The Iranian Journal of Botany
Volume:19 Issue: 2, Summer and Autumn 2013

In a revision of the family Nostocaceae Kützing in terrestrial habitats of Iran, several taxa belonging to six genera were identified. Isolates were collected from 20 paddy field soils located in seven provinces of Iran. Among the identified taxa, 18 species and one variety belong to four genera, Nostoc Vaucher ex Bornet & Flahault, Trichormus (Ralfs ex Bornet & Flahault) Komárek & Anagnostidis, Nodularia Mertens ex Bornet & Flahault and Aulosira Kirchner ex Bornet & Flahault, known as apoheterocytic cyanoprokaryota and 20 taxa from two genera, Anabaena Bory ex Bornet & Flahault and Cylindrospermum Kützing ex Bornet & Flahault, known as paraheterocytic cyanoprokaryota. Among these taxa, Nostoc linckia var. arvense C. B. Rao Rao, Nostoc alatosporum Sant Anna & al., Nostoc spongiaeforme Agardh ex Born. & Flah. and Nostoc verrucosum Vaucher ex Born. & Flah. are reported as four new records from this family in Iran. An identification key, distribution area and camera lucida pictures of apoheterocytic species as well as description of new taxa are presented in this study.

Gandoman wetland is one of the main aquatic ecosystems of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province in the mid western of Iran. It is located close to Choghakhor international wetland. The phytoplankton diversity of the Gandoman wetland was investigated in four consequensive seasons from September 2006 to August 2007. This is the first floristic study of phytoplankton in this wetland. Six divisions of algae, Bacillariophyta, Chlorophyta, Cyanobacteria, Euglenophyta, Dinophyta and Chrysophyta had the main abundance respectively in studied sites. In total 95 species and varieties belonging to 54 genera were recorded. Bacillariophyta was presented with 51 species and varieties as the most abundant group, followed by Chlorophyta, with 18 species and 12 genera. According to this study, Gandoman wetland present an acceptable diversity of phytoplanktons according to the published algal checklist of Iran.

Hot springs have been a subject of intense discussion for biologists in the last decades. Thermophilic cyanobacteria are scientifically valuable for their analogy to the ancient life forms on earth and also as a source of thermostable biocompounds. Exploration of their biodiversity is an important step towards these goals. In a revision of the cyanobacteria in hot springs of Iran, four hot springs in the Hormozgan (Bandar Abbas) and Mazandaran provinces of Iran were sampled from October 2011 to July 2012. In total 43 species belonging to 20 genera, 11 families and 5 orders of the planktonic cyanobacteria were identified. Among these taxa Chroococcus with 7, Oscillatoria and Phormidium with 5 species found to be more predominant and noticeable among other genera. All of these taxa are new records for studied hot springs. We developed a combined molecular and morphological approach to identification of cyanobacteria. In this study seventeen populations and 13 morphological characters were analyzed. Molecular study based on 16S rRNA gene sequence does not disrupt morphological information and it confirms the separation of studied taxa according to morphological characters.

Onobrychis oxyptera var. unifoliolata as a new taxon endemic to Iran is described and illustrated from Fars province in southwest of Iran. The new variety belongs to Onobrychis Miller subgen. Sisyrosema (Bunge) Grossheim sect. Heliobrychis Bunge ex Boissier. The new variety differs from typical variety by having simple leaves.

Petasites albus (L.) Gaertner as a new record is reported for the first time from Hyrcanian forest zone in north of Iran. The species is different from previously known species (Petasites hybridus (L.) P. Gaertner) due to having permanent and white-arachnoid indumentum on below the surface of leaves, longer inflorescence and white flowers with glandular hairs on the phyllaries.

