Rana M. Jamous

• PhD Molecular Biology
• Head of Department at Biodiversity and Environmental Research Center

The incidence of squash leaf curl disease and molecular characterization of the Palestinian isolate of Squash leaf curl virus [SLCV-(PAL)] are described in this study. Symptomatic leaf samples obtained from squash (Cucurbita pepo), watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.)], and cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) plants were tested for SLCV-[PAL] infection...

The incidence of watermelon chlorotic stunt disease and molecular characterization of the Palestinian isolate of Watermelon chlorotic stunt virus (WmCSV-[PAL]) are described in this study. Symptomatic leaf samples obtained from watermelon (Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.)), and cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) plants were tested for WmCSV-[PAL] infection by...

Background In the early 2000s, two cucurbit-infecting begomoviruses were introduced into the eastern Mediterranean basin: the Old World Squash leaf curl virus (SLCV) and the New World Watermelon chlorotic stunt virus (WmCSV). These viruses have been emerging in parallel over the last decade in Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine. Methods...

The incidence of Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) and biological and molecular characterization of the Palestinian isolates of ToBRFV are described in this study. Symptomatic leaf samples obtained from Solanum lycopersicum L. (tomatoes) and Nicotiana tabacum L. (cultivated tobacco) plants were tested for tobamoviruses infection by reverse t...

Most of the biodiversity in the State of Palestine is concentrated in about 51 nature reserves or protected areas (approved by the Palestinian Council of Ministers) (50 of them in the West Bank and one in the Gaza Strip). In order for these protected areas to play their role in protecting biodiversity, they must be characterized by representation (...

Citation: Ali-Shtayeh, M. S., Jamous, Rana M., Abu Zaitoun, Salam Y. (2022). Flawed research, inaccessible research outputs, and biased or poor-quality reporting would misguide conservation actions to curb biodiversity loss. Biodiversity & Environmental Sciences Studies Series, 17 (1), 1-12 (ISSN: 1818-3751) Scientific evidence is essential to gui...

Scientific evidence is essential to guide effective conservation actions to reduce biodiversity loss. Conservation research resources are often wasted due to flawed studies, inaccessible research outputs, and biased or poor-quality reports. In the State of Palestine, the national reports on the Convention on Biological Diversity are the main source...

This study aims at providing an updated checklist of the native vascular flora of the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza Strip (State of Palestine, SP), serving as a taxonomic and nomenclatural basis for botanical research and encouraging new floristic surveys and biosystematic studies. The study provides an up-to-date checklist of native vascular taxa...

Distribution of Nablus Iris populations in their natural habitats in Nablus mountains: An ecological survey .

Threats facing Sawsan Nablus in its natural habitats in the Nablus mountains: a field survey.

Palestinian royal irises propagation by an improved forced aril iris seed germination method.

Plumbago europaea L. is a plant utilized in Palestinian ethnomedicine for the treatment of various dermatological diseases. The current investigation was designed to isolate plumbagin from P. europaea leaves, roots and for the first time from the stems. Moreover, it aimed to evaluate the antimycotic activity against three human fungal pathogens cau...

The royal irises (Iris subg. Iris sect. Oncocyclus) species generally occur in small populations or locally scattered over rocky hillsides, steppes, and deserts from the north Caucasus to the eastern Mediterranean. Species of this section are easily recognized by their inflorescences of a single, large, spherical flower and sepals with a dark signa...

Background: Candida albicans (C. albicans) is one of the main etiological agents causing cutaneous candidiasis (CC). Objective: The aims of this study were to compare genotypes of C. albicans strains causing CC in Palestinian infants. Methods: A total of 100 isolates of C. albicans were isolated from infected lesions. Genomic DNAs were amplified by...

Fig mosaic is a viral disease (FMD) that spreads in Palestinian common fig (Ficus carica L.) orchards. Recognizing the economic value of fig plants and the harmful nature of FMD, the disease poses a significant threat to the economy of the fig production in Palestine. We applied the reverse transcription and amplification (RT-PCR) and PCR technique...

