مجله علوم گیاهان زراعی ایران
سال پنجاه و یکم شماره 3 (پاییز 1399)

In this study, transcriptome responses of cold-tolerant (Sel96Th11439) and cold-sensitive (ILC533) chickpea genotypes were evaluated under short-term cold stress (4˚C). The hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), lipid peroxidation (MDA) and electrolyte leakage content increased significantly under cold stress in sensitive more than tolerant plants. In tolerant genotype, 526 genes showed significant expressions; 261 and 265 genes were up-and down-regulated, respectively, while in sensitive genotype, 901 genes showed significant patterns of expression; 295 and 606 genes showed increases and decreases in their expressions, respectively. In both genotypes and under cold conditions, the down-regulated genes had more frequencies than up-regulated genes. Also, the down-regulated genes in sensitive plants were 2.3-fold compared to tolerant ones. 216 genes, which were up-regulated in tolerant plants, showed decreased expression in sensitive plants under cold stress, among which 15% were transcription factors. Based on identified transcript patterns, those genes involved in biosynthetic pathway of some metabolites were significantly increased in tolerant genotype whereas they were decreased in sensitive genotype. The level of transcript in 31 genes showed significant increase and decrease in sensitive and tolerant genotypes, respectively and10% of these genes were histone producer. Findings indicate the crucial role of early responses, particularly transcription factors and epigenetic changes in cold tolerance in chickpea seedlings.

To investigate the effect of application method of phosphate and zinc sulfate fertilizers on yield and seed protein percentage, phosphorus and zinc in common bean cultivar which was inoculated with Rhizobium leguminosarum, a factorial experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications at Bu-Ali Sina University in 2015-2016. In this experiment, three factors consist of N fertilizer (0, 30 and 60 kg N ha-1), zinc sulfate (soil broadcasting and foliar feeding) and phosphate application method (soil broadcasting and placement near the seed) were considered. The highest number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, grain yield and biological yield of beans were 14.25, 4.98, 3180 and 10197 kg ha-1, respectively, which obtained from 30 kg N ha-1 + phosphate placement + foliar feeding of zinc sulfate and were increased 90, 81, 88 and 95.34%, compared to control treatment (soil broadcasting of phosphate and zinc sulfate without nitrogen). The phosphate placement at 0 and 30 kg ha-1 of nitrogen increased seed protein by 23.6% and 20.7%, respectively, and also increased the grain phosphorus concentration by 34%. Foliar zinc sulfate increased the protein and Zn concentration of the seed, by 16% and 13%, respectively, compared to soil broadcasted application. Based on the results, 30 kg ha-1 nitrogen starter application with phosphate placement plus zinc sulfate foliar spraying is a suitable treatment to improve the quantity and quality of bean seeds.

In order to facilitate the selection of new genotypes, diversity evaluation and analysis of relationships of effective traits on grain yield of rice in F2 populations produced by crossing of Anbarbo cultivar as mother parent with semi dwarf and highly produced by Shafagh and Najafi as paternal parents, 450 F2genotypes with three control varieties (Anbarbo, Shafagh and Najafi) were evaluated and grain yield and 16 different agronomic traits were investigated. By comparing the descriptive statistics of the parental cultivars and the resulting F2 progenies, positive and negative transgressive segregation was observed for most traits such as yield, harvest index, peduncle length and number of fertile tillers. Dry weight of panicle, number of grains per plant, biological yield, number of fertile tillers and grain per panicle, harvest index, 100-grain weight, height, panicle length and peduncle length had positive and significant correlations with grain yield. To select grain yield justifying traits, stepwise regression analysis was performed and dry weight of panicle ,number of grain per plant, 100-grain weight, number of grains per panicle, first and second internode lengths were introduced into the model as the most effective traits on grain yield. Path coefficient analysis showed that the most direct and positive affecting traits were number of grains per plant (0.834), 100-grain weight (0.348) and dry weight of panicle (0.122), respectively. In this research, grain number per plant, 100-grain weight and dry weight of panicle were identified as selection indexes for improving grain yield in rice and recommended for use in rice modification projects. According to the phenotypic variation observed among F2 progenies for different traits (variation range and coefficient of variation) in this study and applying the desired segregation in breeding programs, it could be achieved new lines with the desired characteristics and increased yield in later generations.

