Effect of storage temperature and sunlight exposure on the physicochemical properties of bottled water in Kurdistan region-Iraq

Physicochemical properties (pH, Electrical conductivity, Total dissolved salt, Cl- , F- , NO3- ,SO4-2, NH4+ and Chemical oxygen demand) of Sixteen brands bottled water in Kurdistan region-Iraq were analyzed using standard methods. The physicochemical properties of the bottled water measured in this work compared with manufacturer's labeling reported on the bottles and were compared with the guideline value of World Health Organization (WHO) and International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) standards. The change of physicochemical properties investigated when the bottled water exposed to sunlight or storage at different temperature for 30 days. IR-spectroscopy was carried out in order to deduce the nature of polymer material and its purity. Results indicated that the quality of bottled water samples was within the permissible limit, while it is changed with the time of sunlight exposed or temperature changes. The results indicate, the physicochemical properties of all bottled water samples are within the international guidelines of bottled water and not the same that reported on the bottle label. The results show each of sun light exposure and temperature of storing cause changesin all physicochemical properties of water in the plastic bottle. @JASE

Genetic variation studies in Oryctes rhinoceros (L.) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from oil palm plantations using random amplified microsatellite (RAMs) markers

Randomly amplified microsatellite markers were used to study the genetic variation among six populations of Oryctes rhinoceros L. which were collected from oil palm plantations in Selangor, Perak, Pahang and Medan. Samples were collected using light and pheromone trapping for the purpose of obtaining two populations per site study. Thirty individual beetles per population were screened using seven randomly amplified microsatellite primers. Beetles were not attracted to light traps at Pahang and Medan. This resulted in only pheromone populations being caught there. Distances calculated based on the similarity coefficient of Nei and Li (1979) ranged between 0.422 and 0.736. Seventy eight reproducible loci were generated using the seven primers and all the loci were polymorphic. The dendrogram constructed produced two major clusters. Based on the dendrogram, the clusterings were observed to be influenced by preference to trapping system as well as geographical distance. The separation of clustering between Perak Pheromone (PP) and Perak Light (PL) is important as it gives rise to the possibility for the presence of two groups of O. rhinoceros based on their preference toward light and pheromone trap. However, further studies using codominant markers especially single locus DNA microsatellite markers are required to understand the population genetic structure and to further validate the presence of a cryptic species complex.Keywords: Oryctes rhinoceros, RAMs, genetic variatio

Development of microsatellite markers for Helopeltis theivora waterhouse (Hemiptera: Miridae)

Helopeltis theivora is an important pest of cocoa, tea, mangoes and ornamental plants in Asia. In the effort to control this insect pest effectively, information on its population genetics is needed. Single locus DNA microsatellites are very efficient in being able to provide such information when they are used in the study of the population structures of organisms as they are co-dominant markers. As no such marker is available for this species yet, here we reported in our work, the isolation and development of six of such markers which were found to be polymorphic when tested on samples from three populations of this insect in Peninsular Malaysia