Iraqi Journal of Agricultural Sciences

This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of marine fungi as a feed additive on the performance of native chickens. One hundred and eighty unsex one-day-old native chickens were used in this study. Chickens were kept for ten weeks and given a treatment supplemented with the dietary marine fungi (1, 2, 3, and 4 ml/kg) in a ration consisting of yellow corn, rice bran, fish meal, soybean meal, coconut meal, L-lysine, methionine, and CaCO3. The data collected were feed consumption, body weight gain, carcass percentage, mortality rate, and feed efficiency. The results showed significant (P<0.05) decreased feed consumption and increased mortality with adding marine fungi. They did not affect the body weight, carcass percentage, and feed efficiency. The highest mortality occurred in a group of chickens supplemented with marine fungi as much as 3 ml/kg. It was concluded that marine fungi could be added to the ration as much as 1 ml/kg from the beginning of keeping to improve the performance of native chickens effectively and increase the chicken’s immunity. It is suggested to mix marine fungi extract into the drinking water. Thus, its active compounds might be absorbed more effectively to improve the performance and produce healthy poultry products.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of birth number, pregnancy stage (pre- and post-pregnancy), and their interaction on selected blood parameters in local Awassi ewes under grazing conditions. The experiment involved 33 local Awassi ewes, divided equally into three groups: the first group consisted of ewe lambs, the second group included ewes with one previous birth, and the third group comprised ewes with multiple births (2–3). Birth number showed no significant effect on any of the blood parameters. However, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), hemoglobin (Hb), and packed cell volume (PCV) were significantly higher at mid-pregnancy (12th week) compared with the 4th and 20th weeks of pregnancy. Serum total protein and cholesterol levels were significantly higher (P ≤ 0.01) during the pre-pregnancy period compared with other stages. Serum calcium levels were significantly higher (P ≤ 0.01) during the pre-pregnancy period and at the 4th week of pregnancy compared with the other stages. Phosphorus concentrations increased significantly (P ≤ 0.01) at the 4th week of pregnancy compared with all other study periods. However, no significant interactions were observed between birth number and pregnancy stage. In conclusion, the pre-pregnancy period had a critical impact on certain blood parameters of local Awassi ewes.

Through previous studies, we have found only a small number of studies that have discovered the effects and importance of rose water for animals. The aim of this research was to evaluate the effect of various concentrations of aqueous extract of damask flowers water on body weight, carcass weight and measurements, and some histological characteristics of the jejunum and large intestine of broiler chickens. The commercial Ross308 broiler chicks were randomly divided which it number is 250 chicks into 5 groups at the first day (50 Chicks for each group). The chicks were fed a starter diet from the age of 1-10 days, a growth diet from the age of 24-14 days, and a finishing diet from the age of 25-42 days. In treatment T1 plain water was used without adding (the control treatment), while in treatment T2 and T3, damask flowers water was added to the drinking water at a rate of 5% and 10% for 24 hours, and in treatment T4 and T5, damask flowers water was added to the drinking water at a rate of 5% and 10% for a period of 24 hours. 5% and 10% for 12 hours only, respectively. The results showed that in both coefficients T2 and T5, there was a statistically significant increase in some of the main and secondary carcass qualities of the coefficients under study, while there was a varying effect of the transaction on some histological qualities of the broiler carcasses under study.