Lavandula pubescens Decne (LP) is one of the three Lavandula species growing wildly in the Dead Sea Valley, Palestine. The products derived from the plant, including the essential oil (EO), have been used in Traditional Arabic Palestinian Herbal Medicine (TAPHM) for centuries as therapeutic agents. The EO is traditionally believed to have sedative,...

In the present study, the medicinal aromatic plant Mentha spicata has been investigated as a source of essential oil (EO) and pharmaceuticals. The quantity and composition of EO from M. spicata cultivated in Palestine were analyzed seasonally over a three-year period. A significantly higher EO content was produced in summer and fall months (2.54–2....

Eid, I. S., Shtaya, M. J., Mallah, O. B., Abu Zaitoun, S. Y., Jamous, R. M., Ali-Shtayeh, M. S. (2019). Characterization of novel sources of Fusarium resistance in Faqous (Cucumis melo subsp. melo var. flexuosus), by phytopathgological approach. Biodiversity & Environmental Sciences Studies Series, 14 (1), 1-14. ISSN: Palestinian snake melon (Faq...

Medicinal aromatic plants (MAPs) are cultivated for the production of specialty materials including essential oils (EO), and pharmaceuticals, but most are still wild collected. The need for renewable sources of intensive industrial products as well as the protection of plant biodiversity can be satisfied by cultivating MAPs as agro-industrial crops...

Drought is the major environmental factor limiting wheat production worldwide. Developing novel cultivars with greater drought tolerance is the most viable solution to ensure sustainable agricultural production and alleviating threats to food-security. Here we established a core-collection of landraces and modern durum wheat cultivars (WheatME, n =...

Abstract: Background: Crop landraces embody a source of beneficial genes potentially providing endurance to environmental stress and other agronomic qualities including yield. Our study included eighty-eight snake melon accessions (Cucumis melo var. flexuosus) collected from 9 districts in the Palestinian West-Bank. These accessions represent four...

Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) has been considered as an important center of plant diversity and speciation in the Mediterranean region. However, several species are threatened by numerous factors including human activities, e.g., conversion of traditional to intensive agriculture, accompanied by deep ploughing and the application of pesticides, ov...

We evaluated the antioxidant and porcine pancreatic lipase inhibition (PPLI) activities of 90 plants extract. The antioxidant activity was measured using the free-radical scavenging capacity (DPPH), and reducing power (RP) assays. The pancreatic lipase inhibition assay was used to determine the PPLI activity of plant extracts. Among the 90 plant ex...

ABSTRACT Environmental conditions, including irrigation water quality, are known to affect secondary metabolite production in plants and hence the composition and activity of essential oils of aromatic plants. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of irrigation with secondary-treated effluent, as compared with potable water irrigation, on...

Background Gastrointestinal parasites are one of the main restrictions to small ruminant production. Their pathological importance is primarily related to the major production losses, in quantity or quality, induced by the direct action of worms. Control of these parasites is based exclusively on the frequent use of anthelmintic drugs. However, the...

Mallah, O.B., Yaish, S., Shtaya, M., Jamous, R.M., Abu Zaitoun, S.Y., Ali-Shtayeh, M. S. (2017). Exploring genetic variations of Palestinian snake melon (Cucumis melo var. flexuosus) germplasm using RAPD molecular markers. Biodiversity & Environmental Sciences Studies Series, 11 (1), 1-10. ISSN: 1818-3751 Economically, melons (snake melon and cant...

Crop landraces represent a source of useful genes endowing tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses, and other agronomic traits including yield. Our study involved 88 Palestinian snake melon, Faqous (Cucumis melo var. flexuosus) accessions [representing 22 populations, belonging to four local varieties: Green Baladi (GB), white Baladi (WB), green S...

