بهرام شریف نبی

Among the oilseed plants, safflower has a special place, for production under climate change conditions. One of the main problems of safflower cultivation is fungal attack, which ultimately reduces crop yield. Studies have shown that Fusarium solani is the cause of the disease. Fifty six safflower genotypes were evaluated for their response to Fusarium root rot in a completely randomized block design with three replications in greenhouse conditions. The response was assessed by measuring traits such as mortality rate, length of necrosis zone in roots, number of viable plants, dry root weight, and dry weight of aerial area, stem height and stem diameter. The results showed that there is a high negative correlation between the mean necrosis length on the root and the number of live plants in the greenhouse. Genotypes were divided into 5 groups (resistant, relatively resistant, tolerant, sensitive, and relatively sensitive). The most resistant genotypes were Padideh, Golmehr, and P. Kose was evaluated as susceptible genotype. Since the wild species of C. palaestinus (P) and some genotypes resulting from its interspecies had the highest survival rate and the lowest necrosis length and mortality rate and on the other hand, this species is the most similar in terms of agronomic traits to the domestic species, the use of this species and the lines resulting from its interspecies to create disease-resistant cultivars could be recommended.

Rose (Rosa spp.) is a widely cultivated perennial flowering plant grown in open fields and under controlled greenhouse conditions. This study focused on the isolation and characterization of a pathogen affecting Rosa hybrida plants in the Najafabad and Lenjan counties of Isfahan Province, Iran. Infected stems and crowns were collected from the greenhouses between July 2022 and September 2023. The cultivars affected were Samurai and Tanja. Fungal isolation was achieved, followed by morphological characterization and molecular identification by DNA sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions, translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF1-α), and β-tubulin (TUB). Pathogenicity tests confirmed the ability of the isolate to induce stem canker and leaf spot symptoms in healthy Samurai and Tanja cultivars of rose (R. hybrida) plants, thereby fulfilling Koch's postulates. The isolates were identified as Neopestalotiopsis clavispora by the morphological and molecular characteristics. To our knowledge, this study reports the first identification of N. clavispora as a pathogen causing canker disease and dieback on roses in Iran, emphasizing the need for effective management strategies to protect rose health and mitigate economic losses in the ornamental horticultural sector.

The necrotrophic fungus Parastagonospora nodorum, the causal agent of stagonospora nodorum blotch (SNB), is responsible for significant economic losses of wheat worldwide. Despite the presence of a high number of TF-encoding genes within the genome of P. nodorum, very little is known about their expression profile and their functions during cellular and biological processes. In this study, ten putative TF genes in P. nodorum isolate SN15 were selected, four of which shared homology with well-known fungal TFs involved in pathogenesis, and the other six genes were located in putative secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). The expression profile of these candidate TF genes was investigated using both semi-quantitative and quantitative RT-PCR assays under in vitro and in planta conditions. The results revealed that six candidate TF genes exhibited the highest expression levels in the minimal media lacking both nitrogen and carbon sources as well as during the early stages of infection. These findings suggest that these six candidate TFs may play an important role in the pathogenicity of P. nodorum.

Apple (Malus domestica) is considered one of the most important economic products in Iran. Its cultivation is common in various regions and so far, more than 200 different domestic and foreign apple cultivars are identified, which Golden and Red Delicious cultivars are the most important cultivars in terms of cultivated area. Various fungal, bacterial, nematode, and viral agents cause weakness and decline of the apple tree and the quantitative and qualitative reduction of the crop. Apple root and crown rot is one of the important diseases of apple root, due to soil-born fungal pathogens, which lead to the decline of apple trees. The disease has a global spread and can occur at all ages of apple production. Different fungal species have been identified in infected regions so far, and it may be due to climate change. Sampling was performed from June to August 2019 from apple orchards with decline symptoms in Semirom and Padena in Isfahan province, Iran. Fungal species, including Fusarium solani, F. oxysporum, F. equiseti, F. acuminatum, and F. redolens, were morphologically identified. To confirm morphological identification, EF1/EF2 and ITS1/ITS4 primers were used in the PCR reaction. In vitro and greenhouse tests confirmed the pathogenicity of the identified species. As a result, it was proved that F. solani, F. oxysporum, F. equiseti, F. acuminatum, and F. redolens could be the causal agents of apple trees decline in Isfahan province, Iran, that F. solani, and F. oxysporum were more abundant.