This study was conducted at the poultry farm\\Abu Ghraib, College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, University of Baghdad, for the period from 12-10-2022 to 22-11-2022 lasted for 42 days to study the effect of individual and synergistic addition of Moringa oleifera seeds and leaves powder to broiler diets on growth performance. 210 one day old unsexed broiler chicks (Ross-308), randomly distributed in to seven treatments with three replicates per treatment and 10 chicks per replicate as follows: T1 (control treatment) without additive, T2: 1% seeds powder, T3: 2% seeds powder, T4: 1% leaves powder, T5: 2% leaves powder, T6: 0.5% seeds powder + 0.5 leaves powder, T7: 1% seeds powder + 1% leaves powder. The results indicated a significant superiority (P≤0.05) for the T4 treatment in the average live body weight and weight gain compared to control treatment T1 at the first week, as well as the T1 and T4 outperformed the T3 in the same trait at the fourth week, and the T4 recorded a significant superiority in the amount of feed consumed compared to control treatment T1 and T3 at the first week. Also, the T1 and T2, followed by T4, outperformed the rest of the other treatments in the average of feed consumption at the sixth week, while no significant differences appeared between all the treatments in the feed conversion throughout the experiment period. Based on the results of this study, it is concluded that the addition of Moringa seed and leaf powder did not have a significant effect on cumulative growth performance, and it is considered safe at the levels used.

This study was conducted at the Animal Farm of the College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, University of Baghdad during the period from 22/1/2022 to 2/4/2022. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of leptin gene polymorphism on the weight gain, digestibility and rumen fermentations of Awassi lambs. Forty Awassi lambs were selected at age 4-5 months, with an initial weight mean of 25.4 kg, and distributed randomly in individual pens. The results showed that there were three variations in SNP (G>A), GG, GA and AA it was 66.67, 30.56 and 2.7%, respectively, and the differences between them were highly significant (P≤0.01). No significant differences of leptin gene polymorphism were noticed on the percentage of volatile fatty acids (acetic, propionic and butyric) as well as on the percentage of ammonia nitrogen at all times (0,3 and 6 hours). There were highly significant differences (P≤0.01) in pH of the rumen fluid in GG variations at the times of 0 and 6 hours compared with GA it was 6.78 ± 0.03 and 6.76 ± 0.02, respectively. The results also showed that there were no significant differences in the leptin gene polymorphism on digestibility and weight gain. It can be concluded that the study of genetic variations of leptin gene had no effect on the performance of Awassi lambs.

The current study was conducted to investigate the effect of adding various concentrations of annatto alcoholic extract of (Bixa orellana) and tocotrienol on characteristics of cryopreserved semen of Holstein bulls. Collected semen were pooled and diluted with tris egg yolk extender, then equally divided into five groups as following: Control group (C) with tris extender only, T1 contain 150 mg annatto seed extract/ 25 ml extender, T2 contain 200 mg annatto seed extract / 25 ml extender, T3 contain 3 Mm tocotreinol /25 ml extender and T4 contain 4 Mm tocotreinol/25 ml extender. All groups were subjected to a cryopreservation protocol. The parameters of semen assessment including: Motility, viability, abnormality, plasma membrane and acrosome integrity, malondialdehyde (MDA), total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and DNA fragmentation Index (DFI). All the previous parameters were done for both cooled and frozen semen after 48 hrs, 3 and 6 months. The results showed that there were a significant differences (p≤0.05) among the treatments in the percentage of sperm motility, viability, plasma membrane and acrosome integrity compared with the control group, also there were significant differences in sperm total abnormalities, MDA, TAC concentrations and DFI percentage among all the treatments after all cryopreservative periods compared with the control group..

This study aimed to investigate the effect of Mycoplasma gallisepticum infection on Immune organs and Immune response of ND vaccine in broiler chickens .210 day- old Broiler chicks were randomly assigned to seven equal groups as following G1: control was not received any treatment, G2: only M. gallisepticum infection, G3: only ND vaccine, G4 ND vaccine and M. gallisepticum infection , G5: ND vaccine and M. gallisepticum infection and treated with probiotic G6: ND vaccine and M. gallisepticum infection and treated with Glycyrrhizic Acid by drinking water, G7 : ND vaccine and M. gallisepticum infection and treated with tylosin by drinking water. Blood samples were collected at 1st, 5th, 10th, 16th, 25th, 27th and 35th day for immunological tests and histopathological examination of spleen and bursa of fabricious at the result revealed the highest level of the ND antibody titers in G5, G6, G7,G1 and G3 respectively. Histopathological analysis of the spleen organ revealed necrosis in G4, white pulp hyperplasia in G6 and G7 while the lesions of bursa indicate that severe hyperplasia in M. gallisepticum infection group. The study concluded that probiotic and glycyrrhizic acid reduce effect of M. gallisepticum infection on immune response and immune organs.

