آرش فاضلی

Investigating the diversity of cultivars of agricultural plants and the relationships between their important economic traits, such as grain yield, components of grain yield, and phenological characteristics in crops, is crucial. Wheat is a significant source of energy and dietary nutrients. During wheat breeding programs, yield and yield components are carefully considered, and understanding their relationship is essential for developing high-yield varieties. When comparing agricultural cultivars, it is important to consider the conventional or innovative nature of the comparison methods and the novelty of the cultivars or varieties being compared.

In this study, 94 bread wheat varieties (including 4 control varieties) were cultivated using an augmentation plan with 3 repetitions during the agricultural year of 2018-2019 at the Faculty of Agriculture, Ilam University. After planting, normal irrigation and proper weed control were maintained, and phenology and morphology information were recorded, including days to germination, tillering, stem, flowering, and maturity. Additionally, the number of tillers, leaves, plant height, nodes, peduncle length, spike length, number of spikes, weight of 1000 seeds, and seed yield were assessed for normality. Data analysis involved the use of simple and advanced statistical methods, as well as multivariate statistical methods such as principal component analysis, discriminant analysis (DA), and cluster analysis.

The analysis of variance revealed that there was a significant difference among the studied cultivars in terms of all the traits investigated, indicating that there is enough diversity between them. The highest Pearson correlation was found between a thousand seed weight and yield (0.907***), days to tillering and days to flowering (-0.92***), days to flowering and maturity (0.85***), days to tillering and rippening (0.83***), days to tillering and stem (0.79***), and days to tillering and flowering (0.79***). Additionally, there was a positive and significant correlation between seed yield and spike length, as well as the number of spikes (0.39*** and 0.34***, respectively), which was further confirmed by the Bayesian method. The principal component analysis, along with linear DA analysis, showed that the first two components accounted for the majority (99.51%) of the total variance and demonstrated the effectiveness of this method in grouping the varieties. Based on these results, the cultivars were categorized into four groups. Group one consisted of the Darya and Quds genotypes, with an average yield of 712 grams. The other groups had average yields of 594, 864, 195, 328, and 442 grams, respectively. The third group (Shahpasand number) had the highest yield at 864 grams per square meter and a thousand-seed weight of 43.2 grams, which were the highest among all the groups and the entire experiment. However, the Tak-Ab variety also had the highest thousand-seed weight at 50.81 grams.

In this study, two methods, both conventional and advanced, were used to evaluate the correlation and relationship between traits, and the results were consistent with each other. Subsequently, multivariate statistical methods were employed to classify the wheat cultivars. By decomposing the data into the main components, the first two components successfully grouped the cultivars, with Shahpasand and Darya exhibiting the highest yield and thousand-seed weight in the population, respectively. Given the size of the population and its sufficient diversity, as well as the range of climatic conditions, it is feasible to utilize the available cultivars with high performance and desirable traits in improvement and expansion programs.

The purpose of the current research is to recognize the obstacles encountered in the advancement of urban tourism within the regions of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province. The ongoing investigation is grounded on a qualitative approach alongside content scrutiny. The demographic under scrutiny comprises professionals hailing from the academic and organizational sectors. A series of semi-structured, open-ended interviews were carried out with a total of 12 individuals. The gathered interviews underwent a thorough review and assessment in order to delineate open codes, revise and remove codes that were alike, and designate categories pertaining to tourism challenges. Based on the findings derived from the qualitative analysis of 12 interviews, a total of 135 primary codes were identified. Through the process of merging and consolidating similar codes, over 117 primary concepts were extracted. Consequently, these codes gave rise to 29 dimensions. The difficulties associated with the advancement of urban tourism encompass a range of challenges, including inadequate transportation and communication networks, reliance on non-specialized personnel, scarcity of human resources, ineffective advertising strategies, deficient tourism infrastructure, insufficient investment, absence of a strategic plan, inadequate needs assessment protocols, lack of engagement from diverse sectors, failure to leverage successful practices, inadequate allocation of essential funds, inappropriate approach towards the region, inadequate security measures, seasonality of tourism, lack of information resources, inadequate training opportunities, cultural deficits, limited hospitality ethos, oversight of tourist attractions, subpar management practices, dearth of innovative approaches, unsatisfactory services, limited knowledge and understanding of tourism principles, underutilization of emerging technologies, marginalized role of tour guides, deficient comprehensive tourism strategies, disregard for environmental concerns, absence of a distinct tourism identity, and scarcity of tourism-related events.