Root and crown rot disease of apple trees is important in different regions of the world and causes considerable damage to apple orchards around the world annually. Due to the presence of newly known fungal agents in apple growing areas of Isfahan province, sensitivity of Fusarium solani and F. oxysporum species as the most abundant identified species of decay of apple trees compared to common fungicides including Tilt, Eminent, Cabrio Duo, Collis, Ortiva Top, Lamardor, Uniform, Flint, Stroby, Rovral TS and Topsin M at concentrations of 10, 25, 50, 100 and 200 mg/l were tested in vitro. Lamardor, Rovral TS, Ortiva top and Tilt fungicides at the highest tested concentrations in both Fusarium species and Eminent at all tested concentrations in F. oxysporum resulted in more than 50% mycelial growth inhibition in vitro, in comparison with the other fungicides. Although, performing a laboratory test is very useful in the initial screening of fungicides, but in order to definitively recommend a fungicide to control the disease, in addition to fungicides experiment in vitro, testing in greenhouse and field conditions is also necessary.

Large flowered pelargonium (Pelargonium grandiflorum) is a perspective flowering crop which is distributed around the world. The area of its application is quite wide: from room floriculture to design the gardens and parks. Observation of leaf spot symptoms on this plant, which was collected from Alborz province (Karaj) motivated us to find the causal agent(s) of the disease. So, the symptomatic parts were cultured on the PDA medium after surface sterilization. Two fungal colonies were appeared on the culture medium. They were identified as Alternaria alternata and Botrytis cinerea according to the morphological characterizations. Molecular study using the gapdh for Alternaria and ITS regions and rpb2 gene for Botrytis confirmed the result of the morphological identification. In the pathogenicity tests, the same spots on inoculated plants with Alternaria and the same spots plus gray mold symptoms and fungal body on leaves, buds and stems of the inoculated plants with Botrytis were another confirmation. Based on our knowledge, this is the first report of these two fungal species on the Pelargonium grandiflorum in Iran.

Early blight of potato caused by Alternaria species is one of the most destructive and prevalent diseases of potato in the world. In recent years, the disease has become important in Iranian potato-producing regions, especially in Isfahan province, and farmers often use fungicides to control the disease. Considering the problem of resistance to some common fungi, this study aimed to evaluate the susceptibility/resistance of nine isolates of A. alternata to conventional fungicides (mancozeb, chlorothalonil, iminoctadine tris, Concento) by using vegetative growth inhibition method under in vitro and greenhouse conditions. The results revealed that most isolates collected from potato fields that were regularly treated with fungicides such as mancozeb exhibited less sensitivity to mancozeb. In contrast, against chlorothalonil, the least difference was observed in the susceptibility of different isolates. The greenhouse experiment showed that the highest control of the disease could be achieved by chlorothalonil and mancozeb treatment. These two fungicides at their recommended concentrations reduced the severity of the disease to less than 15 percent for 20 days after inoculation. Based on the results, concerning the resistance levels observed in the laboratory conditions, mancozeb application might be recommended in alternation with other fungicides such as chlorothalonil and iminoctadine tris.

