مجله تحقیقات گیاهان دارویی و معطر ایران
سال سی و سوم شماره 1 (پیاپی 81، فروردین و اردیبهشت 1396)

The Sahandi savory (Satureja sahendica Bornm.) is a native medicinal species of Iran, which is exposed to extinction. Organic farming of this species in low input systems has an important role to protect this valuable genetic reserve. To evaluate the essential oil content and components of the savory in natural habitat and field conditions, an experiment was conducted to investigate the plant growth responses to different fertilizer and redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus L.) density (0, 6, 12 and 18 plants/m2) in two planting patterns (rectangles, zigzag). The experiment was carried out in factorial based on RCBD with three replications at the Qazvin Agriculture and Natural Resources Research Center during 2010 to 2012. The nutrient treatments included NPK plus foliar application of micronutrients, four tons/ha vermicompost, two tons/ha vermicompost plus 40 liters/ha vermi-tea (liquid formulation of vermicompost). At the flowering stage, the essential oil content and compounds were measured in both samples of field and natural habitats. The effect of planting pattern was not significant. The highest content of essential oils in first harvest (28.38%) and in second harvest (46.04%) were obtained from organic fertilizer treatments, two tons vermicompost 40 liters vermin-tea and four tons vermicompost, respectively. These treatments were superior to the savory harvested from natural habitats. The essential oil content of savory under competition of redroot pigweed at all densities were higher than the natural habitats and the highest content in first and second harvest (30.41% and 51.80%) was obtained at 18 plants/m2 pigweed density. In all fertilizer treatments, the content of thymol in comparison to natural habitats (38.49%) was superior and the highest content (42.95%) was obtained with application of four tons vermicompost. In the absence of weed, the Sahandi savory produced the greatest content of thymol (45.18%) compared to the savory grown in natural habitats.

The gene 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate synthase (DXS) and TcGLIP multifunctional genes are two key genes involved in pyrethrins biosynthetic pathway, which retain insecticidal properties. DXS gene in the MEP pathway produces 1-deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate using pyruvate and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase. TcGLIP gene is involved at the last steps of pyrethrins biosynthesis pathway and integrates chrysanthemyl-CoA and pyrethrolone, which are produced in the MEP pathway and lipoxygenase pathways, respectively to yield pyrethrin I. Based on the significances of pyrethrins, further identification and studies are needed on these metabolites. The aim of this study was to isolate DXS gene in pyrethrum (Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium Vis.) from the Asteraceae, as well as expression analysis of these two genes under methyl-jasmonate treatment. In the present work, the nucleotide sequences of 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate synthase gene of different plant species were obtained from NCBI database and subsequently aligned with ClustalW online software. Specific primers were designed from the conserved regions of aligned sequences. The polymerase chain reaction product with 715bp length showed that the specific primers had high efficiency to isolate DXS. In addition, gene expression analysis under methyl-jasmonate treatment showed that both DXS and TcGLIP were up-regulated in response to methyl jasmonate elicitor. Our data showed that methyl jasmonate treatment in seedling stage could be used as a suitable elicitor to increase pyrethrin production.

This research was aimed to investigate the effects of drought stress on grain yield and qualitative characteristics of three populations of Lallemantia royleana Benth. The study was conducted in the research farm of Collage of Agriculture of Shahed University. This study was conducted in a split plot based on randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications during 2013-2014. The experimental factors consisted of four levels of drought stress as the main plots including control or soil water potential (SWP) of -0.5atm as field capacity (FC), soil water potential (SWP) of -3.5 atm as moderate stress, soil water potential (SWP) of -6.5 atm as relatively sever stress, and soil water potential (SWP) of -9 atm as severe stress. The Balangu populations including Mashhad, Kerman, and Taleghan were considered as sub-plots. The traits measured included grain yield, total chlorophyll, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoids, mucilage percent, turgor factor, and proline content. The results showed that the population and the interaction of drought stress and population had significant effects on chlorophyll a, total chlorophyll, proline and grain yield at the 1% level. The effect of drought stress was found to be significant on grain yield, photosynthetic pigments, leaf proline content (P