This study investigated the phytochemical composition and biological activities of Hellenocarum amplifolium from four regions in Sulaymaniyah Province, Iraqi Kurdistan: Hawraman, Qandil, Penjwin, and Sharbazir. The plant specimens were harvested during the pre-flowering phase, specifically between April and May 2021. Chemical analysis revealed that the Hawraman samples contained the highest levels of phenolics, flavonoids, and bioactive compounds (e.g., gallic acid, quercetin, kaempferol), while Qandil samples were richest in essential oils (e.g., linalool, limonene, α-pinene). Hawraman extracts exhibited the strongest antioxidant activity and provided significant protection against ochratoxin A-induced cytotoxicity. The extract also demonstrated notable antibacterial effects against Escherichia coli at 5000 µg/mL, surpassing some reference antibiotics. These findings highlight H. amplifolium as a promising source of antioxidative and antimicrobial compounds. The study aimed to profile the plant’s phytochemicals, evaluate its antioxidant and antibacterial activities, and assess its protective effects against OTA-induced cytotoxicity.

This study was aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity of tryptophan against methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). A 326 samples were obtained from patients attending Al-Karama hospital\Baghdad city with various infections including: blood, vagina, acne, nasal cavity, wounds, gums and skin. Only 100 isolates were identified as S. aureus, according to conventional and molecular methods. Detection of mecA and icaAD gene was performed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the results showed 70% of isolates harbored mecA gene (MRSA) and 61% of isolates harbored icaAD gene. The results of detecting quorum sensing (QS) genes, include agr1, agr2, agr3 and agr4, using PCR were revealed, that 27. 14%, 18. 6% and 41. 43 of MRSA isolates were carrying agr1, agr2 and agr3 genes, respectively. The antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity of different concentrations of tryptophan were estimated using colony-forming unit (CFU) assays. The findings revealed that the FSA96 isolate was showed greater ability to resist 2mg/ml of tryptophan in percentage 25. 6% than other isolates (FSW61, FSW69 and FSB76 in percentage (16, 16. 25 and 16. 7) % respectively. The biofilms were showed significantly decrease in their percentages (2.17, 1.64, 3.63 and 1. 49) % at concentration 2 mg/ml of tryptophan for FSW61, FSW69, FSB76 and FSA96 isolates. The present study examined the role of QS (agr1 and agr2) genes in the production of biofilm icaAD gene for three selected MRSA isolates using qPCR. The results indicate the significant influence for the expression of icaAD gene which is associated with the expression of a QS genes (agr1 and agr2) which significantly downregulated after being treated with 2. 0 mg/ml of tryptophan compared with the control that expressed. The results indicate the significant differences for the expression of icaAD gene which is associated with the expression of a QS genes (agr1 and agr2) when showed down regulation after being treated with 2.0 mg/ml of tryptophan compared with the control that expressed.

The phenomenon of drought is one of the most significant environmental and climatic extreme events; it is more complex in terms of measuring, monitoring, and identifying the possible effects and hazards associated. The remote sensing index, which included the Vegetation Health Index (VHI), was used to describe the geographic and temporal distribution of the springtime agricultural drought. VHI can be calculated based on the Temperature Condition Index (TCI), Vegetation Condition Index (VCI), and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) derived from MODIS Terra satellite data. The outcomes showed that the droughts in the years 2001–2002, 2008–2009 were the most extreme in twenty-two years. The drought years 2001-2002 were followed by the drought-free years 2002/2003,2008/2009. The years 2017-2018 show this phenomenon distributed mostly in the south and southwest bearing. According to the findings, the southwest and western regions are more vulnerable to drought. The results of the drought index VHI indicate that the country is facing non-uniform cycles of drought for all types of droughts. Also, the results showed that there is a negative significance between rainfall and extreme, severe, and moderate drought, even if there was no substantial negative link between rainfall and dryness. It is recommended to adopt the VHI index to monitor the desiccation of vegetation in semi-arid areas with little access to surface meteorological information.