Bean anthracnose disease caused by Colletotrichum lindemuthianum is one of the most important bean diseases in Iran. In this study, the presence of disease resistance genes was investigated using SCAR primers in 12 Iranian bean cultivars. Also, disease symptoms were evaluated based on the disease severity index in the greenhouse condition. Amplification of SCAR markers SAS13, SY20, SZ04 and SB12 indicated the presence of Co-42, Co-4, Co-6 and Co-9 resistant genes respectively. Cultivars Akhtar, Derakhshan, Almas, Talash and Koosha contained Co-42, Co-4 and Co-6 resistance gene revealed by amplification of SBB14, SC08 and SZ20 markers accordingly. Co-42 gene was detected in Goli and Naz cultivars and Co-4 and Co-42 genes were present in Pak, Sadri and Khomein cultivars. Co-42 gene that is linked to SH18 marker was observed in Dorsa and Shokofa cultivars. The presence of Co-2 resistance gene was observed only in Almas cultivar. Co-5 gene linked to SAB3 marker was only observed in the related differential cultivars. Phenotypic evaluation for disease symptoms showed that out of 12 cultivars studied, four (Naz, Almas, Dorsa and Shokofa) showed resistance reaction and two (Akhtar and Goli) were moderately resistant. Based on the disease severity index, these cultivars were considered relatively resistant. Simultaneous analysis of molecular and phenotypic data showed that only the two markers of SQ4 and SH18 succeeded in band amplification in resistant cultivars Diamond, Shokofa and Dorsa. The results of this study will be of help in producing resistant bean cultivars to anthracnose disease by resistance gene pyramiding.

Botrytis cinerea has a wide host range, the possibility of hiding plant infection from the initial stages, and causing severe damage (even up to 100%) to the host.  Due to the chance of growth and activity of the pathogen in field, greenhouse, in laboratory, and even in cold storage conditions, its importance is increasing. The presence of pathogen in seedlings, mature plants, ripe fruits, and even storage conditions in different parts of Iran and its importance, we decided to investigate the genetic diversity of the isolates using the ISSR marker. For this purpose, 21 isolates including 16 isolates from the collection of the University of Tehran (isolated from seedling and leaf of cauliflower, grizzly lettuce, needled lettuce, purple basil, onion, tomato, strawberry and pomegranate) and five isolates collected from two strawberry greenhouses in Alborz province, were used. Ten ISSR primers were used to determine the genetic diversity. Analyzing the results by NTSYS software version 2.02e (based on SM and UPGMA clustering method) showed that the isolates fall into four fingerprinting groups. It was also observed that the resulting bands have 100% polymorphism (93.33% in one case). The calculated cophenetic coefficient for the data (0.89) confirmed the accuracy of the obtained dendrogram. Evidence suggests that there is high genetic diversity in B. cinerea isolates and also there is no relationship between host and geographical region.

Apple (Malus domestica Borkh) is one of the most valuable agricultural products in the Rosaceae family because of its high nutritional and economic value. Powdery mildew of apple which is caused by Podosphaera leucotricha, is one of the primary fungal diseases with an extensively negative impact on the quality and quantity of apple production. In recent years, the use of resistant cultivars for controlling powdery mildew of apple has been considered. For this purpose, the genes Pl1, Pld, Plbj, and RGA (Resistance Gene Analogs) candidate resistance genes were detected in 47 genotypes of wild apples collected from West Azerbaijan, Golestan, Fars, Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari and Isfahan Provinces. The presence of NBS-LRR conserved domains and P-loop NTPase motif in NBS-LRR-like protein, which encode by the RGA in N-terminal, were confirmed in wild apple genotypes of Iran. Pl1 resistance gene was detected in all collected samples in this research except one. Pld gene just was observed in three out of the 47 samples, and the Plbj resistance gene was detected in just 13 samples of all wild genotypes collected from cold areas of Azerbaijan and Isfahan provinces; the sequences of this gene was introduced to the Global database. Detection of resistance genes and RGAs could help in developing resistant apple varieties in future.

Poaceous plants such as corn, wheat, barley, sorghum, oats and millet are an important part of agricultural ecosystems. Smuts are one of the most important fungal diseases of these plants, which often cause economic damage and the destruction of part or all of their yields.

