In the current study, eight new recorded isolates related to the genus Alternaria, section Alternata were isolated from soil, sorghum, and wheat grains in Assiut Governorate, Egypt. Morphological characteristics, in addition to DNA sequence analysis revealed their identity as Alternaria arborescens (2 isolates) and A. angustiovoidea (6 isolates). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first record of these species in Egypt. The two genetically identified strains of both species were deposited in the culture collection of Assiut University Mycological Centre with accession numbers of A. arborescens AUMC 14106 and A. angustiovoidea AUMC 14107. Sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) gene of the two strains were uploaded to Gen Bank with accession numbers A. arborescens MN240306 and A. angustiovoidea MN242398.

In the present research and during surveys of mycobiota inhabiting leaves and roots of some wild and medicinal plants in Egypt, two significant isolates were isolated for the first time in Egypt and for the second time worldwide after type species inhabiting leaves of Convolvulus arvensis and Moringa oleifera. Those isolates were phenotypically classified as Aspergillus creber, and A. keveii referred to the representative type species belonging to the genus Aspergillus section Versicolores and section Usti, respectively.Pure cultures of both species have been deposited in the Culture Collection of Assiut University Mycological Centre with A. creber AUMC 14298 and A. keveii AUMC 14299. These species are recorded here for the first time worldwide as endophytes. The current research provides brief descriptions and photographs of both species.

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a severe disease of cattle that causes a broad spectrum of economic losses. The purpose of this study is to shed light on some physiological changes that may occur in the infected Egyptian local cows, including the primary and secondary stress responses besides the antioxidant profile. Two groups of Egyptian adult cows were used in the present study. The first group (control group) consisted of 10 clinically healthy cows, while the other one (infected group) consisted of 7 naturally infected LSD cases subjected to routine clinical examination. The clinical investigation revealed the presence of skin lesions passing through different progressive stages, starting from the appearance of nodules until the formation of deep scars. LSD was associated with a well-noted stress response, as exemplified by hyperglycemia, hyperlactatemia, and increases in serum cortisol, urea, and creatinine levels. Marked depletion in serum superoxide dismutase and catalase activities, vitamin E, malondialdehyde, and total peroxide levels were observed in the LSD challenged cows. These findings indicated the ability of LSD to induce stress reactivity and disturb the redox balance, and therefore the application of stress-management strategies and administration of dietary antioxidants are highly recommended to enhance the health status of infected animals. This study paves the road towards other works investigating the differential response of oxidative stress biomarkers to this disease according to its severity and stages and choosing the best antioxidant supplements.

Phosphate solubilization, production of IAA, and other related compounds by fungi interact with plants as part of its colonization, leading to growth promotion, induced resistance, and modification of basal plant defense mechanisms. In the current study, 77 rhizosphere fungal species belonging to 30 genera were isolated on Czapek’s Dox agar from around 40 root samples of wheat- and pepper-soil collected from El-Kharga Oasis, New Valley Governorate, Egypt. Pepper-soil appertained a higher number of genera (22) and species (51) than wheat-soil. Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Fusarium were the most common genera recorded, and Aspergillus flavus, A. terreus, and Penicillium chrysogenum were the prevalent species in wheat-soil, while A. niger, A. terreus, and Scopulariopsis fusca were the wealthiest species in pepper-soil. Two hundred isolates were screened for their phosphate solubilization potential, only 31.0% of total isolates could solubilize phosphate with various degrees. The highest phosphate solubilization index (PSI) was shown in P. chrysogenum AUMC 14100, A. niger AUMC 14260, P. chrysogenum AUMC 14262, A. brasiliensis AUMC 14261 and A. lacticoffeatus AUMC 14257 recording PSI of 3.84, 3.74, 3.48, 3.17 and 3.11 respectively. The potentiality to solubilize phosphate by these five isolates was estimated in liquid medium, A. niger AUMC 14260 could solubilize the maximum amount of phosphate (1754.7 µg/mL) after 20 days, while it reached its highest level in A. brasiliensis and A. lacticoffeatus (1745.8 µg/mL and 1679.1 µg/mL respectively) after 10 days. Therefore, these strains can be considered as promising biofertilizers for application in agriculture.

Klebsiella became an increasingly important source of community-acquired and nosocomial infections. Extensive broad-spectrum utilization of antibiotics in hospitalized patients has contributed to both increased carriages of Klebsiella and the development of multidrug-resistant strains. Many of these strains are extremely virulent and show a strong tendency to spread. Bacteriophages, viruses that because bacterial lysis can serve as a useful tool for Klebsiella infection control. In this study, two lytic phages designated as ØKPAS1 and ØKPAS2 infecting multidrug-resistant K. pneumoniae were isolated from sewage samples collected in Assiut, Egypt. Using transmission electron microscopy, the morphology of isolated phages was characterized, and their host range was determined. The morphological analysis revealed that both phages belong to the Podoviridae family. ØKPAS1 has ahead of about 50 ± 5 nm in diameter and a short tail of 20 ± 2 nm in length, while ØKPAS2 has ahead of about 53± 5 nm in diameter with a short tail of 19 ± 2 nm in length. ØKPAS1 phage showed a broader host range within genus Klebsiella since it was able to lyse 8 out of 15 different Klebsiella cultures while ØKPAS2 was able to lyse only 5 out of 15. Both phages could not infect bacteria from other genera such as Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhi. The isolated phage ØKPAS1 was able to survive at a temperature up to 50 ?C and was infective in pH range between 4.0-9.0, while ØKPAS2 was able to survive at a temperature up to 60 ?C and was stable over the pH range of 4,0 to10,0. Both phages were stable in chloroform. One-step growth curves of ØKPAS1 and ØKPAS2 revealed that the latent period was 10 min for either phage, with burst sizes of about 120 and 245 pfu/ml for ØKPAS1 and ØKPAS2, respectively.

Postpartum uterine diseases in dairy cows have undesirable effects on reproductive efficiency. The current study aimed to evaluate hormones and some metabolites which can predict postpartum uterine disorder in dairy cows (Holstein Friesian) during the transition period. A total of 32 dairy cows divided into two groups; 9 control healthy cows without any postpartum uterine disorder, and 23 cows suffered from postpartum uterine disorder, which further subdivided into12 cows with retained fetal membranes (RFM) and 11 cows with postpartum metritis (PM). Blood samples were collected from the jugular vein of each cow weekly from 21 days’ prepartum to 21 days postpartum early in the morning. Glucose (BG), triglyceride (TG), cholesterol, progesterone (P4), cortisol, calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), magnesium (Mg), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total protein (TP) and albumin, were measured. The results showed that TG, TC, P4, cortisol, Ca, P, Mg, TP, and albumin were higher at the prepartum period than the postpartum one in all dairy cows. In contrast, BG, AST, and ALT were significantly higher in all dairy cows during the postpartum period. Cows with RFM had higher serum prepartum levels of TC, P4, and cortisol. However, prepartum levels of TG, TP, AST and ALT were significantly higher in cows with PM. A negative energy balance (NEB) and disturbance in some metabolites and hormones at prepartum could induce the development of PM and RFM as postpartum uterine disorders during the transitional period in the dairy cows.