Wheat is one of the primary cereals in most countries, and in recent decades, its cultivation has been significantly impacted by environmental conditions due to climate change. Therefore, an experiment was conducted during the 2020-2021 agricultural year to examine the response of photosynthetic pigments and the yield of different wheat cultivars to the combined application of bacteria and sulfur under rainfed conditions. This factorial experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The experimental factors included four wheat cultivars: Eivan, Sardari, Homa, and Azar 2, sulfur treatment at two levels: foliar spray with distilled water as a control and foliar spray with sulfur and bacterial treatment at two levels: without inoculation (control) and inoculation with Azospirillum bacteria. The results showed that the highest grain yield (3030 kg/ha) was observed in the Eivan cultivar with the application of Azospirillum bacteria. Inoculation with Azospirillum bacteria increased the grain yield of the Eivan and Sardari cultivars by 17.9% and 42%, respectively, while no statistically significant effect was observed on the grain yield of the Homa and Azar 2 cultivars. The results indicated that sulfur spraying and bacterial application improved photosynthesis. Under rainfed conditions, the Eivan cultivar had significantly higher grain yield compared to the Sardari, Homa, and Azar 2 cultivars and produced a higher yield with bacterial application. Azospirillum bacteria increased leaf photosynthesis. Plant nutrition management and the use of growth-promoting bacteria, with their physiological effects, can be considered strategies for improving yield under rainfed conditions.

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L) is the main food of the people of many countries, so that it supplies more than 20% of the calories needed by the world's population, and it is cultivated in large quantities and in a large area. Bread wheat has the most trade compared to other crops.Wheat leaf septoriosis was first reported in Europe in 1842. The cause of this disease is a bipolar heterothallic ascomycete fungus, Mycosphaerella graminicola (Fuckel) J. Schrot, whose sexual cycle repeats itself during the cropping season, according to favorable environmental conditions, and since 1894, it has been observed and has been reported, although the relationship between foliar septoria and this fungus was clarified after about 80 years. This disease, which is considered one of the most destructive diseases of wheat in the world, its global damage in flood years is 30-53%.The ultimate corrective goal in any corrective program is to increase performance. This program is realized by protecting the plant against non-biotic (heat, cold, drought and salinity) and biotic (insects, bacteria, viruses and fungi) stresses, which cause a 25% reduction in yield.Breeding for resistance to foliar septuria as an environmentally friendly strategy and having an economic advantage for farmers (considering the cost of fungicide use) has gained significant importance in the last two decades.The first genetic study of wheat resistance to foliar satori disease was done in 1957 (Narvaez and Caldwell, 1957) and subsequently four resistance genes Stb1, Stb2, Stb3, Stb4 were identified and introduced in bread wheat. In the last decade, 14 new monotypes have been identified and their total number has increased to 18 in bread wheat, among which the discovery of the gene-to-gene relationship in the interaction between this fungus and wheat coincided with the identification of Stb6 (Brading et al. 2002). The comparison of the number of genes identified for resistance to foliar Seteria compared to the genes reported for other diseases seems remarkably insignificant. Therefore, increasing the number of monotypes resistant to foliar Seteria disease has become an important priority in national and international wheat breeding programs. Therefore, in this study, differential cultivars carrying genes for resistance to wheat foliar Seteria were evaluated by four isolates collected from different infected areas of Khuzestan and Ilam at the seedling stage.

In this research, 31 different varieties of wheat carrying the genes of resistance to foliar septoriosis of wheat (with Stb resistance gene) and sensitive (without Stb resistance gene) to foliar septoriosis disease, which were available in Safi Abad Dezful Research Center, were collected by 4 isolates. They were infected from different infected areas of Khuzestan and Ilam province and were evaluated in terms of disease resistance. Among the investigated cultivars, three cultivars named Taichung29, Obelisk and Darab 2 were considered as sensitive controls. The experiment was carried out as a factorial design in the form of randomized complete blocks and in three replications. The agents included mushroom isolates and differential wheat cultivars. This research was done in Dezful Agricultural Research Center. The seeds of these 31 cultivars were planted in small pots containing sand-peat soil. Necessary care was taken in terms of irrigation, light and humidity until the plants grow and reach the two-leaf stage and then contamination. During this period, watering was done every two days and between 2 and 4 cm of water was poured on the bottom of the trays.Three isolates with numbers 4, 13 and 16 were collected from several farms in Sardasht city, Dezful and Shushtar counties, and one isolate was from Ilam (5). The name and geographic location of the isolates are given in Table 2. Isolation of fungalstrains was done by single-pick method (Kema and Annon 1991) from infected leaves and each isolate was kept in a separate Petri dish containing PDA culture medium. Spores of each isolate were then propagated in a liquid culture medium with a ratio of 1:3 Ys and glucose at a temperature of 15 degrees Celsius and 180 rpm and sprayed with a concentration of 107 (10,000,000) spores per ml on the differential cultivars. In order to create favorable conditions for the penetration of fungi in the plant tissue for 48 hours, maximum humidity conditions were provided using plastic cover. 10 days after inoculation, the first leaf was preserved and the upper leaves were removed.The first symptoms of the disease were seen in the cultivar Darab 2, which was a sensitive control. The symptoms first appeared in the form of yellow spots on the leaves, which gradually spread depending on the sensitivity of the variety, and the texture of the leaves became dry and brown at the spots. Two times were considered for disease measurement and reading, one was 21 days after sporulation and the other was 28 days after sporulation. On these two dates, the disease percentage of the lines in response to the isolates was checked and recorded. The amount of disease was measured on the first leaves of the plant by measuring the percentage of pycnidium leaf surface by eye.Statistical calculations including analysis of variance and comparison of mean data were performed using LSD test and by SAS 9.2 software. It should be mentioned that before performing the analysis of variance, the assumptions of analysis of variance were tested by MINITAB 16 program and while removing outlier data, radical transformation was used to normalize the data. To draw the graphs, it was done with the help of EXCEL 2010 software.

