s. s. moosavi

Wheat plays a very important role in meeting the food security in the world. The wild relatives of wheat have high genetic diversity for various traits. These traits can be exploited in order to improve the yield of bread wheat, and as a result, answer the question of food security for the growing population. Aegilops tauschii or Aegilops squarrosa L. is a diploid and self-pollinating species that has given the D genome to bread wheat as a donor parent. Genome D is an unexploited gene reservoir for genetic diversity that can be used to increase the quantity and quality of grain yield in common bread wheat. Aegilops tauschii as a valuable gene pool, has always been of interest to researchers to improve yield and related traits in wheat. Based on this, identifying and using allelic diversity for various root, phenological and morpho-physiological traits in this species is very important in order to expand the genetic base of wheat to improve wheat yield. Therefore, the aim of this research was to study the relationships between different traits and grain yield in order to identify the most important traits affecting the changes of grain yield in ten different ecotypes of Aegilops tauschii.

This research was conducted in a repeated manner during the years 2016 and 2017 in the Research Greenhouse of Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, west of Iran, in the form of a randomized complete block design with three replications under normal moisture conditions (supplying 95% of field capacity). The plant materials of this research included 10 ecotypes of Aegilops tauschii. The seeds were germinated and grown in germination trays containing equal proportions of perlite and cocopeat. After the seeds germinated, all the seedlings in the trays were transferred to the cold room at the temperature of 4 degrees Celsius for five weeks in the two-leaf stage for vernalization. Then, the seedlings were transplanted into 10 kg plastic pots (pots had a diameter of 40 cm and a depth of 50 cm), which contained an equal ratio of agricultural soil, sand, and rotted animal manure. In this research, 34 attributes were measured and evaluated.

Results and Discution :

High genetic diversity among ecotypes was observed for most of the important traits related to grain yield. The desired ecotype A19 had the highest, and ecotypes A16 and A17 had the lowest yield and grain yield components. The results of correlation analysis revealed that an array of traits including grain water use efficiency, plant height, harvest index, grain weight per main spike, main spike weight, peduncle weight, spikelets/spike, peduncle length, thousand grain weight, grain filling period length, and main stem weight showed the highest positive and significant correlation (p≤0.01) with grain yield. Additionally, grain yield had the most significant (p≤0.01) and negative correlation with days to heading, water consumption, days to anthesis, root dry weight, and days to maturity. According to the stepwise regression results, water use efficiency, grain weight per main spike (both with a positive regression coefficient), and root dry weight (with a negative regression coefficient) were identified as the most important traits influencing grain yield variations. Water use efficiency had the highest direct positive effects on grain yield, while grain weight per main spike and root dry weight had the highest indirect positive and negative effects on grain yield, respectively, through increasing and decreasing water use efficiency. Therefore, it may be infered that due to the relative similarity of the genetic background of common bread wheat with Aegilops tauschii species, as one of its wild ancestors, the selection for higher grain water use efficiency and grain weight in the main spike, as well as root and phenological traits (except grain filling period) leads to the improvement of common wheat yield in normal moisture conditions. Ecotypes A16 and A17 were identified as the most unfavorable ecotypes, mainly because they needed greater number of days to heading, days to pollination, and days to physiological maturity, and invested more photosynthetic products to rooting attributes, including root dry weight. According to the results of this research, Aegilops tauschii, is an important gene reservoir for improving wheat yield. In this research, ecotype A19, where its higher amounts of grain yield and related traits, including water use efficiency and grain weight in the main spike are accompanied by lower amounts of phenological traits as well as lower dry weight of roots, was the most desirable ecotype.

Water use efficiency, grain weight per main spike and root dry weight were identified as the most important traits affecting grain yield. Therefore, it may be possible to select for higher values of water use efficiency and grain weight per main spike and lower values of phenological traits and root traits. These traits, which have high heritability and respond well to selection, can be used to identify ecotypes of this wild wheat. Ultimately, they can be used in future wheat breeding programs.