The irrigation of Mentha spicata with secondary treated effluent did not affect yield of essential oil quantity in the crop. The inhibitory activity of BuChE was similar of the essential oils under the two irrigation types collected in summer and fall, with IC50 of 9.67 and 9.51 mg/ml in summer for potable and effluent, respectively, and 6.72 and 6...

The book describes a preliminary study on the efficacy of olive fruit fly "attack and kill" traps on olive fruit fly control,and the effect of fruit storage conditions on olive oil quality

Genetic diversity in 50 snake melon accessions collected from Palestine (West Bank) was assessed by examining variation in 17 phenotypic characters. These accessions belonged to four important landraces of Cucumis melo var. flexuosus: green Baladi (GB), white Baladi (WB), green Sahouri (GS), and white Sahouri (WS). Principal component analysis (PCA...

Genetic diversity in 50 snake melon accessions collected from Palestine (West Bank) was assessed by examining variation in 17 phenotypic characters. These accessions belonged to four important landraces of Cucumis melo var. flexuosus: green Baladi (GB), white Baladi (WB), green Sahouri (GS), and white Sahouri (WS). Principal component analysis (PCA...

The study focuses on searching for new germplasm resources and genetic variation of Cucumis melo var. flexuosus (Faqqous) to control melon Fusarium in the Middle East.

The scarcity of water throughout the world dictates utilization of marginal water for irrigation (Bernstein et al., 2009). Regional and national decision making is increasingly involved in devising ways to optimize the use of the available water recourses. The latter includes the treatment of sewage effluent and its use for irrigation purposes. Agr...

Fusarium wilts, caused by races of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. melonis, have a devastating impact on melon in the Middle East and Mediterranean region including Palestine. The soil-borne disease is difficult to control because of the long survival of the pathogen in soils. Identifying sources of genetic resistance and incorporating them in cultivars a...

The scarcity of water throughout the world dictates utilization of marginal water for irrigation (Bernstein et al., 2009). Regional and national decision making is increasingly involved in devising ways to optimize the use of the available water recourses. The latter includes the treatment of sewage effluent and its use for irrigation purposes. Agr...

Rhus coriaria L. (Sumac) is an important and a widely used crop in the Mediterranean basin as a food spice, and also in folk medicine due to its health promoting properties. Phytochemicals present in plant foods are -in part- responsible for these consequent health benefits. Nevertheless, detailed information on these bioactive compounds is still s...

Complementary medicine (CM) is extensively used by patients with cancer across the Middle East. We aimed to compare the perspectives of two Arab populations residing in diverse socioeconomic-cultural settings in Palestine and Israel regarding CM's role in supportive cancer care. A 27-item questionnaire was constructed and administered to a convenie...

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the prevalence and the factors related to the use of herbs by women during pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum and for infant health care. The study also aims to identify the herbs therapeutic uses and preparation. To date, no previous studies have investigated this prevalence in Palestine. Methods: A cross-secti...

The aims of this study was the genotyping of Candida albicans strains isolated from patients with invasive cutaneous and vulvovaginal infections and to investigate the fluconazole, flurocytosine (5-FC), and amphotericin B susceptibility of the strains genotypes. For this purpose, 151 C. albicans isolates [from 68 candidiasis (VVC) and 83 cutaneous...

To determine the epidemiology of dermatophytosis in Palestinian patients, detect changes in the etiological agents during the last three decades, and to correlate between concomitant tinea pedis infections, and other cutaneous lesions. 220 suspected dermatophytosis patients were involved in this study. In an additional 38 cases, where consultation...

Aims: To evaluate eleven medicinal plants as natural sources that possess strong antidermatophytic, antibacterial, anticandidal and antioxidant substances with potential applications in therapeutics and food industry. Place and Duration of Study: Sample: Biodiversity and Environmental Research Center, BERC, between December 2013 and April 2014. Met...