The evaluation of the resistance level of wheat cultivars and lines to the foliar septoriosis disease in Iran has often been done using a mixture of isolates of the disease-causing fungus or under natural pollution conditions. This is not the only possibility. It does not provide a correct understanding of the level of annoyance and non-intrusiveness of Iranian separatists. Rather, it faces the problem of making an appropriate conclusion about the existence or non-existence of specific resistance in wheat numbers and lines. The results of the variance analysis tables of the response of the percentage of the peaked coverage of the numbers in relation to the wheat leaf septoriosis isolates in both experiments indicate the existence.

 Drought is one of the most important global threats to food production, in addition to that, climate change and the increase in the global population also widen the dimensions of this problem. One of the ways to solve this problem is to create new cultivars with greater tolerance to drought stress. Wheat has been one of the most important sources of human food all over the world and it is used in various food products and processing industries. Wheat together with rice and corn provide more than 60% of calories and protein needed for human nutrition. In areas like Iran, where most of the rain occurs in winter and early spring, wheat will face water shortage and drought stress at the end of the growing season. In crops, one of the effective methods that can minimize the effect of this phenomenon in combination with other methods of water deficit management is the use of high-yielding and drought-tolerant cultivars. Despite the numerous scientific sources published in this field, there are still many gaps in these studies, so studying the effects of drought stress is always a research priority. Ilam province, as one of the irrigated wheat production areas, suffers from the lack of cultivars that are resistant or tolerant to low irrigation conditions, so investigating the response of different wheat genotypes in low irrigation conditions as low input production systems is very important and is addressed in this study. 

In order to evaluate some bread wheat genotypes under normal and drought stress co ditions, 36 wheat genotypes were evaluated in the form of a randomized complete block design in three replicates in the crop year of 2019-2019 in Darehshahr city located in Ilam province. The examined traits include spike length, spike number per plant, spike length, peduncle length, sub-peduncle axis, flag leaf length, flag leaf width, number of stem nodes, plant height, number of spikes per plant, number of seeds per spike, number of seeds per plant. plant, number of tillers, hundred seed weight, single plant seed weight and seed yield. Based on performance under stress (Yp) and normal (Ys), drought tolerance indices such as average productivity tolerance index, harmonic mean, geometric meanproductivity (GMP), stress sensitivity index, stress tolerance index, performance stability index (YSI) and Relative Stability Index (RSI) and Performance Index (YI) were calculated. The mean comparison test was performed using Duncan's method and using R software. Simple correlation (Pearson), decomposition into components, decomposition into factors were also performed between the tested traits. SAS 9.1 statistical software was used for statistical analysis of traits. 

The results of the analysis of variance in drought and normal stress conditions showed that there was a significant difference between genotypes in all traits at the probability level of 1%. The most important significant correlation coefficient in both conditions between seed yield was related to the seed weight of a single plant and the number of seeds per plant. Considering the high and significant correlation of grain yield under stress and non-stress conditions with drought tolerance indices, higher productivity indices, geometric mean productivity (GMP), geometric mean  and stress tolerance index  as the best indicators. were chosen. It seems that in order to evaluate stress tolerance, the selection of genotypes should be based on several indicators. Factor analysis at the drougth stress condition indicated that the two first factors expalined a total of 97. 57% of the variance. The first factor was called the performance stability factor and the second factor was named theStability Factor. The biplot diagram also showed that the genotypes of no. 13 and 47 were placed in the vicinity of the ranges related to drought resistance indices (STI, MP, GMP, and HM) and were introduced as superior genotypes. 

According to the data obtained from analysis of variance in both normal and drought stress conditions, the genotypes were significant in terms of all traits. The significance of the studied traits indicates the existence of diversity between genotypes in terms of the studied traits, and some of these traits can be used to evaluate stress tolerance. The best genotypes had the best averages for peduncle length of genotype 33, for the number of seeds per plant of genotype 5, for seed weight of a single plant and seed yield of genotype 1. The heat map shows the relationship between drought tolerance based on different yield and drought stress toleranceindices. Considering the high and significant correlation of grain yield under stress and non-stress conditions with drought tolerance indices, average productivity indices, GMP, geometric mean and stress tolerance index were selected as the best indices that are able to distinguish tolerant genotypes from other Screen the genotypes. The yield index (YI) had the highest correlation coefficient with grain yield under stress conditions. Based on biplot results, genotypes No. 13 and 47 were the most tolerant genotypes under drought stress conditions more than other genotypes and were introduced as superior genotypes.