Application of agricultural waste composts, in addition to improving soil fertility, has positive effects on the quality of agricultural products and the environment by reducing the use of chemical fertilizers and recycling agricultural waste. Spinach (Spinacea oleracea L.) is a suitable plant for studying the effects of composts and chemical fertilizers due to some physiological characteristics such as high antioxidant activity and oxalic acid, significant amount of mineral compounds and vitamin C, and nitrate accumulation. Despite relatively extensive studies on the effect of different composts on plants, no study has been conducted so far to investigate the effect of grape pomace (GP) composts on plants in Iran. Therefore, the objectives of the present study were: 1- to investigate the effect of different GP composts on yield, nutrient elements, and some physiological parameters of spinach in comparison with two levels of urea fertilization in a pot experiment in two consecutive growing seasons, and 2- to investigate the relationship between nutrient elements and physiological indicators of spinach based on principal component analysis.

To investigate the effects of GP composts on yield, nutrient elements, and physiological parameters of spinach (Persius hybrid), an outdoor pot experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with eight compost treatments, two levels of urea fertilizer (46%), and a control treatment (C0) in three replications and two consecutive growing seasons (spring and fall). Compost treatments included: High grape pomace (HG) (60-63%) with chickpea straw and alfalfa (HG-Ch-A), high GP with chickpea straw and sugar beet pulp (HG-Ch-B), high GP with alfalfa and sugar beet pulp (HG-A-B), high GP combined with chickpea straw, alfalfa, and sugar beet pulp (HG-All); four other compost treatments included low level of grape pomace (LG) (37-42%) combined with other residues/wastes similar to the first four treatments (LG-Ch-A, LG-Ch-B, LG-A-B, and LG-All). Urea fertilizer treatments included: 150 kg per hectare (C150) (two-stage top dressing) and 500 kg per hectare (C500) (three-stage top dressing). Prior to planting, the composts were separately mixed into the soil (sandy loam) at a rate of 2% by weight(. The first crop was grown for 50 days in May 2018 and the second crop was grown for 45 days in September 2018. In both seasons, plant samples were taken in the early morning at the end of the growing season to determine the fresh and oven-dried weight of shoot and root samples, leaf area, nutrient elements, and some physiological indicators. Some of the shoot samples were wrapped in aluminum foil and stored in a freezer (-20 °C) to determine the amount of chlorophyll (type a, type b, and total), carotenoids, total phenol, vitamin C, and antioxidant activity. Oxalic acid, zinc, iron, copper, sodium, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, and nitrate were determined in oven-dried samples. One-way ANOVA was applied separately to spring and fall data, and mean comparisons were made using Duncan's test at the 0.05% level. Principal component analysis was used to determine the relationships between nutrient elements and physiological indicators of spinach.

The LG-Ch-A and C500 treatments (in spring cultivation), and the LG-A-B, LG-All, and HG-All treatments (in fall cultivation) had the highest leaf number, leaf area, and yield and were significantly difference from the C0 treatment. The high yield in C500, LG-Ch-A, LG-All, and HG-All treatments was associated with nitrate accumulation in spinach. In both cultivations, there was a significant positive correlation between the amount of P, K, Mg and Zn in spinach and the amount of these elements in the corresponding composts. A synergistic relationship was also observed between P and Mg; P and Zn; and Mg and Zn in spinach. On the other hand, an antagonistic relationship was observed between Ca and Mg in spinach because a high concentration of calcium inhibits magnesium uptake by reducing cell permeability. In both seasons, the chemical fertilizer treatments showed the highest amount of chlorophyll and carotenoids because these compounds increase with increasing nitrogen availability. On the contrary, the amount of antioxidant activity was significantly higher in compost treatments than in chemical treatments. In the spring cultivation, the highest and lowest amount of oxalic acid and oxalic acid/Ca ratio were observed in the LG-Ch-B and HG-All treatments, respectively. Interactions between nutrients and physiological indicators were observed. The uptake of all micronutrients, P, and Mg (in both cultivations) and K (in the fall cultivation) was inhibited by high Ca concentration. With the decrease of micronutrients uptake, an increase in nitrate accumulation may occur because micronutrients are present in the structure of nitrate reducing enzymes. The interdependence between Mg and oxalic acid/Ca (in spring), K and oxalic acid (in fall), and Na and oxalic acid/Ca (in fall) may be related to the role of oxalates in the uptake of mineral ions by plants, since oxalates are usually combined with Na, Mg, Ca, and K in the form of soluble and insoluble salts.

