Description of the first-stage juveniles of Xiphinema cretense and X. herakliense - Distribution of Xiphinema and Longidorus species in olive orchards and grapevines in Crete, Greece

The occurrence of nematodes of the family Longidoridae was investigated in soil samples collected from cultivated and wild olives and grapevines in Crete. The first-stage juveniles of Xiphinema cretense and X. herakliense are described for the first time. The species X. israeliae, X. cretense, X. herakliense and Longidorus pseudoelongatus, previously recorded exclusively from olives in Crete, are herein reported in the rhizosphere of grapevines. Also L. iranicus is reported for the first time in cultivated olive, while X. italiae and L. closelongatus are reported for the first time in wild olive in Crete. Data on the occurrence of phytoparasitic nematode species in cultivated olives, wild olives and grapevines are updated with those previously published.This research was supported by grant KBBE 219262 ArimNET-ERANET FP7 2012-2015 Project PESTOLIVE ‘Contribution of olive history for the management of soilborne parasites in the Mediterranean basin’ from Hellenic Agricultural Organization-DEMETER and Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), grant AGR-136 from ‘Consejería de Economía, Innvovación y Ciencia’ from Junta de Andalucía, and Union Europea, Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo regional, “Una manera de hacer Europa”. I.G. Birmpilis and E. Nasiou were employed by the ARIMNET-PESTOL-IVE project.Peer reviewe

Nematicidal Potential of Thymol against <i>Meloidogyne javanica</i> (Treub) Chitwood

Root-knot nematodes (RKN; Meloidogyne spp.) are obligatory endoparasites with worldwide distribution which cause severe damage to agricultural crops. The present study aimed to define the nematicidal activity of thymol on different life stages of the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne javanica (Treub) Chitwood, at concentrations of 37.5–1000 μL/L. This study is the first to report the effect of thymol on egg differentiation and also its vapor and sublethal concentration activities. A mortality of greater than 90% of M. javanica second-stage juveniles (J2s) occurred after 96 h of exposure at a concentration of 500 μL/L. At this concentration, thymol inhibited 59.7% of nematode hatching. In addition, the use of thymol at sublethal concentrations reduced the number of females per gram in tomato roots in a pot test, as well as inhibiting egg differentiation. On the contrary, no nematostatic effects were observed in paralysis bioassays. The results presented here indicate that the use of thymol may show its potential as a source of a new sustainable nematicidal product

Description and molecular characterisation of Xiphinema herakliense n. sp. (Nematoda: Longidoridae) from wild and cultivated olives in Crete

Xiphinema herakliense n. sp. from wild olive and cultivated trees in Vathy Rema and other localities, Heraklion province of Crete, Greece, is described based on morphological and molecular characters. The new species is characterised by having differentiation in the tubular part of the uterus, body length 4.1 (3.3-5.5) mm, odontostyle 149 (135-163) μm long, odontophore 85 (71-98) μm long, female tail dorsally convex-conoid with subdigitate peg, and presence of functional males. The polytomous identification code of the new species is: A4, B2 + 3, C5a, D6(5), E5, F4(5), G3, H2, I3, J5, K5, L2. The new species belongs to morphospecies Xiphinema non-americanum Group 5 characterised by having two equally developed female genital branches with uterine differentiation, presence of pseudo-Z-organ with small granular bodies plus small spines (in low number) and crystalloid bodies along uterus, and a short, rounded tail ending in a peg. Xiphinema herakliense n. sp. appears closely related to X. barense, X. horvatovicae, X. lanceolatum, X. loteni, X. sphaerocephalum and X. thorneanum, from which it may be differentiated morphologically and/or molecularly. The results of the phylogenetic analyses based on the sequences of the D2-D3 expansion regions of the 28S rRNA gene and ITS1 rRNA genes are also supportive of its specific status.The present research was partially funded by grant KBBE 219262 ArimNET-ERANET FP7 2012-2015 Project PESTOLIVE ‘Contribution of olive history for the management of soilborne parasites in the Mediterranean basin’ from Hellenic Agricultural Organization-DEMETER and Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), grant AGR-136 from ‘Consejería de Economía, Innvovación y Ciencia’ from Junta de Andalucía, and Union Europea, Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo regional, ‘Una manera de hacer Europa’.Peer reviewe

Integrative diagnosis and molecular phylogeny of dagger and needle nematodes of olives and grapevines in the island of Crete, Greece, with description of Xiphinema cretense n. sp. (Nematoda, Longidoridae)