This study was aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial resistance, biofilm formation and some type 1 fimbriae adhesion genes. A total of 120 urine specimens were obtained from different patients with UTIs during October 2022 to February 2023 from several Baghdad hospitals. Morphological, biochemical and molecular tests were utilized for identifying E. coli isolates. The results were shown that only 80 (66.7%) of isolates were identified as E. coli. Twelve antimicrobial discs were utilized for evaluate the ability of E. coli isolate to resistant these antimicrobials. The results revealed that 98.8% of isolates were resistant to Ampicillin (AMP), followed by 81.3, 77.5, 72.5, 70, 60 and 58.8 of isolates were resistant to Cefepime (FEP), Ceftazidime (CAZ), Tigecycline (TGC), Ciprofloxacin (CIP), Trimethoprim - Sulfamethoxazole (SXT) and Aztreonam (ATM), respectively. All isolates were sensitive to Fosfomycin (FOF) and Amikacin (AMK) as well as the majority of isolates (97.5, 72.5 and 43.8%) were sensitive to Imipenem (IMP), Nitrofurantoin (NIT) and Piperacillin- tazobactam (TZP). A 50 isolates were selected as multi-drug resistant isolates. The biofilm formation of E. coli was measured using microtiter plates. The majority of isolates (55%; n=44) were moderate biofilm producers, while 38.75% (n=31) were strong producers and 5 (6.25%) were weak producers. The molecular detections of fimH and fimA genes were performed with specific primers using PCR technique. The results indicated that all isolates carry both the fimH and fimA genes.

This research was done to conducted to determine TEN taxa of the Cucurbitaceae family were studied using the RAPD approach to examine taxonomic relationships and genetic diversity, including Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita maxima, Laganaria siceramia L.C.V. local, Laganaria siceramia L.C.V. Syria, Cucumis sativus, Cucumis melo, Cucumis melo flexuosus, Citrullus lanatus, Citrullus colocynthis, Luffa cylidrica, DNA of fresh leaves was extracted using modified protocol of Kit due, invested DNA Marker based PCR technology using the RAPD Marker using Thirteen RAPD primers of (Operon) technology biologging to (Bio-RP1, Bio-RP2, Bio-RP3, Bio-RP4, Bio-RP5, Bio-RP6, Bio-RP7, Bio-RP8, Bio-RP9, Bio-RP10, UBC-13, OPC-12) sets. , where explained the relationship between taxa on the basis of the appearance and disappearance of the bands and showed that differences in the location on the genomes of the studied cultivars on the agarose gel .As the primers generated (92) total bands resulting from (225) binding sites ,including (92 ) polymorphic binding sites distinct for the cultivars under study . To determine the interspecific among the investigated taxa, cluster analysis of the diversity matrices was carried out.

This study was aimed to explain the effect of the crude extract and the flavonoid extract of Capparis spinosa L flowers as an antioxidant in vitro and the effect of the flavonoid extract as an antioxidant in the tissues of kidney cells. Different concentrations(7.5, 15, 30, 60, 150, 300, 600) µg/ml of the two extracts were selected to determine the antioxidant activity in vitro by using DPPH 1,1 Dyphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical. The results showed the efficiency of the flavonoid extract on the crude extract, and it was the highest at concentrations of 150, 300, and 600µg/ml, as it gave 100% compared with the crude extract, which gave 40%, 67%, 75% and for the same concentrations. The flavonoid extract was also used at a concentration of 50 mg per kg, to estimate the antioxidant activity on kidney tissues after the creation of free radicals ( reactive oxygen species ROS) inside them by mefenamic acid. The results showed that the used extract has an anti-oxidant effect. The flavonoid extract of the caper plant led to a statistically significant decrease in the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA), in addition to a significant increase the level of glutathione (GSH). This study confirmed a possibility of using the flavonoid extract of the caper plant C. Spinosa in medical applications and in the treatment of different types of diseases caused by free radicals