Root-knot nematodes are one of the most important plant parasitic nematodes. The damage of these nematodes on tomatoes is estimated about 20-30%. One of the latest methods for controlling pests and plant diseases is application of organic products and use of natural ingredients with microbial and herbal origin. In order to reduce the damage of root-knot nematode in tomato plants, the nematicidal effects of aqueous extract of oak (Quercus branti L.) were evaluated on root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne javanica in vitro as well as in greenhouse conditions. An experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design. The treatments consisted of 1- plant parts (leaf and fruit) 2- plant extracts (at five concentrations, 1%, 2%, 3%, 5% and 7% for laboratory tests, and 0.05%, 0.1%, 0.15%, 0.25% and 0.35% (g dry powder in 100 grams of soil) for greenhouse experiments). Extracts of different parts of both tested plants caused maximum mortality of the second stage larvae, at the rates of 5% and 7%. Leaf and fruit extract at the rate of 7% caused 100% larval mortality. In case of reproduction factor, none of treatments had hazardous effect on plant growth including root and shoot length, fresh and dry weight. Between all treatments, the best treatment was identified at the rate of 0.35%, which was effective enough against nematode and also had no harmful effect on the tested plant.

In order to investigate the effect of nitrogen and plant spacing on phenological characteristics, morphology, and fruit yield in pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo L.), an experiment was conducted at the farm of Agriculture Faculty, Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University, during 2013. The study was performed as factorial in a complete randomized block design with three replications. The treatments consisted of nitrogen at five levels (0, 50, 100 and 200 Kg ha-1) and plant spacing with a square array at three levels (30, 60 and 90 cm). According to the results, the planting time until flowering and fruiting was longer in the treatment of 200 kg N. The number of nodes, sub-branches, and leaves per plant was higher in the planting space of 90 cm along with 200 Kg ha-1 nitrogen. The higher plant length and fruit yield were recorded for the planting space of 60 cm along with 150 Kg ha-1 nitrogen. The highest leaf dry weight was related to the 200 Kg ha-1 nitrogen. The use of 150 Kg ha-1 nitrogen caused to the highest number of male and female flowers, fruit fresh weight, number of seeds per fruit. The higher leaf dry weight, male and female flowers, and fruits per plant were obtained in the planting space of 90 cm. Finally, the application of 150 Kg ha-1 nitrogen and planting space of 60 cm led to the highest number of fruits and fruit yield in unit area.

Nutritional, pharmaceutical, and healthcare properties of macroalgae are the most investigated subjects in macroalgae. In this study, nutritional and physicochemical properties of two important green macroalgae, Ulva intestinalis and Ulva linza, collected from the Persian Gulf, were investigated. In all analyses, we followed the reference methods with some modification. Results revealed that U. intestinalis contained higher protein content (15.79%) as compared with U. linza (9.90%) while U. linza had higher content of lipid (2.30%), ash (26.66%), phenol (2.16 mgGA/g) and flavonoid (11.7 mgQE/g) as compared with U. intestinalis with 1.98% lipid 22.50% ash, 1.02 mgGA/g phenol and 8.2 mgQE/g flavonoid. The two species did not show any significant differences about all analyzed compositions (P

The discovery of taxanes production in hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) and its cell cultures has generated considerable interest and hopes for studying and utilization of cell suspension culture of hazelnut as a biotechnological approach to the taxol production. In this research, the effects of plant growth regulators (different levels of 2,4-D, NAA, Kin and BAP) on hazelnut cell culture growth, and effects of elicitor (methyl jasmonate, chitosan and ultrasonund) and precursor (aminobenzoic acid and phenylalanine) combination on taxol production in cell suspension cultures were investigated. The results revealed that hazelnut cell growth in suspension cultures was significantly influenced by growth regulators treatments. Cell growth in MS medium containing 1 mg/l 2,4-D, 0.5 mg/l BAP and 150 mg/l ascorbic acid was significantly higher than other treatments. The cell growth and viability, EC and pH of medium and taxol production were significantly different between elicitor treatments. Overall, elicitor treatments inhibited cell proliferation but significantly increased the taxol production compared to the control (without elicitor). The highest taxol content (15.27 mg/l) was obtained with 2 min US and 20 mg/l aminobenzoic acid treatment in the cells derived from seed explants, which was about 132.78- fold of control.

The hairy roots induced by Agrobacterium rhizogenes due to the stability and mass production in hormone free culture provide an appropriate tissue for secondary metabolite production, and the content of metabolites produced could be affected by bacterial strain. In the current study, the effect of different strains of A. rhizogenes including A4, A13 and 15834 on the percentage of hairy root induction of Echinacea purpurea (L.) moench. in the leaf and hypocotyl explants were studied. In another experiment, total phenolics and polysaccharides content of hairy roots were measured compared to the control (untransformed) roots. The results showed that the percentage of hairy root induction was significantly affected by bacterial strains, so that in E. purpurea leaves incubated by strains A13, 15834 and A4, the hairy root induction was 60%, 40% and 0, and in hypocotyl explants was 85%, 45% and 70%, respectively. Maximum total phenolic compounds were observed in A4 strain. As well, in comparison to control, the polysaccharide content in hairy root induced by strains 15834 and A13 increased and by A4 strain decreased significantly. Differences observed in this study about hairy root induction and secondary metabolites production could be due to different ability of A. rhizogenes strains in T-DNA transferring to plant cells.