Poaceous smut infected plants in farms and pastures of Markazi and Lorestan provinces were sampled. Morphological characteristics of these fungi and their germination type of teliospores were studied with bright field and fluorescent microscopes and identified using valid keys. The phylogenetic relationship of these fungi with other smuts was also investigated based on ITS-rDNA region sequencing.

According to the type of host, morphological characteristics and mode of teliospores germination 12 species vs. U. maydis, U. hordei, U. turcomanica, U. avenae, U.nuda, U. bromivora, U. cynodontis, U. tritici, Tilletia laevis, Tilletia controversa Sporisorium reilianum and S. cruentum were diagnosed. The morphological characteristics and phylogenetic relationship of these fungi with other smuts are described.

The smuts of poaceous plants in Markazi and Lorestan provinces include eight species of the genus Ustilago, two species of the genus Sporisorium and two species of the genus Tilletia.

Pyrenophora lolii causes leaf spot on grasses including Festuca spp., Lolium spp., Dactylis spp., Avena sativa and wheat (Triticum aestivum). Infected oat leaves (Avena sativa) showing leaf spot symptoms were collected from the margin of barley fields in Golestan province of Iran during the spring of 2016. A morphological examination of the Pyrenophora specimen was carried out using light microscopy. Inoculation of oat leaves with the isolates of Pyrenophora lolii in greenhouse induced leaf spot on leaves. In order to confirm the morphological identification, sequences of glyceradehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gpd) gene and Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions were amplified using gpd1/2 and ITS1/4 primers, respectively. The phylogenetic analysis based on these sequences showed that the isolated Pyrenophora specimen clustered together with sequences of P. lolii. Based on result of morphological examination and phylogenetic analysis, it was concluded that the causal agent of leaf spot of A. sativa (oat) was P. lolii.

Potato and onion are the most important commercial crops in Iran especially Isfahan province. Anthracnose caused by several species of Colletotrichum</em> spp. In order to identify and determine the possibility of cross contamination among pathogenic species of each host to another host, sampling was carried out from potato and onion fields in Faraydan, Daran, Damaneh, Chadegan and Ashgerd regions from Isfahan province. Morphological characteristics led to 170 isolates of Colletotrichum</em> that 120 isolates belonged to C. coccodes</em> from potato and 50 isolates belonged to C. circinans </em>from onion. 35 isolates of those 170 isolates were selected to amiliphy DNA using specific primers for the ITS-rDNA region and sequencing.Pathogenicity test was conducted in greenhouse conditions. The results indicated the pathogenicity of  C. circinans</em> on onion After 30 days, but  no symptoms were found on potato inoculated by thes isolates, while pathogenicity of  C. coccodes</em> was confirmed on potato after 60 days and no any symptoms was found on onion plants. The results might have used to control anthracnose in potato and onion fields