The use of urea chemical fertilizer (at two levels) and agricultural waste composts had different effects on the physiological indicators, growth and nutrients in spinach. Spinach grown in soils treated with composts rich in P, K, Mg, and Zn had higher nutritional value. The grouping of treatments by principal component analysis showed that chemical and control treatments were clearly separated from compost treatments with high amount of chlorophyll, carotenoid, nitrate, K, and Zn and low amount of oxalic acid, oxalic acid/Ca ratio, antioxidant activity, phenol, and Na. In general, the use of C500, LG-Ch-A, LG-All and HG-All treatments is not recommended due to nitrate accumulation in spinach.

Given the economic importance of growing flowers and plants in the world, the use of new technologies and methods in the improvement of ornamental plants in order to market them can play a significant role in marketing of these products and their trade in the international markets. Marigold (Tagetes spp.), is an annual and essential plant that is cultivated as an ornamental plant in many parts of the world (Neher, 1968). But in recent years, marigolds have been used as a commercial source of essential oils, biological compounds, pigments and cosmetics (Anonymous, 1976), control of malaria mosquitoes (Wanzala and Ogoma, 2013), antihypertensive, anti-inflammatory, antidepressant, antimicrobial, antimicrobial (Senatore and Feo, 1999), and control of nematode (Prasad et al., 1992). Anther or microspore culture is known to be an effective method for producing haploid plants (Henry and De Baizer, 1980). Hybrid seed production requires pure line (as a parent), and the double haploid method can reduce the production period of pure lines to 5-6 years. Production of hybrid seeds in this valuable plant is of great importance, and the double haploid method can be important in this regard.
 
In the anther culture of marigold, a culture medium containing 0.2 mg/l of Naphthalene acetic acid and 1 mg /l of 6-Benzylaminopurine was used. In this study, the effect of genotype, bud size and mannitol on androgenesis induction of marigold anthers was evaluated during two separate experiments. A factorial experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with two factors including genotype at 5 levels (T1, T2, T3, T4, T5) and bud size at three levels (3-5, 5-10 and 10-15 mm) for first experiment. The second experiment was also performed as a factorial in a completely randomized design with 3 replications. In the recent experiment, the first factor included the method of mannitol application and the second factor included the different concentrations of mannitol (0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 M). The factor of application method was in 2 levels: 1: adding different concentrations of mannitol to the solid culture medium and 2: pre-treating the anthers with the liquid culture medium containing different concentrations of mannitol for 24 hours. The T4 genotype was used in the second experiment.
 
In the first experiment, the effect of different bud sizes and 5 different genotypes on callus formation, mean number of shoot per anther, mean number of shoot per callus and percentage of complete plant regeneration in anther culture of marigold were studied. The results of this experiment showed that buds with the length of 5-10 mm have anthers which their microspores are at the proper growth and development stage for callogenesis and shoot production. The T3 and T4 genotypes, (both of them belonging to French species, Tagetes patula), produced the highest percentage of plant regeneration among the various cultivars. In the second experiment, we explored the impact of mannitol treatment on androgenic traits in marigold anther culture. Specifically, we examined two concentrations: 0.1 M and 0.2 M mannitol, both applied in the form of solid culture medium. Additionally, we investigated two concentrations, 0.0 M and 0.2 M mannitol, when applied as a pre-treatment in a liquid medium containing mannitol. These treatments yielded the highest percentage of callus formation. While the pre-treatment of anthers with a liquid culture medium containing 0.5 M mannitol led to the highest mean number of shoot per anther and the mean number of shoots per callus. Also, the pre-treatment with liquid medium containing 0.2 M mannitol showed the highest percentage of complete plant regeneration.
 