This study was aimed to detect the phzS and phzM genes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa clinical isolates that form pyocyanin and resist antibiotics. The study was conducted by collecting 240 samples from different clinical sources (burns, wounds, urinary tract, and ear infections) at Medicine City laboratories Baghdad-Iraq. Only 140 samples were diagnosed as P. aeruginosa, with the major identification depending on morphological characteristics, biochemical tests, the Vitek 2 compact system, and molecular detection of the 16S rRNA gene responsible for this bacterium. Identified isolates were investigated for hemolysin, protease enzymes, and pyocyanin production. The genes phzS and phzM, involved in pyocyanin production, were investigated, and the isolates' sensitivity to 12 antibiotics was also tested. The results showed that all the isolates were able to produce hemolysin, 80% of the isolates were protease enzyme producers, and 72.15% produced pyocyanin. The presence percentage of the phzS gene (90%) was higher than that of the phzM gene (70%), and only the isolates that possessed the two genes producing pyocyanin, while those that contained one of the genes phzS or phzM did not. The highest levels of antibiotic resistance were for colistin (100%) and ceftazidime (97.14%), while the least were for imipenem (26.42%) and piperacillin-tazobactam (22.85%). The isolates producing pyocyanin are more resistant to antibiotics than those unable to produce it.

This study was investigate to demonstrate the phylogenetic relationship among three species of Rosa that are R. canina L.,1735, R. damascene Mill. and R. centifolia L., cultivated in Iraq by using three primers of ITS, matK and trnL. With regard to the nuclear ITS sequencing reaction results showed that the identified identities of the investigated samples were R. canina, R. damascena, and R. centifolia the presence of seven nucleic acid variants (g.392G>T, g.439G>A, g.442T>G, g.458C>T, g.477C>T, g.495T>C, and g.496C>T) of R. canina sample, one nucleic acid variant (g.15A>C) in R. centifolia sample compared with the referring sequences respectively (GenBank acc. no. MT796505.1 and MZ230175.1). Sequencing reaction results for the matK amplicons revealed that the samples under investigation were R. canina, R. damascena, and R. centifolia. This finding suggested the presence of two nucleic acid variations (g.165C>T and g.687G>T) of the R. centifolia sample compared with the referring sequences (GenBank acc. no. MZ261886.1). These amplicons be could quickly and accurately identify the biological diversity of a larger genotype of Rosa sequences.

This study was conducted from December 2021 to July 2022, except May 2022, and aimed to evaluate and validate CO2, CH4, and O3 GHGs in 13 different locations over Sulaimani city, Kurdistan Region-Iraq by means of remote sensing techniques from Sentinel 5 Precursor (S5P)/ TROPOMI and Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) satellites against ground-based measurements by using a portable gases analyzer via three types of sensor heads, GSS for the nominated gases of CO2, CH4, and O3. The Inverse Distance Weight (IDW) interpolation methods were used to map the CO2, CH4, and O3. The results of ground measurements showed high variability in some greenhouse gas concentration values and ranged between 285-508 ppm, 0-17000 ppb, and 0.25-64 ppb for CO2, CH4, and O3, respectively, in different locations and months. Satellite-predicted values for CO2, CH4, and O3 ranged between 416 - 418 ppm, 1858.99 - 1908.26, and 15.13 - 16.96 ppb, respectively, among the studied locations during the study periods. The RMSE ranged between 0.5 - 92.75 ppm, 99.11 – 2593.05 ppb, and 0.08 – 48.87 ppb for CO2, CH4, and O3, respectively.

