one species by another which could influence on the growth or germination of other plant and used in control of weed in agricultural practices. in this sense in order to study the possibly allelopathic effects of lemon balm, bitter apple and lemon verbena medicinal plants on control of wild mustard weed, a laboratory experiment was...

An unusual seed mutant in watermelon (Citrullus lanatus var. lanatus) has seeds with a fleshy pericarp, commonly called egusi seeds. The origin of the phenotype is unknown, but it is widely cultivated in Nigeria for the high protein and carbohydrate content of the edible seeds. Egusi seeds have a thick, fleshy pericarp that appears during the second to third week of fruit development. We studie...

When infecting a host plant, the fungus Fusarium oxysporum secretes several effector proteins into the xylem tissue to promote virulence. However, in a host plant with an innate immune system involving analogous resistance proteins, the fungus effector proteins may trigger resistance, rather than promoting virulence. Identity of the effector genes of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum (Fon) races...

The activity of (soluble acid) sucrase was detected in a culture medium of the cell suspension culture of watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris L.). A simple and rapid procedure for the identification and determination of extracellular sucrase from a culture medium of watermelon cell suspension cultures is described. Sucrose was used as a substrate for the determination of extracellular and intracellu...

The production of superoxide free radicals in pellet and supernatant fractions of glyoxysomes, specialized plant peroxisomes from watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris Schrad.) cotyledons, was investigated. Upon inhibition of the endogenous superoxide dismutase, xanthine, and hypoxanthine induced in glyoxysomal supernatants the generation of O(2) (-) radicals and this was inhibited by allopurinol. In ...