Results showed that in marigold, buds with the size of 5-10 mm contained microspores with mid-uninucleate stage to early bi-nucleate stage showed the highest response to the induction of androgenesis. Also, T3 and T4 genotypes belong to the French species showed the highest response to the regeneration. In another experiment, the pre-treatment of anthers with 0.2 and 0.5 M mannitol by using mannitol in a liquid culture medium for 24 hours, respectively showed the highest percentage of complete plant regeneration and the highest mean number of shoot per callus and anther. Chromosome counting results showed that 3 out of 5 examined plants were dihaploid and had 24 chromosomes in their root tip cells, while examined mother plants were tetraploid and showed 48 chromosomes in their root tip cells.

As a strategic crop, wheat is important to the world’s food supply. Salinity is a major threat to the food supply in the whole world and Iran. The research was carried out for identifying morpho-physiological and biochemical markers to select salt-tolerant wheat genotypes. The research was done on two salt-tolerant (Pishgam) and susceptible (Shahryar) bread wheat cultivars under saline conditions (250 mM NaCl). The results showed a high genetic diversity for most traits. The traits of harvest index, root-to-shoot dry weight ratio, root dry weight, plant height, potassium-to-sodium ion ratio, total protein, superoxide dismutase, catalase, peroxidase, and total carbohydrates showed the highest alignment with increasing grain yield under salt stress conditions. The traits of potassium ion accumulation (K+), superoxidase dismutase (SOD), proline (Pr), and relative water content (RWC) were entered into the regression model, as the most important traits affecting grain yield under salinity conditions, respectively. According to the results, it is possible to suggest two groups of markers to select salt-tolerant genotypes. The first group includes some morpho-physiological markers namely a high amount of harvest index, main spike weight, relative water content, water consumption, root-to-shoot dry weight ratio, total carbohydrates, proline, and root dry weight; and the second group includes the ionic and biochemical markers namely a high amount of K+ accumulation, K+/Na+ accumulation ratio, SOD, catalase, peroxidase, and a low amount of Na+ accumulation, malondialdehyde, and hydrogen peroxide. Therefore, the above-introduced markers can be useful indicators to select salt-tolerance genotypes in future wheat breeding programs.

Boeoticum specie is a valuable drought-tolerance gene source to breed wheat yield under stress. This study was done to identify the most important traits affecting grain yield of 10 boeoticum ecotypes under drought stress conditions for two years. Water use efficiency, fertile spikes number per plant and seed number per plant showed the highest positive and significant (p≤0.01) correlation with grain yield per plant. Water use efficiency, fertile spikes number per plant, seed number per the main spike, biological yield per plant, and water use (with a negative regression coefficient), as the most important traits, were entered into the regression model, respectively. The most direct effect on increasing grain yield was water use efficiency. Seed number per plant and fertile spikes number per plant, due to increased water use efficiency, showed the most indirect effect on grain yield.  Ecotype 5, as a drought-tolerant ecotype, showed a high water use efficiency by allocating more assimilates to yield components. It had a high grain yield. On the other hand, ecotype 6 was introduced as the most drought-susceptible ecotype with low-economical yield. In this study, high water use efficiency increased the traits related to seed number per plant. The ratio of assimilating allocation to aboveground or under-ground parts was the main mechanism for the adaptation of ecotypes. Therefore, selection based on these mechanisms will lead to the identification of drought-tolerant ecotypes for future wheat breeding programs.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diversity and predict the response to selection in different traits of 16 quinoa genotypes, which was done in a randomized complete block design in Karaj and Kermanshah. The genotypes had a statistically significant difference (p ≤0.01) for the majority of the traits, and they were distributed in four biplot regions. Genotypes 14, 15, and 16 had the highest, and genotypes 5 and 6 had the lowest grain yield and grain harvest index. While the main panicle diameter, grain harvest index, day to physiological maturity, day to main panicle color change, 1000-grain weight, and day to flowering had the highest positive alignment with yield component, day to ten leaf trait had a strong but negative connection with it.  The highest genetic distance was observed between the first and third clusters, which can be achieved by crossing the selected genotypes of these two clusters, to create the greatest genetic diversity in the dividing generations. Grain harvest index and diameter of the main panicle with the highest coefficient of genetic diversity, high heritability, and the highest genetic progression were identified as two desirable traits with a high selection response.  Positive selection for these two traits and negative selection for day to ten leaf traits are suggested in future breeding programs of this plant. In general, due to the limitation of direct selection to improve grain yield, also according to the significant correlation (r = 0.994***) between the new parameter of "percentage difference between phenotypic variation coefficient and genotypic variation coefficient" with broad-sense heritability, the use of this new genetic parameter to select desirable agro morphophysiological traits is recommended.

