پژوهشنامه اصلاح گیاهان زراعی
پیاپی 48 (زمستان 1402)

Like other crops, wheat also faces several environmental limitations during its growth period, such as the lack of micronutrients. Zinc deficiency causes limitations in crop production, especially growth, and yield in calcareous soils. Considering the economic and agricultural importance of wheat in the world and Iran, it is necessary to pay attention to and identify genetic relationships, to know the level of genetic diversity, and estimate it in wheat germplasm by plant breeders. The present research was conducted with the aim of identifying genetic diversity and investigating stress tolerance indicators on phenological, physiological, and biochemical traits in desirable spring wheat cultivars under optimal conditions and zinc deficiency stress.

Sixty-four spring wheat cultivars under both optimal conditions and zinc deficiency stress, a simple lattice design was performed in 2019-2020 in the research farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, Urmia University. In this research, phenological traits including the number of days to germination, number of days to booting, number of days to pollination, number of days to physiological maturity, grain filling period, and physiological and biochemical characteristics including canopy temperature, total chlorophyll, leaf area index, fresh weight and dry weight, relative water content, grain protein concentration, zinc concentration in shoot and grain yield were measured.

The results of the analysis of variance revealed a significant difference among the cultivars in both optimal conditions and zinc deficiency stress in most of the studied traits. positive and significant correlations of Ys and Yp with MP, GMP, STI, and HM indices showed that these indices are the most suitable indices for screening cultivars under zinc deficiency stress conditions.

Generally, based on studied traits, tolerance indices, the results of principal components analysis, and cluster analysis, Aflak, Darya, Arvand, Roshan, Kavir, and Sirvand were selected as desirable cultivars and VEE/NAC, Tajan, Parsi, and Panjamo were identified as undesirable and susceptible cultivars. The selected tolerant and susceptible cultivars can be used for developing biparental populations, gene expression analysis, and breeding programs to produce cultivars with high yield.

Creating semi-dwarf plants is one of the most important goals in rice breeding. The decrease in the quality and quantity of the  crope produced due to the dormancy of the rice plant has a negative effect on the farmers' economy. In order to stabilize the cultivated area and also to supply rice for the country's consumption, it is recommended to introduce cultivars of local origin with semi-dwarfing traits, along with increasing yield. The first step to transferring this trait to local cultivars is screening to identify suitable parents for transferring the semi-dwarf gene and also identifying efficient markers for the advancement of backcrossing projects with the help of markers. For this purpose, this research was carried out for the phenotypic evaluation and molecular screening of the available genotypes based on the functional markers related to the semi-dwarfing trait.

In this research, 50 local and improved rice genotypes were prepared from the collection of the Rice Research Institute of Iran And the dwarfing trait was investigated based on phenotypic and molecular evaluations in the field related to the band pattern created by a pair of specific primers (semidwarfing gene = sd1) contiguous with the gene locus controlling the semi-dwarfing trait. The generalized linear logistic regression model was used to analyze the observed correlation between genes. Also, the hypothesis of  a genetic relationship between the sd1 gene allele and plant height was tested through a logistic regression model.

Based on the genetic evaluation, 26 cultivars were found to have the allele of the semi-dwarfing gene and 24 cultivars did not have the allele of this gene, and the used marker is able to predict and differentiate the  cultivars for future breeding  programs with high confidence and accuracy. The logistic regression results also confirmed this result.

According to the observed results, the used functional marker sd1 can be used as an efficient marker for the screening of separating populations to improve the semi-dwarfing trait.

Potato (solanum tubrusum) is the fourth staple food after rice, wheat and corn. It is the most important tuberous crop. Potato color flesh is one of the most important parameters in food industry and marketability. The flesh color of the tetraploid cultivars range from white to cream and yellow to dark yellow. There are a few cultivars with red or blue/pink flesh color. Based on mutant clones containing superior quantitative and qualitative traits and flesh color change in Caesar potato variety, this research was carried out with the aim of determination of the reason of color flesh change in Caesar mutant.

Mutant and parent (Caesar) clone were cultivated in research farm of Ardabil Agriculture Research Center in 1397. Sampling was done in 4 replications for each clone. Changes in total carotenoid and its components were performed by spectroscopy-UV and HPLC-chromatography, respectively.

Carotenoid content in mutant clone was 319.54(µg/100 FW) and in parent clone was 246.36 (µg/100 FW). This result showed that content of total carotenoid in mutant was 1.3 times the carotenoid content of the parent. HPLC results showed that Lutein content was increased in mutant in comparison to parent, whereas, violaxantin was higher in parent that mutant clone.

Based on our results total carotenoid content along with lutein play an important role in potato color flesh change. Our finding is in accordance with results of other researches that showed that flesh color change from cream (parent) to yellow (mutant) was affected by total carotenoid content generally and lutein specifically.

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is one of the most important oil crops and due to its high content of unsaturated fatty acids and lack of cholesterol, the oil benefits from a desirable quality. Drought is the most important crop production limiting factor in the changing climate scenario and its intensity is predicted to increase in future. In this research, drought tolerance of some sunflower cultivars under non-stress and drought stress conditions was studied and SIIG method was used for integrating studied traits in order to select the best drought stress tolerant cultivars.

