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Low availability of phosphorus (P) in both acidic and alkaline soils is a major problem for sustainable improvement in wheat crops yield. Optimization of crops productivity can be achieved by increasing the bioavailability of P by... more
Low availability of phosphorus (P) in both acidic and alkaline soils is a major problem for sustainable improvement in wheat crops yield. Optimization of crops productivity can be achieved by increasing the bioavailability of P by phosphate solubilizing Actinomycetota (PSA). However, their effectiveness may vary with changing agro-climatic conditions. In this regard, a greenhouse experiment was conducted to assess the interaction inoculation of five potential PSA (P16-P18-BC3-BC10 and BC11) and RPs (RP1- RP2-RP3 and RP4) on the growth and yield of wheat crop in unsterilized P- deficient alkaline and acidic soils. Their performance was compared with single super phosphate (TSP) and reactive RP (BG4). The in-vitro tests showed that all PSA colonize wheat root and form a strong biofilm except Streptomyces anulatus strain P16. Our findings revealed that all PSA significantly improve the shoot/root dry weights, spike biomass, chlorophyll contents as well as nutrients uptake in plants fer...
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A discrete number of studies have been conducted on the effects of rhizobia (Rhz) inoculants, phosphorus (P) management, and combined application of Rhz and P fertilizer on the enhancement of grain legume yield across soils of Ghana and... more
A discrete number of studies have been conducted on the effects of rhizobia (Rhz) inoculants, phosphorus (P) management, and combined application of Rhz and P fertilizer on the enhancement of grain legume yield across soils of Ghana and elsewhere. However, the extent to which the various inoculated Rhz strains, P application, and combined application of Rhz + P studies contribute to improving yield, performed on a comprehensive analysis approach, and profit farmers are yet to be understood. This study reviewed different experimental studies conducted on soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata [L.] Walp), and groundnut (Arachis hypogaea [L.]) to which Rhz inoculants, P supplements, or Rhz + P combination were applied to improve the yield in Ghana. Multiple-step search combinations of published articles and multivariate analysis computing approaches were used to assess the effects of Rhz inoculation, P application, or both application of Rhz and P on yield variatio...
Research Interests: Agronomy, Biology, Phosphorus, Fertilizer, Vigna, and 4 moreRhizobia, Inoculation, Legume, and Arachis Hypogaea
One of agriculture’s most important goals is finding the proper equilibrium between sustainability and intensification of production. The exponential growth of the world population, climate variability, and soil degradation are essential... more
One of agriculture’s most important goals is finding the proper equilibrium between sustainability and intensification of production. The exponential growth of the world population, climate variability, and soil degradation are essential factors that require the development of novel agricultural practices to achieve food security. In this context, organo-mineral fertilization has been proposed as a promising approach. Such a concept is based on novel fertilizers formulations combining organic and mineral resources features, which could simultaneously address soil fertility and health issues. The manufacturing processes of organo-mineral fertilizers (OMF) are highly versatile and revolve around the co-processing of organic and mineral matrices. OMF’s peculiarity resides in using systemic methodologies for waste valorization to generate cost-effective and eco-friendly products in alignment with the bio-circular economy. Despite their advantages, OMF adoption by farmers is still not sa...
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Mining soils are generally characterized by soils having a coarse texture and low fertility, which makes revegetation a very difficult and delicate operation, especially in arid and semi-arid zones. The main objective of this work is to... more
Mining soils are generally characterized by soils having a coarse texture and low fertility, which makes revegetation a very difficult and delicate operation, especially in arid and semi-arid zones. The main objective of this work is to evaluate different substrates that can both contribute to the successful reclamation of phosphate mining soils and the valorization of phosphate by-product and sewage sludge. The study was carried out in pots under a greenhouse on Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum). The experimental design is a randomized complete block with ten treatments, four repetitions from five substrates: phosphogypsum (PG), phosphate sludge (PS), sewage sludge (SS), topsoil from mining (TS) and phosphate waste rocks (PWR); this corresponds to soil after rock phosphate extraction. Nitrogen fertilization was applied to treatments after soil depletion in treatments not receiving sludge. An aerial biomass measurement and nutrient analysis were carried out for the three cuts. T...