Due to the rising drought-severity all around the world, one of the most important goals of arid agricultural systems is to increase wheat yield as a strategic crops in these areas. Improving the yield components is believed to be an efficient and vonventional strategy for increasing wheat yield. This study was carried out on 61 advanced lines and five Iranian commercial cultivars in order to identify the most effective components of grain yield (GY) under late-season drought stress conditions. The experiment was carried out based on an augment design during 2013-14 and 2014-15 growing seasons. Fertile spikes number m-2 (FSN), spike weight m-2 (SPW), grain number per spike (GNS) and plant harvest index, as the most effective variables, explained 94.06% of GY variance. FSNand SPWrevealed the maximum direct and positive effect on GY enhancement. The first and second factors, as “yield and yield-components” and “vegetative growth” factors, respectively, explained 76.4% of the data on the total variance. The highest alignment with GY belonged to SPW and FSN . The genotypes were grouped in four different clusters. Bi-plot and cluster results revealed a remarkable genetic diversity among the genotypes; therefore, these results might be helpful to identify donor parents in wheat breeding crosses for yield increscent. Finally, FSN and SPW, the main indicators for increasing grain weight m-2, were proposed as the most important grain yield-components under terminal drought stress conditions.

Artificial seed production in plants with poor seedling production or low seed vigor is an efficient method, so this technology is an excellent method for keeping selected germplasm, reproduction of rare hybrids, genotypes Different plants and transgenic plants that are expensive and inaccessible. Synthetic seed is in fact the use of propagation units such as somatic embryos, propagules such as (lateral buds, nodules and end buds) or meristic portions that can be encapsulated in the coating Hydrogel alginate to germinate and transform into a real seed with the aim of adapting seedlings grown under laboratory or field conditions. Optimization of endosperm conditions in artificial seeds increases germination efficiency, conversion and adaptation of seedlings. Selection of culture medium, plant growth promoters such as root and stem stimulating hormones, stimulants Temperature, etc., help to grow seedlings. Different researchers have suggested different materials for the production of artificial endosperm that the growth hormones of auxin and cytokinin and MS medium are the most important ones, as these substances increase seed efficiency in order to produce seedlings It is stronger and more capable of growing in non-laboratory environments.

In order to study genetic of quantitative traits in wheat under normal and moisture stress conditions, several genetic parameters such as average degree of dominance, proportion and distribution of dominant and recessive alleles in all parents and dominance direction were evaluated in ten cultivars of bread wheat, using a half diallel. Parents and their hybrids were separately planted in a randomized complete block design under normal and moisture stress conditions in the second year. Results of analysis of variance in normal moisture condition showed genetic variation among genotypes for most of the traits except for tiller and fertile tiller number, awn length and 50% heading date, whereas in stress condition results of analysis of variance were not significant for awn length, 50% heading date, dry weight of root and flag leaf area. There were over dominance effect for number of spikelet per spike, number of kernel per spike, 1000- kernel weight, biomass, weight grain yield and harvest index, complete dominance for stomata number per unit of leaf area, and partial dominance for peduncle length, spike length and dry weight of root in normal moisture condition. The results in normal moisture condition also showed that all traits were controlled by dominant alleles, except number of stomata per unit of leaf area that was controlled by recessive alleles. In stress conditions there were over dominance effect for number of spikelet per spike, spike length and number of kernel per spike, complete dominance for number of stomata per unit of leaf area, and partial dominance for peduncle length, 1000- kernel weight, biomass, weight, grain yield and harvest index. In stress condition, all traits were controlled by dominant alleles except 1000-kernel weight that was controlled by recessive alleles.