ghasem karimzadeh

The genus Viola is the largest genus of the Violaceae and includes 525-600 species, of which 19 species are native to Iran.

For the first time, micromorphological studies of leaf characters such as shape, dimensions, and density of stomata and trichomes in 6 species of Violets were carried out using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to identify useful characters for the identification of species. The characteristics of the leaf such as the dimensions and density of stomata and trichome were measured by image J V.1.52 software. The information was obtained from leaf micromorphological properties were analyzed using SPSS V. 26. Cluster analysis was used by WARD method to determine the species affinity.

The results of the microscopic analysis of the species in terms of micromorphological properties, classified 7 types of trichomes and stomata into 4 groups. The results of the microscopic analysis showed that the trichomes in the studied species are conical, triangular, and uncinate in shape, and there are 3 states: lying, raised, and semi-raised. The longest trichome in V. hirta observed. In all species, stomata were seen as oval in shape. The largest stomatal size was related to V. occulta species and the highest stomatal density was also related to V. hirta species. The results showed that micromorphological characters of six species of viola species, especially V. hirta species identification and separation.

Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L.) is an important source of physiologically active medicinal alkaloids. It is one of the world’s best medicinal plants and the only commercial source for narcotic analgesics, morphine, codeine, the vasodilator papaverine, the cough suppressant, and the powerful anticancer drug noscapine. The current study aimed to examine the content of major alkaloids in the capsules of seven populations of poppies, collected from Balkh Province, Afghanistan. Three locations (replications) were considered for each population. In each location, 15 plants with the uniform main capsules were randomly selected. A 1.5 to 2 g of capsule powder was obtained from each population/replication. Such amounts collected from three locations were then mixed to assess the major alkaloids between populations, 200 mg of which was used for extraction. Major alkaloids (morphine, codeine, thebaine, noscapine, and papaverine) were measured, using the HPLC method. The results indicated that the highest amount of noscapine (1398.4 µg/g DW), papaverine (802.6 µg/g DW), and thebaine (1129.2 µg/g DW) were detected in the P1 population, which appeared to be the most valuable medicinal-industrial population. For morphine and codeine, P6 (2947.7 µg/g DW) and P7 (5638.3 µg/g DW), respectively, had the highest amounts of these substances. Pharmacologically, the P4 population having the lowest morphine (narcotic drug) and the highest thebaine (non-narcotic drug) is prescribable for the medication of addicts. Monoploid genome size (2Cx DNA) was positively and significantly related to noscapine, papaverine, and codeine, indicating that a higher genome size population produced more of these alkaloids. The UPGMA phenogram constructed based on 10 variables showed four distinct cluster groups of the studied populations. The P1 population stood out for its medicinal and industrial value due to its high contents of noscapine, papaverine, and thebaine. Conversely, The P4 population, while containing the lowest level of morphine (a narcotic drug), also had a relatively high amount of thebaine (a non-narcotic precursor to other alkaloids). These dual-compounds metabolites make it a potentially useful population to treat drug-affected patients.

Micropropagation is one of the most important applications of plant tissue culture. Using the micropropagation for strawberry propagation, in addition to producing many plants, can meet the growing need for healthy and disease-free plants. In this study, the in vitro propagation of two strawberry cultivars (cvs. Paros and Pajaro) was investigated using Murashige and Skoog (MS) culture medium. In each cultivar, the effects of hormonal composition of the culture medium (1 mg l-1 BAP and 0.5 mg l-1 NAA + 0.2 mg l-1 BAP) and explant type (nodal bud and terminal bud (big and small) of runners) were studied. All explants provided from the glass greenhouse-grown plants. The in vitro cultures were subcultured three times at an interval of 30 d. The results of analysis of variance showed that the effect of explant type was significant for three studied traits (the number of plantlets per explant, the average height of plantlets per explant and the number of roots per explant). The best results for all three traits were obtained using nodal buds. Subculturing significantly increased the number of regenerated plantlets, so that in the third subculture, seven plantlets were obtained from each explant. In general, the results of the present study showed the good efficiency of in vitro culture of nodal buds for the micropropagation of two commercial strawberry cultivars, Pajaro and Paros.

