Walnut Fruit Research Articles

Characterization of oil body microstructure, accumulation level and chemical composition in walnut fruit during growth

Characterization of oil body microstructure, accumulation level and chemical composition in walnut fruit during growth

Hormonal, biochemical, and genetic regulations of walnut fruit development and ripening: an integrated perspective

Hormonal, biochemical, and genetic regulations of walnut fruit development and ripening: an integrated perspective

Transcriptomic and coexpression network analyses revealed the regulatory mechanism of Cydia pomonella infestation on the synthesis of phytohormones in walnut husks

The codling moth (Cydia pomonella) has a major effect on the quality and yield of walnut fruit. Plant defences respond to insect infestation by activating hormonal signalling and the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway. However, little is known about the role of walnut husk hormones and flavonoid biosynthesis in response to C. pomonella infestation. The phytohormone content assay revealed that the contents of salicylic acid (SA), abscisic acid (ABA), jasmonic acid (JA), jasmonic acid-isoleucine conjugate (JA-ILE), jasmonic acid-valine (JA-Val) and methyl jasmonate (MeJA) increased after feeding at different time points (0, 12, 24, 36, 48, and 72 h) of walnut husk. RNA-seq analysis of walnut husks following C. pomonella feeding revealed a temporal pattern in differentially expressed genes (DEGs), with the number increasing from 3,988 at 12 h to 5,929 at 72 h postfeeding compared with the control at 0 h postfeeding. Walnut husks exhibited significant upregulation of genes involved in various defence pathways, including flavonoid biosynthesis (PAL, CYP73A, 4CL, CHS, CHI, F3H, ANS, and LAR), SA (PAL), ABA (ZEP and ABA2), and JA (AOS, AOC, OPR, JAZ, and MYC2) pathways. Three gene coexpression networks that had a significant positive association with these hormonal changes were constructed based on the basis of weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA). We identified several hub transcription factors, including the turquoise module (AIL6, MYB4, PRE6, WRKY71, WRKY31, ERF003, and WRKY75), the green module (bHLH79, PCL1, APRR5, ABI5, and ILR3), and the magenta module (ERF27, bHLH35, bHLH18, TIFY5A, WRKY31, and MYB44). Taken together, these findings provide useful genetic resources for exploring the defence response mediated by phytohormones in walnut husks.

Study of vibration patterns and response transfer relationships in walnut tree trunks

Fruit tree trunk is the support structure of the whole tree, carrying the task of vibration transmission to all levels of branches, fruit tree trunk vibration response to the design and optimization of the vibration harvesting device to provide guiding value. In this paper, the vibration response and harvesting test was carried out for four walnut fruit trees with different morphology and size, and the vibration transmission relationship between the excitation device and the fruit tree as well as inside the fruit tree was analyzed and studied according to the acceleration response curves at each position point under different frequencies. At the same time, the theoretical vibration pattern of the fruit tree and the measured spatial three-dimensional vibration pattern were constructed, and the response transfer law between each point of the fruit tree was further analyzed in terms of the vibration pattern and direction of each position point on the tree. The results show that the excitation response acceleration is basically no attenuation inside the device, but there is some attenuation in the clamping part due to the presence of damping pads. The vibration response in the fruit tree trunk is greater in amplitude farther from the excitation point. The phase relationship between each position point is basically the same in the theoretical vibration mode and the measured vibration mode, but there is damping in the actual fruit tree, which leads to the accumulation of phase hysteresis in the transmission of excitation parameters. The actual response trajectory is a narrow ellipse, and the different position points show different rotational relationships along the ellipse trajectory due to the growth of the fruit tree.