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Predatory bacteria constitute a heterogeneous group of prokaryotes able to lyse and feed on the cellular constituents of other bacteria in conditions of nutrient scarcity. In this study, we describe the isolation of Actinobacteria... more
Predatory bacteria constitute a heterogeneous group of prokaryotes able to lyse and feed on the cellular constituents of other bacteria in conditions of nutrient scarcity. In this study, we describe the isolation of Actinobacteria predator of other bacteria from the marine water of the Moroccan Atlantic coast. Only 4 Actinobacteria isolates showing strong predation capability against native or multidrug-resistant Gram-positive or Gram-negative bacteria were identified among 142 isolated potential predatory bacteria. These actinobacterial predators were shown to belong to the Streptomyces genus and to inhibit the growth of various native or multidrug-resistant micro-organisms, including Micrococcus luteus, Staphylococcus aureus (native and methicillin-resistant), and Escherichia coli (native and ampicillin-resistant). Even if no clear correlation could be established between the antibacterial activities of the selected predator Actinobacteria and their predatory activity, we cannot e...
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The objective of this study was to find a connection between the development of the compost actinobacteria and the potential involvement of antagonistic thermophilic actinomycetes in compost sanitization as high temperature additional... more
The objective of this study was to find a connection between the development of the compost actinobacteria and the potential involvement of antagonistic thermophilic actinomycetes in compost sanitization as high temperature additional role. An abundance of actinobacteria and coliforms during the activated sludge and date palm co-composting is determined. Hundred actinomycete isolates were isolated from the sample collected at different composting times. To evaluate the antagonistic effects of the different recovered actinomycete isolates, several wastewater-linked microorganisms known as human and plant potential pathogens were used. The results showed that 12 isolates have an in vitro inhibitory effect on at least 9 of the indicator microorganisms while only 4 active strains inhibit all these pathogens. The antimicrobial activities of sterilized composting time extracts are also investigated.
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... Keywords PGP activities 4 Rock phosphate-solubilizing Actinomycetes 4 Screening 4 Wheatplant ... Since the first description of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) (Kloepper and Schroth 1978), the benefits attributed to... more
... Keywords PGP activities 4 Rock phosphate-solubilizing Actinomycetes 4 Screening 4 Wheatplant ... Since the first description of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) (Kloepper and Schroth 1978), the benefits attributed to bacteria have been defined more precisely. ...
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Actinomycetota in the phylum of bacteria has been explored extensively as a source of antibiotics and secondary metabolites. In addition to acting as plant growth-promoting agents, they also possess the potential to control various plant... more
Actinomycetota in the phylum of bacteria has been explored extensively as a source of antibiotics and secondary metabolites. In addition to acting as plant growth-promoting agents, they also possess the potential to control various plant pathogens; however, there are limited studies that report the facultative predatory ability of Actinomycetota spp. Furthermore, the mechanisms that underline predation are poorly understood. We assessed the diversity of strategies employed by predatory bacteria to attack and subsequently induce the cell lysing of their prey. We revisited the diversity and abundance of secondary metabolite molecules linked to the different predation strategies by bacteria species. We analyzed the pros and cons of the distinctive predation mechanisms and explored their potential for the development of new biocontrol agents. The facultative predatory behaviors diverge from group attack “wolfpack,” cell-to-cell proximity “epibiotic,” periplasmic penetration, and endobio...
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Abstract In this study, the chemical composition, antioxidant potential and antimicrobial interactions with a conventional antibiotic of essential oil (EO) isolated from Andryala pinnatifida subsp. mogadorensis aerial parts were assessed.... more
Abstract In this study, the chemical composition, antioxidant potential and antimicrobial interactions with a conventional antibiotic of essential oil (EO) isolated from Andryala pinnatifida subsp. mogadorensis aerial parts were assessed. Twenty eight compounds were identified. Farnesene (14.92%), Decanal (9.51%) and Tetradecanoic acid (7.44%) were the main compounds. The antibacterial potential was evaluated against two bacterial strains identified as resistant to antibiotics: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, as well as two sensitive bacterial strains: S. aureus and E. coli. The results obtained reveal that no bacterial strain tested was resistant to the studied EO, with MIC values in the range of (1.56-3.12) mg/mL. However, the combination of the studied EO with gentamicin showed a complete synergism against S. aureus. Furthermore, EO was screened for its antioxidant activity using three methods. IC50 values were 4.34 ± 0.06 mg/mL, 1.16 ± 0.1 mg/mL and 1.94 ± 0.09 mg/mL, respectively, for DPPH, Ferric reducing and β-carotene/linoleic acid assays. The data indicate that the essential oil of this Moroccan endemic plant proved to be an important source of antioxidant and antibacterial products and may be used for the treatment of pathogenic bacteria and could be also implicated in food industries as preservative of foodstuffs.