In order to evaluate the drought and susceptible cultivars using tolerance index (Ti) for studied traits and selection index of ideal genotype (SIIG), an experiment was conducted in 2022 cropping season based on randomized complete block design with three replication under non-stress and drought stress conditions separately on 10 sunflower cultivars including Azargol, All-star, Master, Hysun33, Golsa, Ghasem, Farrokh, Shams, Golshid and Barzegar in field in Abarkouh city. Grain yield, plant height, number of days to maturity, number of seeds per head and 1000 seed weight were measured in this research.

The results of combined analysis of variance revealed that drought stress and cultivar had significant effect on all studied traits. Cultivar effect was significant in all studied traits. Stress × cultivar interaction was significant only in grain yield. Drought stress led to a significant decrease in all studied traits. Mean comparisons showed that Farrokh, Barzegar and Shams cultivars had the highest value in the most traits and so these cultivars were suggested for cultivation under both conditions. Ghasem, Farrokh and Shams had the highest value of Ti index for grain yield, 1000 seed weight and number of seeds per head. Ghasem, Barzegar, Farrokh, Shams and Golsa had the highest value and All-star, Golshid and Hysun33 had the lowest value of SIIG, respectively. Cluster analysis, based on ward method and by using Eucilidian distance, classified studied cultivars using Ti index of traits into two groups. Azargol, Barzegar, Golsa, Shams, Master, Ghasem and Farrokh cultivars were placed in first group and these cultivars in terms of Ti index values for grain yield, 1000 seed weight and number of seeds per head were higher than second group and whole mean.

The results of cluster analysis using Ti index of traits are similar to the results of cultivar ranking based on SIIG and it can be said that Farrokh, Ghasem, Shams, Barzegar, Azargol, Golsa and Master cultivars were drought tolerant and All-star, Hysun33 and Golshid were susceptible cultivars according to cluster analysis and SIIG values.

Medicinal plants are one of the rich sources of important compounds from ancient to the present; it has found a special place in the treatment of many diseases and has become an important reason for many studies on medicinal plants. On the other hand, the diversity of plants has led researchers to use morphological markers first and then cytogenetic markers to select the physiologically and genetically superior plant. Peppermint (Mentha piperita) from Lamiaceae family is one of the most important medicinal plants, used in food, sanitary and cosmetic industries and used as a spice and traditional herb in Iran. The purpose of the experiment is to investigate genetic diversity based on morphological diversity.

In this research, different accessions of this plant were collected from different regions of Iran. An experiment was conducted in 2021 year based on randomized complete block design to evaluate the morphological of these accessions in Meshginshahr climatic condition. The results were analyzed using spss software and univariate and multivariate statistical methods.

Analysis of variance showed that there were significant differences for the most studied traits among 12 accessions. The important traits such as plant height, branch number, leaf number traits, the internode length, in inflorescence length, the plant dry weight, plant fresh weight, bracket number, stem length, , internode number, bract number, Plant diameter, Dry weight leaf, Dry weight flower, Leaf surface and Flower number per plant were varied among accessions. The Meshginshahr, Golestan ,Ardabil and Urmia were the best in phytochemical. Maximum correlation was shown between plant height and stem length (0.97). Cluster analysis, classified the accessions into three  major claddes. Factor analysis indicated that the four factors explained 91.3 of the variability among the accessions. The results of path analysis showed that the leaf number and  plant dry weight content had highest direct and positive effect (0.75).

The results suggested that there was a considerable genetic variation among M. piperita L accessions. Indicate the presence of comparable genetic potentials in genotypes of Mentha piperita L. for cultivar development.

Chickpea is one of the most important grain legumes, which plays significant roles in food security of developing countries and became more important with climate change in recent years. Germplasm characterization for desired traits will help to create efficient breeding populations that are important to achieve particular objectives. Therefore, this research was carried out to (i) investigate the genetic diversity of breeding lines and varieties of Kabuli chickpea under autumn sowing condition, (2) investigate the relationships between morpho-agronomic traits and (3) identify superior genotypes based on multi-traits.

In this research, genetic diversity of 150 chickpea genotypes including 12 Iranian varieties, 4 foreign varieties and 132 breeding lines were investigated for important agronomic traits including phenological traits, plant height and seed yield and its components in the experimental farm of Dryland Agricultural Research Institute (Kermanshah) during two consecutive crop seasons (2019-2020 and 2020-2021). Trials conducted using an Alpha Lattice design with two replications under autumn sowing conditions.

According to the results of combined analysis of variance, there were significant difference between the studied genotypes for all the traits except the seed filling period and seed weight. Results of genotype × trait biplot and genetic correlation analyses showed that number of pod per plant had a positive and significant correlation with seed yield in both cropping seasons. Based on the results of the cluster analysis, the investigated varieties and breeding lines were classified into three and two groups in first and second cropping seasons, respectively. Simultaneous selection of superior genotypes was done for high yield, high seed weight, higher plant height, higher number of pod per plant, early flowering, early maturity and short seed filling period using MGIDI. Genotypes 25, 143, 74, 66, 35 (Azad), 97, 133, 19, 4, 52, 15, 80, 36 (Adel), 40 (Saeed), 108, 22, 86, 106, 141, 99, 98 and 21 were recognized as superior genotypes in the first cropping season, while, genotypes 35 (Azad), 13, 34 (Nosrat), 70, 136, 46, 99, 20, 120, 36 (Adel), 30, 73, 51, 116, 59, 23, 19, 55, 41 (Samin) and 11 were recognized as superior genotypes in the second cropping season. Azad, Adel and genotypes 99 and 19 were identified as superior genotypes in both cropping seasons.