Transcription combined metabolic analysis reveals the mechanism of potassium phosphate enhances resistance to walnut anthracnose (Colletotrichum gloeosporioides)

Given the increasingly serious diseases [anthracnose mainly caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (C. gloeosporioides)] of walnut plants in recent years and the environmental pollution caused by chemical pesticides, phosphites had been shown to be new environmental friendly chemical agents for plants. In this study, seven-year-old ‘Xiangling’ and ‘Xifu 4’ walnut trees were treated with different concentrations of potassium phosphite foliar fertilizer. The treatments were T1 (1500-fold dilution fluid of potassium phosphite), T2 (1000-fold dilution fluid of potassium phosphite) and CK (water). The results showed that the disease incidence rates of fruit treated with potassium phosphite were lower than CK. Moreover, the diseased fruit rates of ‘Xiangling’ (4) and ‘Xifu 4’ (14) in T2, lower than they (28 and 38) in CK. Metabolome and transcriptome further analysis revealed that potassium phosphite significantly increased the expression level of genes in the photosynthesis pathway and accumulated terpeniods, phenolic, salicylic acid and other secondary metabolic pathways. In addition, as salicylic acid content significantly increased, the expression level of the gene encoding the disease resistance-related protein (PR1) showed a corresponding trend. In vitro antibacterial tests of six related metabolites on C. gloeosporioides showed that hederagenin, 23-hydroxybetulinic acid, ursolic acid, eriodictyol, and salicylic acid had effect on C. gloeosporioides spores, among which salicylic acid and ursolic acid significantly inhibited the growth of C. gloeosporioides. Further experiments revealed that the minimum inhibitory concentrations of salicylic acid and ursolic acid were 2 and 5 g L−1, respectively. In addition, potassium phosphite could directly inhibit the growth of C. gloeosporioides spores in vitro tests. In conclusion, potassium phosphite enhanced walnut fruit disease resistance through up-regulated the genes related to photosynthetic performance and abundant in secondary metabolites, such as salicylic acid, terpenoids and phenolics, which were antibacterial effects on C. gloeosporioides.

JrPPO1/2 play distinct roles in regulating walnut fruit browning by different spatiotemporal expression and enzymatic characteristics

Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity drives walnut fruit browning, but the roles of its only two-family genes, JrPPO1 and JrPPO2, remain unclear. This study explores the spatiotemporal expression and enzymatic characteristics of JrPPO1 and JrPPO2 in walnut. Treatment with the PPO activator CuSO4 and H2O2 accelerated fruit browning and up-regulated JrPPO1/2 expression, whereas treatment with the PPO inhibitor ascorbic acid delayed browning, down-regulating JrPPO1 and up-regulating JrPPO2 expression. Compared to mJrPPO1, mJrPPO2 can exhibited better enzyme activity at higher temperatures (47 °C) and in more acidic environments (pH 4.25). mJrPPO2 exhibited a higher substrate specificity over mJrPPO1, and the preferred substrates are catechol, chlorogenic acid, and epicatechin. Additionally, mJrPPO2 adapted better to low concentration of oxygen (as low as 1.0% O2) and slightly elevated CO2 levels compared to mJrPPO1. Subcellular localization and spatiotemporal expression patterns showed that JrPPO1 is only expressed in green tissues and located in chloroplasts, while JrPPO2 is also located in chloroplasts, partly associated with membranes, and is expressed in both green and non-green tissues. Silencing JrPPO1/2 with virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) reduced fruit browning, maintained higher total phenols, and decreased MDA production. Notably, silencing JrPPO1 had a greater impact on browning than JrPPO2, indicating JrPPO1's greater contribution to PPO activity and fruit browning in walnut fruits. Consequently, JrPPO1 can be effectively regulated both at the molecular level and by manipulating environmental conditions, to achieve the objective of controlling fruit browning.