Sulfur (S) plays a crucial role in plant growth and development and serves numerous biological functions in plants. To investigate the role of sulfur in drought stress protection, two experiments were conducted under greenhouse and growth ‎chamber conditions in 2021 Also, to evaluate ‎the influence of foliar application of sulfur on the expression of Pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthase, )P5CS)‎, proline concentration, and antioxidant enzyme activities‎, the plants of wheat Sardari and Ivan cultivars were exposed to two levels of water regimes. Plants under well-watered irrigation and drought stress conditions showed different P5CS expression levels and accumulated proline. The P5CS expression level in the Ivan cultivar was significantly increased by foliar application of S, while the same application had no significant effect on P5CS expression in the Sardari cultivar. Plants exposed to drought stress and foliar-sprayed with S showed a higher proline accumulation The activities of antioxidant enzymes, including peroxidase (POD), catalase, ‎glutathione peroxidase (GP), and glutathione reductase , were increased by 134 %, 40.4 %,  45.4 %, and 77.4 %, respectively, in plants exposed to drought stress. POD and GR ‎were ‎significantly increased‎ by 19.6 % and 51.8 %, respectively, ‎due to S application. Drought-induced plants that were foliar-sprayed with S exhibited a significantly lower rate of ion leakage and higher leaf-relative water content than those of control plants. Based on the results of the present research, it was revealed that S substantially enhances the expression rate of the P5CS gene, leading to proline accumulation, and activates defense reactions in water-stressed wheat.

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.

Bacterial canker of tomato caused by Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis, Cmm, is one of the limiting diseases of tomato cultivation. Because of the chemical control problems, biological control methods are used to control this disease in the recent investigation. Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is an annual herbaceous plant from the Lamiaceae family, and various endophytic bacteria have been reported from this plant. Also, many studies have shown that endophytic bacteria have the ability to stimulate growth and control many plant diseases. Therefore, in recent research, it was tried for the first time to test endophytic bacteria isolated from basil plant against tomato bacterial canker.

In this research, 16 endophytic bacteria isolated from basil. They were tested for their antibacterial properties against tomato bacterial canker in laboratory conditions using chloroform vapor method. Also, the effect of these bacteria on increasing total phenol and growth factors, including fresh weight, dry weight and seedling height were investigated. In the next step, the best bacteria in terms of growth factors were used to control bacterial canker, on tomato seedlings, under greenhouse conditions. Next, the physiological changes related to total phenol, catalase and peroxidase were investigated. Finally, molecular identification was done by PCR using universal 16SrRNA gene-specific primers ,27f and 1492r, DNA sequencing and BlastN in NCBI Genebank.

None of the endophytic bacteria showed antibacterial properties against bacterial canker under laboratory conditions. ReA1 isolate showed the highest growth stimulation and total phenol increasing compared to other bacteria therefore, it was used against tomato bacterial canker and reduced the disease by nearly fifty percent. Also, the growth factors were increased compared to the infected and healthy controls after inoculation with ReA1. In addition, the amount of peroxidase, catalase and total phenol increased in plants treated with ReA1 isolate compared to the control. So that the amount of total phenol, peroxidase and catalase, respectively from the highest to the lowest, was related to the application of ReA1 and Cmm, ReA1 alone, Cmm alone and the control without bacteria. ReA1 isolate was detected as Enterobacter sp. by DNA sequencing results.

Recent research showed that Enterobacter sp. strain ReA1 isolated from a plant belonging to the Lamiaceae family (basil) was tested on tomato plants from the Solanaceae family, which was able to reduce tomato bacterial canker disease without direct antibacterial effect. The main possible effects of this bacterium are related to the phenomenon of induced resistance in the plant and the increase of defensive and antimicrobial compounds in the plant. This control effect on the different plant species belonging to Solanaceae, the possibility that this bacterium could be used as a biocontrol agent on many kinds of plants and against a wide range of diseases. It also stimulated the growth of the plant, which makes possible the simultaneous use of this bacterium as a fertilizer and biocontrol agent.

Improving the quality of bread wheat is an important issue. It has attracted the attention of many researchers over the years, and in recent decades, various methods have been developed to evaluate this goal. One of the most important goals in wheat breeding programs is to improve the quality of wheat bakery. Waxy proteins that responsible for the expression of GBSS enzyme in wheat that control the ratio of amylose to amylopectin in starch, These proteins in hexaploid wheat are controlled by three genes, Wx-D1, Wx-B1, Wx-A1 and those have a key role in quality of wheat flour. The goal of this study was to investigate the nucleotide diversity of Wx-B1 gene in wild and crop cultivars and also to investigate the phylogenetic relationships between wheat and their ancestors based on waxy genes.

In the present study, the phylogenetic relationships of the waxy B gene in 34 samples including 4 species of Aegilops genus and 28 cultivars of wheat and 2 species of wild wheat were evaluated using PCR and sequencing techniques  in Ilam university.