The present study was carried out to investigate the some differences between forage qualities and quantities of four clover species under different irrigation regimes and high input management conditions in 2015 at the Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University of Tehran. The experiment was carried out in a split plot based on randomized complete block design with three replications. Main plots refer to irrigation regimes in three levels of normal irrigation, medium drought stress, and severe drought stress that were used by the method of increasing the irrigation intervals by time-sensing (TDR), and subplots were four clover species including Red, Crimson, Persian, and Berseem. Results showed that the content of water-soluble carbohydrates was maximum at severe low irrigation levels, compared to other irrigation levels, while other qualitative traits were minimum at this treatment compared to other irrigation levels. In the second irrigation level, all of the qualitative traits were at the medium value between the normal irrigation and severe low irrigation. Crimson species was superior to other species in terms of qualitative. Crimson species at normal irrigation and medium low irrigation levels had the highest dry forage yields of 5517.16 and 2668.36 kg, respectively. Therefore, it is suggested to plant Crimson cultivar under normal irrigation and medium low irrigation to achieve highest yield forage. Also, Persian species had the highest yield of 1814.31 kg at severe low irrigation level. Therefore, in drought conditions and severe low irrigation, in order to have access to higher forage yield, this crop is recommended.

In order to investigate the simultaneous effects of natural high temperature stress and salicylic acid foliar application on photosynthetic capacity and yield of safflower, a field experiment was carried out as a split-factorial, at Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz in 2017-18. Experimental factors included three temperature treatments (control, mild and severe temperature stresses) as the main plot, salicylic acid application at three levels (0, 200 and 400 ppm) and safflower cultivars as sub plots. Results showed that under control temperature and SA application, the important characteristics such as seed yield, photosynthesis and transpiration rates had significant superiority than similar treatments. At mild-temperature stress, spraying modulated negative effect of temperature on the important characters, and there was no significant difference between two concentrations of salicylic acid (200 and 400ppm). By the intensity of temperature stress, differences between safflower cultivars and the spraying concentrations were appeared; so that, under severe temperature stress, Goldasht and Faraman cultivars had more stability, photosynthesis sustainability and growth. In all cultivars, photosynthesis rate high positive correlation with yield. According to the physiological changes and safflower yield in response to intensify environmental temperature and semi-resistant severe-temperature stress, it seems that salicylic acid spraying was more effective on completing the growth stages and achiving the potential yield of Goldasht and Faraman cultivar at high-temperature stress.

To study the effects of different intercropping ratios of black cumin and fenugreek on yield, yield components and oil percentage under weedy and weed-free conditions, a factorial experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications at Vali-e-Asr Rafsanjan University in 2015. The treatments included five intercropping ratios (black cumin sole cropping, fenugreek sole cropping, 25% black cumin + 75% fenugreek, 50% black cumin + 50% fenugreek and 75% black cumin + 25% fenugreek) and weed management (with and without weed control). Results showed that yield of both plants were greater in sole cropping treatments, whereas the highest plant height, 1000- seed weight and seed oil were obtained from intercroppings. Intercropping systems had a relative advantage than sole cropping and total relative yield (TRY) was more than 1 in all intercropping ratios. The highest TRY was achieved in 25% black cumin +75% fenugreek (1.55) treatment under weed control conditions. Intercropping caused better weeds control, so that the number and dry weight of weeds was reduced in intercropping treatments. The yield loss due to weeds was 87.2% in sole crop and in 25% black cumin +75% fenugreek, 75% black cumin +25% fenugreek and 50% black cumin +50% fenugreek treatments were 34.8%, 27.1% and 25%, respectively. Overall, the result of this research revealed that while 25% black cumin +75% fenugreek intercropping increased TRY, it also improved weeds control.