Echinacea is one of the most important medicinal plants and an important source of cichoric acid. In this research, callus induction, indirect shoot regeneration, and shoot rooting of Echinacea angustifolia DC. were investigated. The effects of explant (leaf, petiole and root) and NAA concentrations (0.5, 1 and 1.5 mg l-1) on callus induction as well as the effects of explant (leaf, petiole and root) and BAP concentrations (3, 4 and 5 mg l-1) on the indirect shoot regeneration of callus were evaluated in two separated experiments. The study was conducted as factorial in a completely randomized design (CRD). The effects of IBA concentrations (0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 mg l-1) on shoot rooting were also investigated in a completely randomized design. The effects of the factors studied on the callogenesis were not significant while these factors had significant effects on the shoot regeneration and rooting at 1% probability level. In general, the results indicated that the highest indirect shoot regeneration (72%) was obtained from the leaf explant and by the use of 4 mgl-1 BAP. In addition, the highest shoot rooting (38% and 40%) was obtained using 1 and 1.5 mgl-1 IBA. The good potential of this species for indirect shoot regeneration was shown in this research. These results can be used in micropropagation programs, gene transfer, and transgenic plants production.

Water scarcity adversely affects many physiological and metabolic processes of the plants. To study the effects of drought stress and fertilization on some physiological characteristics, essential oil percentage and yield of spearmint, a field experiment was conducted at the Research Farm of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran. The experiment was conducted in a split plot arrangement based on a randomized complete block design with three replications. Treatments included three irrigation treatments (100%, 75% and 50% of plant water requirement) as the main plot and four fertilizer regimes including no fertilizer (control), chemical fertilizer (N), bio-fertilizer (rhizome inoculation with Azotobacter, Pseudomonas and mycorrhiza) and integration of biological fertilizer and 50% chemical fertilizer as the sub-plot. The results showed that all traits measured were significantly affected by the main and interaction effects of deficit irrigation and fertilizer. The content of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoids, total chlorophyll, percentage and yield of essential oil and yield decreased with increasing water stress while the rate of carbohydrate and proline as well as the electrolyte leakage percentage increased. Furthermore, the results showed that under 100% and 75% irrigation systems, application of chemical and integrated fertilizers improved the physiological characteristics, yield and percentage and yield of essential oil. Under 50% irrigation regime, the best performance was related to bio fertilizer.

In order to evaluate the effects of autumn and spring sowing date and different amount of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer on qualitative characteristics and seed germination of Lallemantia (Lallemantia royleana Benth.), a factorial experiment in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates was conducted in Medicinal Plant Research Center of the Shahed University during 2013-2014. The factors were sowing date at two levels (autumn and spring) and chemical fertilizer at three levels (without fertilizer, half dose of fertilizer (23 kg/ha N 50.6 kg/ha P2O5) and full doze of fertilizer (46 kg/ha N 101.2 kg/ha P2O5). Results for analysis of variance showed that the effect of sowing date on percentage of mucilage, germination percentage, mean germination time and germination rate, Catalase activity during grain filling, percentage of nitrogen and phosphorus was significant however on seed vigor index (SVI-II) was not-significant. The effect of chemical fertilizers on all traits was significant. The interaction effect of sowing date and fertilizer was not significant on all traits except the Catalase activity, percentage of nitrogen and phosphorus. Mean comparison showed that the highest seed germination percentage (74.815) was related to the autumn sowing and full amount of fertilizer (88.611). Regarding to the sowing date, the highest percentage of germination was related to the fall sowing (74.81) and regarding to fertilizer application, the full amount of fertilizer had the highest germination percentage (88.81). The highest catalase activity was 28 days after flowering in the autumn sowing and control (0.0075), and the lowest catalase activity was 7 days after flowering in spring planting and full dose of fertilizer (0.0014). For high germination indices, fertilizer and fall planting is recommended. Generally, results showed that fall sowing date and full dose of chemical fertilizer (46 kg/ha N and 101.2 kg/ha P2O5) produced seeds with higher seed vigor compared to other treatments.