Phytopathogenic fungi exposes various proteins to overcome plant defense systems. Production of saponins likes α-Tomatine is one of the tomato preformed defenses barriers which should be detoxicated by the pathogens. It has been revealed before which most of Fusarium species and forma specials could produce tomatinase, a glycosyl hydrolases protein, to de-glycosylate α-Tomatine. Fusarium oxysporium f. sp. melonis (FOM) wildly attached melon cultivars and at the time of this investigation, there was only one report underlining the existence of the gene sequence of tomatinase in the genome of FOM using southern blotting experiment. This study was carried out to track the whole tomatinase gene sequence in the FOM genomic sequence and investigate the probability genetic variation of the gene in the nucleotide and protein sequences. Fusarium oxysporium f. sp. melonis (Fom) race1 have been previously reported in Khorasan, Iran. It was cultured in liquid medium and the mycelia were used for the genomic DNA isolation. Primers were designed based on conserved sequence in upstream and downstream of FoTom1 sequence (AJ012668). PCR was carried out and amplified segments were bi-directional sequenced. The results were then analyzed by Vector NTi software. The sequencing result was aligned with FoTom1 sequence as Refseq and the single nucleotide variations were detected by CLC work bench software. The effects of the mutations on the protein structure were predicted by CLC work bench software. Electrophoresis pattern of PCR products showed a single band of the expected size in the strain FomR1 that was at the same size of the band amplified from FoL genome. The designed primers based on the FoTom1 sequence amplified a specific segment in the Fom genome. Alignment the sequencing results with the Fo-Tom1 from Fusarium oxysporium f. sp. lycopercisi (Fol) in nucleotide level revealed 14 mutations which seven of them were appeared in the protein sequence. Three mutations occurred in the functional domain of the protein. At the position 145, an acidic amino acid with a negative charge was substituted by a polar amino acid. Replacements at positions 218 and 236 were the same in terms of polarity and at position 218; both amino acids have a positive charge.
There were no introns in the coding sequence of FomTom R1 region as same as FoTom1. Pairwise alignment results showed some an-synonyms mutations between two sequences that made some changes in the secondary structure of the translated protein from FomTomR1. The first an-synonym mutation, SNP15 (E→G), inside the signal peptide, converts the alpha helix to a new beta sheet. SNP34 (K→N) and SNP35 (S→N) mutations shortened the alpha helix. The other mutations happened out of the alpha helixes and beta sheets. To predict the effects of the mutations on the FomTomR1function, in-silico analyses were carried out. The results revealed that three mutations occurred in the functional domains of tomatinase in Fom. The mutations in the hydrolysis domain may affect the structure of FomTomR1and can be effective in the protein. The presence of different active saponins components in Melon may be an evolutionary reason for some variation in sequence and structure of the FomTomR1 protein in Fom. To prove the differences in the tomatinase function, the interaction of proteins with various types of melon saponins components should be investigated at the future studies. The results showed the tracked sequence could be homolog of the Tomatinse gene in the Fom genome. We named it Fom-TomR1 and the sequenced was submitted in the Genbank with accession number MF178403. For the future study, the gene influences should be investigated in the pathogenesis of FOM on melon cultivars and it could be considered as a general screening index using heterologous expression of the gene.

Almond (Prunus amygdalus L.) is a deciduous tree in the Rosaceae family and is grown mostly for its edible seed. It is one of the most popular nuts on a worldwide basis and widely grown in Iran in Isfahan and Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari provinces. Root and crown rot causal agents which are caused by several pathogens were studied. According to morphological characteristics, 53 isolates were identified as Phytopythium litorale (13 isolates), Phytophthora cactorum (19 isolates), and P. crytogea (21 isolates). Out of 53 isolates, 25 isolates were selected for molecular studies. Specific primer pairs of BPhycacL87FRG (F)/BPhycacR87RRG and Cryp1(F)/Cryp2 were used to confirm morphological identification of species. The reaction of crown and root of 8-month-old almondcultivars Sangi, Rabee, Shahrood12 and GF677 to virulent isolates of P. cactorum, P. cryptogea,and Pp. litorale was evaluated under greenhouse conditions. Comparison of pathogenicity means revealed that there are significant differences among P. cactorum, P. cryptogea,and Pp. litorale isolates.The results alsoshowedthat Pp. litorale was more aggressive than P. cactorum. On all tested almond cultivars, disease severity percentage showed that Sangi is the most susceptible cultivar and GF677 showed the least susceptibility. In this study, phylogenetic relationships of some Phytophthora and Phytopythium species based on sequencing of the rDNA-ITS region is provided. This is the first report of isolation and pathogenicity of Phytopythium litorale from almond orchards in Iran.

