Twenty fresh clover honey, ten beeswax and ten bee bread samples represented contaminated and non-contaminated areas were collected directly from the apiaries during 2015. The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of toxic metals (Lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd), Iron (Fe), Copper (Cu) and Zinc (Zn)) in honey, beeswax and bee bread stored inside honey bee colonies. The highest lead contents (0.5488 mg/kg) was estimated in honey samples collected from industrialized area The lowest Pb content were estimated in honey samples collected from rural area (0.5096 mg/kg). The lowest Cd concentration (0.0961 mg/kg). However, the highest content of Cd (0.1042 mg/kg) was recorded in honey samples collected from urbanized areas. High concentration of (Cu) was estimated in honey samples collected from apiaries located in industrialized area (0.0757 mg/kg) while the lowest were recorded in rural area (0.0432 mg/kg). Zn occurred in low concentration in honey samples The highest value was recorded in honey samples from rural area (0.241) mg/kg and the lowest in honey samples from apiaries located in Reclaimed soils (0.185) mg/kg. Heavy metal concentrations of Pb, Cd, Fe, Cu and Zn in beeswax samples collected from contaminated and noncontaminated areas were 1.388, 0.194, 16.696, 0.619 and 4.606 mg/kg. While the averages of heavy metal concentrations in non contaminated area decreased to 1.175; 0.160; 15.466; 0.391 and 2.520 mg/kg, respectively. Contamination in bee bread samples showed that lead concentration (1.094 mg/kg to 1.338 mg/kg) was detected in bee bread samples collected from honey bee 

The present study aimed to investigate the potential application of chitosan for controlling green mold disease of orange fruits (“Baladi” sweet orange fruits) caused by Penicillium digitatum under in vitro and in vivo conditions (during storage conditions). The effect of chitosan under different concentrations (0.01, 0.025, 0.05, 0.125, 0.25, 0.5, 1 and 2) % v/v was evaluated against P. digitatum (in vitro). The reported data indicated that conc. 0.25, 0.5, 1 and 2% v/v of chitosan showed the highest inhibitory effect against the target pathogen. The in vivo experiments (under artificial infection), showed that the disease severity was significantly reduced in chitosan treated fruits at conc. (0.25, 0.5 and 1% v/v) compared with control. Moreover, it was noticed that chitosan solution at 1% conc. was the best conc. in reducing the percentage of disease severity, followed by 0.5% v/v. The effect of chitosan at (0.25, 0.5 and 1% v/v) conc. was also studied on some physical and chemical characteristics at 4 °C during two successive seasons. Interestingly, chitosan at 1% followed by 0.5% decreased fruits decay percentage, 0.5% and 1% significantly decreased fruits weight loss percentage, increased total soluble solids (TSS) and V.C content in fruits. The uses of edible coating of chitosan solution (0.5 and 1%) were more effective to preserve high quality of “Baladi” sweet orange during storage 4 °C for 8 weeks with good chemical and physical qualities as well as chitosan could be successfully used to inhibit the decay fungi compared with uncoated samples.

Soil salinity adversely affects the growth, yield, and quality parameters of sugar beet, leading to a reduction in root and sugar yields. Improving the physical and chemical properties of salt-affected soils is essential for sustainable cultivation and sugar beet production. A field experiment was conducted at the Delta Sugar Company Research Farm, El-Hamool, Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt, to evaluate the response of sugar beet to the application of beet sugar filter cake treated with sulfuric and phosphoric acid-treated, phosphogypsum (PG), desaline, humic acid, and molasses under saline soil conditions. The application of treated filter cake enhanced root length, diameter, and leaf area. The application of molasses enhanced root length, diameter, and leaf area as well. Application of molasses increased sugar content and root yield. The application of either treated filter cake or molasses produced the highest recoverable …

Improving the chemical and physical properties of saline soils is crucial for the sustainable production of sugar beet and efficient processing of beet sugar. Here, the impacts of the application of treated filter cake on sugar beet biofortification under saline soil and sugar losses into molasses during beet sugar processing were evaluated for the first time. The application of treated filter cake significantly reduced K%, Na%, and α-amino-N while enhanced sucrose content and quality index of beet root juice. Consequently, sugar loss percentage, sugar loss yield, and relative sugar loss yield were reduced, whereas recoverable sugar yield was enhanced. Linear regression analysis revealed that quality index and sugar loss yield were increased, whereas sugar loss percentage and relative sugar loss yield were reduced in response to the reduction of soil Na+ content accompanied with increasing Ca 2+ content in the soil …

Salinity is one of the most important problems that adversely affect crops growth, productivity and quality worldwide. Salt Overly Sensitive 1 (SOS1) gene family plays vital roles in plant response to salt stress. Herein, we report the identification of the SOS family in wheat and the exploration of the expression profiles of SOSs under salt stress. Complete genome sequences of T. aestivum were downloaded from Ensembl plant database. Conservation and divergence of TaSOS1 family were conducted by using phylogenetic tree, gene structure and synteny distribution analysis. Expression profiles of TaSOS1s were obtained based on transcriptome and qRT-PCR analysis. Totally, 119 TaSOS1 proteins in wheat were identified at the genome-wide level and classified into three groups. Six motifs were conserved in TaSOS1 gene family. Moreover, 25 TaSOS1 genes had three copies distributing in three sub-genomes (A, B …

Mature pod color (PC) and pod size (PS) served as important characteristics are used in the soybean breeding programs. However, manual phenotyping of such complex traits is time-consuming, laborious, and expensive for breeders. Here, we collected pod images from two different populations, namely, a soybean association panel (SAP) consisting of 187 accessions and an inter-specific recombinant inbred line (RIL) population containing 284 RILs. An image-based phenotyping method was developed and used to extract the pod color-and size-related parameters from images. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) and linkage mapping were performed to decipher the genetic control of pod color-and size-related traits across 2 successive years. Both populations exhibited wide phenotypic variations and continuous distribution in pod color-and size-related traits, indicating quantitative polygenic inheritance of …