The occurrence and geographic distribution of longidorid nematode species inhabiting the rhizosphere of cultivated and wild olive and grapevine in Crete Island were investigated. Morphological and morphometrical studies identified five Longidorus and six Xiphinema species, with frequencies of prevalence (for wild and cultivated olives and grapevines, respectively) as follows: Longidorus closelongatus (2.0–13.3 %), L. cretensis (1.0–6.7 %), L. moesicus (13.3 % only in grapevines), L. orientalis (3.3 % only in grapevines), L. pseudoelongatus (7.0 % only in olives), Xiphinema cretense n. sp. (3.0 % only in olives), X. index (3.0–23.3 %), X. israeliae (6.3 % only in olives), X. italiae (3.3–10.0 %), X. pachtaicum (26.7–42 %) and X. simile (3.3 % only in grapevines). Xiphinema cretense n. sp. is characterized by a body size 3,872–6,135 μm long, lip region anteriorly rounded, separated from the rest of the body by a depression, odontostyle and odontophore 140.6 and 80.3 μm long respectively, vulva position at 46.0–50.5 %, female tail 31.0–38.0 μm long, nearly hemispherical with curvature essentially dorsal and with a tip completely rounded or presenting a very short bulge, c ratio (119.1–186.9), c’ ratio (0.7–0.8). Molecular characterisation using D2-D3 expansion regions of 28S rRNA, 18S rRNA and ITS1-rRNA was carried out and maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analysis were used to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships among these species and with other longidorids.This research was supported by grant KBBE 219262 ArimNET-ERANET FP7 2012–2015 Project PESTOLIVE ‘Contribution of olive history for the management of soilborne parasites in the Mediterranean basin’ from Hellenic Agricultural Organization-DEMETER and Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), grant AGR-136 from ‘Consejería de Economía, Innvovación y Ciencia’ from Junta de Andalucía, and Union Europea, Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo regional, “Una manera de hacer Europa”. E. Nasiou and M.S. Lazanaki are employed by the ARIMNET-PESTOLIVE project. The seventh author is a recipient of a “Juan de La Cierva” contract from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain.Peer Reviewe

Presence of Longidoridae (Xiphinema and Longidorus) nematodes in grapevine, cultivated olive and wild olive in Crete

Trabajo presentado en el XVI Panhellenic Entomological Congress, celebrado en Heraklion del 20 al 23 de octubre de 2015.The presence of the nematodes Xiphinema and Longidorus (Longidoridae) was studied in the rhizosphere of grapevine, cultivated olive and wild olive. Soil samples from grapevines were brought in the lab by farmers for investigation while samples from olives were collected in the framework of ARIMNET-PESTOLIVE project Morphological and morphometric studies combined with molecular techniques were applied for nematode identification. Five species of Longidorus and seven species Xiphinema were found in totaL Longidorus closelongatus, L moesicus, and L pseudoelongatus were found in grapevine and _olive with the two last species recorded for first time in Greece. L orientalis was found only in grapevine something that consists a new record for Greece and an unusual record for Europe. L cretensis, which was first described in Crete in 2001 and has never been reported elsewhere, was found in both crops. Xiphinema pachtaicum and X italiae which are widespread along the Mediterranean basin, were found in both crops. X simile, was found in grapevine and consists a new record for the country. X index, beside in grapevine where is quite common, was found ata low percentage (1 ,5%) in cultivated olive. Even though this nematode is not a virus vector in olive, it could be potentially damaging in grapevines adjacent to cultivated olives. X israeliae was found in cultivated and wild ol ives; its presence consists the second record worldwide, after the original identification of the species in IsraeL Furthermore, two new species were described for first time, X cretense n.sp in cultivated olive and X herak/iense n.sp in both wild and cultivated olive. All the nematodes mentioned above, were found in the rhizosphere of olive but it is not confirmed whether olives or/and weeds are their hosts. Except Xindex, no other species has ever been reported as a virus vector. The most important finding is the presence of X israeliae and the two new species X cretense and X herakliense; a study on their biology and their potential to be virus vectors consists a quite interesting resea rch area.N

Inflammation and Venous Thromboembolism in Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19

Background: A link between inflammation and venous thromboembolism (VTE) in COVID-19 disease has been suggested pathophysiologically and clinically. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between inflammation and disease outcomes in adult hospitalized COVID-19 patients with VTE. Methods: This was a retrospective observational study, including quantitative and qualitative data collected from COVID-19 patients hospitalized at the Infectious Diseases Unit (IDU) of the University Hospital of Ioannina, from 1 March 2020 to 31 May 2022. Venous thromboembolism was defined as a diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE) and/or vascular tree-in-bud in the lungs. The burden of disease, assessed by computed tomography of the lungs (CTBoD), was quantified as the percentage (%) of the affected lung parenchyma. The study outcomes were defined as death, intubation, and length of hospital stay (LoS). A chi-squared test and univariate logistic regression analyses were performed in IBM SPSS 28.0. Results: After propensity score matching, the final study cohort included 532 patients. VTE was found in 11.2% of the total population. In patients with VTE, we found that lymphocytopenia and a high neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio were associated with an increased risk of intubation and death, respectively. Similarly, CTBoD > 50% was associated with a higher risk of intubation and death in this group of patients. The triglyceride–glucose (TyG) index was also linked to worse outcomes. Conclusions: Inflammatory indices were associated with VTE. Lymphocytopenia and an increased neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio negatively impacted the disease’s prognosis and outcomes. Whether these indices unfavorably affect outcomes in COVID-19-associated VTE must be further evaluated