Despite the benefits of autumn cropping compared to spring cropping, the negative impacts of freezing stress on crop growth and yield is the most important problem of the autumn cropping. So, identifying the freezing tolerant genotypes is a suitable approach to dissolve this problem. In this way, freezing tolerance of 40 lentil genotypes was assessed in 2018 in th Research Farm of Agriculture Faculty, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran. The experiment was conducted as complete randomized block design with three replications. The lowest recorded temperature during the growth season was -12ºC. Survival percentage varied between 53 and 92% and the highest survival% (92%) was found in MLC8 and MLC33. Survival of 25 genotypes was higher than 75%. Highest plant height (61cm) and number of filled pods per plant (96 pods) was observed in MLC13 and MLC22, respectively. 100-grain weight in five genotypes (MLC16, MLC454, MLC458, MLC71 and MLC303) was more than 3 grams. The highest biomass and grain yield (3159 and 353 gm-2, respectively) was found in MLC334. Results of cluster analysis and comparison of the group means with overall mean indicated the superiority of eight genotypes (MLC8, MLC12, MLC13, MLC33, MLC74, MLC103, MLC469 and MLC742) based on survival percntage and grain yield. In general, among the 40 genotypes studied, eight genotypes had highest survival percentage and superior yield in -12ºC; Although, more experiments are needed to confirm the freezing tolerance of these genotypes.

The aim of this study was todiscover, genotyping and determining the genotype, the number, distribution and density of SNP markers and grouping of an advanced breeding population using the ddRAD-Seqmethod. DNA was extracted from 14-old-day seedlings and the NextSeq TM 500 Illumina ®   platform was used for sequencing. The average quality score for all individual was Phred’s 30. The correct reads were 150108678 out of 178811846 and the average of 2207480 reads produced by individual. The highest and the lowest alignment rate were related to B and D genomes, respectively. Based on the filter conditions, (DP≥5), quality score=≥999, MAF>5% and Het<10%, the total number of SNP calling for 50% missing data were 3342 which identified 1322, 1253, and 767 on B, A and D genomes, respectively. The highest SNP markers were identified on 2B and 3B and the lowest on 4D chromosomes. A significant linear regression was observed between marker density (SNP/Mbp) and chromosome size in three genomes. The principal components analysis and the heatmap dendrogram together with the use of SNP marker information were able to identify and segregate sub-populations from a main population.

Plant cell suspension cultures are widely used as an in vitro culture technique for primary and secondary metabolites production. Fructans are one of the herbal metabolites that considerably accumulate in the Asteraceae family, especially in chicory root. In this study, the amount of glucose, fructose, sucrose, 1-kestose, nystose, inulin, mean degree of polymerization (mDP) of inulin and expression of genes involved in inulin biosynthesis (1-SST, 1-FFT, 1-FEHI, and 1-FEHII) were investigated in the roots and the cell suspension cultures of chicory. The results showed that inulin quantity and the mDP of inulin in cell suspension cultures are less than roots. Quantitative Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis showed that the gene expression of 1-FFT was significantly down-regulated in the cell suspension cultures compared to the root. For other genes, no significant differences were detected between the roots and cell suspension cultures. High quantity of fructose and glucose in cell suspension culture indicates the high activity of fructan hydrolyzed enzymes (FEHI and 1-FEHII), therefore, lower inulin content and mean degree of polymerization could be due to low expression of 1-FFT gene and high activity of 1-FEHs. The results showed that the quantity of inulin in cell suspension culture is lower than roots, but cell suspension cultures have desirable capabilities in inulin production in a short time.