Willow herb (Epilobium sp.) is a medicinal plant that is used for various purposes in the traditional medicine and food industries. In this research, an attempt was made to assess morphological and phytochemical variations in eight Epilobium species (E. hirsutum, E. Parviflorum, E. roseum, E. algidum, E. anatolicum, E. confusum, E. frigidum, and E. lanceolatum). The species were collected from natural habitats during the flowering period. Analysis of variance showed a significant variation among the studied species for measured morphological and phytochemical traits. Total phenolic content varied from 194.64 ± 1.17 to 309.10 ± 5.59 mg g-1 DW, total flavonoids ranged from 39.03 ±0.21 to 56.14 ±0.67 mg g-1 DW, and antioxidant activity differed from 43.03 ± 2.20 to 101.36 ± 3.68 mg g-1 DW. The results showed that E. frigidum is the richest source of natural antioxidants among the studied species, and also has the highest seed and leaf lengths. Antioxidant activity was significantly correlated with bioclimatic variables. However, the dendrogram based on morphological traits was relatively different from that based on all phytochemical variables. In conclusion, the remarkable variation among species for the morphological and phytochemical traits may be exploited in the breeding programs of the genus Epilobium.

The chemical constituents of essential oils of Datura stramonium L. and D. innoxia (family Solanaceae) are being reported. In this study, the collected seeds of Ardabil and Urmia were planted in grow bags and placed for three months in a greenhouse of the College of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University in Tehran. Under greenhouse conditions, the average air temperature was 25 °C. Air-dried areal parts of D. stramonium and D. innoxia were prepared and their essential oils (EOs) were isolated by hydrodistillation for 3 h in a Clevenger-type apparatus. EOs content and composition were examined with gas chromatography techniques. The EOs yield of D. stramonium and D. innoxia were 0.03% and 0.02% (v/w), respectively. The major compounds in the D. stramonium EOs were Camphor (29.9%), Selin-11-en-4alpha-ol (13.0%), and Borneol (10.4%). Those in the D. innoxia were mostly fatty alkanes, including n-Decane (19.99%), 7-Pentadecyne (11.78%), and Linoleic acid (6.13%). The other important components identified in the EOs of Datura were Dihydrocitronellol, n-Dodecane, Isobornyl acetate, Germacrene D, and n-Tetradecane. Generally, the EOs of the areal parts in D. stramonium showed oxygenated monoterpenes.

St. John’s wort is one of the most amazing and medicinal plants of interest worldwide, which is nowadays known as a certain cure for depression. However, the presence of dormancy and low seed germination is a barrier to the progress of its breeding programs. Despite the richness of the plant’s genetic resources, there are only a few studies reported on its propagation and maintenance in Iran, most of which do not mention the geographical origin of the used seeds or explants. The current study was carried out aiming to evaluate in vitro plant propagation of eight Iranian endemic populations of St. John’s wort seeds which belonged to different geographical origins, emphasizing seed dormancy phenomena.

Following the collection of eight populations of St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum L.) seeds from different geographical regions of Iran, the Murashige and Skoog culture media (common salt mixture as a control, MS improved with gibberellic acid and a modified combination of MS) was used in an effort to investigate the effect of culture medium as well as seed collection locations on the germination percentage of these populations.

The results showed that the interaction between the seed collection locations and the culture medium on seed germination was significant at P<0.01. Besides, the effect of changing culture media on seed germination was significant in all populations at P<0.01, except for Meshkin-Shahr. In other words, the seeds collected from Meshkin-Shahr germinated easily as well as notably under in vitro conditions (97.3% on average), and there was no need either to modify the combination of MS medium or to use gibberellic acid for seed dormancy elimination. The seeds originated from Challus and Peresk had the lowest germination in the control medium (22.3%, on average). Seeds from Challus and Saqqez had better germination in the media enriched with gibberellic acid compared to the control and the modified MS media (88% and 65%, respectively). However, less than half of the Parvar seeds germinated in the MS medium improved with GA3, compared to the control. Cultivation of seeds obtained from Fereydunkenar in common MS medium also led to better germination than using GA3 and modifying the combination of medium with 95% and 99% confidence levels, respectively.

The results of the current study demonstrated that the observed difference in seed germination percentage is remarkable in the Iranian endemic St. John’s wort populations under in vitro conditions. Moreover, the variation among national populations was significant. Besides, the response of the seed populations originating from different locations varied with respect to the changes in the culture medium and in the different cases. This shows the considerable effect of the growth location of the maternal plant on the characteristics of the next generation seeds, especially the way they germinate. Hence, it is very important to pay attention to the seed’s origins in the studies and it is investigable.

