Luma Al-Banna

Morphological and morphometrical analysis of Heterodera spp. populations in Jordan

Phenotypic diversity of five Jordanian populations of cyst nematodes, Heterodera spp. collected from five regions from Jordan (Ar-Ramtha, Madaba, Dana, Al-Karak, and Jerash) was investigated. Soil samples were collected from one representative field in each region. Morphological and morphometrical characteristics revealed that Heterodera latipons is dominated in cereal fields at Ar-Ramtha, Madaba, Dana and Al-Karak regions and Heterodera schachtii in Jerash. Cysts populations from all cereal fields had bifenestrate vulval cone and a strong underbridge. Wherever, cysts of the cabbage population had ambifenestrate vulval cone with long vulval slit. The bullae were absent in Ar-Ramtha, Madaba and Dana populations, but present in Al-Karak and Jerash. Based on 12 morphometrical characters, the first three functions in canonical discriminant analysis accounted 99.3% of the total variation. Distance from dorsal gland duct opening to stylet base, underbridge length, a = L/W (body length/midbody width) and length of hyaline tail tip had strong and significant contributions in the first function. While the second function was strongly influenced by length of hyaline tail, fenestral length, fenestral width and tail length. However, the third canonical discriminate function was found to be influenced by stylet length, fenestral length, a = L/W (body length/midbody width) and underbridge width. The graphical representation of the distribution of the samples showed that the first canonical discriminant function clearly separated H. schachtii from Jerash from other populations. Whereas, H. latipons collected from Madaba and Dana were clearly separated in the second function. The results indicated that differences at morphological and morphometrical levels revealed diverse populations of Heterodera spp. in Jordan.

Bioinformatics analysis of ubiquitin expression protein gene from Heterodera latipons

Ubiquitin expression protein DNA clone (Hl-UBI) was isolated from Heterodera latipons collected from North Jordan. Its sequence of 285 nucleotides was also determined and deposited in the GeneBank. The 285-bp open reading frame coded for 76-amino acid protein having two domains; the ubiquitin domain and the C terminal extension. The first 59 amino acids were predicted with the ubiquitin domain with identity percentages of 78% to ubiquitin of H. schachtii, 77% to polyubiquitin of Globodera pallida, 74% to ubiquitin of Globodera rostochiensis and 72% to ubiquitin of Heterodera glycines. The other domain at the C-terminus, containing 17 amino acids, showed no homology to any known protein. Sequence analysis showed a calculated encoding amino acids molecular weight of 8.77 kDa, theoretical isoelectric point = 4.76, negatively charged residues = 12, positively charged residues = 9, extinction coefficient = 1490, estimated half-life = 30 h, instability index = 32.51 and grand average of hydropathicity = −0.537. The demonstrated subcellular localization analysis of cytoplasm, cell nucleus, mitochondrion, cell skeleton and plasma membrane of Hl-UBI protein occupied about 52.20, 21.70, 17.40, 4.30 and 4.30%, respectively. Sequence, homology and structural analysis confirmed that Hl-UBI gene was highly conserved during evolution and belonged to ubiquitin gene family.

Fungicidal and nematicidal activities for essential oils formulated in Janus emulsion

ABSTRACT This study investigated the nematicidal and fungicidal activities of the two immiscible camphor and orange oils formulated in Janus emulsion (JE). JE was prepared from camphor and orange oils by a single-step emulsification with different concentrations chosen from an established phase diagram. Camphor oil nematicidal activity was studied against the root knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita, while orange oil fungicidal activity was studied against the wilt fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici (Fol). For a comparison study, different concentrations of JE and double emulsions were prepared. Results showed that JE had a significant mortality effect on the second-stage juveniles (J2s) M. incognita with 81% mortality and was able to delay the growth of Fol four and seven days after exposure, while changes in the efficiency of DE were recorded. Prepared JEs were shown to maintain the efficiency and to have slow release profiles for encapsulated oils. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

POPULATION DYNAMICS OF DAGGER NEMATODE ATTACKING ALEPPO PINE TREE IN JORDAN

The temporal distribution of an isolate of the dagger nematode attacking Aleppo pine, Pinus halepensis grown in AL-Jubiha area in Jordan was investigated. A total of eighteen samples were collected from rhizosphere about 30 cm deep in soil and 50 cm away from the trunk of a Pine tree showing decline and brown needles as one sample per month starting in November 2014 until April 2016. Cobb sieving and gravity methods were used for the nematode isolation from rhizosoil. The soil type is clay with 51 % porosity. The monthly air temperature, precipitation, and relative humidity were monitored and tabulated. The results showed that the number of recovered nematodes ranged from 2 individuals /100 cm3 to 88 individuals /100cm3 of rhizosoil. The lowest number was recovered on October whereas the highest numbers were recovered in December. The reason of decline in numbers may be due to a raise in temperature. The highest number may be due to favorable temperature and soil moisture. The difference of nematode in same month in two different years may be due to the temperature and precipitations.