Ecophysiological studies on Achillea fragrantissima and Artemisia judaica in two wadis of Southern Sinai, Egypt – JBES

W.A. Kasim, M.N. El-Shourbagy, K.M. El-Absy

Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt

Desert Research Centre, Ministry of Agriculture, Cairo, Egypt

Key words: Achillea fragrantissima, amino acids, Artemisia judaica, metabolites, DNA, seasons, Southern Sinai.

Abstract

The physiological and molecular responses of Achillea fragrantissima (Forssk.) Sch. Bip. and Artemisia judaica L. growing in Wadi El-Sheikh (WSH) and Wadi El-Arbaean (WAR) in Saint Catharine, Southern Sinai, Egypt during the wet and dry seasons were investigated. The results revealed that.in both wadies, soil had higher electrical conductivity (EC) and higher water content . in WSH possessed higher Na+, K+ and Cl- during wet season and higher Ca+2 and Mg+2 during dry season. . In wet season, A. fragrantissima showed higher value of total carbohydrates in the downstream and higher value of total nitrogen and protein in the upstream of WSH. . . A comparable increase in selenium content was noticed in A. fragrantissima in downstream of WSH during dry season while the same was the case during wet season of WAR. Both species in the two wadis had higher values of total phenols, total alkaloids and total glycosides during the dry season. Achillea fragrantissima, Values of the amino acids in A. fragrantissima of WAR were higher in dry season while in WSH, they were detected in wet season. A. fragrantissima was considerably rich in four amino acids: asparagine, glutamine, proline and tyrosine and relatively poor in isoleucine and phenylalanine. Higher values of aspartic acid and proline were recorded in A. judaica in the downstream of the WAR during dry season. A. fragrantissima from both wadies was characterized by the presence of bands of molecular sizes of 1290, 1193, 586 and 481 bp. However, bands of molecular sizes of 1693, 1647, 1189, 1010, 896, 759, 730, 719, 616, 549, 413, 380 and 155, bp were detected only in A. fragrantissima from WSH, while they were absent in specimens from WAR. . A. judaica from the two wadis was characterized with bands of molecular sizes of 1861, 1402, 1342, 1161, 1032, 973,854, 824, 777, 734,724, 629, 574, 326 and 206 bp. There were three common bands in both plants from both wadis with molecular sizes of 908, 246 and 179 bp.