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Bipolaris sorokiniana is a soil-borne fungal pathogen causing common root rot in wheat, and is difficult to control through chemical and agricultural means. Chaetomium spp. have been documented as potential biological control agents for plant diseases. In this study, seven Chaetomium strains were screened for their abilities to control B. sorokiniana on agar plates. Strain 22-10 significantly inhibited the growth of B. sorokiniana on potato dextrose agar plates, up to 66.7%. Its filtrate of liquid culture also inhibited the mycelial growth of B. sorokiniana, indicating that strain 22-10 produced secondary metabolites against B. sorokiniana. The incidence and disease indexes of common root rot significantly decreased in wheat after treatment with the crude extract of strain 22-10. Six active compounds were purified from crude extract of this fungus culture against B. sorokiniana. Chaetoviridin A showed the highest efficiency to inhibit the growth of B. sorokiniana. Strain 22-10 was identified as Chaetomium globosum based on phylogenetic analysis of the rDNA internal transcribed spacer region and microscopic characteristics. The high control efficiency of strain 22-10 of C. globosum against B. sorokiniana suggested it has potential to be a biocontrol agent for B. sorokiniana.

Abstract Wheat and barley serve as significant nutrient-rich staples that are extensively grown on a global scale, spanning over 219 million hectares. The annual combined global yield is 760.9 million tons, with Kazakhstan contributing 14.3 million tons of wheat and 3.83 million tons of barley to this total. The productivity of grain crops has declined annually due to fungal disease, especially root and crown rot caused by Bipolaris sorokiniana and Fusarium spp. Research has focused on pinpointing the pathogens responsible for common root rot in various types of wheat and barley grown in Southeast Kazakhstan. The main goal was to examine the efficacy of certain chemical and biological substances in safeguarding barley seedlings during the early growth stage against root rot root rot. Moreover, this study sought to gauge their effects on seed quality by examining aspects such as germination rates, the colonization of seeds by particular fungal pathogens, and the overall vitality of seeds and seedlings. Visual inspection of the plants revealed that the prevalence of B. sorokiniana was an average of 51.8%, and that of Fusarium species was 58.6%. Three isolates were obtained from the roots of the winter wheat promising line 231, three from the spring wheat roots of the Kazakh variety 10, four from the winter wheat variety Steklovidnaya variety 24, fourteen from the spring barley variety Symbat, and fourteen from the winter barley variety Aidyn variety 2. The external spread of common root rot on spring wheat and spring barley varieties reached 50% and 53%, respectively. Promising line 231 of winter wheat and variety Kazakh 10 of spring barley were affected by the disease by 60%, whereas the winter wheat Steklovidnaya 24 was impacted by 67%. Molecular analysis of B. sorokiniana isolates via species-specific primers (COSA_F/COSA_R) from infected plant tissues confirmed their identification. Koch postulates were fulfilled for B. sorokiniana isolates Kz 48, 60, and 82 on Steklovidnaya 24 winter wheat and Symbat spring barley varieties. Biological products such as Phytosporin-M and Sporobacterin-Rassada significantly reduced the level of fungal infection, confirming their potential as environmentally safe plant protection agents. Resumo O trigo e a cevada são alimentos básicos ricos em nutrientes, cultivados extensivamente em escala global, abrangendo mais de 219 milhões de hectares. A produção global combinada anual é de 760,9 milhões de toneladas, com o Cazaquistão contribuindo com 14,3 milhões de toneladas de trigo e 3,83 milhões de toneladas de cevada para esse total. A produtividade das culturas de grãos diminui anualmente devido a doenças fúngicas, especialmente podridões de raízes e copas causadas por Bipolaris sorokiniana e Fusarium spp. A pesquisa se concentrou em identificar os patógenos responsáveis pela podridão radicular comum em vários tipos de trigo e cevada cultivados no sudeste do Cazaquistão. O objetivo principal era examinar a eficácia de certas substâncias químicas e biológicas na proteção das mudas de cevada durante o estágio inicial de crescimento contra a podridão das raízes. Além disso, o estudo procurou avaliar os seus efeitos na qualidade das sementes, examinando aspectos como as taxas de germinação, a colonização das sementes por determinados fungos patogênicos e a vitalidade geral das sementes e mudas. A inspeção visual das plantas indicou prevalência média de B. sorokiniana de 51,8% e de espécies de Fusarium de 58,6%. Três isolados foram obtidos a partir de raízes da linha promissora de trigo de inverno 231, e três de raízes de trigo de primavera da variedade cazaque 10, quatro de trigo de inverno variedade Steklovidnaya 24, quatorze de cevada de primavera variedade Symbat e quatorze de cevada de inverno variedade Aidyn 2. A disseminação externa da da podridão radicular comum nas variedades de trigo de primavera e cevada de primavera foi de 50% e 53%, respectivamente. A linha promissora 231 de trigo de inverno e a variedade cazaque10 de cevada de primavera foram afetadas pela doença em 60% das unidades, enquanto o trigo de inverno Steklovidnaya 24 foi afetado em 67% das unidades. A análise molecular de isolados de B. sorokiniana, utilizando primers específicos da espécie (COSA_F/COSA_R) de tecidos vegetais infectados, confirmou sua identificação. Os postulados de Koch foram cumpridos para os isolados de B. sorokiniana Kz 48, 60 e 82 em variedades de trigo de inverno Steklovidnaya 24 e cevada de primavera Symbat. Produtos biológicos como Fitosporin-M e Sporobacterin-Rassada reduziram significativamente o nível de infecção fúngica, confirmando seu potencial como agentes de proteção de plantas ambientalmente seguros.

