Fungicides and some biological controller agents effects on the growth of fusarium oxysporum causing paprika wilt: Wirkung von fungiziden und einigen biologischen kontrollwirkstoffen auf das wachstum des paprikawelke verursachenden fusarium oxysporum

Soil samples from both healthy and diseased paprika roots were tested to identify their mycoflora. Thirty-one species belonging to 16 genera were collected from rhizosphere and rhizoplane samples. The most frequently isolated fungi were Aspergillus flavus, A. niger, A. terreus, Fusarium oxysporum, Penicillium jensenii and Trichoderma harzianum. Fusarium oxysporum was the most common Fusarium species in the rhizoplane samples of diseased roots and identification was confirmed by RAPD-PCR technique. Trichoderma harzianum, T. pseudokoningii and Glioclaium roseum were chosen to study their biological control efficiency against Fusarium oxysporum. These fungal species reduced the percentage of seedling infection to 25, 40 and 50%, respectively. With the increasing of fungicide (Folicur and Ridomil) doses the dry weight of F. oxysporum decreased. Also, the increasing of fungicide dose lead to a slight decrease in the dry weight of T. harzianum, T. pseudokoningii and Glioclaium roseum.     

Production of green biocellulose nanofibers by Gluconacetobacter xylinus through utilizing the renewable resources of agriculture residues

The present study demonstrates the ability to produce green biocellulose nanofibers using the renewable resources of agriculture residues. Locally grown wheat straws (WS) were hydrolyzed under different conditions. Their hydrolysates were utilized to produce the nanofibers in separate hydrolysis fermentation process by Gluconacetobacter xylinus strain bacterium. Highest biocellulose production of ~10.6 g/L was achieved with samples that were enzymatically hydrolyzed. Moreover, acidic hydrolyzed WS produced up to 9.7 g/L, with total sugar concentrations in culture media of 43 g/L. Generally, enzymatic hydrolysis of WS resulted in more total sugar concentration than the acidic hydrolysis (i.e., 52.12 g/L), while water hydrolysis produced the least. This can be related to utilizing Xylanase in addition to Cellulase and Beta-glucosidase that helps to hydrolyse WS dry basis of cellulose and hemicelluloses. Sugar mixtures produced under all hydrolysis conditions were mainly composed of glucose and xylose with average percentages of 56 and 28 %, respectively. Acidic hydrolysis at higher acid concentration, as well as soaking WS in the acidic solution for longer time, improved the total sugar concentration in the culture media by 18 %. Conducting thermal treatment at more intense conditions of higher temperature or heating time improved the total sugar produced with acidic hydrolysis. These conditions, however, resulted in further production of furfural, which considerably affected bacterial cells proliferation. This resulted in lowest sugar consumption in the range of 62–64 % that affected final BC production.     

Structure of the mammalian ribosomal pre-termination complex associated with eRF1?eRF3?GDPNP

Eukaryotic translation termination results from the complex functional interplay between two release factors, eRF1 and eRF3, in which GTP hydrolysis by eRF3 couples codon recognition with peptidyl-tRNA hydrolysis by eRF1. Here, we present a cryo-electron microscopy structure of pre-termination complexes associated with eRF1•eRF3•GDPNP at 9.7 -Å resolution, which corresponds to the initial pre-GTP hydrolysis stage of factor attachment and stop codon recognition. It reveals the ribosomal positions of eRFs and provides insights into the mechanisms of stop codon recognition and triggering of eRF3’s GTPase activity.     

Selection of Essential Medicines for Diabetes in Low and Middle Income Countries: A Survey of 32 National Essential Medicines Lists

Aim

Diabetes is a growing burden especially in low and middle income countries (LMICs). Inadequate access to diabetes care is of particular concern and selection of appropriate diabetes medicines on national essential medicines lists (NEMLs) is a first step in achieving adequate access. This selection was studied among LMICs and influences of various factors associated with selection decisions were assessed.

Methods

Countries were studied if they employed NEMLs for reimbursement or procurement purposes. Presence and number of essential diabetes medicines from different classes, both insulins and oral blood glucose lowering medicines, were surveyed and calculated. Data were also analyzed by country income level, geographic region, year of last update of the NEML and purpose of NEML employment. The effect of prevalence and burden of disease on the number of essential diabetes medicines was also studied. Non parametric tests and univariate linear regression analysis were used.

Results

Nearly all countries (n = 32) had chosen fast (97%) and intermediate acting insulin (93%), glibenclamide and metformin (100% both) as essential medicines. The median number of essential diabetes medicines was 6, equally divided between insulins and oral medicines. 20% of the countries had selected insulin analogues as essential medicines. Among all the studied factors, an increase in burden of diabetes and wealth of countries were associated with selection of higher numbers of essential diabetes medicines (p = 0.02 in both cases).

Conclusions

Nearly all the studied LMICs had included the minimum required medicines for diabetes management in their NEMLs. Selection can still be improved (e.g. exclusion of insulin analogues and replacement of glibenclamide by gliclazide). Nevertheless, the known suboptimal and inconsistent availability of essential diabetes medicines in LMICs cannot be explained by inadequate selection of essential medicines. Countries should therefore be encouraged to give precedence to implementation of NEMLs to make essential diabetes medicines more accessible.     

Molecular determination of van genes among clinical isolates of enterococci at a hospital setting

Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) poses a formidable challenge to public health due to its inherent resistance to multiple antibiotics coupled with the ability to transfer genetic determinants to dangerous pathogens like Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence of vancomycin resistance in enterococci among clinical isolates at a tertiary care military hospital in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia and to detect van genes using multiplex-PCR. Overall, 246 isolates of enterococci were collected from various clinical specimens. The isolates were identified, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing was done using the Vitek 2 system. Multiplex PCR was performed on the VRE isolates, thus identified to determine the van genes harbored. A total of 15 VRE were identified, of which 14 (93.3%) were Enterococcus faecium, and 1(6.7%) was Enterococcus casseliflavus with intrinsic vanC resistance. Of the 14 vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium, 8 (57.1%) harbored vanB genes, while 6 (42.8%) harbored vanA genes. All the VRE were susceptible to linezolid and tigecycline. Our study detected a low prevalence (6.1%) of VRE among clinical isolates of enterococci and that the vanB gene predominates in such strains. Susceptibility profiles indicated that linezolid and tigecycline are still effective against these multidrug-resistant pathogens. Pus specimens yielded the highest percentage (53.3%) of isolates from which VRE was obtained, and this finding is novel among studies done in Saudi Arabia.     

Extreme learning machine for plant diseases classification: a sustainable approach for smart agriculture

Cluster Computing - Nowadays, the economy of countries highly depends on the agriculture productivity which has a great effect on the development of human civilization. Sometimes, plant diseases...