Phytochemical Analysis and Biological Activities of Different Extracts of Walnut (Juglans regia Linn.) Kernels

The walnut tree (Juglans regia Linn.) is a valuable medicinal plant. Almost all parts of this plant have significant nutritional and curative properties. The walnut fruit has been claimed to possess antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-hypertensive, antimicrobial properties and high nutritional value. The present work is focused on the phytochemical screening and study of antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of Juglans regia kernels extracted from four different solvents; methanol, ethyl acetate, chloroform, and hexane. The highest yield of extract was obtained with methanol. The phytochemical screening showed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, phenolic compounds, glycosides, terpenoids, quinones, reducing sugars, and saponins in methanol extract. The total phenolic content was higher in methanolic extract. Methanolic and chloroform extracts possessed more flavonoid content than ethyl acetate and hexane extracts. The DPPH radical scavenging assay showed that the IC50 value of methanolic extract was 78.77 μg/mL with TPC 67.65 mg GAE/g and TFC 391.00 mg QE/g. The IC50 value obtained for ethyl acetate extract was 135.28 μg/mL with TPC 36.56 mg GAE/g and TFC 212.00 mg QE/g. The IC50 value for chloroform extract was 313.72 μg/mL with TPC 13.08 mg GAE/g and TFC 393.73 mg QE/g. The IC50 value of hexane extract was 898.99 μg/mL with TPC 6.26 mg GAE/g and TFC 77.82 mg QE/g. Only methanolic extract showed the antimicrobial activity against Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus.

A General Image Super-Resolution Reconstruction Technique for Walnut Object Detection Model

Object detection models are commonly used in yield estimation processes in intelligent walnut production. The accuracy of these models in capturing walnut features largely depends on the quality of the input images. Without changing the existing image acquisition devices, this study proposes a super-resolution reconstruction module for drone-acquired walnut images, named Walnut-SR, to enhance the detailed features of walnut fruits in images, thereby improving the detection accuracy of the object detection model. In Walnut-SR, a deep feature extraction backbone network called MDAARB (multilevel depth adaptive attention residual block) is designed to capture multiscale information through multilevel channel connections. Additionally, Walnut-SR incorporates an RRDB (residual-in-residual dense block) branch, enabling the module to focus on important feature information and reconstruct images with rich details. Finally, the CBAM (convolutional block attention module) attention mechanism is integrated into the shallow feature extraction residual branch to mitigate noise in shallow features. In 2× and 4× reconstruction experiments, objective evaluation results show that the PSNR and SSIM for 2× and 4× reconstruction reached 24.66 dB and 0.8031, and 19.26 dB and 0.4991, respectively. Subjective evaluation results indicate that Walnut-SR can reconstruct images with richer detail information and clearer texture features. Comparative experimental results of the integrated Walnut-SR module show significant improvements in mAP50 and mAP50:95 for object detection models compared to detection results using the original low-resolution images.

Walnut (Juglans regia L.) fruit septum alcoholic extract as corrosion inhibitor for Fe B500B steel bars in mixed acidic solution

The corrosion inhibition performance of the walnut fruit (Juglans regia L.) septum alcoholic extract for Fe B500B steel bars in a mixed acidic solution (H2SO4/HCl) is reported. Weight loss, potentiodynamic polarization, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements were performed at 298 to 318 K, with the addition of various extract concentrations. Results showed the maximum corrosion inhibition efficiency of 86.99 % for 300 mg L-1 extract added. The extract acts as a mixed-type inhibitor, predominantly affect­ing the anodic side, following Flory-Huggins adsorption isotherm. Thermodynamic analysis indicated an endothermic process with both chemisorption and physisorption on the steel bar surface. Surface characterization was conducted using ATR-FTIR, UV-vis and SEM techniques to prove the adsorption of the inhibitor molecules on the steel bar surface. Also, a possible adsorption mechanism of inhibitor molecules was proposed.

