farhad nazarian

Due to the increasing concern about the growing resistance of pathogenic bacteria to a variety of common antibiotics, it is vital to find and introduce new drugs to treat bacterial infections. To this end, intensive efforts need to be taken to find novel antimicrobial agents with diverse antimicrobial modes of action, preventing pathogen growth. Combination therapy using current antibiotics and other biological or chemical molecules might be efficient as an exciting new approach.

In the present study, the synergistic antibacterial activity of Dermastin B1 recombinant peptides isolated from transgenic T1 tobacco plants either alone or in combination with peppermint essential oils were evaluated against Xanthomonas translucen, Xanthomonas perforans, Xanthomonas citri, Xanthomonas gardneri and Pseudomonas syringae by measuring the Fractional Inhibitory Concentration (FIC) index at different concentrations.

The results of this study showed that the MIC of Dermaseptin B1 peptides and the peppermint essential oils against bacteria were 50 µg/ml and 4.6 µg/ml, respectively. FIC index showed a synergistic effect of peppermint essential oils with Dermaseptin B1 recombinant peptide with FIC=0.49.

The results of this study suggest that Dermasptin B1 recombinant peptides can be effective either alone or in combination with the peppermint essential oils to control bacterial infections. However, it seems that there is a synergistic effect between recombinant peptides and peppermint essential oils in combat against phytopathogens.

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most important sources of plant food for human among the main crops globally. High temperature resulting from delay in planting is one major environmental factor limiting growth and production of wheat, especially in tropical regions. Terminal heat stress during the last phases of wheat development especially in booting, heading, anthesis and grain filling stages of the spring wheat cultivars is considered as one of the major environmental constraints that drastically reduces grain yield and yield components of wheat in Khuzestan province and other warm and dry regions of Iran. Most of the Iranian soils have a high pH and calcareous nature, so absorption of nutrients is limited in these soils. Mineral nutrition of plants plays a critical role in increasing plant resistance to environmental stresses. Zinc is a ubiquitous micronutrient. It is required as a structural and functional component of many enzymes and proteins, and increases the yield and yield components of wheat. Boron is essential for pollen viability, flowering, fruiting and seed production. As a micronutrient, it plays a vital role in nitrogen metabolism, hormonal action, and cell division.

To evaluate the remobilization of photosynthetic materials and their contribution in the formation of grain yield of two bread wheat cultivars affected by terminal heat stress and zinc and boron foliar application, an experiment was conducted as split-split plot based on randomized complete blocks design with 3 replications in Ramhormoz city. The experimental factors were included planting date in two levels optimum (November 21) and late (January 5) to coincide growth terminal stages with high temperatures as the main factor, foliar application in four levels with water (control), zinc, boron and zinc + boron as the sub factor and two cultivars of bread wheat Pishtaz and Chamran 2 as the sub-sub factor.

The results showed that terminal heat stress caused by delay in planting increased significantly traits of stored photosynthetic materials remobilization from stem and spike to seed and relative contribution of stem and spike reserves in grain yield, but decreased significantly traits of current photosynthesis and its relative contribution in yield, and grain yield of two bread wheat cultivars of Pishtaz and Chamran. Zinc and boron foliar application reduced significantly all of the above traits in both optimum and late planting dates except for the traits of current photosynthesis and its relative contribution in yield, and grain yield. Among the wheat cultivars cultivated, Chamran 2 cultivar had a significant advantage in traits of current photosynthesis and current photosynthesis relative contribution in yield and grain yield compared to Pishtaz cultivar, but in other traits this superiority was evident in Pishtaz cultivar.

In general, it can be attributed the main factor increasing grain yield of two bread wheat cultivars of Pishtaz and Chamran to improve current photosynthesis. As well as, it can be used from timely planting date, zinc and boron foliar application and suitable wheat cultivar such as Chamran 2 as three management strategies to reduce the harmful effects of terminal heat stress caused by late planting date in Ramhormoz city.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous, noncoding, small RNA molecules consisting of 18-24 nucleotides (nts) that regulate target genes at the post-transcriptional level in plants. Also, this group of RNAs play a crucial role in development of plant, biological processes, cell proliferation and stress response. To date, no miRNAs have been identified in the lentil species although there are several reports on miRNAs in other legume species. Therefore, in this study, in order to identify and analysis of potential miRNAs and their target genes in lentil, total RNA from leaf tissue was extracted using with TRIzol method and was sequenced. Non-protein coding unigenes were identified and considered for candidates of miRNA precursor. Finally five miRNAs belonging to 5 highly conserved families were identified following a range of strict filtering criteria, designated as, lcu-miR156, lcu-miR166, lcu-miR167, lcu-miR171 and lcu-miR391. In addition, we predicted target mRNA genes form complementary base pair in seed region of miRNAs. Totally, due to the regulatory role of the identified miRNA on changing the range of downstream genes in the gene networks, it may be possible to use the identified microRNA as candidate genes in breeding programs aimed at improving the quality and quantity of lentil.

