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In Egypt, faba bean plants are severely damaged by charcoal rot, caused by Macrophomina phaseolina and root-knot, caused by Meloidogyne incognita. The current study was aimed to control these diseases using silver nanoparticles that were biologically synthesized from Moringa oleifera leaf extract. In this work, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were prepared with trisodium citrate as a reducing agent to produce chemo-AgNPs and, using an environmentally eco-friendly method, an aqueous extract of M. oleifera leaves under visible light radiation to produce bio-AgNPs. The obtained colloidal solutions of AgNPs were identified by UV-Visible (UV-Vis) spectral analysis and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) analyses. The antifungal and anti-nematode activities of chemo- and bio-AgNPs as well as an aqueous extract of M. oleifera leaves were checked in vitro against M. phaseolina and M. incognita. The obtained results showed that bio-AgNPs were more effective than chemo-AgNPs. Under greenhouse conditions, bio-AgNPs showed a significant reduction in the incidence of damping-off and charcoal rot caused by M. phaseolina. This treatment also reduced the number of juveniles in the soil, the number of galls and the number of egg-masses of M. incognita in comparison to plants treated with nematodes. Moreover, the protein profile using SDS-PAGE was performed for determining the effect of the studied treatments on the expression of some genes compared with untreated plants the alteration in gene expression led to the formation of different proteins and the loss of others. The proteins which were formed or lost caused a significant variation in all growth and physiological parameters such as photosynthetic pigments, proline content and antioxidant enzymes of faba bean plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The essential oils of sour orange have been used for different purposes especially for the food and pharmaceutical industries. Salicylic acid plays significant roles in essential oil metabolism. In the present work, the effects of salicylic acid on the essential oil composition are examined. Sour orange trees were exposed to foliar spray of salicylic acid (0, 20 and 40 mg/L), and the essential oil of each treatment was isolated from young leaves and peels using the hydro distillation method (HD); then it was analyzed by the GC and GC/MS equipment’s. The obtained results indicate that the essential oil percentage and its characterized constituents are affected by the salicylic acid significantly. The major components of the peel and leaf oils were limonene and linalool. The highest percentage of the essential oil and its major constituents were recorded with salicylic acid at 40 mg/L. Oxygenated monoterpenes (OM) was the major chemical class of the leaf oil, while monoterpene hydrocarbons (MH) was formed as a major fraction of the peel oil. Sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (SH) and oxygenated sesquiterpenes (OS) were the minor classes. Salicylic acid resulted in different variations of all chemical classes, i.e., MH, OM, SH and OS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Essential oil of geranium ( Pelargonium graveolens ) has biological activities that make it used in food and pharmaceutical manufactures. High salinity is one of the factors that lead to lack of expansion in the production of medicinal and aromatic plants, especially in the new reclaimed soil located at arid and semi arid regions. Glutathione is a natural antioxidant that can help plants to withstand unfavorable environmental conditions such as the salinity of irrigation water. This trial aimed to diminish the undesirable effect of exposure to irrigation with salt water on geranium herbs through subjected them to exogenous application of glutathione. Geranium plants were irrigated with various concentrations of salt water with sodium chloride (0.0, 34.2, 51.3, and 68.4 mM) without (0 mg/L) or with glutathione (375 mg/L). Plants exposed to various rates of saline irrigation water with glutathione resulted in higher values of growth criterions (fresh and dry aerial parts), photosynthetic pigments, carbohydrates, protein, proline, essential oil (% or yield), antioxidant enzymes (peroxidase and superoxide dismutase), nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, calcium, iron, zinc, manganese and copper than those subjected to saline irrigation water without glutathione. Higher amounts were found in sodium and chloride of plant treated with saline irrigation water than those treated saline irrigation water with glutathione. It may be summarized that productivity of geranium plants can be improved with adapting them under saline irrigation conditions by adding glutathione. This trial benefits the producers of geranium to alleviate the hurtful effects of salinity in reclaimed regions with adding glutathione.L ) has biological activities that make it used in food and pharmaceutical manufactures. High salinity is one of the factors that lead to lack of expansion in the production of medicinal and aromatic plants, especially in the new reclaimed soil located at arid and semi arid regions. Glutathione is a natural antioxidant that can help plants to withstand unfavorable environmental conditions such as the salinity of irrigation water. This trial aimed to diminish the undesirable effect of exposure to irrigation with salt water on geranium herbs through subjected them to exogenous application of glutathione. Geranium plants were irrigated with various concentrations of salt water with sodium chloride (0.0, 34.2, 51.3, and 68.4 mM) without (0 mg/L) or with glutathione (375 mg/L). Plants exposed to various rates of saline irrigation water with glutathione resulted in higher values of growth criterions (fresh and dry aerial parts), photosynthetic pigments, carbohydrates, protein, proline, essential oil (% or yield), antioxidant enzymes (peroxidase and superoxide dismutase), nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, calcium, iron, zinc, manganese and copper than those subjected to saline irrigation water without glutathione. Higher amounts were found in sodium and chloride of plant treated with saline irrigation water than those treated saline irrigation water with glutathione. It may be summarized that productivity of geranium plants can be improved with adapting them under saline irrigation conditions by adding glutathione. This trial benefits the producers of geranium to alleviate the hurtful effects of salinity in reclaimed regions with adding glutathione., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 Published by Elsevier Ltd.)