A field experiment was conducted at the research station of the Ministry of Agriculture in Abu Ghraib area –Baghdad, Iraq, to study the effect of applying some nutrients management practices and leaching requirements on some soil quality indicators and sorghum productivity under saline soil conditions. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design )RCBD( with split split plot arrangement and three replicates. Treatments included 7 nutrients combinations :(Control” F0”, NPK” F1”, NPKS” F2”, NPKS + micronutrients”F3”, NPKS+ micronutrients+ Nano silicon” F4”, NPKS+ micronutrients + Nano silicon + calcium and magnesium nitrate” F5”, NPKS + micronutrients + Nano silicon + potassium humates” F6”, two leaching requirements: standard leaching requirements (L1) and doubled leaching requirements (L2) ) and two sorghum varieties: Al-Khair synthetic variety (C1) and Rabeh synthetic variety(C2). The results showed that fertilizer treatments had a very important role in the availability of nutrients in the soil, where treatment F6 exceeded other treatments in flowering stage in increase the availability of (N,P and Si) (48.0, 32.43and 17.45 mg Kg-1) respectively, as well as in after harvest stage treatment F6 exceeded the other treatments in increase the availability of (N,K,Fe and Si) (26.9, 293.8, 3.21 and 15.49 mg Kg-1) respectively. Doubled leaching requirements (L2) exceeded (L1), which led to reducing the amount of NaCl salts in the soil for the depth of (25-50 cm). Proper nutrients management practices could improve soil properties, increase the availability of nutrients, and improve plant tolerance to abiotic stress such as soil salinity.

The studies were conducted at the Aragatsotn region of the Republic of Armenia during the years 2021-2024. Four species of click beetles (family Elateridae) belonging to the order Coleoptera of the class Insecta were recorded. The most widespread species was the sowing click beetle (Agriotes sputator L.), making up 56%. The steppe click beetles (Agriotes gurgistanus Fald.) accounted for 25% of the total population. The striped (Agriotes lineatus L.) and dark (Agriotes obscurus L.) click beetles were relatively less common, constituting 14% and 5%, respectively. Based on the analysis of the damage caused by wireworms to the tubers of different potato varieties it can be concluded that the Impala and Arizona varieties are more resistant to the phytophagous pest. These varieties are recommended for cultivation in potato farms. Nuprid (0.2 L/t), Kruiser (0.2 L/t), and Force (15 kg/ha) demonstrate high biological efficacy against wireworms, showing effectiveness comparable to the standard variant, Prestige (1.0 L/t).

The present study was carried out at Grjan Agricultural Research Station and Qaladze Agricultural Research Station, College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences-University of Raparin, Kurdistan Region-Iraq, during the growing seasons 2020 and 2021. According to the full diallel mating system using five pea (Pisum sativum L.) cultivars (Legacy, Rainer, Topaz, P11, P13) with 20 F1 crosses. The genotypes were planted in a RCBD with 3 replicates. Highly significant mean squares due to genotypes for all traits were recorded in both locations. The mean squares due to the GCA were highly significant for all of the traits except for number of days to 50% flowering which was significant at Grjan, but at Qaladze it was highly significant for number of days to maturity, pod length, seeds weight pod-1, and 100-seed weight. The mean squares due to SCA were highly significant for all of the traits except for 100-seed weight which was significant and was not significant for number of seeds pod-1 and seeds weight pod-1 at Grjan, but at Qaladze it was highly significant for all of the traits except for significant pod length, and it was not significant for seeds weight pod-1. The highest positive heterosis value for seeds weight plant-1 at Grjan was 177.445% recorded by the diallel cross 3×4, while at Qaladze it was 210.431% recorded by the diallel cross 1×3. The reciprocal cross 5×3 had the maximum heterosis value for seeds weight plant-1 at 78.300%, while at Qaladze it was 199.713% recorded by the reciprocal cross 5×2. The maximum positive GCA effect values for most of the traits were recorded by the parent P13 at both locations. The dominance gene effect controlled the inheritance of most of the traits of both locations.