Caper, Capparis spinosa, has medicinal, edible, and industrial uses and has been used since ancient times to treat kidney, spleen, liver, paralysis, gout, and rheumatism diseases. Dormancy caused by hard seed shell is one of the problems of seed germination in this plant, In order to study on improving seed germination methods and biochemical characteristics, a factorial experiment on the basis of completely randomized design was conducted with three replications. To improve seed germination, four caper populations (Tehran, Torbat-e-Jam, Firuzabad, and Barazjan) were treated with six seed treatments (control, ultrasonic, potassium nitrate, gibberellic acid, chilling, and scarification). Phytochemical characteristics of the populations were also compared. The results of phytochemical traits showed that the Torbat-e-Jam population had the highest antioxidant activity with an IC50 equal to 26.4. The highest amount of total phenol equal to 227.03 mg of gallic acid per gram of dry extract, and total flavonoid equal to 71.54 mg of quercetin per gram of dry extract was obtained from Tehran population. The results showed that the highest percentage of germination with 62% and the highest germination rate with 3.5% per day was identified in the treatment of Firozabad population under scratching conditions. Also, the results of this study showed that in Tehran, Torbat-e-Jam, Firozabad, and Barazjan, the percentage of germination increased by 6.55, 7.25, 3.44, and 11.25 times, respectively compared to the controls. According to the results of the current study, seed scarification is recommended to increase the germination rate of a caper valuable medicinal plant.

Phytate, the highest inorganic phosphorus in cereal grains, is an anti-nutritional factor that reduces the bioavailability of iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn). The whole grains of 109 hexaploid landraces and modern bread wheat cultivars (Triticum aestivum L.) were used to determine Fe, Zn, and phytate concentrations and their bioavailability using phytate:mineral molar ratios. In addition, some morphological and physiological features were identified as contributory factors for the screening process. In the field experiment, the concentrations of Fe and Zn, ranged between 0.036-0.255 mg/g and 0.030-0.085 mg/g, respectively. There were no significant differences in Fe and Zn concentration between the bread wheat cultivars and landraces. Therefore, efforts made by breeders for developing high-yielding wheat didn’t have detrimental effects on Fe and Zn concentrations. The modern bread wheat cultivars showed a significantly higher phytate concentration than landraces. Grain phytate ranged from 15.07-28.77 mg/g resulting in a variation in phytate:Fe of 6.24-58.14 and phytate:Zn of 32.20-77.22, indicating poor bioavailability of these minerals. The identified drawbacks were due to relatively high phytate concentration which in turn could be due to a high level of soil phosphorus concentration, suggesting increasing mineral bioavailability by the breeding methods to reduce the phytate and phytate:mineral ratio. In the solution culture experiment, the role of root length, root dry weight, and root nutrient concentration in distinguishing cultivars’ Fe uptake was demonstrated. The study also revealed that lower values of root length, root dry weight, and leaf dry weight led to lesser leaf Fe which in turn caused reduced contents of photosynthetic pigments and chlorophyll fluorescence. Due to high Zn and Fe concentration, and low concentration of phytate and phytate:mineral molar ratio, some of the current landraces such as Khoram Abad (1), Sarouq (4), Eskan Arak (2), and Hoseinabad Arak could be exploited by breeding strategies in biofortification programs.

One of the largest monocotyledonous genus in the Amaryllidaceae family is the Allium genus that includes approximately 900 species. This study aimed to examine the variations and clustering of eight Iranian endemic Allium species based on karyotype features. The species were collected from wild habitats across different geographical areas of Iran. A. sativum, A. stipitatum, A. fistolosum, A. umbellicatum, A. stamineum, A. lenkoranicum, and A. rubellum, were diploids (2n = 2x = 16), but A. atroviolaceum was triploid (2n = 3x = 24). The results represent x = 8 for basic chromosome numbers in all species. Analysis of variance showed significant interspecific variations for all eight chromosomal parameters tested. The mean of chromosome lengths was 11.19 μm, varied from 8.59 μm to 13.81 μm for A. atroviolaceum and A. stipitatum, respectively. In all species, the chromosome types were determined as mostly metacentric (m) and submetacentric (sm), formed five different karyotype formulas of 16m (A. stipitatum, A. fistolosum, A. stamineum), 14m+2sm (A. sativum, A. rubellum), 12m+4sm (A. lenkoranicum), 10m+6sm (A. umbellicatum), and 24m (A. atroviolaceum). According to Stebbins' classification, all karyotypes were grouped in the 1A class and represented the most symmetrical karyotypes. The information obtained from karyotype and chromosome morphology has an appreciable value in understanding the taxon evolution and interrelations.

Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) is a heliophytic plant and native to southwestern Asia and the Mediterranean regions. This study was aimed to study the morphological diversity, phenological characteristics, and also expression of two important genes involved in the γ-Terpinene and Linalool biosynthesis pathways in the 14 different Iranian endemic populations of coriander as a medicinal plant. The seeds were planted in the growth chamber in the College of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University in three replications in 2015-2016. The studied traits were included number of days to germination, number of days to emergence, number of days to stem, number of days to beginning of flowering, number of days to end of flowering, number of days to sowing, stem height, dry weight of single plant, single plant yield and one thousand seed weight. The results showed that the average seed yield obtained per plant with 14.37 and 14.47 g, was belong to populations of Tehran and Urmia, respectively. Markazi and Tehran populations had the highest weight of 1000 seeds with the average of 8.45 and 8.15 g, respectively. Tehran population had the lowest in terms of the number of days to germination and the number of days to emergence. After classifying the 14 populations in terms of genome size, from the three groups obtained and in each group, two populations were selected for the gene expression analysis. The results of expressions of CsLINS and CsγTRPS genes in six selected coriander populations showed that CsLINS in Mashhad and Tehran populations and CsγTRPS in Tabriz and Zanjan populations had the highest relative gene expressions. Yazd and Estahban populations showed moderate relative gene expression for both genes.

Seed-yield as an important and quantitative trait for grain crops is determined by yield components, although it could also be adversely influenced by genotype and environment. Salinity limits seed yield via interfering with major physiological functions, disrupting ion homeostasis and diminishing nutrient uptake (such as phosphorus) in plant cells. Phosphorus plays an important role in photosynthesis, respiration, and regulation of a number of enzymes as well as signaling pathways. Due to the vital roles of phosphorus in cells, plant growth and productivity are frequently limited by low phosphorus availability. One of the adaptive changes of plants under phosphate deficient condition is the increase in phosphatase activity which is one of the primary plant responses to Pi releasing and recycling from both internal and external resources. Purple acid phosphatases (PAPs) are a group of APases that catalyze the hydrolysis of a wide range of phosphate esters and anhydrides in plants. The ultimate aim of salinity tolerance research is to increase the ability of plants to maintain growth and productivity in saline soils through the identification genes associated with responding to salt stress. Our current knowledge making AtPAP17 and AtPAP26 genes promising candidate for biotechnological strategies to improve Pi acquisition and utilization, and enhance yield components under NaCl stress condition.

The Arabidopsis thaliana seeds, ecotype Columbia-0 (Col-0), atpap17 and atpap26 homozygous T-DNA insertion mutant lines (Mu17 and Mu26), double mutant of atpap17/26 (DM), AtPAP17 and AtPAP26 overexpressing lines (OE17 and OE26) were used. After seeds stratified at 4°C for 48 h, the plants were cultivated (1peat moss: 1perlite: 1cocopeat) in growth chambers with a 16 h light (1000 Lux), 8 h dark photoperiod at 25°C. Plants grown on this condition fertilized 48 hourly by subirrigation with similar Hoagland’s solution containing 1.25 mM KH2PO4 for 28 days. Subsequently, the seedlings were subjected to salt stress by applying 50, 100, and 150 mM NaCl with the same Hoagland’s solution containing 1.25 mM KH2PO4 for 16 days (long-term). The control plants were grown without addition of NaCl.Trend of flowering (for eight days after salt stress), pods number per plant, seeds number per each pod, and l000-seed weight obtained during the salt stress period. Finally, the total seed yield (total seed yield obtained from pods N. per plant × seed N. per each pod × l000-seed weight) was also calculated for all plants. Total phosphorus (TP) and free phosphorus inorganic (Pi) contents were also measured. There were three replications (with 15 plants on each replication) of each treatment. Least significant differences were used for means separation at the 0.01 probability levels.

Results from the study revealed that the yield-related parameters and total yield as well as PT and Pi contents were gradually decreased in the genotypes with increase salt stress to 100 and 150 mM NaCl. However, no similar amount of decrease was observed among them under same growth conditions. Results showed that increase of NaCl concentration was associated with decreases in phosphorus accumulation in plants, and alternatively, phosphorus deficiency stress in plants caused to decline in the seed yield. The PT content of OE17 and OE26 were significantly higher than that in WT, although Pi content of OE17 was no-significantly higher, and Pi content of OE26 was significantly higher in compared with WT at 150 mM NaCl. These findings showed that AtPAP26 beyond AtPAP17 plays functional role in internal Pi-recycling or increasing the availability of Pi for plant by releasing Pi from external organophosphates when seedlings were deprived of the Pi supply.DM plants did not have any pod at 150 mM NaCl, the DM plants (at both 100 and 150 mM NaCl) and Mu26 (at 150 mM NaCl) lacked any seed per pod, and also the number of seed per pod of Mu17 were significantly less than that of WT at 150 mM NaCl. In addition to these genotypes that did not have any seed, and subsequently no one-thousand-seed weight, the seeds of Mu17 showed lack viability, with increasing level of salt concentration and period of salt stress. Thus, Mu17 and Mu26 (at 150 mM NaCl), and DM (at both 100 and 150 mM NaCl) genotypes could not obtain total seed yield; However, OE17 and OE26 produced the highest total seed yield, under both 100 and 150 mM NaCl.These results indicated that the plants responded to salinity depending on severity, duration of the stress and potential of them. Our results clearly demonstrated that overexpression of AtPAP17 and AtPAP26 genes is an effective approach to improve P acquisition. In addition, since AtPAP17 and AtPAP26 have both acid phosphatase and alkaline-peroxidase activity, they could be involved in phosphate scavenging and recycling as well as the metabolism of reactive oxygen species. These results could suggest that the physiological roles of AtPAP17 and AtPAP26 might be related to the adaptation of Arabidopsis to NaCl stress, possibly through its involvement in reactive oxygen species forming, scavenging and stress-responding signal transduction pathways.

