Cassava root rot is a highly destructive disease that causes great damage in Brazil. Identification of the causal agents is essential for the management of this disease. Roots of cassava plants (Manihot esculenta Crantz) with symptoms of root rot were collected from a cassava crop in the municipality of Garanhuns, Pernambuco State, Brazil. This study aimed to identify a Diaporthe species isolated from cassava root rot in Brazil and evaluate pathogenicity in cassava plants and roots. At 7 days after inoculation (DAI), tuberous roots showed necrotic lesions, a soft appearance, and pink color in the center and brown to greenish at the edges, while seedlings showed root rot, wilting, yellowing, drying out, and leaf fall at 66 DAI in the soil. All plants in the control group were asymptomatic. After reisolations and confirmation of Koch's postulates, the causal agent was conclusively identified as Diaporthe ueckeri through the multilocus phylogenetic analyses involving the ITS, TEF1-alpha, TUB2, CAL, and HIS genes. The results showed that the morphological characteristics, such as colonies with abundant aerial mycelium, formation of pycnidia and alpha conidia, were consistent with those described for species of the genus Diaporthe. This is the first report of D. ueckeri causing cassava root rot in Brazil and worldwide.

Numerous plant parasitic nematodes (PPNs) have the potential to inflict considerable damage on agricultural crops. Through a comprehensive survey aimed at identifying PPNs affecting crops, cyst nematodes were isolated from the rhizosphere soil of buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum). Employing both molecular and morphological techniques, this cyst nematode was conclusively identified as Heterodera ripae. Notably, this represents the first documented occurrence of this particular cyst nematode species within the rhizosphere soil of F. esculentum.

Chickpea is the second most widely grown legume in the world. Its cultivation is highly affected by saline soils. Salt stress damages its all growth stages from germination to maturity. It has a huge genetic diversity containing adaptation loci that can help produce salt-tolerant cultivars. The glutathione peroxidase (GPX) gene family plays an important role in regulating plant response to abiotic stimuli and protects cells from oxidative damage. In current research, the role of GPX genes is studied for inducing salt tolerance in chickpea. This study identifies the GPX gene family in Cicer arietinum. In response to the NaCl stress, the gene expression profiles of CaGPX3 were examined using real-time qRT-PCR. The results of phylogenetic analysis show that CaGPX genes have an evolutionary relationship with monocots, dicots, chlorophytes, and angiosperms. Gene structure analysis showed that CaGPX3, CaGPX4, and CaGPX5 have six, CaGPX2 has five, and CaGPX1 contains 9 exons. According to the Ka and Ks analysis chickpea has one pair of duplicated genes of GPX and the duplication was tandem with negative (purifying) selection Ka < Ks (<1). In-silico gene expression analysis revealed that CaGPX3 is a salt stress-responsive gene among all other five GPX members in chickpea. The qRT-PCR results showed that the CaGPX3 gene expression was co-ordinately regulated under salt stress conditions, confirming CaGPX3 ' s key involvement in salt tolerance.

A bacterial strain, designated S9-5(T), was isolated from moraine samples collected from the north slope of Mount Everest at an altitude of 5500 m above sea level. A polyphasic study confirmed the affiliation of the strain with the genus Sphingomonas. Strain S9-5(T) was an aerobic, Gram-stain-negative, non-spore-forming, non-motile and rod-shaped bacterium that could grow at 10-40 degrees C, pH 5-8 and with 0-9% (w/v) NaCl. Q-10 was its predominant respiratory menaquinone. Diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, an unidentified phospholipid, an unidentified aminophospholipid and eight unidentified lipids comprised the polar lipids of strain S9-5(T). Its major fatty acids were summed feature 8 (C-18:1 omega 7c and/or C-18:1 omega 6c) and C-16:0. The G+C content was 65.75mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA sequences showed that strain S9-5(T) was phylogenetically closely related to Sphingomonas panaciterrae DCY91(T) (98.17%), Sphingomonas olei K-1-16(T) (98.11%) and Sphingomonas mucosissima DSM 17494(T) (97.39%). The average nucleotide identity values among strain S9-5(T) and Sphingomonas panaciterrae DCY91(T), Sphingomonas olei K-1-16(T) and Sphingomonas mucosissima DSM 17494(T) were 78.82, 78.87 and 78.29%, respectively. Based on the morphological, physiological and chemotaxonomic data, strain S9-5(T) (=JCM 34750(T)=GDMCC 1.2714(T)) should represent a novel species of the genus Sphingomonas, for which we propose the name Sphingomonas radio-durans sp. nov.