Sequences alignment results of Wx-B-seq1 and Wx-B-seq2 genes showed there are very high conserved regions between crop and wild wheat, although in some regions there is single nucleotide diversity between crop and wild wheat. The results of similarity matrix of Wx-B-seq1 showed the highest distance was related to Sardari cultivar and the lowest distance was related to Aegilops.umbellulata sample. The similarity matrix of the Wx-B-seq2 gene showed this gene did not change much in crop cultivars except Shahi cultivar, while the two wild wheat samples T.boeticum and T.dicoccooides showed a very large genetic distance compared to the crop cultivars. The results of the substitution matrix estimation based on the maximum likelihood method for Wx-B-seq1 and Wx-B-seq2 genes showed the highest and lowest contributions of nucleotide substitution are purine and pyrimidine, respectively. Also, UPGMA clustering results for Wx-B-seq1 and Wx-B-seq2 genes divided the samples into two and three main groups, respectively.

The overall results show that the diversity observed in wild samples and The ancestors of crop wheat can be a good candidate for further studies to determine whether these changes will lead to protein content or not.

Medicinal plants are valuable resources that have been considered by developing and developed countries considered as raw materials to become safe drugs for humans. Satureja belonging to the Lamiaceae This genus has more than 91 species with a wide distribution in the Mediterranean region. There are more than 8 species of this genus in Iran. Genetic identification and registration of different plant cultivars is one of the important stages of protecting genetic resources, which will be a difficult task for most plants in the early stages due to morphological characteristics. DNA barcoding is an emerging technology for fast and accurate species identification, and it is a molecular-based identification system that has recently been widely used, and its purpose is to identify biological samples and assign them to a specific species. Molecular DNA barcoding method is a reliable tool for identifying medicinal plants at the genus and species level. In this technique, a small part of the plant genome is sequenced and used to identify and determine the relationship between different species of a genus.

In the present study, the seeds of different species of savory plants including ( horentiss, S. bakhtiari, S. biossier, S. mutica, S. bakhtiari) were prepared from different regions of Ilam province and the National Center of Genetic and Biological Resources of Iran were investigated using DNA barcoding. Seed cultivation was done in April 2016 in the greenhouse of Ilam University. The seeds of the used species were grown in small pots. After the seeds germinated, when the seedlings grew to the stage of two to three leaves, the young leaves were sampled for DNA extraction. Genomic DNA was extracted by Doyle et al.'s method in the biotechnology laboratory of Ilam University in 1397. Quality and quantity of genomic DNA was checked using agarose gel 1/2% and nanodrop device respectively. PCR was performed using specific primers for matK, rbcL and ITS genes. Among the studied genes only matK gene was amplified in all samples.  After purification of PCR products, their product were sequenced. In order analysis of data, first, the sequence Blast in NCBI database using nucleotide Blast. Alignment of sequence was done using Clustalw method by BioEdite Sequence Alignment Editor Software. Indeed, Phylogenetic tree created using MEGA-X software.

PCR amplification show that the only matK gene well amplified in all samples, while the other genes were not amplified.  Also, the quality of the graphs shows the high quality of the sequence of the amplified fragment of the PCR product and the purity of the examined samples.  Nucleotide BLAST in NCBI show that our results have high similarity with related spices in NCBI (more than 96%). The results of the analysis of content of nucleotides in the studied samples in comparison with the sample in NCBI show that according to the changes observed in the length of the fragment amplified on the agarose gel, but there were no significant changes in the molecular percentage of nucleotides in the studied samples. Cluster analysis based on UPGMA method of matK gene showed that the samples of biossier and S. bakhtiarica of Ilam and Gilan along with the sample of S. hortensis Birjand and Yazd were in the same group and samples of s. bakhtiari Yazd and s. Khorasan mutica were in the second group.

The results of PCR amplification show that matK gene has been amplified in all samples that it can be very well way for investigating and determining of phylogenetic relationship of different savory species. The results of matK gene sequence as one of the candidate genes in plant DNA barcodes showed that the studied samples and ecotypes along with samples extracted from NCBI were classified into three groups. The results of this study showed that it is possible to use the matK gene as a part of the barcode system to identify savory species. However, due to the lack of information about the barcode library for the matK gene in the Satureja genus, it is not possible to make a definite conclusion about the species. The matK gene has two advantages, including the efficient yield of quality sequences and a high level of species discrimination. In general, re-sequencing of matK gene can be separated different samples from each other based on geographical origin.

Today, water shortage is considered one of the main environmental challenges for plants, leading to metabolic and physiological disorders. It has attracted the attention of researchers in recent years. Salicylic acid (SA) and silicon (Si) are considered two drought stress modifiers in plants. To evaluate the drought stress on the physiological and anatomical index of Scrophularia striata for introduction in dry areas during 2020-2021, the present study was conducted as a factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications at the University of Ilam. In this study, drought stress at two levels (50 and 100% of field capacity), SA at two levels (0 and 100 ppm), Si at two levels (0 and 1 g/L) on photosynthesis, gas exchange parameters, leaf relative moisture content, total protein, and anatomical indices were investigated. The results of this experiment showed that drought stress decreases relative leaf water content, total protein, photosynthesis, gas exchange parameters, and electrolyte leakage. Structurally, it caused a reduction in stomatal width, width of stomatal guard cells, stomatal density per unit area, and diameter of vascular tissues. Using SA and Si improved the photosynthesis, gas exchange parameters, relative moisture content, and total protein. In addition, the foliar application of SA and Si led to the improvement of the anatomical index caused by drought stress. The study results showed that drought stress had negative impacts on Scrophularia striata L, and using salicylic acid and silicon can improve drought stress tolerance in plants.