New and effective antimicrobial agents are inevitable because of the increased use of antibiotics and spread of microbial resistance. The expression of antimicrobial peptides that are part of the inherent immune system of all organisms, is a novel approach of confronting a wide range of pathogens. Among the wide range of antimicrobial peptides, Dermaseptin B1 is a potent cationic peptide with strong antimicrobial activity. In this study, Dermaseptin B1 (DrsB1) coding sequence from Phyllomedusa bicolor frogs was fused to a tandem repeat of a chitin-binding domain (CBD) from Cladosporium fulvum Avr4 effector protein and expressed in tobacco Hairy Roots (HRs). The expression of recombinant (CBD)2-DrsB1 peptide was confirmed, using molecular methods and its antimicrobial activity was evaluated against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis and Bacillus subtilis bacteria. The results of antimicrobial activity analysis demonstrated that the recombinant protein had a significant (P

Rapid emergence of traditional antibiotic-resistant pathogens is one of the most important global challenges in medical sciences. To this end, substitution of current antibiotics with strong antimicrobial peptides could be of great benefit.

In this study, the DNA sequence encoding dermaseptin B1 (DrsB1) antimicrobial peptide derived from Phyllomedusa bicolor frog species was fused to either N or C terminal end of the sequence encoding the chitin-binding domain of the Avr4 gene from Cladosporium fulvum. The recombinant expression vectors containing two separate structures were transferred to Agrobacterium rhizogenes bacterium and then used to produce Hairy Roots (HRs) in tobacco plants. Recombinant dermaseptin B1 peptides were extracted from HRs and their antimicrobial activity was evaluated against some important human pathogens.

Transgene integration and expression of recombinant DrsB1 in hairy roots were confirmed by PCR and semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis, respectively. Antimicrobial activity of the protein extracts from transgenic HRs showed that both recombinant proteins had significant inhibitory effects on the bacterial pathogens growth (P>0.01). CBD-DrsB1 recombinant protein had the highest inhibitory activity against Enterococcus faecalis and Bacillus subtilis, whereas DrsB1-CBD recombinant protein showed the least antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

To the best of our knowledge, this study for the first time showed that the new recombinant peptides possess a high antibacterial activity. Acquiring resistance to antimicrobial peptides in bacteria is not readily feasible, therefore, present findings may find application as suitable alternative for current antibiotic drugs.

It is of great significance to understand the tolerance mechanisms by which plants deal with drought stress and application of these mechanisms for improvement of genotypes in response to drought stress. In order to identify and investigate the expression of genes involved in tolerance to drought stress, leaf and root EST were analyzed in Spontaneum (wild barley) and Nimruz (tolernt to drought stress) barley genotypes. The library's initial information was received from the databases and the bioinformatics services were used for the pre-processing and identify genes. In order to investigate the expression of candidate genes with Real time-PCR, a factorial experiment was conducted in a Completely Randomized Design in a pot with 3 replication. First factor included cultivars (Nimruz and Spontaneum) and second factor was irrigation (control and 50%FC). Also sampling times was considered at 3 levels of 0, 24 and 72 hours after drought stress. Two genes HvPIP1; 4 (Plasma Membrane Intrinsic Protein 1;4) and HvnsLTP(Non-specific lipid transport) were identified based on expression in stress conditions as important genes involved in response to drought stress in the barely. Based on the analysis of gene expression, it was found that Nimruz genotype as resistant cultivar had a higher expression for candidate genes. The expression of HvPIP1; 4 and HvnsLTP genes were 95.98 and 54.53fold after 72 hours, respectively. In addition, the results of this study showed that changes in HvPIP1; 4 gene expression were significantly (P <0.05) higher than the HvnsLTP in the Nimruz genotype in the compared to the spontanum genotype. So, this gene has key role in drought resistance in Barley.