It was clear that enhancing yield production was associated with Pi homeostasis in plants, and homeostasis of Pi for yield enhancement was related with the potential of the genotypes to recycle and scavenge Pi from intracellular and extracellular, and translocate Pi, under salt stress. Overall, the results suggest that AtPAP17 and AtPAP26 genes to supply of homeostasis of Pi could be used for the increase the ability to maintain of yield, under salt stress in Arabidopsis plants. Hence, the study of the positive effect of two AtPAP17 and AtPAP26 phosphatases on seed yield and seed yield components will be useful in generating of salt-tolerant crops.

Leaf area (LA) is one of valuable parameters in plant physiological studies. Therefore, the use of a non-destructive, accurate and simple model to estimate LA is very important. This research aimed to develop a non-destructive model to estimate LA accurately in Epilobium species. To estimate LA, leaf length (L) and leaf width (W) of five Epilobium species were determined. Moreover, the actual leaf area, using leaf area meter was measured. Regression analysis of LA versus L, W and LW revealed several models to predict LA in Epilobium species. Out of the models, the best fitted and validated model which is recommended to estimate LA accurately in each species, was quadratic model based on two dimensions (L and W), including the E. algidum (LA = 0.1264 + 0.6562 (L×W) + 0.0366 (L×W)2), E. parviflorum (LA = – 3.144 + 1.323 (L×W) – 0.030 (L×W)2(, E. sp. (LA = 0.4236 + 0.3033 (L×W) + 0.1368 (L×W)2), E. hirsutum (LA= 2.2417 + 0.2202 (L×W) + 0.0029 (L×W)2), and E. frigidum (LA = 0.2119 + 0.4162 (L×W) + 0.1191 (L×W)2), all with R2 ≥ 0.80.

Festuca species grow in Iran and widespread occurrence of polyploidy has an important role in the evolution of this group. Festuca arundinacea belong to the grass family and include different species that used as forage, turf grass and for soil conservation. The aim of this work was the study of changing in DNA content morphological and phenological traits in different genotypes of F. arundinacea which collected from different regions.

This experiment was conducted using a complete block design with 3 replications. Genetic parameters were estimated for all traits including Day to head emergence, Flowering date, Plant height, Number of. stem per plant, Spike length, 1000-seed weight, Germination percentage, Germination rate, Germination vigor, Stability, Forage yield, Seed yield, Seed weight per stem, Harvest Index, Number of seed per plant. Three-week-old plants, fluorochrome DAPI and Hordeum vulgare L. cv. Sultan (2C= 11.12 pg) as an internal standard for DNA content measurement were used.

Evaluation of genetic parameters indicated that the difference between PCV and GCV was low for days to head emergence, flowering date, number of stem per plant, germination percentage, number of seed per plant, 1000-seed weight, germination rate, germination vigor and plant height, which clearly indicated the role of genetic variance was higher than the environmental variance. On the other hand, heritability was ranged between 66-95%. High broad-sense heritability was also observed for all the characters except spike length which indicate selection-based methods have high efficiency for these traits. Due to the low difference between PCV and GCV, high heritability and high genetic advance for days to head emergence, flowering date and germination vigor, it can be concluded that these traits are controlled by additive genetic action and can be improved through selective breeding programs. ANOVA results for relative nuclear DNA amount showed a significant difference between studied genotypes which suggest there is a high intraspecies variation for various genotypes in the different regions. The results of the mean comparison showed that the genotypes can be categorized into 7 separate groups. The highest and lowest relative amount of nuclear DNA was in (G13, G20, G21) and (G22, G16) genotypes respectively. According to previous studies, the change in the relative amount of nuclear DNA can be attributed to the presence of chromosome B and change the length of the chromosome.

