First report of morphological and molecular characterization of Moroccan populations of Globodera pallida.

Potato cyst nematodes (PCNs) are the most important potato pest causing major crop losses across the world with a quarantine status in many countries. In Morocco, several potato crops are infected with PCNs and the monitoring of potato production as well as the control of import and export of potato seeds are currently carried out by morphological methods. The present work was aimed to use molecular and morphometric methods for identifying and differentiating PCN species in Morocco for the first time. The morphological identification of PCN species from collected soil samples were carried out using the shape of the cysts, the length of the stylet, the number of cuticular ridges, and the Granek's ratio. The J2 had a slightly shorter body length, the number of cuticular ridges was 9 and the Granek's ratio averaged 2.2. The morphobiometric analysis revealed proximity of the Moroccan population to G. pallida species. PCNs sampled from contaminated fields were analyzed molecularly using PCR. DNA amplification was performed using the multiplex PCR method and PCR-RFLP from the ITS region of the total genomic DNA compared to multiplex PCR-specific DNA sequences. All confirmed the presence G. pallida in all samples of the Moroccan PCN populations.

First detection of Toscana virus RNA from sand flies in the genus Phlebotomus (Diptera: Phlebotomidae) naturally infected in Morocco.

In total, 656 sand flies were collected in June 2008 from Louata, a locality of Sefrou province, Morocco. Testing was conducted for the presence of phlebovirus by nested reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and sequencing. We detected Toscana virus in four pools of male Phlebotomus perniciosus. This virus belongs to the genotype B previously recognized in France and Spain. This is the first time that Toscana virus has been detected in Morocco.

Antibacterial diterpenoids from Cedrus atlantica.

Four diterpene alcohols were isolated from the neutral hexane extract of the cones of Cedrus atlantica, and their structures were confirmed after comparing their spectral data with literature values. These products exhibited significant antibacterial activity against gram (+/-) bacteria.

Germacranolides from Anvillea radiata.

The aerial parts of Anvillea radiata yielded a new germacranolide, 8alpha,9alpha-epoxyparthenolide (3), together with two known compounds, 9alpha-hydroxyparthenolide (1) and parthenolid-9-one (2). The structures of the compounds were elucidated from IR, HRMS, 1H and 13C-NMR, COSY, HETCOR, HMBC and HOHAHA spectral data. The major component 1 was tested for its cytotoxicity and antibacterial activity.