Enterococcus species are opportunistic pathogens and their pathogenicity seems to be related to the presence of a number of pathogenicity genes. Since donkey’s milk is a new non-allergenic source of nutrition, this study was performed to assess the antibiogram and detection of pathogenicity genes in some Enterococcus faecalis isolates from donkey’s milk. In this experimental study, several Enterococcus faecalis strains were isolated from donkey’s milk. Resistance patterns of the isolates to 10 antibiotics including vancomycin were investigated based on CLSI protocol. Statistical comparison was made by Fisher's exact test. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification was used to study gel E, esp, ace, as and efaA pathogenicity related genes. Enterococcus faecalis isolates showed a different antibiogram pattern. Isolates were resistant to azithromycin, and erythromycin, but were susceptible to ampicillin and penicillin. Previously isolated LUB93929 and LUB93101 isolates were found to be susceptible and resistance to vancomycin, respectively. GelE, ace and efaA genes were detected in both Enterococcus faecalis isolates and also in E. faecalis in the control strains. The aggregation substance gene (as) was only amplified in LUB93101 isolate. Interestingly, esp gene was not detected in any of the isolates. Despite resistance to vancomycin and presence of some pathogenicity related genes in this study, E. faecalis isolates may not be human pathogens due to lack of pathogenic factors. The esp gene is crucial for biofilm formation and rise of nosocomial infections. Donkey’s milk Enterococcus faecalis isolates are not able to form biofilm and seem not to bring any problem.

To study effects of planting date, phosphate Bio-fertilizer and foliar application of Zinc and Boron on leaf area index, leaf area duration, leaf relative water content, cell membrane stability, quantum efficiency of PSII, leaf proline content and grain yield of bread wheat (Aflak cultivar), an experiment was conducted as split-plot factorial based on randomized complete blocks design with 16 treatments and 3 replications in Ramhormoz city during farming year 2015-2016. The experimental factors were included planting date (November, 21and January, 5) as the main factor, phosphate bio-fertilizer (Barvar 2) in two levels (non-used and using as seed inoculation) as the sub factor and foliar application in four levels (water as a control, Zinc, Boron and combination Zinc + Boron (each 3 lit.h-1)) as sub-sub factor. Solutions for foliar application were prepared by using Zinc- chelate (7.5%) and Boron (5%). With delay in planting due to terminal heat stress except leaf proline content all traits leaf area index (LAI), leaf area duration (LAD), flag leaf relative water content (FLRWC), cell membrane stability, quantum efficiency of PSII (ΦPSII) and grain yield were decreased significantly. Seed inoculation with phosphate bio-fertilizer reduced harmful effects resulting from delay in planting on above traits. In between the different levels of nutrients foliar application, the combined application of Zinc + Boron<span style="font-family:;" dir="RTL" new="" b="" roman";"="" roman";="" "times="" lotus";=""> as compared to the separate application for each of them was more effective in reducing the harmful effects resulting from delay in planting. But when the seeds were inoculated before planting with phosphate bio-fertilizer, the separate application Zinc element had more influence in improving the traits of LAI, LAD, FLRWC, cell membrane stability, ΦPSII, leaf proline content and increase yield of bread wheat in both optimum and late planting date.

Antimicrobial peptides are one of the vital components of innate immunity in plants and animals. The identification and introduction of novel and effective peptide molecules to plants is a cost-effective way both to improve the resistance of crop plant species to pathogens, and to produce peptides for pharmaceutical applications by using recombinant DNA technology. An expression construct containing the omiganan (MBI-226) antimicrobial gene sequence was cloned and used for tobacco and potato Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. Following tissue culture, Polymerase chain reaction analysis (PCR) confirmed that some kanamycin resistant plants are transgenic. A number of transgenic plants, along with a non-transgenic control, were selected. Total protein was extracted from the transgenic plants, and the non-transgenic control, and was used for antimicrobial activity assay against some human pathogens, including; Escherchia coli, Staphylococcus epidermis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typh, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Candida albicans using the disc diffusion method. Total protein extract from transgenic plants was significantly (P<0.05) able to inhibit the majority of bacteria growth, whereas non-transgenic total protein extract did not inhibit human pathogens growth. There was a significant difference (P<0.05) between transgenic lines with respect to omiganan peptide activity. In contrary to gram-negative bacteria, omiganan peptide did not have a significant effect (P>0.05) on human gram-positive pathogenic bacteria. The total protein from the omiganan-expressing peptide had a strong antibacterial activity against some human bacterial pathogens. By expression and purification of the omiganan peptide, the peptide could be used as an antibiotic to destroy pathogenic bacteria. This approach could open an opportunity to produce antibacterial peptides in plants for pharmaceutical applications.