It is suggested that day to head emergence, flowering date and germination vigor traits to be used for plant breeding programs. Moreover, the change in relative DNA content and morphological-phenological traits can be considered factors in the evolution of F.arundinacea and adaptation to varying environmental condition.

Arnica chamissonis Less. ssp. foliosa is a herbaceous perennial belonging to the Asteraceae family and endemic to north America and Canada. Inducing genetic mutation is a practical approach to increase genetic diversity for breeding purposes. Effect of different gamma radiation doses (0, 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 gray) on seed germination and seedling growth of A chamissonis (e. g. plumule and rootlet length, germination percentage, speed and mean, seedling vigor, plumule fresh and dry weight, rootlet fresh and dry weight was measured and the proper dose for mutation induction was assessed. Gamma radiation caused significant effect on parameters such as plumule and rootlet length, germination percentage, germination rate, seedling vigor, rootlet fresh weight, plumule fresh and dry weight (P≤0.01) and also rootlet dry weight (P≤0.05). Radiation with 200 gray showed the most promising effects on germination parameters of this species. Compared to the control treatment, radiation with 300 gray and higher caused adverse effects on all mentioned parameters which may be caused by producing free radicals. An LD50 of 226.275 gray was estimated for this species and the best estimated dose to induce highest genetic mutation was 181.02 gray.

Savory as an aromatic plant has traditionally been used in folk medicine as well as a spice of foods, showing inhibition against bacteria, fungi, and yeasts. There is interest in providing a new focus to contribute, from the perspective of genomic content, towards a better understanding of the Satureja adaptation. Using flow cytometry (FCM), nuclear DNA content of five Satureja (Lamiaceae) species, collected from different locations were analyzed for the first time. Linear regressions of 2C values were evaluated with ecological and morphological parameters. Flow cytometry measurements showed that 2C DNA contents varied from 1.30 to 1.47 pg in diploid species, and with a 2C value of 2.54 pg being obtained for the tetraploid species, S. spicigera. There were significant relationships between genome size and 18 morphological traits and climatic characteristics. These relationships could be resulted from geometrical scaling constraints. The obtained results will enhance the knowledge of the genus Satureja and constitute an important source of information for future researches.

Sahendian savory (Satureja sahendica Bornm.) is an Iranian endemic species from Lamiaceae family. This plant has been used in the food industry, cosmetics and medical preparations. In the current study, drought stress was induced at flowering stage based on a completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications in green house. Treatments were considered as five sampling times (control, 3, 6, 9 and 12 days) with three interval days that imposed after stopping irrigation. Soil volumetric moisture, and several physiological traits were measured, including leaf water potential, relative water content, pigments, soluble sugars, and proline. Metabolite profiling revealed that metabolites, such as rosmarinic acid, caffeic acid, ursolic acid, carnosic acid, soluble sugars and proline affected by drought stress and significantly increased by drought stress. The oil yield and thymol as the most valuable compound in the oil of Sahandian savory, was significantly increased, although, the quantitative content of some compounds in oil such as Carvacrole, γ-Terpinene and p- Cymene were decreased in response to drought stress. It can be concluded that in addition to osmoprotectant accumulation, savory plant improved its drought tolerance by changing in its secondary metabolites’ components in essential oil and in extract. In conclusion, the combination of metabolite profiling and physiological parameters contributed to a greater understanding of the mechanisms of savory plant’s response at metabolomics level.

To study salt stress tolerance, changes of some solutes such as proline, soluble total proteins and carbohydrate contents in canola seedling’s roots and shoots were studied. Three winter cultivars of canola (Brassica napus L.), including Colvert, Symbol and Agat were treated with 0 (control), 50, 100, and 150 mM NaCl for 6, 12 and 24 h in hydropoic conditions. The data were first tested for normality and then were analyzed according to 3-factorial balanced CRD with three replications. The ANOVA results showed that significant differences between cultivars and salt treatments. Physiological parameters showed significant differences in salinity treatment levels in either roots or shoots. LSD mean comparisons showed the highest accumulation of proline and protein in Colvert roots and shoots at 150 mM NaCl while the highest amount of soluble carbohydrate contents were identified in Colvert roots and shoots in 100 mM NaCl. The results suggest that solutes inhanced in response to salt in salt tolerant canola cultivar.

