Summary Introduction: Tobacco is the most widely grown non-food crop in the world. Nicotine is the most abundant volatile alkaloid in tobacco leaves. Objectives: This work aimed at measuring nicotine levels in the leaves of seven different varieties of Nicotiana tabacum, namely: Virginia, Burlip, Katrina, Shk al-bent, Zegrin, Basma and Burley, cultivated in Syria. Methods: Nicotine was extracted according to approved method and its concentration was determined by LC/MS/MS in comparison with a standard material dilution series. The percentage of nicotine concentration was calculated manually. Statistical analysis was used to assess the significance of differences among variables and to perform multiple comparisons. Results: The amount of nicotine in dry weight of tobacco leaves represented 6.7% in Virginia variety, 4.9% in Burlip, 4.84% in Katrina, 4.67% in Shk al-bent, 4% in Zegrin, 3.3% in Basma and <3% in Burley. Significant differences in nicotine concentration were found among the different varieties as determined by LSD test at a level of 0.05. Conclusion: This study shows the importance of tobacco varieties grown in Syria, particularly Virginia, Burlip, Katrina, as a cheap and wealthy source for nicotine to be used in some industries.

SummaryIntroduction:The potato tuber moth (PTM) is the major economic pest of potato. Different approaches were tried to prevent and control this pest including natural pesticides and synthetic fumigants.Objectives: This study was conducted to evaluate the insecticidal activity of the essential oils of thyme and myrtle. In addition to evaluating the insecticidal activity of carvacrol and eucalyptol against the different life stages of potato tuber moth using a fumigation bioassays.Methods:Thyme and myrtle oils were extracted from wildThymus syriacusBoiss. and wildMyrtus communisL. by hydrodistillation. Fumigation experiments were conducted on potato tuber moth of different stages of development (eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults), using standard methods. The potato tuber moth was treated for different periods using different concentrations of the essential oils. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied on the mortality percentages data to estimate the significance of differences between treatments atp<0.05. Probit analysis was used to estimate the LC50, LC90and LT50.Results:Adult stage was the most sensitive to essential oils vapours with LC50value of 0.5μl/l air. Whereas, pupal stages were the most tolerant. The essential oil of thyme possessed the strongest fumigant toxicity against eggs with a LC50value of 6.1μl/l air. The two monoterpens showed varied fumigant toxicity against adult stage. Carvacrol achieved 100% mortality at 0.125μl/l air after 6 h, and 0.025μl/l air after 48h exposure with LT50period of 0.5 h.Conclusion:The present work demonstrated thatT. syriacusessential oil is a promising natural fumigant against the different developmental stages of PTM.

Sesbania grandiflora (L.) pers (Fabaceae) and Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) (Brassicaceae) were genetically engineered to constitutively express the rabbit cytochrome p450 2E1 enzyme aiming at increasing their activity toward trichloroethylene (TCE) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) removal Successful generation of Sesbania and Arabidopsis transgenic plants was verified using p450 2E1 specific PCR and confirmed by western blot analysis. Gas chromatography (GC) analysis revealed that small cuttings of Sesbania and third generation (F3) Arabidopsis transgenic plants exposed to TCE and DDT in small hydroponics' vessels accumulated more TCE and DDT compared to plants transformed with the empty vector. Furthermore, both transgenic plants were more effective in breaking down TCE and DDT with a 2-fold increase in TCE metabolism. Two independent Arabidopsis lines showed that DDT was metabolized about 4-fold higher than that detected in non transformed plants. Similarly, S. grandiflora cuttings removed 51 to 90% of the added DDT compared with only 3% removal in controls transformed with the null vector. Notably, stability of rabbit cytochrome p450 2E1 was confirmed using third generation Arabidopsis plants that displayed higher potential for the removal of two important pollutants, TCE and DDT compared with the controls.

Summary Introduction: Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is an important vegetable crop in Syria. Potato tuber moth Phthorimaea operculella is the main damaging pest of this crop. Many approaches were tried to control it. Objectives: This study evaluates the insecticidal activity of Juniperus foetidissima essential oil and two monoterpenes against potato tuber moth using fumigation bioassays. Methods: Essential oil was extracted from new plant branches of Juniperus foetidissima using Clevenger-type apparatus. Potato tuber moth Phthorimaea operculella, (adults, eggs, larvae, and pupae) were exposed to different concentrations of the essential oil of Juniperus foetidissima for various periods. The significance of differences between treatments at p<0.05 were evaluated by one-way analysis of variance using the mortality percentages data. The LC50 and LC90 were calculated by Probit analysis. Results: Essential oil vapor with LC50: 0.3 μl/l air was very effective against potato tuber moth at the adult stage. However; adults sensitivity to monoterpenes varied: Nerol caused a 100% mortality at 0.025 μl/l air after 6 h, while the same concentration of citronellol caused 98% mortality. The 0.125 µl/l air concentration of the two compounds caused 100% mortality after 6 h. Conclusion: Results suggest the possibility of using Juniperus foetidissima essential oil as a fumigant to control potato tuber moth infestation in stores.