Sunflower is a semi-drought tolerant plant that due to its importance in oil production, the area under cultivation is expanding. But drought stress severely reduces the yield of grain and oil. Therefore, the production and introduction of hybrid cultivars can help increase performance. The first step in the production of hybrid is to identify parents based on their General and Specific combining ability and also to determine the type gene actions.

In order to investigate the combining ability of sunflowers inbred lines under normal conditions and drought stress, a study using 12 sunflower hybrids obtained from the cross of male sterile and tester lines with two controls, Qasem and Shams, in two separate experiments in the form of The design of randomized complete blocks with three replications was performed under two conditions of normal irrigation and drought stress.

The results of combined analysis of variance of the studied treatments under both normal and drought stress conditions showed that drought stress had a significant effect on all studied traits number of seeds per head. The effect of lines for plant height, oil percentage and head diameter and the effect of testers were significant for most traits except number of seeds per head, which shows a significant difference between the general combinability of lines and testers. Also, line 1 and tester 3 in both normal and stress conditions with a negative and significant combinability for the height of the parent plant is suitable to reduce this trait in the cross. In addition, line × tester interaction had a significant effect on most traits except 1000-seed weight and number of seeds. The Line 1 and Tester 1 with significant positive general combining ability (GCA) effects for grain yields were considered as suitable combiners for improving these traits. So that under normal conditions, hybrid No. 13 with grain yield of 5224 kg / ha had the highest grain yield and under stress conditions of hybrid No. 31 with an average of 3544.6 kg / ha had the highest grain yield.

The general results of this study show that the important traits of grain yield, oil percentage and oil yield are controlled by the dominance gene action, which can be improved by hybridization and best selection of parents in breeding programs.

Nowadays, the use of plant growth regulators has increased in improving the resistance of plants to drought stress. Therefore, in order to investigate the effect of salicylic acid on antioxidant enzymes activity and secondary metabolites of Scrophularia striata under water deficit stress, an experiment was conducted as the arrangement in a randomized complete block design with three replications in 2018 at the research greenhouse of Ilam University. Treatments included water deficit stress at four levels (100, 75, 50 and 25% of field capacity) and foliar application with salicylic acid at two levels (0 and 1.5 mM). The results showed that in 75 and 25% of field capacity with salicylic acid, malondialdehyde decreased by 17.81% and 34.04% compared with non-foliar application treatment, respectively. Also, the application of foliar spray reduced the amount of ion leakage under severe drought-stress conditions. Foliar application of salicylic acid increased total phenol content by 20.92, 33.00, 10.84 and 10.19% under 100, 75, 50 and 25%, field capacity, respectively. Under severe drought stress conditions, foliar spray with salicylic acid increased the amount of flavonol and flavonoid compared to the control. With the application of drought stress, catalase enzyme activity increased by 36.09 and 67.65%, respectively, compared to the absence of drought stress. The highest amount of peroxidase activity (1.07 units per mg protein per minute) under 25% of field capacity by application of salicylic acid was observed with the lowest amount of peroxidase activity under 100 per cent of field capacity, respectively. According to the mentioned content, it can be concluded that salicylic acid improved the growth and production of secondary metabolites (Phenol, flavonol and flavonoid) in Scrophularia striata under drought stress and non-stress conditions.

As natural mutants, some rice varieties have brown pericarp and/or purple stem and leaves. The brown and purple colors caused by the accumulation of proanthocyanidin and anthocyanin pigments, respectively, belong to flavonoids. The anthocyanin and proanthocyanidin pigments are biosynthesized by the phenylpropanoid pathway and are modulated by several structural and regulatory gene families. In this study chromosome loci involved in the accumulation of anthocyanidin pigments in purple stems and leaves and the accumulation of proanthocyanidin pigments in brown pericarp were identified using 44K SNP array in 282 rice varieties based on association mapping method. Based on genes annotation database of rice and significant SNP signals obtained from association mapping analysis, 30 chromosome positions including Chalcone isomerase, Chalcone synthase, Leucoanthocyanidin reductase, bHLH, MYB, WDR, and B-Box coding genes were identified as candidate influencer genes in proanthocyanidin pigmentation in the rice grain pericarp. According the mentioned method, 39 genes were introduced as likely involved genes in purple stem appearance including, bHLH, MYB, WDR, B-Box, F3H, ChI, Glucosyltransferase and also 23 genes were detected for leaf pigmentation, including bHLH, Myb, WD40, B-Box and Glucosyltransferase coding genes. Considering to this fact that progenitor and domesticating process for all the rice cultivars are not the same, and many structural and regulatory genes are introduced for controlling anthocyanin pigment accumulation, it seems that in different cultivars, one or some of these introduced genes can be influencer gene for the accumulation of this pigment.