There was significant genetic diversity for traits related to seed yield in the studied germplasm, which allows the selection of superior genotypes. According to the results of this research, the number of pods per plant had an important role in the formation of seed yield in the autumn sowing condition. The superior genotypes identified in this research could be considered as parents of breeding populations in Kabuli chickpea breeding programs for autumn sowing condition of moderate regions.

Sesame is one of the oldest crops and probably the oldest oilseed in the world. In most regions, the landrace and local masses of sesame are used. To increase production and yield, the production of modified cultivars for different agricultural climates is extremely important.

Seven genotypes included Isfahan, Sirjan, Fars, Oltan, Jiroft, Sabzevar, TS-3 and 21 hybrids that were obtained from them were studied in the research farm of the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Birjand under the drought stress conditions during 2015-2018. The experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications as a 7 × 7 one-way diallel. In this study, several traits were measured. These traits were including plant height, height to the first fruiting capsule, number of capsules per plant, number of sub-branches, number of leaves, leaf length, number of seeds per capsule, capsule length, capsule weight, capsule width, days to 50% and 90% flowering, days to physiological maturity, thousand seed weight, oil percentage, protein percentage, amount of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, biological yield, economic yield and harvest index.

The investigation of the adequacy of the additive-dominance model showed that the model was sufficient in the traits including plant height, capsule length, capsule weight, number of leaves, number of sub-branches, number of capsules per plant, economic yield, biological yield, days to 50 flowering, days to 90% flowering and days to physiological maturity, and therefore diallel analysis was done on these traits. Hayman's variance analysis showed that were significant component a (additive effects of genes) in all traits and component b (dominant effects of genes) in all traits except plant height. Also, were significant the component b1 (mean dominance effects) in most traits except plant height, number of auxiliary branches, number of capsules and seed yield, the component b2 (other dominance deviation due to the parents) in most traits except plant height, number of auxiliary branches and number of capsules, and the component b3 (residual dominance variation) in all traits except plant height. The investigation of genetic parameters showed significant additive genetic component (D) and dominanant genetic components (H1 and H2) in most traits. Also were significant the component F (average covariance of additive and dominance effects) and the component h2 (the overall dominance effect of heterozygous loci) in half of the traits. The average degree of dominance (√ (H1/D)) in different traits was observed as additive, incomplete, and over dominance. In all characteristics, except capsule weight, the ratio of genes with positive and negative effects (H2/(4H1)) was not equal to 0.25; therefore, in all traits, increasing and decreasing genes did not have symmetrical distribution among parents. The ratio of dominant and recessive genes in parents ((√(4DH1)+F)/(√(4DH1)-F)) was more than unity in most of the traits, so there was an uneven distribution of dominant and recessive genes in most of the traits. The number of dominant gene groups (h2/H2) was obtained from 0 to 2.04; therefore, all traits were controlled by one or two gene blocks. Broad sense (hb2) and narrow sense (hn2) heritability were high in all traits.

In the traits studied, the type of action of genes controlling the traits, the ratio of dominant and recessive genes, the ratio of genes with increasing and decreasing effects, additive effects and dominance were variable and were different in most of the traits. Generally, most traits were controlled by genes with additive and dominant effects. The high heritability estimate indicates the promising news of the studied genetic materials in future studies. Therefore, among these materials, better genotypes can be selected for the climatic conditions of Birjand, so that it can be further investigated in the future.

It is necessary to develop new sustainable high-yielding cultivars in drought-prone areas. The yield of cultivars in different environments is different and their yield rating varies from one environment to another. Reduction of interaction effects and production stability in different environments is one of the goals of breeding program and introducing cultivars in different regions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the genotype ×environment interaction effect in different cold climate regions of Iran and to determine the superior genotypes and introduce the most stable wheat genotype in these conditions.

To investigate of the stability of 17 wheat genotypes along with Mihan, Heydari and Zarineh cultivars (check cultivars) under water deficit conditions, these genotypes were tested in a randomized complete block designwith three replications in the research stations of Karaj, Hamedan, Mashhad, Jalgarokh, Miandoab and Ardabil in the two crop years 2018 to 2019. In order to check the stability of genotypes, AMMI and GGE-biplot analysis were used.

AMMI analysis showed that the first ten main components were significant and in total explained nearly 97% of the changes in the genotype × environment interaction and the two main components, the first and the second, contributed 46% to the expression of the genotype × environment interaction. Based on SSiASV and SSiWAAS indices G2, G19 and G4 were identified as the best genotypes, respectively. The G3 was the most stable genotype. GGE-biplot analysis showed that G16, G1, G3 and G7 had the highest general stability compared to other genotypes. G16 can be considered as a desirable genotype that has high average yield and high yield stability. G12 and G9 genotypes were in the next ranks. On the other hand, the ideal environment was not observed, but the environments of Mashhad, Ardabil and Karaj in the first year can be introduced as the closest environments to the ideal environment for the selection of superior wheat genotypes in water deficit condition in the cold climate of the Iran.

