Annual Research & Review in Biology

Chlamydospores of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. albedinis are well known as fungus survival spores in soil, also act as a causal agent of Bayoud disease of the date palm. Till now, there are a little study in the literature about the favorable media for the formation of chlamydospores and the stages of chlamydogenesis. This study shows that rice flour based medium (45 chlamydospores per mm²), oatmeal (31 chlamydospores per mm²) and bean flour (27 chlamydospores per mm²) tested for the first time, are among the media inducing the formation of chlamydospores in large numbers. The optimum formation of chlamydospores is observed on rice flour-based medium after 7 days of incubation at 18°C and pH 7. The effect of light does not seem very important on chlamydogenesis. However, relative humidity has a significant effect on the growth and chlamydogenesis of F. oxysporum f.sp. albedinis. The tested G1 isolate grows and forms chlamydospores at relative humidities of 70 and 100%. The number of chlamydospores varies between 40.01 and 44.05 chlamydospores/mm2. To form chlamydospores, cultures of F. oxysporum f.sp. albedinis need to be in contact with the favorable culture medium. Thus, the cultures develop and form more chlamydospores on a single layer of cellophane deposited on a culture medium, but show slower growth and do not form chlamydospores on two layers of cellophane.

Chlamydospores of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. albedinis are always at the extremity of the mycelial filaments. They differ in one to four cells in superimposed position. A terminal hyphal bulge leads to the formation of the terminal cell. The second cell is formed at the base of the first, and the process continues so that one can sometimes observed chlamydospores in bead-like chains.

Pollution is the entry of contaminants into the environment or ecosystem which causes adverse change. The severe cases of radiation contamination lead to changes in DNA leading to genetic mutation, as happened in Hiroshima and Nakzaki in Japan and Chernobyl. Radioactive contamination in Iraq was resulted in the recent wars (1991-2015), because of uranium munitions. It is led to serious environmental and health disasters such as cancer, leukemia, and birth defects. The Iraqi Ministry of Environment has indicated that more than 300 sites in Iraq were polluted by mercury pesticides, heavy metals, polyol, chlorine, and depleted uranium, because of the abandoned weapons in some parts of Iraq from the remnants of the wars that have occurred in the Iraq.

In this paper the results of chemical and mineral composition of new sour milk bio-product with sapropel powder are presented. Sapropel in powder form added to the formulation of sour milk of 1.5% of total mass. Sapropel is characterized by high percent of mineral elements concentration (50.97%), particularly it is rich in manganese 316.0 mg/kg, calcium 148.0 mg/kg (in the form of calcium carbonate), zinc 59.7 mg/kg, copper 24.1 mg/kg. In new sour milk bio-product the protein content was significantly higher (20.95%) than in control sample (18.40%) with decreasing of moisture content to 76.0-76.3% than in control sample 79.50%. Addition of 1.5% of plant sapropel increases the nutritive value of final product up to 15.3 kcal or 16.4% because of high content of protein and fat.

A pot experiment was carried out to observe the performances of fifteen tomato genotypes under three different salinity treatments in the net house of Genetics and Plant Breeding Department of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka during November 2013 to March 2014. Two factorial experiment comprised of fifteen tomato genotypes viz. G₁ (BD-7289), G₂ (BD-7291), G₃ (BD-7298), G₄ (BD-7748), G₅ (BD-7757), G₆ (BD-7760), G₇ (BD-7761), G₈ (BD-7762), G₉ (BD-9011), G₁₀ (BD-9960), G₁₁ (BARI Tomato-2), G₁₂ (BARI Tomato-3), G₁₃ (BARI Tomato-11), G₁₄ (BARI Hybrid Tomato-4), G₁₅ (BARI Hybrid Tomato-5) and three salinity treatments T₁ (control), T₂ (8 dS/m), T₃ (12 dS/m) were laid out in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications. Seedlings were transplanted 30 days age to leading plastic pots, and two salinity treatments 8 dS/m and 12 dS/m were applied after seven days of transplanting. The results revealed that tomato genotypes and salinity treatments both significantly different with the agro-morphogenic traits of the tomato plant. Nearly all traits reciprocated negatively as the salinity level increased except days to first flowering and maturity. Average fruit weight was increased in genotype G₈ for both the stresses than the control condition. Yield per plant was recorded in the same G₈ genotype for T₂ and reduced the minimum for treatment T₃. Therefore, genotype G₈ could be recommended for higher yield in the coastal regions of Bangladesh. These genotypes could also be served as parent material for future hybridization or genetic transformation program.

Background: Mosquito resistance to routinely used insecticides is threatening malaria vector control strategies in sub-Saharan Africa. This study reports the susceptibility of wild populations of Anopheles gambiae s.l. from Ikot-Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State, Southern Nigeria to insecticides.

Methods: WHO standard methods were used to detect knock-down and mortality in wild female Anopheles mosquitoes collected from 4 rural communities in Ikot-Ekpene. The WHO diagnostic doses of 0.05% deltamethrin, 0.05% lambdacyhalothrin, 0.75% permethrin and 5% malathion were used. Bioassays were performed on non-blood-fed mosquitoes of ages 2 to 3 days old. Post exposure mortality after 24 hours and knock-down values for KDT₅₀ and KDT₉₅ were calculated.

Results: According to WHO criteria, insecticide resistance was not recorded at any of the studied sites and for any of the tested insecticide. Knock-down within 1 hour post insecticide exposure ranged from 98.7% to 100%. Mortality after 24 hours post exposure was 100% for all insecticides except lambdacyhalothrin which averaged 99.1%. There was high variability in KDT₅₀ and KDT₉₅ values across the sites.

Conclusion: Since the local Anopheles gambiae populations were susceptible to all the insecticides tested, vector control campaigns employing the use of any of the insecticide would not be compromised; however, there is need for continued monitoring to ensure early detection of resistance.