Common and dwarf bunt of wheat are recognized as being caused by three closely related species, Tilletia caries and T. laevis as common bunt, and T. controversa as dwarf bunt. The morphological characteristics of two species including T. controversa and T. caries were studied from wheat grown in two provinces of Iran, Lorestan and Chaharmahal–o-Bakhtiari during 2014-2015. In this study, morphological characters could not completely distinguish these pathogens, as in some properties, they showed similarity to T. laevis. So, a collection of twenty wheat bunt isolates was used to compare species in morphological characteristics and phylogenetic relationships. Phylogenetic analyses were presented based on three PCR amplified nuclear DNA fragments including elongation factor 1 alpha (EF1α), the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (RPB2) genes and ITS-rDNA region. Maximum likelihood (ML) method was used to determine the phylogenetic relationship among isolates using MEGA v.6 and BEAUti and BEAST v1.6.1 software. Maximum likelihood bootstrap (BS) values and Bayesian posterior probabilities (PP) values were applied as criteria for strongly supported clades. Two species including T. controversa and T. caries were distinguished as different species with DNA sequence information.

Interaction between nematode Meloidogyne javanica and fungus Verticillium dahliae on tomato in greenhouses were investigated.Nematode and the fungus inoculated in different time intervals, nematode two weeks before the fungus, nematode and the fungus at the same time, fungus two weeks before the nematode, nematode alone and the fungus alone and the interaction of the pathogen agents were tested.The results showed that the presence of the both of the pathogens in the soil can lead to the greatest reduction in growth factors and the reduction in nematode two weeks before the fungus and nematode fungus (simultaneous) treatments was more significant.The highest disease severity index was observed after 90 days in the nematode two weeks before the fungus treatment, that was significantly different with fungus alone treatment and in all fungus received treatments disease severity index was more than two.Presence of the nematode M. javanica increased severity and rate of wilting caused by V. dahliae on tomato while the presence of fungus, reduced nematode pathogenicity and population indices.The least amount of vascular tissue browning index and stem colonization percent was observed in treatment with fungus alone inoculated and in other words, nematode increases vascular tissue browning index and stem colonization percent.The highest plant height reduction observed in the treatments where both of the pathogens were present.The interaction between pathogen agents with reduction in growth factors indices and increase in tomato wilt disease increases the damage to the plant

The main purpose of this study was to identify species of Parastagonospora in association with poaceous plants in Iran. Some species of Parastagonospora like P. nodorum causes a major loss to wheat production in the world. In the present research, two species including P. nodorum, and P. avenae were identified from different poaceous species. Parastagonospora nodorum was identified on Phalaris arundinacea. However, P. avenae was divided into two formae specials i.e. P. avenae f. sp. avenaria (Paa) on Phalaris arundinacea and Avena sativa, and the identified P. avenae f. sp. tritici5 (Pat5) on Phalaris arundinacea, Bromus hordeaceus and Aegilops tauschii. Species identification was done according to morphology of anamorph and molecular confirmation was performed on the basis of ß-xylosidase gene sequence. Pat5 and Paa are reported from Iran for the first time and also all of the identified hosts are new to the world.

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is an annual oilseed crop adapted chiefly to the warm climate areas of Iran, which recently commercial production became concentrated to produce oil. Fusarium root rot is one of the important diseases of safflower in Iran. Whereas the use of resistant cultivars is one of the main strategies for reducing the loss and damage caused by pathogens in plants, this research was conducted to study the genetic diversity of safflower genotypes using AFLP markers and to compare relative resistance to Fusarium root rot. Sixty selected cultivars and lines derived from various regions were evaluated in randomized complete block design in three replications under in vitro and green house condition. Forty nine genotypes of safflower from Iran and 11 from other countries were inoculated with a selected identified pathogenic isolate of Fusarium solani derived from safflower. Genotypes were classified into five groups based upon the type of reaction to the disease; i.e. resistant, semi-resistant, tolerant, susceptible and semi-susceptible. Genetic diversity of the genotypes was assessed using AFLP markers. The results indicated differences among genotypes for resistance to Fusarium and clustering based on this trait. A bootstrap procedure was used to compare mean distances within and between genotypes and resistance to Fusarium root rot. Clustering based on AFLP markers and phenotypic resistance traits did not indicate complete concordance, but resistance and susceptible genotypes were separated from one another and have significant differences with other genotypes.