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Olive mill wastewater sludge (OMWS) is the main by-product of the olive industry. OMWS is usually dumped in landfills without prior treatment and may cause several eco-environmental hazards due to its high toxicity, which is mainly... more
Olive mill wastewater sludge (OMWS) is the main by-product of the olive industry. OMWS is usually dumped in landfills without prior treatment and may cause several eco-environmental hazards due to its high toxicity, which is mainly attributed to polyphenols and lipids. OMWS is rich in valuable biocompounds, which makes it highly desirable for valorization by composting. However, there is a need to understand how microbial communities evolve during OMWS composting with respect to physicochemical changes and the dynamics of pollutant degradation. In this study, we addressed the relationship between microbial community, physicochemical variations and pollutants degradation during the co-composting of OMWS and green wastes using metagenomic- and culture-dependent approaches. The results showed that in raw OMWS, Pichia was the most represented genus with almost 53% of the total identified fungal population. Moreover, the bacteria that dominated were Zymobacter palmae (20%) and Pseudomona...
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Fungal diseases are currently a serious public health problem, due to the limited number of fact-based effective principles, and the emergence of resistant strains to the polyenic antifungals. The aim of this study was to screen, for... more
Fungal diseases are currently a serious public health problem, due to the limited number of fact-based effective principles, and the emergence of resistant strains to the polyenic antifungals. The aim of this study was to screen, for non-polyenic antifungals production by Actinobacteria, and to validate the screening program by characterizingthe produced compounds.Actinobacteria isolates were tested against four clinic human-pathogenic fungi isolated from Hospital Mohammed V Rabat, Morocco. The production of non-polyenic antifungal metabolites by active isolates was investigated based on the yeast cell specificity as challenging targets, antibacterial activity, activity against resistant Candida tropicalis R2 and Pythium irregular (resistant to polyenes), inhibition of antifungal activity by the addition of exogenous ergosterol, and the UV-visible light spectrophotometric analysis of the active crude extracts.The antifungal compound produced was purified using various chromatographi...
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A novel actinomycete, strain X4T, was isolated from a phosphate mine in Youssoufia, 100 km north of Marrakesh, Morocco. The taxonomic status of this strain was evaluated by a polyphasic approach. Strain X4Thad white aerial mycelium... more
A novel actinomycete, strain X4T, was isolated from a phosphate mine in Youssoufia, 100 km north of Marrakesh, Morocco. The taxonomic status of this strain was evaluated by a polyphasic approach. Strain X4Thad white aerial mycelium withRectiflexibilesspore chains bearing smooth-surfaced spores and did not produce diffusible pigments. Chemotaxonomic analysis showed that the cell wall of strain X4Tcontainedll-diaminopimelic acid and glycine. Phylogenetic analysis based on the almost complete 16S rRNA gene sequence indicated that strain X4Tbelongs to the Group I streptomycetes, branching off next toStreptomyces ramulosusNRRL B-2714TandStreptomyces kasugaensisM338-M1T. DNA–DNA relatedness and phenotypic data enabled strain X4Tto be distinguished from the phylogenetically most closely related type strains. It is therefore proposed that strain X4Trepresents a novel species of the genusStreptomyces, for which the nameStreptomyces youssoufiensissp. nov. is proposed; the type strain is X4T( ...