A dual RNA-seq analyses revealed dynamic arms race during the invasion of walnut by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides

BackgroundWalnut anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides seriously endangers the yield and quality of walnut, and has now become a catastrophic disease in the walnut industry. Therefore, understanding both pathogen invasion mechanisms and host response processes is crucial to defense against C. gloeosporioides infection.ResultsHere, we investigated the mechanisms of interaction between walnut fruits (anthracnose-resistant F26 fruit bracts and anthracnose-susceptible F423 fruit bracts) and C. gloeosporioides at three infection time points (24hpi, 48hpi, and 72hpi) using a high-resolution time series dual transcriptomic analysis, characterizing the arms race between walnut and C. gloeosporioides. A total of 20,780 and 6670 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in walnut and C. gloeosporioides against 24hpi, respectively. Generous DEGs in walnut exhibited opposite expression patterns between F26 and F423, which indicated that different resistant materials exhibited different transcriptional responses to C. gloeosporioides during the infection process. KEGG functional enrichment analysis indicated that F26 displayed a broader response to C. gloeosporioides than F423. Meanwhile, the functional analysis of the C. gloeosporioides transcriptome was conducted and found that PHI, SignalP, CAZy, TCDB genes, the Fungal Zn (2)-Cys (6) binuclear cluster domain (PF00172.19) and the Cytochrome P450 (PF00067.23) were largely prominent in F26 fruit. These results suggested that C. gloeosporioides secreted some type of effector proteins in walnut fruit and appeared a different behavior based on the developmental stage of the walnut.ConclusionsOur present results shed light on the arms race process by which C. gloeosporioides attacked host and walnut against pathogen infection, laying the foundation for the green prevention of walnut anthracnose.

Study of physical and mechanical properties of plant fruits on the example of walnut

Perennial plantations that are zoned in Ukraine allow to obtain high-quality fruits (nuts), which are widely used in the perfumery, pharmaceutical, oil, confectionery and other industries, as well as in the production of feed and feed additives. The known technologies of mass processing of walnut kernels mostly work well with crops that have a spherical or close to spherical external shape. The simplest, but least productive, are primitive manual devices for peeling walnut shells. Despite the simplicity of their design, these devices are inefficient and unsuitable for adjusting their operation to different varieties and physical and mechanical properties of biological fruits. The analysis of the known designs of walnut shell destruction machines and mechanisms showed the need to study the physical and mechanical properties of biological fruits (walnuts), to develop technical recommendations for the design of impact mechanisms to improve the quality of shell destruction and the possibility of their application in mass production technologies. A research methodology was developed, a laboratory setup was manufactured, and experiments were conducted. To determine the strength characteristics, the author designed and manufactured a device. It consists of a lever mechanism and a deforming device. The dimensions and load measurements were carried out according to well-known methods of physical mechanics. The statistical analysis of the results showed the need for in-depth scientific research of the geometric parameters of the design of the working bodies of machines for destroying the walnut shell in the mechanisms of fruit peeling machines, taking into account the quality indicators performance of works with certain conditions of their implementation. We conclude that according to the results of the experiments, there is a fairly high dependence between the geometric dimensions of the walnut fruit at the level of 0.72, 0.57 and 0.49, respectively. The weight of the fruit also depends on its dimensional characteristics, which is logical at the level of 0.6–0.75. The force of critical static fracture has a weak correlation with the dimensional characteristics at the level of 0.3. And it depends little on the plane of its application.

Perceptual Effects of Walnut Volatiles on the Codling Moth.

The volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of plant hosts allow insect localization through olfactory recognition. In this study, the oviposition behavior of the codling moth was investigated and the VOCs from different walnut organs were extracted and analyzed to systematically study their composition and content differences. The electrophysiological and behavioral responses of the codling moth to walnut VOCs were measured using gas chromatography-electroantennographic detection (GC-EAD) and a four-arm olfactometer to screen the key active contents. The field investigation results indicated that 90.3% of the eggs spawned by the first generation of adult codling moths were adjacent to the walnut fruits. Walnut VOCs are mainly composed of terpenes, aromatics, and alkanes. Twelve VOCs can produce electroantennogenic (EAG) responses in the codling moths. Both adult males and females exhibit concentration dependence, with notable disparities in their EAG response levels. In the olfactory behavioral bioassay, linalool, eucalyptol, and high doses of geranyl acetate showed repellent effects on the codling moths, while myrcene, β-ocimene, nonanal, methyl salicylate, α-farnesene, and heptaldehyde showed the opposite. The relative levels of heptaldehyde, geranyl acetate, nonanal, and methyl salicylate were high in the fruits, which is intimately related to the localization of the walnut fruit by females. These VOCs can influence the oviposition behavior of codling moths but their application in the control of this pest needs to be confirmed and improved through further field experiments.