N. elymatica Bornm. is one of the endemic species in the genus Nepeta in Iran. This genus has important aromatic species. So far, 79 species have been reported from Iran, of which 39 species are endemic. The aim of this study was to identify the chemical composition of the essential oil of N. elymatica Bornm. The flowering branches of this species were collected in July from Oshterankuh, Kamandan region of Azna. After drying at room temperature, the flowering branches of the plant were subjected to hydro-distillation. The oil yield was calculated and the oil composition was identified by GC and GC/MS analysis and retention index. Results showed that the yield oil of this species was 0.95% w/w and 27 components were identified, among which 1,8-cineole (20.6%), 4a-a,7-a,7a-a-nepetalactone (17.5%), E-caryophyllene (15%) and linalool (5.8%), were the main compounds.

In order to investigate the morphological reactions of Thymus kotschyanus Boiss. cutting to auxins (IAA and IBA) in different concentrations, an experiment was conducted in 2009 at the greenhouse conditions of Semnan Agriculture and Natural Resources Research Station. This research was conducted as a factorial experiment in a randomized complete block design with 3 replications and 20 observations per replication. The treatments included A: two types of auxin (Indole-acetic acid (IAA) and Indole-3-butyric acid (IBA)) and B: concentrations of auxin, (0, 100, 200, 300, 1000, 2000 and 3000 ppm). The traits studied were the root length and number, the percentage of rooting and dry root weight and new buds in plants. Results showed that the highest root dry weight and the root length were observed in the cuttings treated with 100 and 300 ppm of auxins. These concentrations (100 and 300 ppm) of auxins respectively stimulated root dry weight by about 3.6 and 3.25 times higher than control plants and increased the root length by about 150 and 90 percent more than control cuttings. The highest root length, root number, and number of new buds in the cuttings of Thymus kotschyanus were obtained due to the application of IAA as compared with IBA. Our findings confirm that the cuttings treated with 100 ppm of IAA can produce the highest quality transplants at commercial scale.

Climatic factors affect the production of secondary metabolites. Phenols and flavonoids are the most important secondary compounds. This research was aimed to investigate the effects of light at different frequencies on the production of phenols and flavonoids in Artemisia aucheri Boiss. Murashige and Skoog solid culture medium was used without growth regulators. The culture media were placed in the room culture under sterile conditions, a temperature of 25 ± 2°C and different light conditions with various treatments. Different light intensities of 1000, 2000, and 3000 lux were the light conditions of the experiment. In addition, the UV radiation treatment with intensity of 320 nm and darkness treatment were considered. Phenols and flavonoid were measured by spectrometric method. For data analysis and drawing diagrams, SPSS version 20 and Excel software were used. Data analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA and the means were compared with Tukey's post-test at P≤0.05. According to the results, the UV radiation affected the production of phenols and flavonoids, so that it reduced the amount of flavonoids and increased the phenols content. The effect of light was different and further investigation is required. Different results were also obtained for calli.Therefore, it could be concluded that light and particularly UV radiation affected the production of a number of secondary compounds (phenols and flavonoids), and the effects of this environmental factor should be taken into consideration.

Linum album Ky. ex Boiss, belonging to the Flax family, is one of the endemic plants in Iran. To investigate the genetic diversity of this plant with using of morphological traits and fatty acid profile, 11 populations of this plant were selected from Hamadan province. In spring and summer of 2014, five whole-plant samples were selected randomly from each population at flowering and seed ripening stage. Then, quantitative (33 traits) and qualitative measurements (9 traits) were done with five replications for each trait. Data were analyzed by SAS.v9.2 software. Means were compared by Duncan's multiple range test (at the 5% level), and the relationship between fatty acids and climate characteristics were measured using canonical correlation. According to the results, this species grows in Hamadan Province at an altitude of 1551 to 2176 meters above sea level. Populations showed significant differences in all traits at the 5% level except six of them, including length, width, and length to width ratio of stem leaves as well as length to width ratio of bracts. The results showed that palmitic acid (5.5-6.5%), stearic acid (0.5-5.1%), oleic acid (21.9-28.1), linoleic acid (15.4-66.8%) and linolenic (2.0-45.7%) acid were the main components of the fatty acid in seeds of flax and Linum album, and a large difference was found for the percentage of these compounds between the two species and in different populations of Linum album. Canonical correlation of geographical and ecological characteristics with the fatty acids of seeds showed that the amount of linolenic acid in the seed oil is increased with the increase in available phosphorus, available potassium, organic matter, EC, annual precipitation, and mean annual temperature. The yield of Linum album washigher in areas with an altitude of 1700 m, average annual temperature of 13°C, annual rainfall of 340 mm and southern slopes. Although introducing a population for cultivation and domestication of Linum album needs more researches, our results showed that populations A1, A4, A7 and A10 were potentially more suiteable.