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One hundred and forty-two different actinomycete strains were isolated from rhizosphere soil of Vitis vinifera L. sampled from four Moroccan areas. To evaluate the antifungal effect of the different collected actinomycete isolates, five... more
One hundred and forty-two different actinomycete strains were isolated from rhizosphere soil of Vitis vinifera L. sampled from four Moroccan areas. To evaluate the antifungal effect of the different collected actinomycete isolates, five fungi known to be phytopathogens (Pythium ultimum, Fusarium oxyysporum f. sp. albedinis, Sclerotium rolfsii, Verticillium dahliae and Botrytis cinerea) were used. Results showed that 24 isolates had
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Plant symbiotic interactions with nitrogen-fixing bacteria could be used in agricultural and forest soils under harsh conditions and for land reclamation. These associations include rhizobia interacting with legumes species and the... more
Plant symbiotic interactions with nitrogen-fixing bacteria could be used in agricultural and forest soils under harsh conditions and for land reclamation. These associations include rhizobia interacting with legumes species and the actinobacterium Frankia interacting with actinorhizal plants. These plants are distributed worldwide and suffer in many areas – especially in arid and semiarid regions from harsh biotic and abiotic conditions. Abiotic stress conditions include climatic conditions, soil characteristics, water and nutrient availability, salinity, and soil contamination by heavy metals, xenobiotics, and toxins. Thus, the improvement of symbiotic nitrogen fixation under stress conditions may rely on strategies devised to select more tolerant plant-bacteria associations and to use successfully efficient synergistic systems such as those involving mycorrhizal fungi and rhizobacteria, particularly plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). This chapter focuses on main stress conditions affecting plant-bacteria symbioses with emphasis on mechanisms that underpin plant resistance to stress. Biological strategies involving microbial inoculants aiming to protect and improve plant symbioses against detrimental effects of abiotic stresses so as to enhance the crop production in such conditions are discussed. In addition, plant-bacteria symbioses can also be used to promote the establishment of perennial vegetation that might limit the heavy metal pollution of soils and consequently represent an effective management procedure in disturbed soils. This chapter also focuses on main techniques successfully used for the purpose of land reclamation by plant-bacteria symbioses.
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Fusaric acid (FA) is a toxin produced by Fusarium species. Most studies on FA have reported toxic effects (for example, alteration of cell growth, mitochondrial activity and membrane permeability) at concentrations greater than 10(-5) m.... more
Fusaric acid (FA) is a toxin produced by Fusarium species. Most studies on FA have reported toxic effects (for example, alteration of cell growth, mitochondrial activity and membrane permeability) at concentrations greater than 10(-5) m. FA participates in fungal pathogenicity by decreasing plant cell viability. However, FA is also produced by nonpathogenic Fusarii, potential biocontrol agents of vascular wilt fusaria. The aim of this study was to determine whether FA, at nontoxic concentrations, could induce plant defence responses. Nontoxic concentrations of FA were determined from cell-growth and O2-uptake measurements on suspensions of Arabidopsis thaliana cells. Ion flux variations were analysed from electrophysiological and pH measurements. H2O2 and cytosolic calcium were quantified by luminescence techniques. FA at nontoxic concentrations (i.e. below 10(-6) m) was able to induce the synthesis of phytoalexin, a classic delayed plant response to pathogen. FA could also induce rapid responses putatively involved in signal transduction, such as the production of reactive oxygen species, and an increase in cytosolic calcium and ion channel current modulations. FA can thus act as an elicitor at nanomolar concentrations.
Research Interests: Biochemistry, Biology, Calcium, Medicine, Patch-clamp and imaging techniques, and 15 moreSignal Transduction, Arabidopsis thaliana, Biological Sciences, Reactive Oxygen Species, New, Terpenes, Arabidopsis, Physiological Response, Sesquiterpenes, Plant extracts, Oxygen, Thiazoles, Elicitor, Hydrogen-Ion Concentration, and Ion Channel Blockade
Fusarium spp. are ubiquitous fungi found in soil worldwide as both pathogenic and nonpathogenic strains. The signals leading to disease or the absence of disease are poorly understood. We recently showed that fusaric acid (FA), a... more
Fusarium spp. are ubiquitous fungi found in soil worldwide as both pathogenic and nonpathogenic strains. The signals leading to disease or the absence of disease are poorly understood. We recently showed that fusaric acid (FA), a nonspecific toxin produced by most Fusarium spp., could elicit various plant defense responses at 100 nM without toxic effect. In this study, we checked for the effect of FA on root and root hairs, probable first site of contact between the fungi and the host. Large FA concentrations reduce root and root-hair growth and induce a rapid transient membrane hyperpolarization, followed by a large depolarization, due to the inhibition of H+-ATPase currents. Nanomolar concentrations of FA induced only an early transient membrane hyperpolarization of root hairs compatible with the induction of a signal transduction pathway. FA at 10-7 M failed to induce salicylic acid- and jasmonic acid/ethylene-dependent defense-related genes but inhibited the germination of the a...