The pistachio (Pistacia vera), a member of the cashew family, is a small tree originating from Central Asia and the Middle East. The tree produces seeds that are widely consumed as food. Pistacia vera often is confused with other species in the genus Pistacia that are also known as pistachio. These other species can be distinguished by their geographic distributions and their seeds which are much smaller and have a soft shell. Continual advances in crop improvement through plant breeding are driven by the available genetic diversity. Therefore, the recognition and measurement of such diversity is crucial to breeding programs. In the past 20 years, the major effort in plant breeding has changed from quantitative to molecular genetics with emphasis on quantitative trait loci (QTL) identification and marker assisted selection (MAS). The germplasm-regressioncombined association studies not only allow mapping of genes/QTLs with higher level of confidence, but also allow detection of genes/QTLs, which will otherwise escape detection in linkage-based QTL studies based on the planned populations. The development of the marker-based technology offers a fast, reliable, and easy way to perform multiple regression analysis and comprise an alternative approach to breeding in diverse species of plants. The availability of many makers and morphological traits can help to regression analysis between these markers and morphological traits.
In this study, 20 genotypes of Pistachio were studied and yield related traits were measured. Young well-expanded leaves were collected for DNA extraction and total genomic DNA was extracted. Genotyping was performed using 15 RAPD primers and PCR amplification products were visualized by gel electrophoresis. The reproducible RAPD fragments were scored on the basis of present (1) or absent (0) bands and a binary matrix constructed using each molecular marker. Association analysis between molecular date (as independent variable) and morphological data (as dependent variable) was performed using multiple regression analysis to identify informative markers associated with the yield related traits. Multiple regression analysis was conducted using stepwise method of linear regression analysis option of SPSS. Student t-test was performed to assess significance difference between mean trait estimates of genotypes where specific markers were present and absent. Markers shown significant regression values were considered to be associated with the trait under consideration.
Finally 11 primers were polymorphic and a total of 56 pieces (loci) were amplified that among these, 36 segments (64.29%) showed polymorphism with an average of 5.09% per primers and the rate of this polymorphism ranged from at least 25% for AJ05 primer up to 87.5% for OPAD02 primer. Polymorphic information content ranged from 0.095 (AJ05 and OPAD14) to 0.39 (OP 05), with an average of 0.23. Stepwise regression analysis between molecular data and traits was performed to identify informative markers associated with yield component traits. Nineteen RAPD fragments were found associated with six yield related traits. Some of RAPD markers were associated with more than one trait in multiple regression analysis that may be due to pleiotropic effect of the linked quantitative trait locus on different traits. However, to better understand these relationships, preparation of segregating population and linkage mapping is necessary. Also, these results could be useful in marker-assisted breeding programs when no other genetic information is available.
This investigation on molecular markers associated with yield traits in Pistachio has provided clues for identification of the genotypes with higher yield value. In breeding programs selection of quality material is often a time-consuming process, and thus marker-assisted selection could be of great useful in identification of promising genotypes with high value of yield traits. Some of RAPD markers can be used for elite selection of Pistachio, particularly when no other genetic information like linkage maps and quantitative trait loci are available for the species. The applications of the RAPD approach enable us to predict positive correlation between data generated by molecular markers and studied traits. Also, the marker–trait association identification will play an important role in plant MAS/QTL breeding programs, especially in plants where genetic information such as linkage map and QTL is not available.

Ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequences have been widely used to study the phylogenetic relationships in different fungi. Fungal nuclear rRNA genes are arranged as tandem repeats with several hundred copies per genome. These spacer regions are considerably more variable than the subunit sequences and have been widely used in studies on the relationships among species within a single genus or among intraspecific populations. To evaluate the polymorphism between 18S and 28S genes, 28 isolates of Rhizoctonia solani anastomosis group 4 were examined. Genomic DNA was extracted from the isolates and prepared for PCR reaction. The amplification was performed using internal transcribed spacer (ITS) ITS1 and ITS4 primers. A DNA fragment of 700 bp in size was detected in PCR products of all tested isolates. To assess existence of any further polymorphism in the ITS region, the PCR products were digested with restriction endonucleases. Although there were restriction sites for XbaI, HaeIII, BamHI, HindIII, SacI, PstI, and TaqI endonucleases, there were no restriction sites for NdeI, XhoI, HincII, HinfI, EcoRI and XhoI endonucleases. The endonuclease HincII recognized a restriction site on PCR products that discriminated the isolates belonging to AG4-HGII form isolates of AG4-HGI. Based on the results, it has been concluded that AG-4 isolates of Rhizoctonia solani wereheterogenic.

Stagonospora nodorum bloch (SNB) is an important fungal disease of durum and common in many parts of the world. The objective of this research was to evaluate 26 wheat cultivars for seedling resistance to SNB. Utilization of host resistance is considered to be the most important and preferred method to control disease. S. nodorum was isolated from naturally infected wheat ears cultivated in different fields of Iran. Infected segmented with pycnidia were placed on Petri dishes containing Yeast Sucrose Agar. Out of 200 isolates of the pathogen that were collected from different parts of Iran, 15 isolates were selected for pathogenicity test. Experiments were carried out in complete randomized block design with three replicate. Comparison of the mean of disease severity. Using Duncan’s multiple range test, divided the isolates into & four groups. The most of disease severity was related to 3 isolates of Fars Province. Based on cultivar- isolates interaction results. Chamran and Back Cross Roshan were resistant and susceptible to SNB respectively.

Various fungicides and pesticides often have been used in agriculture for controlling diseases and pests. These pesticides may have detrimental effects on entomopathogenic fungi which have pesticidal ability. In this study several experiments were performed to assess the effect of 10 fungicides on mycelial growth and conidial germination rate at different rate using serial dilutions on PDA and SDAY media. Also effect of three fungicides, copper oxychloride (35% WP), Benomyl (50% WP) and Iprodione熪�睚츩 (52.5% WP) on the efficacy of Beauveria bassiana in controlling the cotton whitefly under laboratory and greenhouse conditions at recommended rate, twice the recommended rate and half the recommended rate were investigated. By evaluation of conidial germination of the fungicide-treated fungi, benomyl with IC50 value of 0.218 mg L-1 showed the highest inhibitory effect and copper oxychloride with IC50 value of 1381.94 mg L-1 showed the lowest inhibitory effect. Carbendazim with IC50 values of 0.076 mg L 1 and 0.112 mg L-1 had the highest inhibitory effect on B. bassiana mycelial growth after 3 and 7 days, respectively, Benomyl and iprodione熪�睚츩 at two times recommended field rates showed the highestand copper oxychloride at half the recommended field rate had the lowest effect on the fungal efficacy against the whitefly. Based on the present results, some systemic fungicides such as benzimidazoles were found to have detrimental effects to this entomopathogenic fungus.

One of the important diseases of tomato plants is grey mold, which is caused by Botrytis cinerea. In this research, the effects of 10 fungicides on mycelial growth and conidia germination of B. cinerea were investigated. Results showed that carbendazim with a median inhibitory concentration (IC50) value of 0.1 mg/L had the highest inhibitory effect and bordeaux mixture with an IC50 value of 1096.9 mg/L had the lowest inhibitory effect. Benomyl with an IC50 value of 0.04 mg/L had the most visual effects, after 3 and 7 days, on mycelial growth of B. cinerea. The effect of fungicides on preventing fruit wound development caused by B. cinerea was investigated, too. In benomyl treatment, wound diameter on the fruits was 0.73 mm and in copper oxychloride treatment was 6.16 mm, showing the highest and the lowest effective fungicides in the prevention of wound expansion. Different strains of the fungus were collected from various areas in Isfahan province and the effect of the fungicides on their conidial germination was evaluated. Results revealed that the collected isolates had different susceptibility to the 10 tested fungicides.