G3 was the most stable genotype, and then G16, G1 and G7 had the most general stability compared to other genotypes, so that G16 was identified as the desired genotype with high average yield and high yield stability. The environments of Mashhad, Ardabil and Karaj in the first year can also be used to select superior genotypes.

Bread wheat with a scientific name Triticum aestivum is one of the most adaptable types of cereals, which plays a central role in Iran's agriculture, and the flour obtained from it is mainly used to produce bread. Today, one of the problems and threats facing the realization of food security in human societies is the ever-increasing population and the decreasing of production resources, so increasing the amount of production per unit area is necessary .Therefore this research to evaluate of rainfed wheat cultivars and lines to nitrogen and supplemental irrigation applications, an experiment was carried out.

The experiment was carried out in randomized complete block design in split plot arrangement with three replications in Dryland Agricultural Research sub Institute (Kermanshah) and in two cropping seasons (2018-2020). The main plots included supplemental irrigation in two levels of 50 mm supplemental irrigation in planting time and 50 mm supplemental irrigation in planting time +30 mm supplemental irrigation at the booting stage. The sub-plots included two nitrogen (N) application times (autumn N application (total) and split N; 2:3 in the autumn+1:3 topdressing at the booting stage (spring)). The sub-sub-plots included nitrogen rates; 0, 40, 80, and 120 kg N.ha-1, and the sub-sub-sub-plot included Shalan and Rizhav cultivars and DARI line.

The results showed that performing two irrigation stages increased the biological yield of seed yield and straw yield by 1450, 777 and 673 kg.h-1 respectively. The time of autumn application and split of nitrogen had no significant effect on yield and yield components, but autumn application of nitrogen caused an increase of 74 kg.ha-1 in grain yield. Nitrogen application could significantly increase grain, biological and straw yields in a linear manner. No significant difference was observed between two cultivars and one line used in response to nitrogen, although the effect of increased nitrogen fertilizer consumption on seed yield in Shalan cultivar had a more regular increase. The effect of nitrogen application time on two varieties and one line was the same, although the autumn application of nitrogen caused a slight increase in biological yield, grain and straw.

The nitrogen requirement of dryland wheat in the conditions of single irrigation is 60 kg per hectare at the same time as planting and for two stages of irrigation, 80 kg of nitrogen per hectare is recommended in the form of 2:3 in autumn and 1:3 at of the second stage the supplementary irrigation. Autumn application of nitrogen caused a slight increase in biological yield, grain and straw. Shalan variety had more Fertilization. Finally, it can be concluded that the optimal use of water and nitrogen moderates the effects of heat and drought stress in Rainfed conditions and by using this operation, the amount of dry wheat production can be improved in difficult conditions.

Rice is one of the oldest and most important cereals in the world and is a desirable model plant for genetic and molecular studies. Drought is one of the important risks for the successful production of crops, especially rice, in the world, which can be created at any time during the growing season. One of the main challenges in agriculture is to produce more food with less water consumption, and therefore, the production of rice genotypes that can have more tolerance to drought stress is one of the main goals of breeding projects.

In order to evaluate the effect of drought stress (zero (control), -3 and -5 bar using Polyethylene Glycol) on some genetic, morphological, and biochemical characteristics of rice at the germination stage, 38 lines with their parents (MousaTarom and 304) were investigated in randomized complete block design with three replications during 2022.

Morphological traits were decreased under -5 bar drought stress compared to the control. The germination rate and percentage were increased by 9.6 and 1.1% under -3 bar stress, and 37.8 and 33% under -5 bar stress, respectively. The rootlet length, rootlet fresh weight, and dry weight increased under - bar stress compared to the control, indicating that the rice plant can tolerate such a stress intensity, and it may even be used as a priming. Catalase, peroxidase and superoxide dismutase enzyme activities increased by 59, 51 and 81%, respectively, by increasing the stress to -5 bar compared to the control. This increase shows the increase of the plant's resistance to the active oxygen and drought tolerance. The highest phenotypic correlation in non-stressed conditions was between seedling weight and length vigor (0.92), under -3 bar stress was detected between shootlet length and fresh weight (0.91), and under -5 bar stress the highest one was between seed germination percentage and rate (0.94). The factor analysis for each of the zero, -3 and -5 bar drought stress levels introduced three factors that explained 73.68, 81.13 and 81.73 percent of the variance, respectively.

The high diversity of traits at the -5 bar drought stress indicates that it is possible to use germination rate and percentage, length and weight indices, and shootlet length and fresh weight as criteria for genotype selection under -5 bar drought stress. Such traits could be used as effective ones in the selection of tolerant rice genotypes at the germination stage and in order to establish the rice plant optimally.

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is one of the most important oilseed crops in the world, which has gained great importance in Iran due to its high tolerance to drought and salinity. Two important factors in the development of safflower cultivation are the increase of oil yield and early maturity. Considering that the most important step in plant breeding is creating diversity and using this diversity in selection, in this experiment, a large number of safflower genotypes were evaluated in terms of important quantitative and qualitative traits.