In order to evaluate the quantitative and qualitative traits of safflower and chickpea in additive and replacement intercropping series, an experiment was conducted as randomized complete blocks design with 11 treatments and 3 replications at research field of Kurdistan University during 2015-2016 growing season. Experimental treatments included sole cropping of safflower, sole cropping of chickpea, replacement series consisted of 4:4, 2:2, 1:1, 3:1, 1:3 and additive series consisted of 20% and 40% chickpea (in two situations: I, between and II, around of safflower rows). Results showed that the highest and lowest seed, biological and oil yields of safflower obtained from 40% I and 4:4 intercropping patterns, respectively. The highest seed and biological yields of chickpea obtained from its sole cropping, but the minimum number and weight of chickpea root nodules were achieved from this treatment. The highest value of LER obtained from 40% I additive series. It seems that the mentioned treatment improved yield and quality of safflower; therefore choosing the suitable cropping pattern has positive effect on quantitative and qualitative yield of plants.

To investigate the effect of phosphorus bio and chemical fertilizers on forage yield and useful indices in barley and grass pea intercropping, an experiment was conducted during growing seasons (2014-2015) at the Agricultural Jihad Research Farm of Abhar, Zanjan province, Iran. The experiment was performed in factorial based on randomized complete block design with three replications. The investigated factors included five replacement intercropping patterns consist of solo crop of barley and grass pea, various ratio of barley and grass pea (75:25, 50:50 and 25:75) and four levels of phosphorus fertilizer (100 g.ha-1 of  phosphorus bio fertilizer,100 kg.ha-1 phosphorus chemical fertilizer, 50% bio fertilizer+50% chemical fertilizer and control). The results of combined analysis showed that the year, various intercropping ratio and phosphorus fertilizers had significant effects (p≤0.01) on dry yield and fresh forage. Mane comparison showed that the highest fresh (6403.21 kg ha-1) and dry (2101.67 kg ha-1) forage yields, protein percentage and digestibility of dry matter were also affected by crop ratios and were obtained at 75:25 barley and grass pea. Besides, the study of the effect of different phosphorus fertilizer showed that the combination of 50% of bio + 50% of chemical phosphorus resulted in the highest fresh (5689.44 kg ha-1) and dry (1726 kg ha-1) forage productions and quality. The highest Land Equivalent Ratio (LER = 1.21), Monetary Advantage Index (MAI = + 124.32) and System Productivity index (SPI = 2.500) were obtained from 50 % of bio and 50% of chemical phosphorus and 75:25 mixture of barley and grass pea.

To evaluate the relationship between traits and response of sesame cultivars in terms of quantitative and qualitative yields and water use efficiency to different irrigation regimes (full and low irrigation conditions), a split plot field experiment was based on randomized complete block design with three replications in 2016. In this experiment, two factors including irrigation regimes (main factor) and sesame cultivars (sub factor) were examined. Irrigation regimes in two levels, including irrigation after depletion of 40% and 80% of soil available water (full and low irrigation, respectively) in the main plots and six sesame cultivars in sub plots were considered. The results showed that low irrigation stress reduced most of the traits (except grain protein percentage and water use efficiency). Among the studied traits under low irrigation condition, grain yield and nitrogen use efficiency showed the highest reduction (60%) and among the studied cultivars, Oltan and Dashtestan had the highest yield under the full irrigation conditions. These cultivars also had the highest capsule number, number of grain per capsule, 1000-grain weight and water and nitrogen use efficiency. None of the studied cultivars had desirable performance under the low irrigation conditions. Under both full and low irrigation conditions, the oil percentage had a positive and significant correlation with 1000-grain weight. Therefore, trying to increase the weight of the grains can lead to produce cultivars with high oil percentage.

To investigate the stablity of common millet, five new common millet promising lines with a control (Pishahang) were cultivated in six locations (Karaj, Birjand, Gonbad,Yazd, Iranshahr and Sari) across two years in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The results of combined analysis for studied traits (number of tillers, number of leaves, days to flowering, height, fresh forage yield, dry forage yield and seed yield) showed that the cultivars and environments main effect and intraction between cultivars and environments were statistically significant. Total mean of fresh forage yield was 29.74 t/ha and the average yield of all the cultivars except KCM92/3 and KCM92/4 was lower than total mean. The results of the stability analysis by GGE biplot partitioned the testing environments into two mega-environments with KCM92/4 and Pishahang as superior genotypes. According to discriminate ability and representativeness, the E5 and E6 environments were perfect. Overall, the results of this study indicated that KCM92/4 is high-yielding genotyp and has good stability across the studied environments.