To detect main and epistatic QTLs and their environmental interactions for rice important agronomic traits, 242 recombinant inbred lines (RIL) from two F6 rice populations derived from crosses between Alikazemi / IR67017-180-2-1-2 (IRA population) and Ali Kakami / Saleh (SA) cultivars were evaluated in two locations. Results of the present experiment showed that the linkage map of the two populations using 87 polymorph microsatellite markers (SSR) covered 1356.0 cM of rice genome with an average distance of 15.58 cM between two markers. A total of 20 main QTLs (M-QTLs) and 33 epistatic QTLs (E-QTLs) were identified with positive and negative effects. Five M-QTLs and five E-QTLs had a significant interaction with the environment. Eight M-QTLs and ten E-QTLs with significant effect on agronomic traits were stable and did not have any significant interaction with the environment. These QTLs include two M-QTLs and two E-QTLs for reducing plant height, three M-QTLs and three E-QTLs for decreasing heading date, an M-QTL and an E-QTL for increasing panicle length and two M-QTLs and four E-QTLs to increase grain yield. These main QTLs explained 11.12% (qHD6) and 24.5% (qGY1) phenotypic variation, respectively. Therefore, such useful QTLs can be used for gene pyramiding programs to improve rice agronomical traits. Furthermore, six linked SSR markers (RM421, RM178, RM3441, RM5101, RM7551 and RM5302) were identified with less than 5 cM distance from important QTLs, suggesting that such SSR markers can be used in marker-assisted selection to select rice lines with desirable traits in segregation generations.

Awareness of genetic diversity is a prerequisite and the first step in plant breeding. In this regard, the present study investigates the genetic diversity of 20 cultivars of Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium. Ramat) using SSR molecular markers. The markers used in total were able to create 731 bands with sizes from 128 to 404 bp. The number of bands in different primers were range from 22 to 96 bands in the cultivars studied. The average number of effective alleles for 12 primers was 1.25 alleles with the highest number of effective alleles in five primers JH09, JH52, JH72, JH30 and JH47 with 2 alleles. The polymorphism of the bands in the cultivars were high (100%). The PIC in the cultivars under study were from 0.26 to 0.50, respectively, and related to the JH42 and JH31 primers. The dendrogram obtained from the cluster analysis of cultivars in a similarity coefficient of 0.61 placed the cultivars in the seven main clusters. The analysis of the main components showed that the first six components justify more than 60% of the total variation. Overall, six primers JH09, JH11, JH52, JH72, JH30 and JH47 can be introduced as useful and desirable for separation of genotypes and cultivars of Chrysanthemum.

  Plant pathogens, insects and weeds contribute to more than 30% of crop losses annually. Toxic chemical bactericides have been extensively used to control plant pathogenic bacteria. These chemicals pose a health threat to humans and the environment and eventually lead to resistance of pathogens. Hence, breeding cultivars resistance to bacterial pathogens is a valuable and sustainable solution. Antimicrobial peptides (AMP) are a part of the immune system of all living organisms, including plants, to combat pathogenic bacteria. Hairy roots (HRs) system is a valuable tool to produce and evaluate the activity of AMPs in planta. The aim of this study was to produce a Dermaseptin B1 (Drs-B1) recombinant AMP in transgenic tobacco HRs using Agrobacterium rhizogenes and test its antibacterial activities.
Material and The DNA encoding sequence of a Drs-B1 peptide of a frog was codon optimized based and synthesized in the pGSA1285 expression vector under the control of 35S CaMV promoter (×3). A gene cassette containing the Drs-B1 gene was introduced to tobacco roots by Agrobacterium rhizogenesis mediated transformation. The transgenic HRs were confirmed by molecular methods. Antimicrobial activity of the protein extracts from transgenic HRs showed that the recombinant protein was able to prevent Pectobacterium carotovorum, Erwinia amylovora and Xanthomonas citri plant pathogenic bacteria growth. The anti-bacterial effects of Drs-B1 peptide against plant pathogenic bacteria were in the order of X. citri> E. amylovora >P. carotovorum. The peptide present in transgenic DrsB1-expressing HRs clones inhibited devastating plant pathogenic bacteria growth, suggesting that DrsB1 retains its antibacterial activity in plant cells. The results of present study may open promising opportunities to produce transgenic plants expressing antimicrobial peptides resistance to plant pathogens

Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium) is one of the most important ornamental plants which plays a significant role in the development of gardening industry in the world. The knowledge of genetic diversity is one of the prerequisite criteria for Chrysanthemum breeding with important economic goals. Molecular markers have a significant share in elucidation of inter and intra species genetic diversity. To this end, genetic diversity of a number of Iranian cultivars was molecularly investigated by sequencing a part of rDNA, using ITS4 and ITS5 primers. Genetic distance between Chrysanthemum cultivars ranged from 0.05 to 10.15, demonstrating the power of ITS region in revealing the genetic diversity among cultivars of morifolium, suggesting Iranian cultivars have been genetically improved from morifolium species. Genetic diversity assessment of Iranian Chrysanthemum cultivars demonstrated that presumably inter, intra species or even inter population hybridization may have been involved in creating enormous genetic diversity among Chrysanthemum cultivars.

To evaluate the effect of iron foliar feeding of micronutrient on yield and yield components of chickpea, a factorial experiment with two factors in a randomized complete block design with three replications was conducted (crop season, 2012-2013). Factors were Azad, Hashem, ILC482 line as cultivar and iron chelated fertilizer foliar application(one, two and three part per thousand). The results of the study showed that the effect of iron fertilizer × cultivar on Plant height, pod length, number of secondary branches, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod and seed yield was significantly(p≤.05) and the characteristics of unfilled pods, seed weight and biological yield of peas had no significantly(p≤.05). The highest number of secondary branches, number of pods per plant and biological yield was obtained from combination ILC482 line in three per thousands foliar fertilizer iron nano chelate. ILC482 line Produced The highest grain yield (1296 and 1238 kg/ he-1) was obtained when both 2 and 3 part per thousand iron micronutrient was used, the interaction of. Due to lower production costs and environmental considerations, it is recomneded to apply two part per thousands of iron nano chelated foliar fertilizer (manufactured by issuing Ahrar East) ILC482 line to achieve reasonable yield for rainfed conditions in the region and other region with similar climates.

Soybean (Glycine max) is an important crop plant which contains a high amount of oil and protein. To evaluate the genetic diversity of 45 soybean genotypes growing in Iran، two types of molecular markers (RAPD and ISJ) were used. Two sets of different primers were used to compare potential differentiation power of IT (Intron targeting) and ET (Exon targeting) primers. Data obtained from each molecular marker was analyzed separately and in combination. Ten RAPD primers amplified 103 scoreable bands from which 60% were polymorphic، whereas 15 ISJ primes resulted to 129 sharp bands from which 87% were polymorphic. Cluster analysis was carried out based on simple matching coefficient of similarity and UPGMA method. The cophenetic coefficient for RAPD and ISJ markers were 0. 95 and 0. 81، respectively. Cluster analysis revealed that ISJ molecular markers were better in genetic diversity studies than RAPD markers in soybean genotypes. Furthermore، significant variation was not found between two groups of IT and ET primers (P≤ 0. 01). Results of this study suggested that ISJ molecular markers especially ET primes are reliable tools to investigate genetic diversity among soybean genotypes.

Starch¡ a complex carbohydrate¡ is a polymer of glucose residues. It occurs in two main forms: amylose¡ consisting of predominantly linear chains of glucose units linked by α(1-4) glycosidic bonds¡ and amylopectin¡ in which the chains are highly branched by the addition of α(1-6) glycosidic bonds. Depending upon the plant species and the site of storage¡ the proportion between these two components varies. In most plant species¡ amylose comprises about 20% of the starch and the rest is amylopectin. Although in its native form it has some applications in food and non-food industries¡ the properties of currently available starches (native starch) do not comply with most industrial standard and enhanced commercial applications. To obtain starches with particular properties such as starches with lower retrogradation and more freeze-thaw stability¡ starch is often chemically modified. Manipulation of the starch structure with chemical reactions or additives will eventually impart certain properties which are desired for industrial uses. Techniques including cross-linking (to strengthen against shear) or acetylation (to reduce the retrogradation) are the most common starch modifications. The use of chemicals¡ however¡ may not only cause concern over health and safety¡ but there is also a cost involved with the chemical modification. Knocking out/ over expression of genes involved in starch biosynthesis¡ has resulted to alteration of starch physic-chemical properties. Production of biopolymers consisting of glucose residues linked by α(1-3) and α(1-6) or an alternatives [(α(1-3¡6)¡ α(1-4¡6)] of these linkages¡ are among hot topics in polysaccharides research fields.