Assessment of handling practices and microbial contamination of raw and cooked African walnut (Tetracarpidium conophorum) fruit snacks in Abuja Nigeria markets

Microbial contamination of walnut fruits can be of health risk concern. This study assessed the handling practices and the microbial contaminant of raw and cooked African walnuts (Tetracarpidum conophorum Mull. [Arg]), fruits in Abuja, Nigeria. An initial market survey involving the administration of 120 semi-structured questionnaires was conducted. Seventy-two raw walnuts and 72 cooked walnuts samples were collected from Gwagawlada, Bwari and Abuja municipal area councils and bulked separately into 24 composite samples and examined for the total bacterial count. Fifty-two (52.0%) of the traders, preserve the cooked walnuts by submerging them in cold water overnight. The raw ones were preserved by shade-drying monthly for 4-5 hrs and bagging jute sacks by (68.0%) traders. The bacterial colony count in the raw walnut sample ranged from 1.13 x 105- 2.30 x 106 and 1.53 x 105- 6.80 ×106 in the cooked samples. Three Gram-negative bacteria - Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and Shigella sonnie, and two Gram-positive bacteria; Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella spp. were identified biochemically. Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli had the highest incidence of 42.0% and 25.2% in both the cooked and raw samples respectively. Thirty-three (67%) of the raw samples were in the satisfactory level while 83% of the cooked samples were in the satisfactory category when compared to the ICMSF food standard. Since some ready-to-eat cooked samples contained notable pathogenic microbes that are harmful to humans, this indicated a health risk concern.

Diversity of specific indicators of walnut fruits during selection using various methods

Walnut (Juglans regia L.) is a particularly valuable plant for humans. This is due to its multifaceted beneficial properties and qualities as a food, medicinal, technical, recreational and environmental tree species. The main goal of nut breeding is to obtain high-quality fruits. In the Russian Federation for the selection of individuals that provide such products, two methods are mainly used: method 1 – «Program and method for breeding walnuts» (Sukhorukikh et al., 2007) and method 2 – «Program and method for the study of fruit, berry and nut crops» (1999). The purpose of the study is to study the diversity of promising forms of walnut identified on the basis of methods 1 and 2 in terms of taste, kernel extractability and the overall score of the breeding value (quality) of the fruit. Other characteristics assessed identically or similarly are not considered. The object of the research was the literature data of the authors assessing the quality of nuts using methods 1, 2. For statistical processing, the Stadia 8.0/prof. program was used, and Microsoft Excel was used for graphical construction. Diversity was assessed using coefficients of variation and indices of distributed rank diversity (IRRR) based on known methods. It was established that the coefficients of variation of the studied indicators, assessed using various methods, did not have a significant statistical difference, and the selection gradations of taste and kernel extractability were equally distributed. When assessed using method 1, the statistical distribution of the total score of the selection value of fruits had a normal distribution, when using method 2 it differed from normal. When assessing diversity using IRRR values, method 1, compared to method 2, turned out to be more sensitive and provided greater diversity of the allocated gene pool in terms of the overall score of the breeding value of walnut fruits. The results can be used in walnut breeding.