Kazakhstan is the fourteenth largest wheat producer in the world. Despite this fact, there has not been a comprehensive survey of wheat root and crown rot. A quantitative survey was conducted for the purpose of establishing the distribution of fungi associated with root and crown rot on wheat (Triticum spp.). During the 2019 growing season, samples were taken from the affected plants’ roots and stem bases. A total of 1221 fungal isolates were acquired from 65 sites across the central (Karagandy region), eastern (East Kazakhstan region), and southeastern (Almaty region) parts of the country and identified using morphological and molecular tools. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS), translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF1-α), and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) sequences were successfully used to identify the species of fungal isolates. It was found that Bipolaris sorokiniana (44.80%) and Fusarium acuminatum (20.39%) were the most predominant fungal species isolated, which were present in 86.15 and 66.15% of the fields surveyed, respectively, followed by F. equiseti (10.16%), Curvularia spicifera (7.62%), F. culmorum (4.75%), F. oxysporum (4.10%), F. redolens (2.38%), Rhizoctonia solani AG2-1 (1.06%), Nigrospora oryzae (0.98%), C. inaequalis (0.90%), F. pseudograminearum (0.74%), F. flocciferum (0.74%), Macrophomina phaseolina (0.66%), F. cf. incarnatum (0.33%), Fusarium sp. (0.25%), and F. torulosum (0.16%). A total of 74 isolates representing 16 species were tested via inoculation tests on the susceptible Triticum aestivum cv. Seri 82 and the results revealed that F. culmorum and F. pseudograminearum, B. sorokiniana, Fusarium sp., R. solani, F. redolens, C. spicifera, C. inaequalis, and N. oryzae were virulent, whereas others were non-pathogenic. The findings of this investigation demonstrate the presence of a diverse spectrum of pathogenic fungal species relevant to wheat crown and root rot in Kazakhstan. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of F. pseudograminearum, Fusarium sp., C. spicifera, and C. inaequalis as pathogens on wheat in Kazakhstan.

Common root rot caused by Bipolaris sorokiniana infestation in wheat is one of the main reasons for yield reduction in wheat crops worldwide. The bacterium strain JK-25 used in the current investigation was isolated from wheat rhizosphere soil and was later identified as Bacillus halotolerans based on its morphological, physiological, biochemical, and molecular properties. The strain showed significant antagonism to B. sorokiniana, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium graminearum, and Rhizoctonia zeae. Inhibition of B. sorokiniana mycelial dry weight and spore germination rate by JK-25 fermentation supernatant reached 60% and 88%, respectively. The crude extract of JK-25 was found, by Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS), to contain the surfactin that exerted an inhibitory effect on B. sorokiniana. The disruption of mycelial cell membranes was observed under laser scanning confocal microscope (LSCM) after treatment of B. sorokiniana mycelium with the crude extract. The antioxidant enzyme activity of B. sorokiniana was significantly reduced and the oxidation product malondialdehyde (MDA) content increased after treatment with the crude extract. The incidence of root rot was significantly reduced in pot experiments with the addition of JK-25 culture fermentation supernatant, which had a significant biological control effect of 72.06%. Its ability to produce siderophores may help to promote wheat growth and the production of proteases and pectinases may also be part of the strain’s role in suppressing pathogens. These results demonstrate the excellent antagonistic effect of JK-25 against B. sorokiniana and suggest that this strain has great potential as a resource for biological control of wheat root rot strains.

Common root rot, caused by Bipolaris sorokiniana, is one of the most prevalent diseases of wheat and has led to major declines in wheat yield and quality worldwide. Here, strain XZ34-1 was isolated from soil and identified as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens based on the morphological, physiological, biochemical characteristics and 16S rDNA sequence. Culture filtrate (CF) of strain XZ34-1 showed a high inhibition rate against B.sorokiniana and had a broad antifungal spectrum. It also remarkably inhibited the mycelial growth and spore germination of B. sorokiniana. In pot control experiments, the incidence and disease index of common root rot in wheat seedlings were decreased after treatment with CF, and the biological control efficacy was significant, up to 78.24%. Further studies showed XZ34-1 could produce antifungal bioactive substances and had the potential of promoting plant growth. Lipopeptide genes detection with PCR indicated that strain XZ34-1 may produce lipopeptides. Furthermore, activities of defense-related enzymes were enhanced in wheat seedlings after inoculation with B.sorokiniana and treatment with CF, which showed induced resistance could be produced in wheat to resist pathogens. These results reveal that strain XZ34-1 is a promising candidate for application as a biological control agent against B.sorokiniana.