In this study, 160 local and imported genotypes were evaluated in the form of an augmented design with three controls (introduced cultivars Goldasht, Padideh and Golmehr) in five replicates as winter cultivation, and traits such as flowering date, Plant height, number of branches, spininess, seed yield, oil percentage, 1000 seed weight, seed protein content and fatty acid profile including percentage of palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic and linolenic acids were investigated.

The results showed the existence of a range of 23 days for flowering date, a range of 95 cm in plant height and a range of 16% in the amount of seed oil. Also, a large variation was observed in seed yield and other evaluated traits. The results showed that the amount of seed protein in some tested genotypes was up to 20%, which is very important in terms of the nutritional value of meal. Examining the fatty acid profile with the help of GC showed that 24 genotypes had oleic acid content higher than 55%. The results of partial correlation showed that the genotypes with the highest percentage of oleic and palmitic acid usually have the highest percentage of oil and there is a strong negative correlation between oleic and linoleic, so that the decrease or increase of one is associated with the increase or decrease of the other. High oil percentage was observed only in thorny genotypes and no significant correlation was observed between oil percentage and seed protein content, so that genotypes with high oil percentage and high seed protein percentage were observed at the same time.

Overall, the results of this study showed that there is a great diversity between the collected genotypes, which can be used in breeding programs.

Cold stress is one of the most important factors limiting the early cultivation of most crops, including corn. Cold causes oxidative stress through the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in plants. This study was conducted in order to investigate the expression pattern of some genes involved in the response to cold stress (catalase, superoxide dismutase and metallothionein) in corn plants.

This experiment was conducted as a factorial in the form of a randomized complete block design with four replications and with three varieties of corn singlecross 260, singlecross 302 and doublecross 370. Planting was done in pots with a capacity of 4 kg of soil. qPCR technique was used to check gene expression pattern.

The results of the analysis of the gene expression pattern showed that among the examined cultivars, singlecross 260 had the highest expression of catalase and superoxide dismutase genes, and singlecross 302 had the lowest expression of these genes. Examining the metallothionein gene expression pattern also showed that the expression level of this gene is the lowest in singlecross 260 and the highest in singlecross 302. The high expression of metallothionein gene in singlecross 302 is probably due to the occurrence of oxidative stress due to cold stress, accumulation of hydrogen peroxide and low expression of catalase gene. Also, growth indices including germination percentage, germination speed, leaf surface and chlorophyll a and b showed a good correlation with the expression level of catalase and superoxide dismutase genes.

Singlecross 260 and Singlecross 302 had the highest and lowest levels of expression of superoxide dismutase and catalase genes, germination percentage, germination speed, leaf area and chlorophyll, respectively. The activity of antioxidant genes such as catalase and superoxide dismutase prevent the reduction of chlorophyll and damage to the plant's photosynthetic apparatus.

Soybean (Glycine max L.) is an annual, self-pollinating, diploid plant belonging to the Leguminosae pea family and is one of the most important oil plants in the world. The amount of yield of soybean oil constitutes its economic part, which is dependent on the grain yield and its related traits. Knowing the relationships between these traits and the interaction between them is very important for reformers. Different reports of relationships between traits and seed yield in soybean have been presented; Therefore, in this research, to investigate the reaction of different soybean cultivars and lines, in terms of yield and yield components in three levels of drought stress and normal, in order to select traits that can be considered as selection criteria for selecting cultivars and lines. paid.

In order to investigate the effect of drought stress on the yield and yield components and physiological characteristics of different soybean cultivars and lines and to analyze the relationships between traits in order to select resistant cultivars adapted to the dry or low water climatic conditions of Iran, an experiment was conducted in the form of a split. The plot was based on a randomized complete block design. In this investigation, the irrigation levels included: 1- no stress, 2- stress after flowering, 3- stress after podding as the main factor and soybean cultivars and lines were considered as secondary factors in four replications.

between the main factor (drought stress) in terms of plant height, leaf area, length of plant, number of seeds per plant, dry weight of plant, weight of seeds per plant, weight of 1000 seeds, biological yield, economic yield and plant yield. In the level unit and between the levels of the sub-factor (numbers and lines) in terms of all the assessed traits, there was a significant difference at the probability levels of 5 and 1 percent. In terms of the interaction between the main and secondary factors, only in terms of plant height, stem length, number of seeds per plant, number of seeds per seed, seed weight per seed and biological yield, a significant difference was observed at 5 and 1% probability levels. With the increase of stress from the flowering stage to the pod bearing area, the yield and yield components decreased and showed a decrease compared to the non-stressed condition. The non-stress treatment (normal) had the highest economic yield with an average of 3134.40 kg and compared to the stress treatment after podding which produced an average of 2765.85 kg, it produced 11.75% more yield, in other words, The increase in stress intensity has decreased grain yield. Among the cultivars studied, in terms of yield and yield components, Arian line and DPX genotype were identified as superior cultivars, and Kausar, Parsa and Saba lines were identified as weak cultivars.