Nowadays, the most rapid method for producing healthy and disease-free Lisiantus is micropropagation. With respect to high economic value of this plant which is regarded among the 10 top cutting flowers in the world, this research was carried out to suggest a suitable protocol for its in vitro propagation, using nodal sections as an explant. To carry out this object, the effects of the pH (5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 5.8), culture vessel (small glass bottle, large glass bottle, polypropylene container), the concentration of macro elements, including NH4NO3 (1.45, 1.65, 1.85 g L-1), KNO3 (1.7, 1.9, 2.1 g L-1), CaCl2.2H2O (0.66, 0.44, 0.24 g L-1), MgSO4.7H2O (0.43, 0.37, 0.31 g L-1), KH2PO4 (0.13, 0.17, 0.21 g L-1), and the concentration of sucrose (25, 30, 35, 40 g L-1) were investigated in four independent experiments. The effects of the different studied factors were significant on the shoot regeneration. Results showed that pH 5.7 and the use of 35 g L-1 sucrose in MS medium were the best treatments for improving the number of shoots per explants (2.25 and 2 shoots, respectively). Moreover, increasing KH2PO4 concentration in MS medium produced the highest number of shoots per explant (3.5 shoots). The polypropylene container was also the best culture container for the lisianthus micropropagation (7.5 shoots per explant).

To study the biological effects of environmental factors on fish and white fish migration Caspian Sea (Rutilus frisii kutum) in the pre-op area Miankaleh (Golestan Province), sampled from 20 October 1392 to 30 April 1393 was conducted . Hunting by cooperatives blade (net blockade) in the study was performed. Most of the catch per unit effort (one step seine operations per day) white fish was in March. Whitefish from 1 to 8 years of age distribution of the age groups 5-3 years, in total, about 2/81 of a combination of age, respectively. The maximum weight of the fish abundance, between 750-450 grams, which is 85/35% of white fish in the 6 month study, devoted to the study Antayj white fish stocks over the past decades in terms of slightly increased found significant. But in terms of qualitative changes in the store, we see that the most important low growth factors such as length, weight and age white fish than a decade ago. The concentration and distribution of the fish to migrate, to a large extent dependent on physical conditions such as temperature, sea currents, substrate and type of wind that stimulate fish to migrate and spawn in the south-eastern shore of the Sea Caspian is very effective.

Apple (Malus Miller) belongs to Rosacease family and Pomoideae subfamily. Current apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.) is a complex hybrid of the apple species. Chromosomal basis of this subfamily are x = 17 and the ploidy levels have been reported for diploid (2n = 34), triploid (2n = 51) and tetraploid (2n = 68). Since Iran is close to the apple diversity regoin (Central Asia), it enjoys a good variation in apple varieties. Despite the high variation in apple cultivars and species in Iran, there is not still a database of genome size. Classification of plants according to their genome size, especially at lower taxonomic levels is important for breeders. Over the past years, several methods for estimation of nuclear DNA content (genome size) was common, but recently, the use of flow cytometry (FCM) has been increasingly used. Flow cytometry is the best method to estimate DNA c-value and ploidy levels in apples. In this study, DNA c-Value and ploidy level of Iranian apple varieties has been estimated by flow cytometry and Propidum iodide staining. Also, given the high levels of phenolic compounds in apples, treating with PVP and PVP1% were performed to evaluate the effect of phenolic compounds on genome size. Finally, Histogram analysis and DNA c-value estimation were done with two software, Partec FlowMax and Flowing software. The difference between means was obtained using SAS software ver. 9.2 and LSD tests. The results showed that all studied cultivars were diploid and genome size obtained from Partec FlowMax ranged from 1.73 to 1.57 pg.

The importance of different species of savory is due to having phenolic compounds such as carvacrol and thymol in the essential oil and rosmarinic acid in the extract, having strong antioxidant and antimicrobial effects. This study was conducted on five ecotypes of Satureja rechingeri in in vitro and in vivo experiments. After determining the best shooting and rooting medium, micropropagation was done and clones were prepared. Water stress treatments were prepared by increasing agar up to 100% followed by selecting the most tolerant and sensitive clones. In the in vivo experiment, effect of water stress was studied in a greenhouse with irrigation withhold and sampling at five stages. Ten morphological and physiological characters were recorded from both experiments. The tolerant clone had superior tolerance to water deficit. Increasing the agar concentration up to 66% had no effects on rooting and the growth rates of shoots but more increase led to a sharp reduction in the growth rate and root differentiation. In the greenhouse, the tolerant clone was tolerated the stress up to nine days without showing any symptoms, but the continuation of stress led to a sharp increase in proline and soluble sugars and the reduction of plant pigments and leaf osmotic potential. This research was a kind of drought simulation at in vitro condition, performed for the first time for identification and screening of drought tolerant clones of savory.