Beans play an important role in the nutrition and health of the community due to their antioxidant properties. Recently, MYB family genes have been shown to be strongly associated with anthocyanin levels as gene-controlling seed coating. The physiological and molecular diversity of the genes involved in seed coat coating of 12 bean cultivars was conducted in the randomized complete block design. The results showed that there was a significant difference between different bean genotypes in terms of anthocyanin content, so that the highest amount of anthocyanin was observed in black beans. Molecular analysis of the MYB and AF genes showed that the this two genes were amplified in some samples, while the MYB gene was amplified in Vigna ungicolata 1, 2 and mutant and Phaseolus lunatus cultivars, while AF gene only amplification in V. ungicolata 1,2 and mutant culativars. Bioinformatics analyzes showed that the sequences from these two genes were very similar to those in the NCBI, with two new alleles being identified in the AF gene compared to the sequences used to control seed coatings in beans. Also, the phylogenetic diagram of the samples using the UPGMA method showed that the samples can be separated based on the color of the seed coat. The overall results showed that V.ungicolata mutant cultivar, due to their MYB and AF genes, as well as their high levels of anthocyanins and high performance compared to other cultivars, could be a good option for further study and introduction to farmers in the future.

Scrophularia striata is a plant belonging to the Scrophulariaceae family. Due to the importance of phenylpropanoid compounds in this plant, identification and isolation of genes encoding cinnamate enzymes 4-hydroxylase (C4H) and chalcone synthetase (CHS) involved in the biosynthesis of these compounds and also, their expression under the influence of various abiotic elicitors was performed.

Seeds of wild plants grown around the university were collected and were cultured in greenhouse conditions. Sampling was done before flowering stage. RNA extraction, cDNA synthesis, isolation and sequencing of CHS and C4H genes in the roots of this plant were successfully performed for the first time. The expression of these genes was performed under the influence of three salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA) and gibberellic acid (GA) each at concentrations of 100 and 300 ppm using a completely randomized design at the transcript level by Real Time PCR method.

The results showed that among the elicitors used, JA and SA with the concentration of 100 ppm had the greatest effect on increasing the expression of C4H and CHS genes so that in investigating the effect of the above-mentioned elicitors on the accumulation of phenylpropanoid compounds, this issue was partially confirmed. Also, in the study, increasing the concentration of JA and SA decreased the expression of C4H and CHS genes.

The general results of the use of elicitors on gene expression and accumulation of secondary metabolites showed that the external use of stimulants in appropriate concentrations, possibly through the induction of the plant immune system, can play a role in the biosynthesis and accumulation of valuable secondary metabolites such as phenylpropanoid compounds in the roots of Scrophularia striata and subsequently identifying and analyzing the expression of genes involved in the biosynthesis of such valuable compounds can be effective in complementary basic research for use in the pharmaceutical and food industries.

 Open data notion is based on the idea that emphasizes on free access of users to data to reuse them on their own and republish the result far from some restrictions of copyright, patent etc.  Due to the ever increasing trend of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), more data is producing every day and this brings brilliant opportunity for National Statistical Offices (NSOs) that are responsible for producing official statistics to produce more and more official statistics on lesser cost and more velocity. Beside, in modernization process of statistical system using the alterative data sources has been under considerations and open data is salient example. Labour force statistics in Iran has been one the prominent kind of official statistics which is conducting quarterly and it results put the center of attentions. In the other sides, there has been increasing trend in the number of employment as a result of boosting in the number of social network users. In this study, the Instagram data as a second favorable social network in Iran was used as criteria for macro validation of employment statistics. Interestingly, the obtained results from statistical hypothesis testing revealed that there is a significant relationship between employee statistics from surveys and Instagram employee trend though they are mostly unregistered. These results can be used by statisticians as a macro criterion for validation of employee trend from survey.

This study aimed to access the rapid and improved propagation protocol production of Zamifolia plant using tissue culture.

For callus formation and regeneration, two independent factorial experiments were carried out in a completely randomized design with 3 replications in the tissue culture laboratory of the National Research Institute of Flowers and Ornamental Plants in 2018. In the first experiment, to induce callogenesis, 2,4-D (0, 1, 2, and 4 mg/l) and BA (0, 1 and 2 mg/l) were used. In the second experiment, or regeneration of explants, NAA (0 and 0.5 mg/l) and BA (0, 0.5, and 1 mg/l) were applied.

The results of the callogenesis experiment showed that a modified basal MS medium with concentration of 2 mg/l BA and 1 mg /l 2,4-D produced the best callus with 85% regeneration. At the regeneration stage of the callus, 0.5 mg/l BA and 0.5 mg NAA produced the highest number of seedlings and regenerated tubers (90%). Subsequently, single tuber seedlings were successfully adapted to 80%-90% in the cocopeat and perlite substrates.

The results were successful and could be possible to achieve the callogenesis and regeneration of Zamifolia plant with the formula presented and recommend as practical a protocol for commercial micropropagation of this valuable ornamental plant.