Thymus persicus is an endemic species of the genus Thymus (Lamiaceae) which grows in Zanjan and West Azerbaijan (Takab) provinces of Iran. Among the Iranian Thymus species, T. persicus is well differentiated by having the smallest leaf width among Thymus species with long non-glandular and short glandular hairs. In order to evaluate the phylogenetic relationships of the T. persicus and T. marandensis Jamzad, the recently and assumed related species to T. brachychilus Jalas and T. leucotrichus Hal., a molecular analysis based on nrDNA ITS sequences of 25 accessions belonging to 19 species of Thymus together with representatives of genera Origanum, Thymbra, Satureja, Micromeria, Gontscharovia, Ziziphora, Saccocalyx and Zataria was performed. The results of phylogenetic analysis showed that the genus Thymus is paraphyletic when the monotypic genus Saccocalyx is included and its sister relationship with Origanum was confirmed. While the phylogenetic position of T. persicus among the other taxa of Thymus is appeared unresolved. T. marandensis turned out to be the sister to a group of Thymus species including T. carmanicus, T. migricus, T. pubescens, T. trautvetteri and T. daenensis.

SDS-PAGE of seed proteins in 11 natural populations of Agropyron cristatum and one cultivated population of Elymus junceus was studied. In total 31 protein bands of different molecular weights were detected on the polyacrylamide gel indicating a high diversity. By performing Cluster Analysis and Principle Coordinate Analysis on these data, all studied populations were grouped in three major clusters. Clear correlation was seen between the population in three clusters with their geographical localities. This result suggests that seed protein markers between the natural populations of Agropyron cristatum are mainly correlated with eco-geographical factors and cannot be used alone for its taxonomy in the infra-specific levels.

In this study we investigated the genetic variation, using RAPD data in 69 individuals of nine natural populations representing two species of Dianthus L. growing in Northeast of Iran. Eleven RAPD primers generated 111 polymorphic DNA bands. The percentage of polymorphic bands, Nails genetic diversity (h), as well as Shannon index (I), were assessed. A dendrogram based on UPGMA segregated examined populations into two main clusters matching the two species and the two subspecies of Dianthus polylepis subsp. polylepis and D. polylepis subsp. D. binaludensis were to each other. AMOVA showed 82% and 18% of the variation within and among populations respectively. Furthermore, principal coordinate analysis (PCA) based on a Euclidean metric revealed that three populations of D. crinitus subsp. turcomanicus were genetically different from six populations of D. polylepis. According to our results, geographical distances, mating system and gene flow have important effects on genetic polymorphism of populations.

During the taxonomic revision of the genus Delphinium in Iran, Delphinium kurdicum Boiss. & Hohen. was identified among the herbarium specimens. This species is reported as a new record for the flora of Iran. Also, D. zalil Aitch. & Hemsl. is introduced as a distinct species from D. semibarbatum Bienert ex Boiss. The species is compared with a closely related species, D. ochrolecum Stev. ex DC. Morphological, palynological and tepal epidermal patterns of the taxa concerned have been investigated and the results are presented here. A new identification key for all of the yellow flowering Delphinium species in Iran is given.

Carduus L. (Asteraceae) comprised about 90 species of which 8 of them are distributed in Iran. From these only one species is endemic. The pollen morphology of eight species of Carduus was investigated using light and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The pollen type was sub-oblate to oblate-spheroidal, with echinate sculpturing. The grains sizes varies from 35.76-50.46 µm in polar view and from 37.38-59.63 µm in equatorial view. Palynological data are useful characters to separate studied species. The out-group species belong to the genus Cirsium Mill. and are located in a distinct cluster. The obtained species relationships are in agreement with the morphological results and previous taxonomic treatment of the genus.

Anatomical features of Iranian species, Bolboschoenus affinis, B. glaucus, B. maritimus, B. planiculmis and B. schmidii, were compared in an attempt to identify diagnostic characters that support morphological differentiation and to discover possible relationships between the anatomical and ecological differentiation of species. The leaf and stem anatomy visible on cross sections was studied to complement formerly used diagnostic characters in fruit anatomy. The presence and arrangement of bulliform cells in the leaf epidermis and subepidermal layers appeared to vary between some species, as did the presence of air cavities between the vascular bundles. We found that stem anatomy characters were not that much decisive in the differentiation of species. Although most of the anatomical characters supported the taxonomical differentiation based on morphology and fruit anatomy, they would not be decisive when used alone. In contrast, anatomical adaptations to habitat conditions seem to be clear in certain species and correspond to their ecology, i.e., the adaptation to drought and salinity or flooding conditions.