Research Interests: Botany, Genetics, Microbiology, Plant Biology, Biology, and 15 morePlant Molecular Biology, Medicine, Gene expression, Arabidopsis thaliana, Fusarium, Molecular Plant Microbe Interactions, Plant Roots, Arabidopsis, PLANT DEFENSE, Germination, Biological Pest Control, Salicylic Acid, Fusarium Spp, Jasmonic Acid, and root hair
Bayoud, a vascular wilt of date palm caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. albedinis (Foa), is the most devastating disease in palm groves of north Africa. Although Foa is able to induce resistance mechanisms in its host plant, no data are... more
Bayoud, a vascular wilt of date palm caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. albedinis (Foa), is the most devastating disease in palm groves of north Africa. Although Foa is able to induce resistance mechanisms in its host plant, no data are available on the early responses of the root ...
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Samples of the aerial parts of Thymus broussonetii, T. ciliatus, T. leptobotrys, T. maroccanus, T. pallidus, T. satureioides, and T. serpyllum collected from different natural regions in southern and south-western Morocco were analyzed... more
Samples of the aerial parts of Thymus broussonetii, T. ciliatus, T. leptobotrys, T. maroccanus, T. pallidus, T. satureioides, and T. serpyllum collected from different natural regions in southern and south-western Morocco were analyzed for their qualitative and quantitative essential oil profiles. In total, 46 compounds, representing more than 99% of the oils, were characterized. Monoterpenes, both hydrocarbons (12.9-58.0%) and oxygenated monoterpenes (38.8-81.1%), were the principal classes of compounds for most of the thyme species studied. Cluster analysis allowed the classification of the species into three main groups: a carvacrol group (Group I), comprising the species T. maroccanus and T. leptobotrys, a linalyl acetate and (E)-nerolidol group (Group II), represented by T. serpyllum, and a thymol and/or carvacrol, γ-terpinene, and p-cymene group (Group III), composed of T. satureioides, T. broussonetii, T. ciliatus, and T. pallidus. The essential oils were screened for their antioxidant and anticandidal activities. The data showed that the oils obtained from T. leptobotrys and T. maroccanus (carvacrol group) possessed the highest antioxidant activities as assessed by the determination of the DPPH free radical-scavenging ability and the ferric-reducing potential. The anticandidal assays indicated that the highest activity was noticed for the essential oil isolated from T. leptobotrys.
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Some soil-borne microorganisms are known to have the ability to solubilize insoluble rock phosphate and this process often involves the excretion of organic acids. In this issue, we describe the characterization of a novel solubilizing... more
Some soil-borne microorganisms are known to have the ability to solubilize insoluble rock phosphate and this process often involves the excretion of organic acids. In this issue, we describe the characterization of a novel solubilizing mechanism used by a Streptomyces strain related to Streptomyces griseus isolated from Moroccan phosphate mines. This process involves the excretion of a compound belonging to the viridomycin family that was shown to play a major role in the rock phosphate bio weathering process. We propose that the chelation of the positively charged counter ions of phosphate constitutive of rock phosphate by this molecule leads to the destabilization of the structure of rock phosphate. This would result in the solubilization of the negatively charged phosphates, making them available for plant nutrition. Furthermore, this compound was shown to inhibit growth of fungi and Gram positive bacteria, and this antibiotic activity might be due to its strong ability to chelat...
