Fungi are an understudied, biotechnologically valuable group of organisms. Due to 
the immense range of habitats that fungi inhabit, and the consequent need to compete against a diverse array of other fungi, bacteria, and animals, fungi have developed numerous survival mechanisms. The unique attributes of fungi thus herald great promise for their application in biotechnology and industry. Moreover, fungi can be grown with relative ease, making production at scale viable. The search for fungal biodiversity, and the construction of a living fungi collection, both have incredible economic potential in locating organisms with novel industrial uses that will lead to novel products. This manuscript reviews fifty ways in which fungi can potentially be utilized as biotechnology. We provide notes and examples for each potential exploitation and give examples from our own work and the work of other notable researchers. We also provide a flow chart that can be used to convince funding bodies of the importance of fungi for biotechnological research and as potential products. Fungi have provided the world with penicillin, lovastatin, and other globally significant medicines, and they remain an untapped resource with enormous industrial potential.

The amazing potential of fungi: 50 ways we can exploit fungi industrially

Factors affecting mushroom Pleurotus spp.

Over the past 3 decades, the prevalence of overweight and obesity has increased dramatically worldwide. The rising trend of obesity indicates that this increase is not only confined to the developed world, but also extending towards the developing world. In the context, Saudi Arabia is now among the nations with the highest obesity and overweight prevalence rates due to a number of factors. This research explores and evaluates the prevalence of obesity in Saudi Arabia on the basis of the findings of previous literature. The research reveals that the rate of obesity is significantly high in the country among different age groups and occupations; at different locations in the country; and among both males and females. The main factors causing obesity include family history, diet pattern and eating habits, genetic factors, marital status, hypertension and lack of physical activities; while, the major consequences are cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers, and Ischemic heart disease. The research stresses on the need to raise awareness regarding obesity and design efforts and strategies to combat it in the country.

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A Review of Prevalence of Obesity in Saudi Arabia

A vast number of publications have investigated the application of electrocoagulation (EC) process in heavy metal ions removal from wastewaters. Most of these studies were simple lab-scale using synthetic wastewater with the absence of holistic and systematic approach to consider the process complexity. This comprehensive review considers the fundamental aspects of EC processes such as mechanisms, kinetic models, and isotherm models used by different researchers. Furthermore, the impact of the main design and process operational parameters on the removal efficiency is discussed and analyzed. Many concluding remarks and perspectives are stated to give insights for possible future investigations.

Heavy metal ions removal from wastewater using electrocoagulation processes: A comprehensive review

Operating cost and treatment of metalworking fluid wastewater by chemical coagulation and electrocoagulation processes

A healthy soil acts as a dynamic living system that delivers multiple ecosystem services, such as sustaining water quality and plant productivity, controlling soil nutrient recycling decomposition, and removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Soil health is closely associated with sustainable agriculture, because soil microorganism diversity and activity are the main components of soil health. Agricultural sustainability is defined as the ability of a crop production system to continuously produce food without environmental degradation. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), cyanobacteria, and beneficial nematodes enhance water use efficiency and nutrient availability to plants, phytohormones production, soil nutrient cycling, and plant resistance to environmental stresses. Farming practices have shown that organic farming and tillage improve soil health by increasing the abundance, diversity, and activity of microorganisms. Conservation tillage can potentially increase grower’s profitability by reducing inputs and labor costs as compared to conventional tillage while organic farming might add extra management costs due to high labor demands for weeding and pest control, and for fertilizer inputs (particularly N-based), which typically have less consistent uniformity and stability than synthetic fertilizers. This review will discuss the external factors controlling the abundance of rhizosphere microbiota and the impact of crop management practices on soil health and their role in sustainable crop production.

Soil Health and Sustainable Agriculture

Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are beneficial microorganisms that can be utilized to improve plant responses against biotic and abiotic stresses. In this study, 74 halotolerant bacterial isolates were isolated from rhizosphere and endorhizosphere of durum wheat (Triticum turgidum subsp. durum) plants cultivated in saline environments in the Ghor region near the east of the Dead Sea. 16S rDNA partial sequences and phylogenetic analysis of 62 isolates showed clear clustering of the isolates into three phyla: Firmicutes (61.3%), Proteobacteria (29.0%), and Actinobacteria (9.7%). At the genus level, the majority of them were grouped within the Bacillus, Oceanobacillus, and Halomonas genera. The isolates, which possessed plant growth promoting traits including nitrogen fixation, ACC deaminase activity, auxin production, inorganic phosphate solubilization and siderophore production, were selected. The effect of the inoculation of selected PGPR strains on growth of salt sensitive and salt tolerant durum wheat genotypes under high salt stress conditions was evaluated. Six halotolerant PGPR strains were able to improve survival in inoculated plants under high salinity stress conditions as reflected in higher germination percentages and seedling root growth when compared with non-inoculated plants. Furthermore, three halotolerant PGPR strains were able to improve durum wheat tolerance to water deficit stress. In addition, antagonistic effect in four halotolerant PGPR strains against an aggressive pathogenic isolate of Fusarium culmorum that causes crown rot disease was observed in a dual culture assay. In conclusion, the halotolerant PGPR strains described in this study might have great potential to improve durum wheat productivity under different stress conditions.

/pdf/isolation-and-characterization-of-halotolerant-plant-growth-dfmhurse6z.pdf

Isolation and Characterization of Halotolerant Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria From Durum Wheat (Triticum turgidum subsp. durum) Cultivated in Saline Areas of the Dead Sea Region.

https://cyberleninka.org/article/n/392870.pdf

Cultivation of oyster mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus on date-palm leaves mixed with other agro-wastes in Saudi Arabia

The aim of the present work was to investigate experimentally the reduction of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) levels from baker’s yeast wastewater (BYW) using batch electrocoagulation (EC) treatment process An electrocoagulation unit with six iron electrodes was designed to achieve this treatment task The effect of several operational parameters including pH, direct current (DC) density (Iρ), mixing speed (MS), and temperature (T) on the performance of EC process was studied The results indicated that the maximum removal efficiency of the COD was up to 85% The visual test showed that the electrocoagulation process was able to remove completely the dark brown color of baker’s yeast wastewater The corresponding electrical energy and electrode consumption per kg COD removed was around 0493 kWh and 2956 kg iron, respectively In addition, it was demonstrated that the reduction rate of COD follows the first-order model whose kinetic parameter, k, depends strongly on the DC current density according to a power law relation

Cod reduction of baker's yeast wastewater using batch electrocoagulation

Phomopsis stem canker causes yield reductions on sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) on several continents, including Australia, Europe, and North America. In the United States, Phomopsis stem canker ...

https://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1094/PHYTO-11-14-0336-FI

Kholoud M. Alananbeh

Papers

Soil Health and Sustainable Agriculture

Isolation and Characterization of Halotolerant Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria From Durum Wheat (Triticum turgidum subsp. durum) Cultivated in Saline Areas of the Dead Sea Region.

Cultivation of oyster mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus on date-palm leaves mixed with other agro-wastes in Saudi Arabia

Cod reduction of baker's yeast wastewater using batch electrocoagulation

Phomopsis Stem Canker: A Reemerging Threat to Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) in the United States