Prodigiosin is a ‘natural red pigment produced by Serratia marcescens which exhibits immunosuppressive and anticancer properties in addition to antimicrobial activities. This work presents an attempt to maximize the production of prodigiosin by two different strategies: one factor at time (OFAT) and statistical optimization. The result of OFAT revealed that sucrose and peptone were the best carbon and nitrogen sources for pigment production with concentration of prodigiosin of about 135 mg/ L. This value was increased to 331.6mg/ L with an optimized ratio of C/N (60:40) and reached 356.8 with pH 6 and 2% inoculum size at end of classical optimization. Statistical experimental design based on Response surface methodology was co

Notes are given regarding new record species of the braconid parasite short note in Iraq. That is Apanteles angalcti it is found to parasitize early larval instaxs of Ectomyslois ceratontae, one of the most serious pests of pomegra- nate fruit.

A total of 72 individuals of genus Pristina were sorted from aquatic plant, Ceratophyllum demersum L., and filamentous algae collected from three sites on Tigris River at Baghdad including: Al-Sarafiya area (S1), Al- Jadiriyah area (S2), and Al- Za´afaraniya area (S3). Four species were identified including P. longiseta, P. aequiseta, P. proboscidea and P. foreli, with percentags of 51.7 , 36.4, 1.1, and 10.5 % respectively. The first two species found in all sites , while , P. proboscidea found only in S1 and P. foreli only in S2.

Nineteen thrips species recorded in center of Iraq during 1999-2001, four of them was recorded by El-Haidari & Daoud, 1967; Thrips tabaci Lindeman, Retithrips syriacus (Mayet), Parascolothrips prieseri Mound, Anaphthrips sudanensis Trybom. Fifteen species are recorded for the first time in Iraq, Thrips meridionalis (Priesner), Microcephalothrips abdominals (Crawford), Scolothrips pallidus (Beach), Scolothrips sexmaculatus (Pergande), Scritothrips mangiferae Priesner, Frankliniella schultzie Trybom, Frankliniella unicolor Morgan, Frankliniella Tritici Bagnall, Retithrips aegypticus Marchal, Retithrips javanicus

Four new species of Thrips (Thripidae) Chirothrips imperatus sp. nov.; Frankliniella megacephala sp. nov.; Retithrips bagdadensis sp. nov; Taeniothrips tigridis sp. Nov.; from middle of Iraq, are described and illustrated with their hosts.

Isolation and identification fungi of Emericella nidulans and Aspergillus flavus from a pinkish and yellowish artificial clay, by using potato dextrose agar (PDA). Results revealed that E. nidulans was the best for degrading anthracene (92.3%) with maximum biomass production (3.7gm/l), compared to A. flavus with the rate of degradation (89%) and biomass production of (1.2gm/l), when methylene blue was used as redox indicator after incubating in a shaker incubator 120rpm at 30Co for 8days. Results indicated that E. nidulans has a high ability of anthracene degradation with the rate of (84%), while A. flavus showed the lower level with (77%) by using HPLC.

In this study abundance and composition of zooplanktons in the Indus River Estuary was conducted to examine habitat characteristics and its impact on tiny organisms. Overall 30,656 individuals were identified and segregated into seven major groups including Copepods, Cnidarians, Decapods, Mollusk, Pisces, Amphipods and Chaetognaths. For better understanding they were further divided into eighteen planktonic categories. Among them Lucifer spp. comprises of 52.21% was the most abundant group with a peak appeared in March whereas Chaetognaths were rarely observed in the entire study period. Species diversity exhibited a mixed trend with the highest values (0.776) of dominance observed in spring (March). The results of Canonical Corresponden

  Two species of monogenetic trematodes of the genus Dactylogyrus were recorded in the present paper for the first time in Iraq from two freshwater fishes from Diyala river, Diyala province. The first species,  D. bocageii Alvarez Pellitero, Vicente et Gonzalez Lanza, 1981 was recorded from gills of Aspius vorax, the second species, D. lenkorani Mikailov, 1967 was recorded from gills of Barbus sharpeyi. The descriptions and measurements of these parasites as well as their illustrations were given.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate babesiosis in dogs of different breeds and ages and of both sexes in Baghdad Province by molecular detection of Babesia canis using conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing followed by phylogenetic analyses. Materials and Methods: Blood samples were collected from 310 dogs of different ages and breeds, and of both sexes in different areas of Baghdad Province from December 2018 to September 2019; during clinical examinations, body temperature, pulse, respiratory rate, and signs of diseases were recorded. PCR was used to amplify a specific 450-bp fragment of the 18S rRNA gene of B. canis. PCR products were sequenced, and MEGA 6.0 software was used for analysis. Chi-squar

Spergularia iraqensis sp. nov. is described as a new species from Iraq. This species has been collected from Diyala Province in the central east of Iraq; it is closely related to Spergularia rubra (L.) J. Presl & C. Presl, 1819 and Spergularia bocconei (Scheele) Graebn., 1919.
The distinguishing of the morphological characteristics of the new species alongside the two similar species are discussed with photographs, and an identification key is given for Spergularia iraqensis and other closely related species.