Abstract: The root-burrowing nematode, Radopholus similis, is reputedly the most damaging nematode pest of banana and responsible for major production losses. In this study, the endophytic potential of 13 fungal isolates was assessed for the management of R. similis in East African Highland bananas (‘Ng’ombe’). All isolates successfully colonised tissue-cultured banana roots, with isolates from Trichoderma, Fusarium and Hypocrea producing the highest (⩾49.1%) and Beauveria isolates t...
The use of plants as medicines is an ancient practice common to especially Nigeria and Africa at large. The purpose of this research work is to evaluate the zones of inhibition, phytochemical screening and molecular docking (In-silico Approach) of Piptadeniastrum africanum against selected clinical and multiple antibiotic resistant isolates. Using agar well diffusion method, the antimicrobial activity of the stem bark and leaf extracts of Piptadeniastrum africanum was assayed against Escheric...
Studies were carried out on the effect of some hot aqueous plant extracts using Piper guineense, Zingiber officinale, Azadiracta indica, Carica papaya and Nicotiana tabacum using three concentrations (30, 60 and 90g/l) along with a chemical fungicide (mancozeb) at three concentrations (4, 8 and 12g/l) amended in potato dextrose agar (PDA) on in vitro control of B. theobromae, causal organism of yam tuber rot. The research was conducted at Advanced Plant Pathology Laboratory, Federal Universit...
ABSTRACT Background: Substances extracted from lichens have previously been reported to possess antimicrobial activities against various groups of bacteria, fungi and viruses. Due to the high abundance of Parmelia perlata in the Eastern parts of Nigeria, we decided to explore whether it possesses antiviral activity against some common animal and human viruses. Methodology: The dried and powdered lichen was extracted with acetone, water and 4% (v/v) NaOH (to yield a crude polysaccharide fracti...
ABSTRACT The study was conducted in Songea rural district in Ruvuma region to investigate the environmental impact of dark fire tobacco. Community level data collection was carried out using structured questionnaires, focus group discussions, checklist guides and field survey in four villages selected purposively. A total of 120 tobacco growing households were interviewed. Analysis of both primary and secondary data was done using Ms Excel and SPSS. Results indicated that cultivation of toba...
ABSTRACT Basidiomycetous fungi, including Ganoderma lucidum, have a variety of uses such as providing nutrition and as medical remedies. The mushroom G. lucidum has been used for a long time to cure liver problems, heart condition, asthma, cancer high blood pressure and arthritis. Recently, it has been associated with boosting immune systems in HIV infected persons. It is for these reasons that the mushroom has attracted a lot of attention leading to proposals of cultivating to increase supp...
ABSTRACT New series of four, (Z)-5-(4-chlorobenzylidine)-2-(Aryl/Substituted arylimino) thiazolidin-4-one and one (Z)-5-(4-chlorobenzylidine)-3-(2,5- dichlorophenyl)-2-iminothiazolidin-4-one were successfully synthesized from aryl/substituted aryl amines by employing nucleophilic substitution reaction with chloroacetyl chloride to form chloroacetamide. The formed acetamides were nucleophilically reacted with potassium thiocyanate coupled with Cyclization to form N-substituted thiazolidin-4-o...
ABSTRACT The environment harbours many bacterial species, some of which include non-tuberculous mycobacteria which have recently become important in public health. Isolation of mycobacteria from the environment has not been easy because of the presence of other fast growing bacteria and fungi. For isolation of mycobacteria from the environment, decontamination methods that minimize contamination but maximize recovery of mycobacteria are needed. This study sought to compare three decontaminat...
ABSTRACT Eukaryotic pathogens are responsible for several serious human diseases, however, most drugs used as treatment regimens are ineffective while others still in use are toxic. This study seeks to identify bioactive molecules from wood decay fungal (WDF) extracts with activity against eukaryotic pathogens (especially Candida albicans and Plasmodium falciparum). The Saccharomyces cerevisiae model organism for eukaryotic cell biology studies is extensively used to screen bioactive molecul...
ABSTRACT Maize (Zea mays L.) is the most important cereal crop in Kenya with 90% of the total population relying on it as the main staple food. Post-harvest losses in maize is caused by insect pests such Sitophilus zeamais and Fungi such Aspergillus and Fusarium among others. Post harvest losses by insect pests can sometimes be up to 90 percent. Synthetic chemicals are used to manage weevil infestation and control mould development in maize. However, chemical residues have been detected on t...
Abstract Background: Mesembryanthemum edule is a medicinal plant which has been indicated by Xhosa traditional healers in the treatment HIV associated diseases such as tuberculosis, dysentery, diabetic mellitus, laryngitis, mouth infections, ringworm eczema and vaginal infections. The investigation of the essential oil of this plant could help to verify the rationale behind the use of the plant as a cure for these illnesses. Methods: The essential oil from M. edule was analysed by GC/MS. Co...
Abstract: Insect pollination sustains the biodiversity of 90% of wild plants, and 75% of crop species for food and nutritional security. Chemical pesticides used to manage arthropod pests constitute a key driver to the unprecedented declines of insect pollinators worldwide. Hence, biopesticides based on entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) are being promoted as safer alternatives. The effects of EPF on insect pollinators have not been investigated in detail for the application in pollinator-resource...
Abstract: Cellulolytic microorganisms such as fungi and bacteria are responsible for much of the cellulose degradation in soils. Despite this vast number of cellulase producers, there is a deficiency of microorganisms that can produce significant amount of the three cellulase enzyme specifities i.e. endoglucanases, exoglucanases and cellobiases to efficiently degrade cellulose to fermentable products. Little emphasis has been given to cellulase production from bacteria despite their extremel...
Abstract: Plant viruses and entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) can both elicit immune responses in insects. This study was designed to clarify whether plant viruses could affect the efficacy of EPF and explore the immune responses of brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens, in response to different pathogen infections. In this study, a strain of Metarhizium anisopliae YTTR with high pathogenicity against BPH was selected and explored whether rice ragged stunt virus (RRSV) could affect its leth...
Abstract: Entomopathogenic fungi are commonly applied as inundative sprays to protect plants against insect pests. Their artificial establishment as fungal endophytes to provide other benefits to the host plants aside mere protection against the primary pests has also been widely demonstrated. In the present study, two fungal strains of Beauveria bassiana and one strain of Isaria fumosorosea were assessed in a pathogenicity test against adults of Asian citrus psyllid (Diaphorina citri) and f...