In order to investigate the effect of salicylic acid on germination properties under salinity conditions, a factorial design based on complementary randomized design with three replications. The test factors consisted of salicylic acid at three levels (zero, 0.75 and 1.5 millimolar) and salinity stress at five levels (0, 100, 200, 300 and 400 millimolar). The effects of salicylic acid and salinity stress on seed vigor index, fresh weight and seedling dry weight were significant. The effects of salicylic acid and salinity on other traits were significant at 1% probability level. The results showed that salinity significantly reduced germination and seedling growth, but salicylic acid improved germination indices and increased germination in stressed treatments. With increasing salinity stress, the rate and germination percentage decreased. The maximum rate of germination was obtained in saline silicic acid (1.5mM) treatment under non salinity conditions. Pre-treatment significantly increased the activity of catalase enzyme compared to pretreatment and decreased malondialdehyde in salicylic acid treatments. Pre-treatment at a concentration of 1.5 (mM), while also having more effect on germination, increased the resistance of seedlings of Nigella sativa under salinity stress.

DNA methylation is a type of epigenetic changes that directly affects DNA. In mammals, DNA methylation is essential for fetal development and stem cell differentiation and this phenomenon essentially occurs within the CpG islands. In this study, two methods were used to study the DNA methylation profile of cow genome. In the first method, the DNA methylation profile of the differentially expressed genes from meta-analysis of DNA microarray data on mastitis were obtained. In order to perform the meta-analysis in the first method, the metaDE package in R environment, was used. Then five algorithms including TJ, GF, CpG cluster, HMM and GHMM were used to predict CpG islands in different genes. In the second method, DNA methylation profiling was performed using whole cow genome scanning. Also, for prediction of methylated CpG islands in whole genome, HMM algorithm was first estimated in bovine genome for each chromosome and then CpG overlap with Hypo / Hyper-Methylation was calculated by Galaxy Online database. The results of the first method showed that among 32 differentially expressed genes, 14 genes involved methylated CpG islands. These genes included LTF, APP, CCL5, CD40, CSNK1D, CX3CL1, DAPP1, NFKBIZ, S100A9, ISG15, MAP3K8, MX1, RDAD2, ZC3H12A. Results of the second method identified a total 90668 Hypo / Hyper-Methylation in the bovine genome, among which 9942 (10.96%) CpG islands overlapped with Hypo / Hyper-Methylation and were considered as methylated CpG. Genomic comparisons were also made between species for DNA methylation. The results showed that the overall DNA methylation profile was almost similar for majority of studied species and it seems that the overall profile of DNA methylation is likely to be conserved between different species. The results of this study showed that DNA methylation seems necessary in diseases with low heritability and which are more influenced by epigenetic processes.

 of this experiment was to evaluate the response of purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea Moench) medicinal plant intercropped with sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) to Mazandaran microclimate differences. The experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design with three replicates in Simorgh and Savadkooh regions of Mazandaran province during growing season of 2015. The treatments consisted of sole cropping of purple coneflower (Pc), 75% Pc+25%sesame (Se), 50% Pc+50% Se, 25% Pc+75% Se and sole cropping of Se. Some indices such as land equivalent ratio (LER) and monetary advantage (MAI) of intercropping and actual yield loss or increases (AYL) and aggressivitty (A) of two plant species were evaluated based on sesame seed yield and purple coneflower biomass. The statistical analysis of experiment data was performed by using SAS software and mean comparison of evaluated traits was done by Duncan multiple rang test at 5% level of probability.

In this current experiment, the purple coneflower sole cropping in the Savadkooh region had the highest economical yield (3631 kg ha-1) with around 17% increases as compared to the Simorgh region. Also, the 75% purple coneflower+25%sesame intercropping had the same economical yield in two regions and the minimum economical yield was belonged to sesame sole cropping in the Savadkooh region (1716 kg ha-1). According to competitive indices of two species, purple coneflower (Apc) and sesame (Ase) at the range of Apc=0.02-0.16 and Ase=0.10-0.26 were the dominant species in the Savadkooh and Simorgh regions, respectively. Regarding to temperature and relative moisture severity decreases in the Savadkooh as compared to the Simorgh region during growth season, purple coneflower had a higher aggressivitty and dry matter accumulation because of the optimum environmental conditions. Furthermore, the highest purple coneflower actual yield index was belonged to 50% Pc+50% Se in the Savadkooh region (AYLpc=0.23) while actual yield loss was observed in 25% Pc+75% Se planting pattern in the Simorgh region (AYLpc=-0.14). Also, the most sesame actual yield index (AYLse=0.26) was belonged to 25% Se +75% Pc intercropping. The results indicated that different intercropping were grouped in the same statistical category and showed up to 7% increases in land equivalent ratio as compared to sole cropping. Also, the 25% Se +75% Pc planting pattern had the highest monetary advantage index (MAI=1823).

In conclusion, results indicated that the intercropping influenced by two regions microclimate differences. Accordingly, sesame and purple coneflower in 25 and 50 proportion in the intercropping had the best competitive potential in the Simorgh and Savadkooh regions, respectively.