To study the genetic diversity of 74 Iranian recombinant inbred lines of Neda × Ahlami Tarom under salinity stress in seedling stage, an experiment was conducted in completely randomized design with three replications and two conditions of normal culture and salt stress at Gonbad Kavous University in 2015. The seedling was evaluated in 6 dSm-1 salinity for a week, and then salt stress was increased to 12 dSm-1. Chlorophyll content, root and shoot lengths, root and shoot dry weights, leaf area, length and width of the biggest leaf, root numbers, root diameter, root density, Na+ and K+ concentrations of root and stem, Na+/K+ in shoot and root, Length, width and number of stomata and salt tolerance score were recorded. The significant differences between the lines for the studied traits showed the variation between them. The highest correlation was observed between root diameter and root surface density. The correlation coefficients were significant for seedling dry weight, leaf area and chlorophyll content and root length. In the stepwise regression, chlorophyll content and leaf area described the most significant changes. Cluster analysis based on total seedling traits divided lines into four groups andlines 11, 102, 39 and 85 were resistant to salinity stress. The results obtained from this study can identify the lines tolerated for crossing and prepare populations suitable for breeding programs.

To study the effect of nitrogen fertilizer and zinc foliar application on potato, an experiment was conducted as strip split plot management in randomized complete block design with three replications during 2017-2018 in the Research Farm of Agriculture and Natural Resources Campus, University of Tehran. Experimental treatments in vertical factor were three levels of nitrogen fertilizers )N1= 0, N2=400 kg.ha-1 and N3=800 kg.ha-1)and in horizontal factor were three levels of zinc foliar application (Control, once foliar application, two times of foliar application) and two potato cultivars (Arinda and Milva). The results showed that effect of nitrogen fertilizer and potato cultivar was significant for the most of studied traits. Third level of nitrogen fertilizer significantly increased SPAD indicator, yield, and tuber dry matter percentage and tuber numbers except tuber specific gravity. Zinc foliar application only affected the yield significantly that increased by pre-flowering zinc foliar application compared to the control and pre-post flowering zinc foliar application. SPAD indicator and yield in Arinda cultivar and tuber dry matter percentage, tuber number and specific gravity in Milva cultivar were higher. Nitrogen fertilizer and zinc foliar application significantly increased tuber nitrogen percentage and tuber protein percentage compared to the control.

In order to identify the relevant areas of wheat cultivation in the West Azarbayjan province, considering the economic costs, yield and water use efficiency (WUE) in various irrigation systems (such as traditional and modern methods), 17 counties (depending on the climatic conditions), 3 villages per county and fields of three farmers per village were visited, and the prepared questionnaires were completed and samples were taken in 2017. The measured traits from each field were included cost of production, production and net incomes, used water in traditional and modern irrigations, yield and water use efficiency in traditional and modern irrigation. The results showed that among the counties of the province, Naghadeh had the highest net income (64.56 million Rials/ ha) and yield (4986.67 kg/ ha) and Chaypareh had the highest water use efficiency in modern system of irrigation (2.2 kg/ m3) and the least amount of water used in both irrigation systems (traditional and modern) was shown in resistant cultivars of wheat. An increase of 106% to 152% of water use efficiency index was observed in Maku and Naghadeh in modern irrigation compared to traditional irrigation. Due to the lack of available water resources in the province, it seems that it is better to reducin area of cultivation and provide more of the available water resources to environment, especially Urmia Lake, instead of increasing the cultivation area. The relevant areas of wheat cultivation in the West Azarbayjan province were Naghadeh and Chaypareh cities.