In general, the results obtained from this research showed that with the increase of stress from the flowering stage to the pod bearing area, the yield and yield components decreased and showed a decrease compared to the non-stressed condition. The non-stressed (normal) treatment with an average of 3134.40 kg had the highest economic yield and compared to the stress treatment after podding with an average of 2765.85 kg, it produced 11.75% more yield, in other words, with increasing stress, yield The grain has decreased. Among the studied cultivars, in terms of yield and yield components, Arian line and DPX genotype were identified as superior cultivars, and Kausar, Parsa, and Saba lines were identified as weak cultivars.

Gelatinization temperature is one of the most important characteristics of determining cooking time and an important indicator of rice grain quality. Gelatinization temperature is defined as the temperature at which rice starch granules begin to irreversibly lose their crystalline nature and order. In this research, phenotypic and molecular screening of 50 different genotypes of local and improved varieties of rice was done in order to separate selective varieties of rice based on the difference in gelatinization temperature.

The required seeds for the study were obtained from the collection of the Rice Research Institute of Iran, and after cultivation in the research field of the Rice Research Institute, the produced seeds were harvested and the gelatinization temperature of the rice seeds was measured based on the phenotypic test. It was done with 1/7% potassium hydroxide method and molecular evaluation was done using the marker (Alk) (from the genes controlling the gelatinization temperature) and the logistic regression model was used to analyze the correlation between genes and phenotype.

Based on the phenotypic evaluation based on the biochemical trait of gelatinization temperature created for different rice samples, it was determined that out of 50 genotypes, 33 cultivars had a gelatinization temperature of 3-5 and 17 cultivars had a gelatinization temperature of 6-7 were. In the molecular evaluation, the marker (Alk) separated 33 cultivars with a gelatinization temperature of 3 to 5.

Potassium hydroxide method has 1/7% efficiency to differentiate genotypes with different gelatinization temperature. The marker (Alk) also has the necessary efficiency in separating genotypes with medium gelatinization temperature.

 Water deficit stress is a serious threat to food security worldwide. Association mapping is a suitable method to identify the location of quantitative traits based on linkage disequilibrium, which is highly effective in describing complex genetic traits. This study aimed to evaluate the population structure and the SNP markers association morphological traits of spring wheat genotypes under water deficit stress conditions.

In this research, genome-wide association mapping was done for 111 spring wheat genotypes. Phenotyping evaluation was done in the form of a simple lattice design with two replications in the agricultural year 2020-2021 under non stress and water deficit stress conditions in the experimental field of Gachsaran Rain-fed Agricultural Research Station in Iran. Genotyping of the samples was done using SNP markers (15 K SNP array) in Trait-Genetic company in Germany. Each genotype was evaluated using 15 thousand SNP markers. The obtained SNP data were filtered in terms of MAF indices (minor allele frequency) and missing data (Missing data >10%). From each of the 21 pairs of bread wheat homologous chromosomes, seven SNP markers with no missing data and with suitable distribution were selected (147 markers in total) to determine the structure of the studied population (Q matrix) using STRUCTURE 2.3 software and the number of groups (K) was identified. The studied traits were flag leaf area, number of nodes, first internode length, number of tiller per plant, number of fertile tillers per plant, number of infertile tiller per plant, and spike weight. Genome-wide association mapping using TASSEL 5.0 software and the general linear model (GLM) method with Q matrix and decomposition into principal components with more than 80% justification (PCA) with 52 components was used.

The results of the analysis of variance showed that there was an acceptable genetic variation in terms of all studied traits and also the reaction of genotypes was different in facing water deficit stress.
In the water deficit stress condition, chromosome 2A had the maximum significant correlation with 39 and chromosome 5A had the minimum association marker with the trait with four. In the of water stress conditions, three bread wheat genomes (A, B, and D) accounted for 53, 36, and 11% of the frequency of marker-trait association, respectively. A and D genomes of bread wheat under water deficit stress conditions ratio to non-stress conditions assigned a more prominent role for the examined traits. In total in the non-stress and water deficit stress condition 180 and 111 marker trait association (MTA) were identified respectively. In the water deficit stress conditions, the number of correlations with markers for flag leaf area, first internode length, tiller of number per plant, and spike weight were 17, 24, 10 and 19, respectively. In the water deficit stress condition, the frequency of significant marker association more significant than in non-stress condition for traits of first internode and fertile tiller of number per plant. Three bread wheat genomes showed an unequal contribution for the studied traits in terms of the number of identified marker-trait associations (MTA). Also, genome A had a significant contribution to grain yield under water stress conditions with 74% of significant correlations between the marker and the spike weight trait.

 Finally, the MTAs identified in the present study can be used in the development of wheat breeding programs under water deficit conditions especially gene pyramiding or marker-assisted selection.

Stimulants are compounds that initiate signals for cells to increase or decrease the production of secondary metabolites and plant defense response and stimulants such as Putrescine play a role in regulating various plant physiological processes. The use of nano-fertilizers has led to an increase in the efficiency of the use of nutrients, the correct management of fertilizer consumption, and a reduction in the frequency of fertilizer application. This research was conducted in order to investigate the effect of iron nanoparticle and putrescine as plant growth stimulants on the yield and yield components of the oil-medicinal plant Camelina.