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Purpose The deterioration of agricultural soil can be alleviated by maintaining an appropriate level of soil organic matter by using organic amendments such as compost and biochar. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of... more
Purpose The deterioration of agricultural soil can be alleviated by maintaining an appropriate level of soil organic matter by using organic amendments such as compost and biochar. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of olive waste-based compost, wood-based biochar and their combination on the chemical and microbial properties of loamy clay soil and the agrophysiological traits of maize. Method Zea mays was grown under greenhouse conditions for 3 months in pots filled with alkaline soil collected from 0-30 cm depth. The experiment was arranged in a completely randomized design with 5 replicates and 3 treatments: compost-soil [1:10 (v/v)], biochar-soil [1:20 (v/v)] and (1:2)-ratio biochar-compost combination (BCC). ResultsBiochar addition singly or in BCC increased soil TOC, EC, and pH. Furthermore, adding biochar to compost increased the levels of macro- and micronutrients compared to those under single application of biochar. The soil fertility improved significan...
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Objective: To explore the new sources of novel bioactive compounds having pharmaceutical and agricultural interest and to search the endophytic actinobacteria from medicinal plants. Methods: NAF-1 an endophyte actinobacteria was isolated... more
Objective: To explore the new sources of novel bioactive compounds having pharmaceutical and agricultural interest and to search the endophytic actinobacteria from medicinal plants. Methods: NAF-1 an endophyte actinobacteria was isolated from leaves of medicinal plant Aloe vera collected in Marrakesh, Morocco using Bennett agar as selective medium. NAF-1 was tested for its antimicrobial activity against five pathogenic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus PIC 53156, Micrococcus luteus ATCC381, Bacillus subtilis ATCC 14579, Pseudomonas aeruginosa DSM 50090 and Escherichia coli ATCC 8739 and four human clinic fungi belonging to the Candida, Aspergillus and Microsporum genera. Several antioxidant activities were studied such as DPPH free radical scavenging, β -carotene and linoleic acid and reducing power assays. The total of phenol and flavonoid was also calculated. Using Artemia salina shrimp assay, the cytotoxicity of NAF-1 crude extract was determined. Results: The results revealed that the actinobacteria showed a high activity (≥20 mm) against only Gram positive bacteria but it had a moderate activity (between 13 and 15 mm) against Human clinic fungi. The isolate also exhibited a LD50 of 14.20 μg/mL in the cytotoxicity assay. The result showed that the crude extract presented an interesting free radical-scavenging activity with IC50 value of (5.58 ± 0.26) μg/mL and a high value of phenolic and flavonoid compounds with (15.41 ± 0.18) μg GAE/mg extract and (11.41± 0.06) μg QE/mg extract respectively. Moreover, the taxonomic position of our endophyte actinobacteria using the morphological and physiological criteria and using 16S rRNA gene sequence (polyphasic approach) showed that the NAF-1 isolate was similar to Streptomyces hydrogenans which was never described as an endophyte actinobacteria. Conclusions: This isolated strain appears promising resources of bioactive agents and can be exploited to produce therapeutic agents active against pathogenic disease.
Atriplex semibaccata R.Br. is a perennial halophyte that has received much attention for studies of revegetation of marginal lands in arid and semi-arid environments. It was, recently, demonstrated that there are no risks in terms of... more
Atriplex semibaccata R.Br. is a perennial halophyte that has received much attention for studies of revegetation of marginal lands in arid and semi-arid environments. It was, recently, demonstrated that there are no risks in terms of contamination of essential oil (EO) from growing plant on such land. Interest in exploring the antibacterial and antioxidant potential of A. semibaccata EO has consequently been renewed. The objective of this study was to investigate the chemical composition, as well as the antioxidant and antibacterial activities of A. semibaccata EO. The antibacterial activity was evaluated against native (drug-sensitive) and multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria by testing the EO alone and in combination with conventional antibiotics. The chemical composition of EO was analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, 52 chemical compounds were identified, and 2-Methoxy-4-vinyl phenol (48.9%), benzaldehyde (6.7%), and benzyl alcohol (6.3%) were found to be the main cons...