Cell suspension culture is a suspension of rapidly growing and dividing cells which are cultured in liquid medium. The dividing capability of the cells in a suspension culture is much higher than that of calli. This potential has therefore been exploited for different purposes such as developing cell lines, producing secondary metabolites, investigating cell cycle phases, increasing gene transformation efficiency and studying biotic and abiotic stresses. In this study, callus was produced from nine oriental tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) cultivars in MS medium containing NAA 1 mg.l-1 and Kinetin 1 mg.l-1. Then, callus growth rate and quality were examined in different media. The best growth rate and quality were achieved for the cultivars of OR-209, OR-205 and PDB 328 using LS medium treated by hormones 3 mg.l-1 IAA, 3 mg.l-1 NAA and 0.1 mg.l-1Kinetin. The effects of different culture media and hormone compositions were then assessed on cell suspension. The best growth was acquired for OR-209 cultivar in liquid LS medium having the same hormone composition. Consequently, the growth rate of the developed cell suspension was compared with that of the TBY-2 cell line, revealing the high similarity. This result indicates the high potential of oriental tobacco cultivars as promising progenitors for the production of cell lines and their exploitation for research and applied purposes.

This study was conducted to evaluate the quality of the red flesh apples and Golab cultivars. Two Iranian red flesh apples from Shahroud and four Golab cultivars as well as ‘Gala’ as control from Damavand were selected in Summer 2012. Fruit physical characteristics including length, diameter, fresh weight and dry weight, firmness, color and their parameters were evaluated for each cultivar. The measured chemical properties were including total soluble solids (TSS), titrable acidity (TA), TSS: TA, total phenol content (TPC) and 50 percent inhibitory activity of DPPH radical. Results showed that ‘Bekran’ and ‘Bastam’ red flesh genotypes had the highest dry weights (15.44 and 15.07 g, respectively). The highest and lowest firmness were in ‘Bekran’ red flesh and ‘Golab-e Kermanshah’ (5.65 and 2.82 N/mm2, respectively). The highest TPC was determined in two red flesh apples ‘Bekran’ and ‘Bastam’ (4481.01 and 4011.73 mg GAE/100 g FW, respectively). The lowest TPC was detected in ‘Atlasi’ (2596.05 mg GAE/100 g FW). The highest IC50 was observed in ‘Bekran’, ‘Golab-e Kermanshah’ and ‘Gala’. Despite the fact that Iran is a major producer of apple in the world, but it does not benefit of export. Growing cultivars with improved physicochemical properties can help our country to boost its apple export status.

Lisiantus is introduced among the 10 top cutting flowers in the world. Micropropagation can be used in this plant because of some problems in traditional propagation. In this research، the effects of the growth regulators on the in vitro shoot regeneration and rooting of the shoots obtained from nodal explants were investigated. The effects of the different concentrations of BAP and Kin on shoot regeneration in MS medium were investigated according to a completely randomize design (CRD) in the independent experiments. The results indicated that the use of 0. 5 mg l-1 BAP was the best treatment for shoot regeneration (4 shoots per explant). In the next experiment، the interaction of BAP and GA3 on shoot proliferation were investigated according to a factorial experiment based on CRD. The results showed that the best shoots in terms of quality and quantity (17 shoots per explant) were obtained in MS medium supplemented with 0. 5 mg l-1 BAP and 0. 2 mg l-1 GA3. The shoots produced in this treatment were transferred to MS medium containing different concentrations of IAA (0، 0. 2، 0. 5 and 1 mg l-1) and activated charcoal (0 and 3 g l-1) to investigate the shoot rooting. MS medium supplemented with 1 mg l-1 IAA and without activated charcoal was determined as the optimum medium for shoot rooting.

Peppermint (Mentha piperita L., Lamiaceae) is one of the most important medicinal and aromatic plants. Menthol is the major monoterpene constituent of peppermint’s essential oil, which is used for pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and food industries. This work was aimed to study the expression pattern of important genes (Pr, Mfs, Ls) in menthol biosynthesis pathway in different plant’s organs (leaf, flower and stem) at the beginning of flowering stage. The peppermint plants were supplied from Iranian Institute of Medicinal Plants and were transferred into a greenhouse in pots. Analysis of variance showed that there is a significant difference between leaf, flower and stem, with respect to mRNA transcript level. The results of this study indicated that the level of gene expression of Pr, Mfs and Ls were altered in the different organs. There are direct relationship between the content of menthone and menthofuran and level of gene expressions of Pr and Mfs genes in flower and leaf respectively. It can be concluded that probably the expression of Mfs and Pr genes in these organs may be regulated at transcriptional level.