We quantified the fruit set of four Acacia spp. inside and outside of long-term experimental exclosures in order to examine the fitness consequences of herbivory by large mammals. We found a considerable interspecific variation in the reproductive fitness costs of herbivory in four African Acacia spp. Acacia nilotica and A. brevispica respond to protection from large mammalian herbivores by gre...

Contarinia manii (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) is described as a new species, on the basis of adults reared from remarkable 'cylinder-piston' galls formed from contiguous leaflets of Acacia ferruginea D.C. in southern India. These galls have been known since 1952 but adults were not reared until 2007. The new species, and another Indian species, Contarinia ramachandrani (Mani), induce similar but di...

Although brassinosteroids (BRs) play crucial roles in plant development and stress tolerance, the mechanisms by which they have these effects are poorly understood. Here, we investigated the possible mechanism of exogenously applied BRs on reactive oxygen species (ROS), antioxidant defence and methylglyoxal (MG) detoxification systems in Ficus concinna seedlings grown under high-temperature (HT...

Anti typhoid properties of methanol leaves extract of Acacia nilotica was investigated. The phytochemical screenings for detection of the presence of bioactive constituents were carried out. A of mice with Salmonella typhi parasites treating them with leave extract of Acacia nilotica followed by widal tests. The phytochemical screening of the methanol leave extract of Acacia nilotica revealed t...

In a runoff irrigation system using levelled basins, the water uptake patterns of different plant species (Acacia saligna (Labill.) H. L. Wend. and Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench.) with contrasting root and shoot development were compared. Rainfall amounts during 1995 led to enough runoff water for realizing two cropping cycles. The amount of irrigation water was sufficient to fill the moisture-de...

Saline or alkaline soils present a strong stress on plants that together may be even more deleterious than alone. Australia's soils are old and contain large, sometimes overlapping, areas of high salt and alkalinity. Acacia and other Australian plant lineages have evolved in this stressful soil environment and present an opportunity to understand the evolution of salt and alkalinity tolerance. ...

Recent advances in functional foods-based research have increasingly become an area of major interest because it affects human health and activities. Functional foods are classes of foods with health promoting and disease preventing properties in addition to multiple nutritional values and of such type is honey. Acacia honey is a type of honey produced by bees (Apis mellifera) fed on Acacia flo...

Saline or alkaline soils present a strong stress on plants that together may be even more deleterious than alone. Australia’s soils are old and contain large, sometimes overlapping, areas of high salt and alkalinity. Acacia and other Australian plant lineages have evolved in this stressful soil environment and present an opportunity to understand the evolution of salt and alkalinity tolerance. ...

In 2013, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized mycetoma as one of the neglected tropical conditions due to the efforts of the mycetoma consortium. This same consortium formulated knowledge gaps that require further research. One of these gaps was that very few data are available on the epidemiology and transmission cycle of the causative agents. Previous work suggested a soil-borne or ...

Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide and its development is frequently associated with oxidative stress-induced by carcinogens such as arsenicals. Most foods are basically health-promoting or disease-preventing and a typical example of such type is honey. This study was undertaken to investigate the ameliorative effects of Acacia honey on sodium arsenite-induced oxidative stress in the ...