The leaf epidermal structure of seven taxa from the genus Papaver L. sect. Oxytona are investigated. All taxa have the type of anomocytic stomata on abaxial surface and no stomata is present on the adaxial surface. Within the section, the species and interspecific hybrids could be identified by the following characters: stomata size, the shape of the epidermal cells and anticlinal walls on leaf abaxial surface. Seed characteristics of the species of this section were studied using scanning electron microscopy and stereomicroscope. Seeds are reniform or sometimes falcate; the epidermal cells shape varies from polygonal and rectangular to irregular polygonal and rectangular; anticlinal walls are nearly straight in P. bracteatum and slightly sinuate in P. orientale and P. setiferum. The sculpturing pattern of testa is granulate-perforate in all taxa. Pollen grains size of seven taxa and the exine structure of P. bracteatum and P. lasiothrix were studied by SEM. P. bracteatum has the smallest pollen grains and P. setiferum × P. bracteatum the largest pollen. The basic shape of the pollen grains is prolate-spheroidal. The aperture is tri-to tetracolpate. Moreover, taxonomically important characters of taxa were observed and measured. A positive correlation is found between stomata and pollen grains size and chromosome number. Our results revealed that seed morphological characteristics have not taxonomic value in separation of taxa from each other. Also, P. lasiothrix could be reduced as synonymy of P. bracteatum. Interspecific hybrid of P. setiferum × P. bracteatum is recorded here for the first time from NW Iran. For these taxa, taxonomical characteristics, localities and geographical distributions are presented.

The genus Sargassum C. Agardh (Sargassaceae, Fucales), despite considerable research efforts, is still one of the most systematically complex and problematic genera of Phaeophyta. The marine algal flora of Iran received little attention than other marine water bodies. This paper describe 7 species as Sargassum new records along the Iranian coasts including Sargassum baccularia (Mertens) C. A. Agardh, S. binderi Sonder, S. gemmiphorum Tseng et Lu, S. longifructum Tseng et Lu, S. henslowianum C. Agardh, S. boveanum J. Agardh var. aterrimum Grunow and S. spinuligerum Sonder. The more consistent morphological characters for each species were recognized and these characters include: Holdfast shape, length/width leaves, leaves margin and apex, vesicles and receptacles shape.The most common species were S. spinuligerum, S. baccularia, S. henslowianum and S. longifructum distributed widely in Sistan va Baluchestan province and S. binderi, S. boveanum var atterimum restricted to Bandar Langeh and Bushehr province, respectively.

Among the plant materials collected from Ustyurt of the Karakalpakstan (Uzbekistan), two new record including Ceratophyllum submersum (Ceratophyllaceae) and Argusia sibirica (Boraginaceae), were recognized among the specimens. The new records and a photo of a herbarium specimen are presented in this paper.

The patterns of geographic distribution of C3 and C4 species of the family Chenopodiaceae have been analyzed in Iran, using a database of 11151 georeferenced records. The members of Chenopodiaceae family with 45 genera and 204 species are widely distributed in Iran. There they show a ratio of about 2:1 between C4 and C3species. All available data were organized in MS access database, and analyzed in point-to-grid analysis tool of DIVA-GIS software, using 10 × 10 km grid cells and the circular neighborhood option. The highest species numbers, with a peak at 83 per grid unit, occur in Tehran, Semnan, and East Azerbaijan provinces but the density of records is extremely uneven. Consequently, the same areas also are the hot spots of both C4 and C3 species. The comparison between the distribution patterns of carbon isotope composition (δ13C) values of species and the annual precipitation gradient map represents that C4 Chenopods are well adapted to regions with high degree of aridity and low precipitation.