This research was conducted as factorial design in a randomized complete block design with three replications in the research fields of Baye-Kala Agricultural Research Station (BARS) in Neka county in 2021. The studied factors included iron nanoparticles in four concentrations (zero, 20, 40, and 60 ppm) and polyamine putrescine in four concentrations (zero, 0.5, 1, and 1.5 mM).

The results of variance analysis of different traits indicated that the simple effect of iron nanoparticles and putrescine was significant on all the studied traits at the 5% level. Also, the interaction of the two factors was significant on all the studied traits except peroxidase in the reproductive stage and this interaction was nonsignificant on all physiological traits in vegetative stage. According to the results, the highest amount of flavonoid (21.871 and 21.389, respectively), soluble sugar (116.643 and 105.453, respectively), catalase (1.301 and 1.394, respectively) and peroxidase (5.056 and 4.687, respectively) were observed in the vegetative stage in the application of 40 ppm iron nanoparticles and 1.5 mM putrescine. The results indicated that the highest amount of flavonoid (40.72), soluble sugar (139.27) and plant height (115.75) were observed in the treatment combination of 60 ppm iron and 1 mM putrescine, the highest percentage of oil (41.76) and protein (27.77) were observed in the treatment combination of 40 ppm iron and 1.5 mM putrescine and the highest amount of grain yield (210.27) and morphological components of yield were observed in the treatment combination of 40 ppm iron and 1 mM putrescine.

In general, the interaction effect of 40 ppm of iron nanoparticles and high concentration of putrescine had the best results, and the spraying of iron nanoparticles and putrescine through the more effective absorption of microelement nutrients and strengthening the plant's defense system can improve the growth, development and yield of the medicinal-oil Camelina plant.

Due to the droughts of the last few years, the low need of barley crop to water and rich soil, the need of the country in the supply of Community Food and the importance of barley in the food industry, therefore, it is necessary to introduce high-yielding and drought-resistant genotypes.

The research was conducted at the Ilam Agricultural Research Station in 2020-2021. Identification of tolerant and sensitive genotypes was based on grain yield and drought tolerance indices. Accordingly, 16 barley genotypes were implemented in the form of random complete blocks with four repetitions in two conditions: dim and supplementary irrigation. After harvesting, grain yield was measured and stress tolerance indices were calculated.

The results of correlation between drought tolerance indices and grain yield in rainfed and irrigated conditions showed that tolerance index (STI), mean productivity (MP), harmonic mean (HM) and geometric mean productivity (GMP) were positively correlated, and had significance with grain yield traits in both environmental conditions. So, they were suitable indicators for selecting high yielding genotypes in both rainfed and irrigated environments. Based on SIIG index, genotypes 11 and 9 show the highest values, while genotypes 3 and 4 had the lowest values. Also, factor analysis based on principle component analysis showed that the first two factors explain 98.5%((the first factor 68.7% and the second factor 29.8%) of the total diversity.

Based on the obtained results, genotypes No. 9 and 11 have the highest resistance to drought stress and yield, which are suitable for cultivation in areas under moisture stress, and genotypes No. 3 and 13 are suitable for planting in areas without moisture stress.

In crop breeding programs, comprehensive information is needed regarding the genetic structure of plant materials and their combinability. In this regard, the present study was carried out with the objectives of evaluating the general combining ability of parents and the specific combining ability of crosses, determining the nature and extent of gene action, and finally estimating the heritability of quantitative and qualitative traits of sugar beet hybrids by the analysis of line-tester crosses.

The study was conducted as a line-tester crossing using nine lines and two testers of sugar beet. For this purpose, maternal lines were planted in the middle lines and pollinator lines were cultivated in two lateral lines and all the crossings were done by observing the points related to isolation. A number of 18 hybrids obtained from the line-tester cross were cultivated and investigated in the agricultural research station of Shiraz in randomized complete block design with four replications during the crop season of 2019-2020.

The results of analysis of variance of root yield, sugar yield, white sugar yield, sugar content, white sugar content, sodium, potassium, harmful nitrogen, alkalinity coefficient, extraction coefficient of sugar and molasses sugar percentage showed that among studied hybrids, there is a significant difference at the 1% probability level in terms of all the traits except the two traits of sugar content and white sugar content. Line-tester analysis confirmed that the additive and non-additive effects of genes are involved in the expression and inheritance of root yield and sugar yield; However, in the genetic control of white sugar yield, sugar content, white sugar content, sodium, potassium, nitrogen, alkalinity coefficient, extraction coefficient of sugar and molasses sugar percentage, genes with non-additive effect have not played a role, and according to the significance of the general combining ability effect of the line or tester for the mentioned traits, only genes with additive effect are involved in the control. In total, from the used lines in the present study, 950123 and from the experimental testers, F-21121 had positive effects with regard to the improvement goals of sugar beet. S1-24 and F-21122 were associated with negative effects and caused a decrease in the breeding value of the traits.

Overall, obtained results showed the existence of diversity among hybrids derived from crossing between lines and testers. Based on the results, genes with both additive and non-additive effects are involved in the control of root yield and sugar yield, but in the inheritance of sugar yield, sodium, potassium, harmful nitrogen, alkalinity coefficient, extraction coefficient of sugar, and molasses sugar percentage, only genes with additive effect are involved. Considering that general combinability shows the additive effects of genes, so parents with high general combining ability also have a large additive effect that can be used in cultivar production.

Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) is one of the main food legume crops in Iran, where it is grown as a Rainfed crop in the spring season in cold regions. One of the obstacles of autumn cultivation in cold regions is the negative effects of cold and frost. So, in order to expend autumn cultivation, introducing cold varieties are needed. But until now, a cold tolerant lentil variety has not been introduced. Assessment of cold tolerance, introducing autumn cultivated cultivars and production stability are important goals of crop breeding programs in cold regions.

This study was carried out during the (2021-2022) growing season at the Dryland Agricultural Research Center. Plant materials consisted of 13 Lentil landraces that were collected from Iran and a check variety Sana. Experiments were conducted at rainfed conditions using a complete block design with two replications. Plants were evaluated for cold tolerance screening in the field under natural conditions with a cold tolerance rating (CTR: cold tolerance score) scale. observations of five randomly selected plants from each plot were recorded for plant height and seed number per plant. Green seeker calculated the normalized difference in the vegetative index using red and near infra-red light. Cold tolerance of landraces was also evaluated under controlled conditions (cold room).

According to the field trial results, none of the landraces had cold damage effects. Considering yield, NDVI index, plant height, biomass and seed number per plant, landraces 4 (Ardebil- Nir- Dash Boulagh) and 1 (Ardebil- Nir- chehre bargh) were the best. These landraces had 41% and 31% higher yields than the Sana check variety. Controlled condition results showed that landraces 2 (Ardebil- Namin- Nane Karan), 3 (Ardebil- Namin- Dodran), 9 (Varzegan- Orangh) and 11 (Varzegan- Somedel) had 91-100 survival percentage and selected as highly tolerant. Also, landraces 1 and 5 had 81.5- 82.5 survival percentages and were considered as tolerant.

Totally, results showed highly significant differences between landraces. some landraces such as number 1(Ardebil- Nir- chehre bargh) and 4 (Ardebil- Nir- Dash Boulagh), had suitable agronomic attributes and could be used in lentil breeding programs. Comparing field and controlled condition results showed accuracy of evaluating cold tolerance under controlled condition.

Corn is an important crop that is cultivated in many parts of the world. One of the major factors limiting the plant growth is lack of water, which reduces plant growth and survival in arid and semi-arid areas. For this purpose, evaluation of the effect of drought stress on plant cultivars and identification of the tolerant genotype is of particular importance.

In this research, nine corn hybrids (including three promising hybrids H1 (SC01; TS01×MS02), H2 (KLM77021/4-1-2-1-2-4-1× K47/3), and H3 (K47/2-2-1-4-2-1-1-1× MO17) and six commercial H4 (NS640), H5 (SC703), H6 (SC704), H7 (SC720), and H9 (SC715) grain corn hybrids as late and medium maturity groups) were planted in split plots in the form of a complete random block design in three replicates at Research Unit of Moghan Agro-Industry and Livestock Company, Ardabil in spring and summer 2022. The main plots include two levels of normal irrigation (10 times of atmospheric and stack irrigation according to the region's custom) and drought stress (interruption of irrigation during the flowering and seed filling stages: eight times of atmospheric and stack irrigation so that the interruption of irrigation at the end of flowering continued to grain filling for 18 days) and the sub-plots included six varieties and three hybrids of corn. In both irrigation conditions, yield and seed yield components were evaluated. To identify the tolerant genotype based on grain yield under stress and normal conditions, stress tolerance indices (STI), stress sensitivity (SSI), tolerance (TOL), mean productivity index (MP) and geometric mean yield (GMP) were calculated. Correlation and grouping was performed based on tolerance indices of drought stress in different corn hybrids.

Dehydration stress significantly reduced the yield and yield components of corn cultivars. The H7 (SC703) and H6 (SC704) hybrids were the ones with the highest plant height, hundred seed weight, number of seed rows in cob, and number of seeds in each cob row. Further, the hybrid H1 (SC01), H6 (SC704), H7 (SC703) and H3 (K47/2-2-1-4-2-1-1-1× MO17) have the highest seed yield in both conditions of normal stress and dehydration. The correlation between grain yield and grain yield components was significant and positive. The data obtained from the evaluation of drought tolerance indices showed that there was a significant difference between different corn hybrids. As the hybrid H6 (SC704) and promising hybrid H1 (SC01) allocated the highest MP, GMP and STI, and the promising hybrid H3 (K47/2-2-1-4-2-1-1-1× MO17) showed the highest SSI value. Correlation analysis between drought tolerance indices also showed a significant positive relationship between STI, SSI, TOL, MP and GMP. The cluster analysis of the studied corn hybrids based on drought tolerance indices divided the corn hybrids into three separate groups, such that the hybrids H1 (SC01), H3 (K47/2-2-1-4-2-1-1-1× MO17), H6 (SC704) and H7 (SC703) were classified as drought tolerant hybrids within the same group.

It seems that by simultaneous trait evaluation of the grain yield and grain yield components along with drought tolerance indices, it is possible to identify the genotype with high grain yield under water deficit stress. The information acquired by the study might be applied in the future remedial programs.