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The efficiency of the treatment of hospital wastewater by actinobacteria was investigated using two chemometric data analysis methods. Six strains of multi-resistant bacteria isolated from Marrakesh hospital wastewater and four strains of... more
The efficiency of the treatment of hospital wastewater by actinobacteria was investigated using two chemometric data analysis methods. Six strains of multi-resistant bacteria isolated from Marrakesh hospital wastewater and four strains of antagonistic actinobacteria isolated from Moroccan marine environment were characterized by fatty acids released as methyl esters by thermochemolysis-GC/MS. The hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and the principal component analysis (PCA) were used to correlate fatty acids (FA) distributions within strains. HCA allowed to discriminate between bacteria and actinobacteria. A lower Euclidean distance is noted for bacteria. With PCA, linear and branched-chained FAs correlated with bacteria whereas mono unsaturated FAs correlated more specifically with Gram (−) bacteria. Terminally branched-chained FAs correlated most likely with actinobacteria. A co-culture of actinobacteria and bacteria monitored during 15 days demonstrated the efficiency of the biological treatment for 2 of the 4 studied actinobacteria. The effect is more important on Gram-negative bacteria. Antagonistic actinobacteria seem to be poorly efficient against Gram-positive bacteria.
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Soil fertility and plant nutrition require an adequate management of essential macronutrients such as potassium (K) and phosphorus (P), which are mandatory for plant development. Bioleaching of K and P bearing minerals improves their... more
Soil fertility and plant nutrition require an adequate management of essential macronutrients such as potassium (K) and phosphorus (P), which are mandatory for plant development. Bioleaching of K and P bearing minerals improves their chemical weathering and increases the performance of the biofertilization strategies. In this study, in vitro and greenhouse experiments were carried out to investigate P and K solubilization traits of nine Actinobacteria (P13, P14, P15, P16, P17, P18, BC3, BC10, and BC11) under fertilization with rock phosphate (RP). K and P solubilization were evaluated on Alexandrov and NBRIP media containing mica and six RP samples, respectively. The actinobacterial strains were able to solubilize K in Alexandrov medium supplemented with RP. However, when soluble P was used instead of RP, only four strains of Actinobacteria (Streptomyces alboviridis P18–Streptomyces griseorubens BC3–Streptomyces griseorubens BC10 and Nocardiopsis alba BC11) solubilized K. The solubi...
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For all living organisms, nitrogen is an essential element, while being the most limiting in ecosystems and for crop production. Despite the significant contribution of synthetic fertilizers, nitrogen requirements for food production... more
For all living organisms, nitrogen is an essential element, while being the most limiting in ecosystems and for crop production. Despite the significant contribution of synthetic fertilizers, nitrogen requirements for food production increase from year to year, while the overuse of agrochemicals compromise soil health and agricultural sustainability. One alternative to overcome this problem is biological nitrogen fixation (BNF). Indeed, more than 60% of the fixed N on Earth results from BNF. Therefore, optimizing BNF in agriculture is more and more urgent to help meet the demand of the food production needs for the growing world population. This optimization will require a good knowledge of the diversity of nitrogen-fixing microorganisms, the mechanisms of fixation, and the selection and formulation of efficient N-fixing microorganisms as biofertilizers. Good understanding of BNF process may allow the transfer of this ability to other non-fixing microorganisms or to non-leguminous p...
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Plant growth promoting microbes (PGPMs) play major roles in diverse ecosystems, including atmospheric nitrogen fixation, water uptake, solubilization, and transport of minerals from the soil to the plant. Different PGPMs are proposed as... more
Plant growth promoting microbes (PGPMs) play major roles in diverse ecosystems, including atmospheric nitrogen fixation, water uptake, solubilization, and transport of minerals from the soil to the plant. Different PGPMs are proposed as biofertilizers, biostimulants, and/or biocontrol agents to improve plant growth and productivity and thereby to contribute to agricultural sustainability and food security. However, little information exists regarding the use of PGPMs in micropropagation such as the in vitro plant tissue culture. This review presents an overview of the importance of PGPMs and their potential application in plant micropropagation. Our analysis, based on published articles, reveals that the process of in vitro classical tissue culture techniques, under strictly aseptic conditions, deserves to be reviewed to allow vitroplants to benefit from the positive effect of PGPMs. Furthermore, exploiting the potential benefits of PGPMs will lead to lessen the cost production of v...