Background: Due to its unique geography, and diverse climate zones, Palestine has a large variety of native plants. However, local species have not been systematically screened for their biological activities. Methods: Plant samples were collected from 76 natural sites distributed in different geographical and climate zones. Samples were assessed f...

Rhus coriaria L. (Sumac), belonging to the Anacardiaceae family, is an important and most used species of the genus Rhus in the Mediterranean region since antiquity. Sumac has long been used as a flavoring spice, drink, appetizer, and as acidulant in food recipes; in addition to its use in traditional medicine. The role of plant in leather and text...

Background: Cholinesterase inhibitory therapy serves as a strategy for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), several acetylcholineesterase inhibitors are used for the symptomatic treatment of patients with mild to moderate AD. These compounds have been reported to have adverse effects including gastrointestinal disturbances. Numerous medicinal...

Context: Despite several pharmacological applications of the medicinal plants in the Traditional Arabic Palestinian Herbal Medicine in Palestine (TAPHM), studies on their antioxidant properties are yet scarce. Objective: This work evaluates the antioxidant and anti-tumor activities of the ethanol extracts from different parts of six plants: (Arum p...

Abstract Context: Despite several pharmacological applications of the medicinal plants in the Traditional Arabic Palestinian Herbal Medicine in Palestine (TAPHM), studies on their antioxidant properties are still scarce. Objective: This work evaluates the antioxidant and antitumor activities of the ethanol extracts from different parts of six plant...

Background: Cholinesterase inhibitory therapy serves as a strategy for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Several acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs) are used for the symptomatic treatment of AD. These compounds have been reported to have adverse effects, including gastrointestinal disturbances. This study was therefore partly aimed at...

ontext: Despite several pharmacological applications of the medicinal plants in the Traditional Arabic Palestinian Herbal Medicine in Palestine (TAPHM), studies on their antioxidant properties are still scarce. Objective: This work evaluates the antioxidant and anti-tumor activities of the ethanol extracts from different parts of six plants: [Arum...

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia characterized by a progressive loss of memory, deterioration of virtually all intellectual functions, increased apathy, decreased speech function, disorientation, and gait irregularities AD primarily affects the elderly population of over 65 years of age, and is estimated to a...

Rhus coriaria L. (Sumac) is widely used in the Mediterranean area as well as in other parts of the world as a food spice for its sour taste, and also in folk medicine due to its health- promoting properties. Phytochemicals, mainly, phenolics present in the plant may be -in part- responsible for these consequent health benefits. Nevertheless, detail...

Analysis of differentiation (genetic diversity and related relationships) among 22 landrace (Ficus carica L. sativa) and 2 wild form (F. carica L. caprificus) accessions of fig growing under the same environmental conditions in the Palestinian Fig Collection, Til, Nablus, Palestine, using PCR-based Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and pomolo...

Analysis of differentiation (genetic diversity and related relationships) among 22 landrace (Ficus carica L. sativa) and 2 wild form (F. carica L. caprificus) accessions of fig growing under the same environmental conditions in the Palestinian Fig Collection, Til, Nablus, Palestine, using PCR-based Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and pomolo...

Abstract Rhus coriaria L. (Sumac) is an important and a widely used crop in the Mediterranean basin as a food spice, and also in folk medicine due to its health promoting properties. Phytochemicals present in plant foods are -in part- responsible for these consequent health benefits. Nevertheless, detailed information on these bioactive compounds i...

Arum palaestinum Boiss, a wild edible plant in Palestine, is one of about 26 species of the arum genus which are flowering plants belonging to Araceae. The plant is widely used in Traditional Arabic Palestinian Herbal Medicine (TAPHM) in the treatment of several human diseases mainly cancer. This investigation reports the separation and identificat...

To explore the frequency of CAM use among hypertensive patients in Palestine, determine demographic characteristics that may increase the likelihood of CAM use and to find out how benefits were perceived by patients. Across-sectional survey of patients attending outpatient hypertension clinics. The method was based on a semi-structured questionnair...