Spot blotch (SB) caused by the fungus Cochliobolus sativus, is a devastating disease of barley that causes significant yield losses worldwide. Development of resistant cultivars is generally considered difficult, therefore, in this work; doubled haploid (DH) lines derived from crossing common cultivars currently used in Europe and West Asia were tested for reaction to C. sativus. Following field experiments 40 lines were evaluated under artificial infection conditions during two consecutive seasons. Results demonstrated significant differences among barley lines with a broad spectrum of disease responses ranging from highly susceptible to highly resistant, which were consistent in both seasons. However, seven promising lines had slightly lower SB disease than the others. On the other hand, positive correlation (r=0.80, P=0.01) between SB and common root rot (CRR; caused also by C. sativus) was found when these highly resistant DH lines were inoculated by the same virulent pathotype Pt4, which could suggest that resistance to C. sativus in the sub-crown internodes and leaves might involve similar defence mechanisms. The newly identified DH resistance lines can be potential donors for ongoing SB and CRR resistance breeding program to generate high-yielding commercial barley cultivars.

The fungus Cochliobolus sativus is the main pathogen of common root rot, a serious soil-borne disease of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The fungus Fusarium graminearum is the primary pathogen of Fusarium head blight, a devastating disease of wheat worldwide. In this study, the wheat lipid transfer protein gene, TaLTP5, was cloned and evaluated for its ability to suppress disease development in transgenic wheat. TaLTP5 expression was induced after C. sativus infection. The TaLTP5 expression vector, pA25–TaLTP5, was constructed and bombarded into Chinese wheat variety Yangmai 18. Six TaLTP5 transgenic wheat lines were established and characterized. PCR and Southern blot analyses indicated that the introduced TaLTP5 gene was integrated into the genomes of six transgenic wheat lines by distinct patterns, and heritable. RT–PCR and real-time quantitative RT–PCR revealed that the TaLTP5 gene was over-expressed in the transgenic wheat lines compared to segregants lacking the transgene and wild-type wheat plants. Following challenge with C. sativus or F. graminearum, all six transgenic lines overexpressing TaLTP5 exhibited significantly enhanced resistance to both common root rot and Fusarium head blight compared to the untransformed wheat Yangmai 18.

We obtain an upper bound for the number of solutions to the system of $m$ congruences of the type $$\\begin{eqnarray}\\displaystyle \\mathop{\\prod }_{i=1}^{{\\it\\nu}}(x_{i}+s_{i})\\equiv {\\it\\lambda}_{j}~(\\text{mod }p)\\quad j=1,\\ldots ,m, & & \\displaystyle \\nonumber\\end{eqnarray}$$ modulo a prime $p$, with variables $1\\leq x_{i}\\leq h$, $i=1,\\ldots ,{\\it\\nu}$ and arbitrary integers $s_{j},{\\it\\lambda}_{j}$, $j=1,\\ldots ,m$, for a parameter $h$ significantly smaller than $p$. We also mention some applications of this bound.

The problem is considered of approximately solving a system of univariate polynomials with one or more common roots and its coefficients corrupted by noise. The goal is to estimate the underlying common roots from the noisy system. Symbolic algebra methods are not suitable for this. New Rayleigh quotient methods are proposed and evaluated for estimating the common roots. Using tensor algebra, reasonable starting values for the Rayleigh quotient methods can be computed. The new methods are compared to Gauss–Newton, solving an eigenvalue problem obtained from the generalized Sylvester matrix, and finding a cluster among the roots of all polynomials. In a simulation study it is shown that Gauss–Newton and a new Rayleigh quotient method perform best, where the latter is more accurate when other roots than the true common roots are close together.

The article is based on the Parsifal project, a European project funded by the Erasmus+ programme (Project Number: 2018-1-PL01-KA201-050865), which is being implemented by EuroEd Foundation Iasi, Romania. The project aims to bring cultural heritage to the attention of students in order to enrich their learning processes. The project looks at traditional tales and legends in each partner country (Poland, Italy, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Romania) with a view to identifying common European roots. The paper focuses on main themes and common features identified in Bulgarian, Italian, Lithuanian, Polish and Romanian legends: real and mythological characters and animals, heritage, environments and common objects, recurring situations and challenges, moral and ethical topics.