Establishment of virus-induced gene-silencing system in Juglans sigillata Dode and functional analysis of JsFLS2 and JsFLS4

Juglans sigillata Dode is one of the important tree species in southwest China, and it has significant economic and ecological value. However, there is still a lack of effective methods to identify the functional genes of J. sigillata. By verifying the model plant tobacco, the pTRV2::JsPDS vector was able to cause photobleaching. This study showed that photobleaching occurred 24 and 30 d after the silencing vector was infected with aseptic seedlings and fruits of J. sigillata, respectively. When the OD600 was 0.6, and the injection dose was 500 μL, the gene silencing efficiency of aseptic seedlings was the highest at 16.7 %, significantly better than other treatments. Moreover, when the OD600 was 0.8, and the injection dose was 500 μL, the gene silencing efficiency in the walnut fruit was the highest (20 %). In addition, the VIGS system was successfully used to silence JsFLS2 and JsFLS4 genes in J. sigillata. This study also showed that the flavonol content and gene expression in the treatment group were decreased compared to the control group. In addition, the proteins transcribed and translated from the JsFLS4 gene may have higher catalytic activity for dihydroquercetin. The above results indicate that the TRV-mediated VIGS system can be an ideal tool for studying J. sigillata gene function.

Study on Target Detection Method of Walnuts during Oil Conversion Period

The colors of walnut fruits and leaves are similar in the oil transformation period, and the fruits are easily blocked by the branches and leaves. On the basis of the improved YOLOv7-tiny, a detection model is proposed and integrated into an Android application to solve the problem of walnut identification. Ablation experiments conducted with three improved strategies show that the strategies can effectively enhance the performance of the model. In terms of combinatorial optimization, the YOLOv7-tiny detection model that combines FasterNet and LightMLP modules works excellently. Its AP50 and AP50–95 are 3.1 and 4 percentage points (97.4% and 77.3%, respectively) higher than those of the original model. YOLOv7-tiny’s model size and number of parameters are reduced by 14.6% and 14.4%, respectively, relative to those of the original model, and its detection time decreases to 15.4 ms. The model has good robustness and generalization ability and can provide a technical reference for intelligent real-time detection of walnuts during the oil conversion period.

Evaluation of Mustard oil and temperature in the toxicity reduction of Aspergillus flavus in Walnut fruits

The study aimed to isolate and identify fungi that produce mycotoxins from walnut fruits and the possibility of limiting their presence in the fruits and reducing their toxic effects. The molecular diagnosis in this study of the fungus Aspergillus flavus was carried out using the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) genetic marker. As for the results of testing the ability of some A. flavus isolates to produce aflatoxins B1 including the ammonia test, the results of this test showed the ability of four out (of six) isolates of A. flavus on the production of aflatoxin B1 by changing the color of the base of the coconut medium on which the fungus isolates are grown, with a percentage of 66.66 %. The results of the chemical analysis using TLC technology for Aspergillus flavus showed the ability of three isolates to produce aflatoxin B1 out of six isolates of A. flavus with a percentage of 50 %. As for the most important results of the effectiveness of mustard oil in inhibiting the growth of the fungus A. flavus in walnut fruits, the highest percentage of inhibition was at 15% concentration, which amounted to 57.33%. The most important results of the storage experiment after three months of storage, included the test of the effect of mustard oil and temperature on the growth and density of A. flavus. The test was the effect of mustard oil on the reduction ratio of aflatoxin B1 as it reached the highest percentage of toxin reduction when adding mustard oil only, which amounted to 98.213%, compared to other treatments, the test was the effect of mustard oil and temperature on the amount of aflatoxin B1 toxin, which gave the highest rate when adding A. flavus to walnuts, which amounted to 13.425 micrograms/ g,. At a temperature of 5 °C, it gave the lowest rate of aflatoxin B1 toxin, which was 0.880 µg.gm-1. The highest rate was 8.620 µg.gm-1, at 25°C.

Economic analysis of potential of citrus and walnut fruits by artificial neural network

South Asian countries have a wealth of opportunities to use the rainfed lands to the farmers’ advantage with the largest amount of rainfed land. The economic circumstances of the farmers operating in these areas are appalling due to the inefficient use of these lands. The work reported in this paper was carried out in the Jammu, Kathua, and Udhampur districts of the Jammu division. Two horticultural crops, viz., citrus and walnuts, were discovered to be cultivated in the chosen sample location. The influence of several elements to the financial potential of these horticultural crops was investigated using production functional analysis and marginal value productivity (MVP). The use of artificial neural networks (ANNs) further assisted this. According to a production functional analysis, the main variables in the districts of Udhampur and Kathua are machine labour and fertilisers, followed by human labour and fertilisers in the Jammu district. However, sensitivity analysis revealed the importance of manure, fertilisers, and manpower. In the rainfed portions of Jammu division, manpower combined with fertilisers is often thought of as the key determining factor for the profitability of horticulture crops like citrus and walnut. The absence of better varieties was identified via Garett ranking as the main restriction, followed by a lack of knowledge and expensive inputs, respectively.