Extraction of intact quality DNA from plant tissues, especially those rich insecondary metabolites, is often challenging. Literally, hundreds of different DNAisolation protocols from various plant species have been published over the last decades.Although many commercial DNA isolation kits are convenient and designed to be safe,their cost and availability cause limitations in small molecular labs in many developingcountries. In nearly all protocols and DNA isolation kits, phenol and chloroform areused to precipitate various classes of impurities. However, phenol is partially soluble inwater, resulting in the co-existence of proteins in upper (aqueous) phases. Thisphenomenon results in the contamination of the nucleic acids and low quality DNA.Nanotechnology advances have helped many areas of molecular biology such as thedevelopment of new diagnosis and purification kits. In this study, for the first time, wereport a different approach to isolate DNA from plants based on carbon nanotubes(CNTs). The results show that the phenol reagent stack on CNTs can effectively removeproteins, polysaccharides and other polyphenol constituents. The A260/A280nmabsorbance ratios of isolated DNA samples were 1.9 and 1.8 for chamomile and opiumplants, respectively, indicating the high purity of the isolated DNA. DNA yield wasmore than two times the standard Doyle and Doyle method. Furthermore, the isolatedDNA proved amenable to PCR amplification, using Random Amplified PolymorphicDNA (RAPD) analysis.

Aim and Thymus is one of the largest and the most famous genus of Lamiacae. Thymus species are commonly used as herbal tea, condiment, spice and medicinal plants. T.Pubescens most can be grown in north and west of Iran. Characterization of plants using molecular markers is an ideal approach for improvement and conservation of plant genetic resources. A total number of 12 accessions, collected from different localities of Iran, were screened with 30 random primers to evaluate polymorphism. DNA extraction carried out using Khanoja method with modification. Genetic similarity was estimated using the Jaccard coefficient and dendrogram was constructed using the UPGMA method. Selected 27 primers generated 360 bands, 273 of which were polymorphic. Each primer produced an average 13.33 bands per primer, of which 10.11 were polymorphic. The average of polymorphism information content (PIC) was 0.35. Cluster analysis of data using UPGMA algorithm placed the 12 accessions into three main clusters and the principal component analysis placed the 12 accessions into three groups. Results indicated that RAPD method is sufficiently informative and powerful to estimate the genetic diversity in T.Pubescens populations. In addition, RAPD profile showed well discrimination of thymus accessions according to their geographical dispersion.

In order to choose an efficient breeding procedure, it is necessary to have knowledge of the genetic system controlling agronomically important traits. Common bean is one of the major legumes containing large amount of proteins and other valuable nutrients. The aim of this study was to determine genetic parameters for yield and yield components, using six generations (P1, P2, F1, F2, BC1, and BC2) derived from DERAKHSHAN × AND1007 and GOLI × D81083 crosses of common bean. A field experiment for these six generations was carried out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The measurements included seed yield, pod weight, pod number per plant, seed number per pod, seed number per plant, and 100 seed weight. Generation mean analysis with three-parameter genetic model showed inadequacy of additive-dominance simple model to illustrate the genetic mechanism of the evaluated traits. Significant differences for two or more individual scaling tests (A, B, C, and D) in both crosses were recorded. Hayman six parameters genetic model suggested that both dominance and epistasis effects were important for most of the evaluated traits. Furthermore, expression of some traits in both crosses was affected by additive gene effects. Broad sense heritability was high for all traits except 100 SW in DER × A1007 cross. Estimation of narrow sense heritability range was moderate for most traits. For SY and traits where portion of non-additive gene effect was higher, it is possible to exploit heterosis using the plant materials in this study.

To increase the production level of heterologous proteins in plants, strategies such as choice of stronger promoters, optimization of codon usage and specific localization of foreign proteins are of major concern. Calcitonin (CT), a 32 amino acid polypeptide is a powerful and specific inhibitor of bone resorption and is used to treat several human diseases. Calcitonin activity is not species-specific which make it possible to produce in various animal sources, however, antibody formation in the prolonged application of animal CT leads to gradual decrease or loss of activity. That is why the long term treatment of human patients with CT requires homologous calcitonin. In this study, a human calcitonin (hCT) gene, driven by two different promoters (granule bound starch synthase I and Cauliflower mosaic virus 35S) was expressed in potato plants, using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Molecular analysis, including PCR, RT-PCR, Northern dot blot hybridizations showed that hCT could be successfully transcribed in transgenic potato plants. The immunoassay results showed that tissue specific expression in potato, led to almost five-fold more hCT accumulation when compared to the constitutively expression in all plant tissues.