Potato crop in Egypt occupies 20% of the total area devoted for vegetable plantations and any disturbance in its production affects severely its local and export impact. Brown rot disease on potato is the most cereous disease affecting potato exportation. Therefore, competing such disease is an obligate practice to control the pathogenic causal bacterium. Biological control became recently an e...

The two morphologically similar truffles Tuber aestivum and T. uncinatum have caused confusion because T. uncinatum is regarded by different authors, as either a distinct species, variety, subspecies, or synonym of T. aestivum. A clarification of the relationship between the two truffles would help both conservation biology and cultivation. We aimed both to test the reliability of the only quan...

The high rate of male infertility and the meager resources to manage same in sub Saharan Africa have necessitated the search for cost effective and available alternatives. Mushrooms have been used traditionally in folk medicine and as nutraceuticals. This study has investigated the effect of the wild mushroom Pleurotus tuber-regium on carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) deleterious effects on the repro...

Understanding the impact of a pest species on a particular crop is critical for the success of a pest management program. Field studies were conducted to determine the effect of the twospotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, on marketable yield of strawberries during the 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 growing seasons. Low, medium, and high mite infestation levels were established by initial ino...

Recent studies, including those from our laboratory, have provided evidence that by improving tuber Ca level we can reduce tuber internal defects and improve its storability. The purpose of the present study was to determine the influence of supplemental Ca fertilization on tuber size and tuber number. For this purpose, plantlets of Solanum tuberosum cv Russet Burbank raised in tissue culture w...

The central nervous system activity of the petroleum ether extract of Amorphophallus paeoniifolius tuber was examined in mice, fed normal as well as healthy conditions. The petroleum ether extract of Amorphophallus paeoniifolius tuber at the doses of 100, 300 and 1000 mg/kg showed significant central nervous system activity in mice.

A study was carried out in mungbean Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek) with eight ‘lines’ and four ‘testers’ crossed in a Line x Tester Genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance were estimated for marketable and its component yield traits in 48 lines of carrot (Daucus carota var. sativa L.). The study showed high ranges for total yield (3.15 -7.56 kg/plot), marketable yield (2.60 – 6.85 kg...

Cultivation of OYSTER MUSHROOM (Pleurotus tuber-regium) on selected organic waste was carried out in the Microbiology Laboratory, Faculty of Science of the University of Port Harcourt. The study evaluated the effect of selected organic wastes on the growth and yield of Pleurotus tuber-regium (Fr. Singer). The organic wastes (Dry Substrates which include Maize cob, Cassava peelings, Plantain pee...

The degree to which vertebrate herbivores exploitatively compete for the same food plant may depend on the level of compensatory plant growth. Such compensation is higher when there is reduced density-dependent competition in plants after herbivore damage. Whether there is relief from competition may largely be determined by the life-history stage of plants under herbivory. Such stage-specific ...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Spring geophytes require a period of low temperature for proper flower development but the mechanism that underlies the relationship between cold treatment and flowering remains unknown. The present study aims to compare the developmental anatomy and carbohydrate content of the tuberous geophyte Corydalis bracteata growing under natural winter conditions from 10 to -10 degre...