Identification and Fungicide Screening of Fungal Species Associated with Walnut Anthracnose in Shaanxi and Liaoning Provinces, China.

Walnut is cultivated around the world for its precious woody nut and edible oil. Recently, walnut infected by Colletotrichum spp. resulted in a great yield and quality loss. In August and September 2014, walnut fruits with anthracnose were sampled from two commercial orchards in Shaanxi and Liaoning provinces, and five representative isolates were used in this study. To identify the pathogen properly, four genes per region (internal transcribed spacer, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, actin, and chitin synthase) were sequenced and used in phylogenetic studies. Based on multilocus phylogenetic analysis, five isolates clustered with Colletotrichum fioriniae, including its ex-type, with 100% bootstrap support. The results of multilocus phylogenetic analyses, morphology, and pathogenicity confirmed that C. fioriniae was one of the walnut anthracnose pathogens in China. All 13 fungicides tested inhibited mycelial growth and spore germination. Flusilazole, fluazinam, prochloraz, and pyraclostrobin showed the strongest suppressive effects on the mycelial growth than the others, the average EC50 values ranged from 0.09 to 0.40 μg/ml, and there was not any significant difference (P < 0.05). Pyraclostrobin, thiram, and azoxystrobin were the most effective fungicides on spore germination (P < 0.05), and the EC50 values ranged from 0.01 to 0.44 μg/ml. Pyraclostrobin, azoxystrobin, fluazinam, flusilazole, mancozeb, thiram, and prochloraz exhibited a good control effect on walnut anthracnose caused by C. fioriniae, and preventive activities were greater than curative activities. Pyraclostrobin at 250 a.i. μg/ml and fluazinam at 500 a.i. μg/ml provided the highest preventive and curative efficacy, and the values ranged from 81.3 to 82.2% and from 72.9 to 73.6%, respectively. As a consequence, mancozeb and thiram could be used at the preinfection stage, and pyraclostrobin, azoxystrobin, flusilazole, fluazinam, and prochloraz could be used at the early stage for effective prevention and control of walnut anthracnose caused by C. fioriniae. The results will provide more significant instructions for controlling the disease effectively in northern China.

Amino acids profile of Two Chinese nuts (Juglans sigillata and Castanea mollissima ) in local markets of Kurdistan region/Iraq using HPLC

Aim: current study was aimed to study the amino acid contents of two Chinese nuts, walnuts (Juglans sigillata Dode.) and chestnuts (Castanea mollissima Blume.) from the local market of the Kurdistan region / Iraq. Methodology: Walnut fruits (Juglans sigillata) and chestnut fruits (Castanea mollissima) were collected from local market in the Kurdistan region / Iraq, samples were collected, dried and ground. one milgram of each sample was weighed, then dissolved in 10 ml High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) methanol, the sample was shaken and agitated in an ultrasonic bath for 10 minutes , then concentrated by evaporating the solvent with a stream of liquid N2 until it reached 1 ml, filtrated the liquid sample on deposable sep-pak cartridge filter ( supleco Co, Ltd),then 20 ml were injected on HPLC column . Results: firstly current study can identified thirteen amino acids from chestnuts but there are only eight amino acids were identified from walnuts. Secondly, there are big different between them in the percentage of amino acids where valine is appear in the highest percentage which record 69.43 %, while it recorded 6.32% in chestnut fruit , While threonine showed the highest percentage in chestnuts arrived to 54.09% compared to only 3.72% in walnuts fruits.