نشریه زیست شناسی کاربردی
سال سی و ششم شماره 1 (بهار 1402)

Smilax L. are climbing plants that two species of Smilax excels L. and Smilax aspera L. grow in Iran. Materials &

In this study, morphological characters of vegetative and generative organs of 17 population of Smilax excelsa from Mazandaran province are studied for the purpose of distinguishing significant characters that effective in segregation of populations. The results were analyzed by SPSS (Ver. 16) software and dendrogram constructed using within group method. Results &

The results have shown that characteristics such as Stem diameter, Stipule length and width max, Stipule length max/Stipule width max, Leaf shape, Leaf length and width max, Leaf length max/Leaf width max, Peduncle length, Inflorescent length max, Inflorescent peduncle length, Flower number in inflorescent and Berry length and width max are effective in taxonomic segregation of populations.

The present results showed that there is leaf diversity among the studied populations and characters like Leaf shape, Leaf length and width max, Leaf length max/Leaf width max are variable between populations.

Phytoremediation is a cost-effective and environmentally friendly method to remove heavy metals from contaminated soil and the environment and choosing the right plant for phytoremediation is important considering the increasing expansion of urban wastewater. In this regard, an experiment was conducted in the form of a completely randomized design with three replications for 14 months at Guilan University. In this study, the accumulation index of metals (MAI) including zinc, chromium, lead, copper, manganese, nickel, and magnesium was measured in three plants of Cyperus alternifolius L., Chrysopogon zizanioides (L.) Roberty and Aloe vera (L.) Burm.f. treated with urban wastewater, and some of their morphological and physiological characteristics were compared. The results showed that under urban wastewater treatment, the MAI in C. zizanioides and A. vera was higher than in C. alternifolius. In all three studied plants, the indices of root length, shoot length, total biomass, uptake index (UI), and tolerance index (TI) were significantly reduced compared to the control plant, and A. vera had the highest percentage of reduction. Also, the highest percentage of increase in total soluble sugar, total phenol, total flavonoid, total anthocyanin, total tannin, and DPPH radical-scavenging percentage was observed in C. zizanioides. Therefore, it can be said that C. zizanioide was more successful in terms of metal accumulation and morphological and physiological characteristic

Abstract Chlorine is an effective disinfection agent to kill pathogenic microorganisms in the municipal water treatment system. However, despite treatment, studies have shown that Acanthamoeba is isolated from different water sources in Iran. In this study, the effect of standard concentrations of chlorine used in urban water treatment systems was evaluated on the survival of Acanthamoeba castellanii and its ultrastructure. Acanthamoeba trophozoites and cysts were exposed to different concentrations (1-10 ppm) of calcium hypochlorite at different times (30 minutes, 1 and 2 hours). Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to study the ultrastructural changes of amoebic trophozoite. This study showed that conventional chlorine concentrations could not completely eliminate A. castellanii trophozoites and cysts. Cysts were more resistant to different chlorine concentrations and compared to trophozoites, fewer cysts were killed at the same chlorine concentration and exposure time. Alteration of the cell membrane permeability, decrease in the number of pseudopodia, increase in mitochondria, vacuolation of the cytoplasm, and changes in the endoplasmic reticulum were the main ultrastructural changes in the chlorine-treated amoeba. This study showed that standard chlorine concentrations used as a disinfectant could not eliminate the trophozoites and cysts of A. castellanii. Due to the pathogenicity of the amoeba and its role as the reservoir and transmission of microbial agents, revising the guidelines for using disinfectants such as chlorine in the treatment of urban water systems is highlighted by this study.

Iron deficiency is one of the most important problems that affects the growth of plants. In this study, the effect of two strains of growth stimulating bacteria producing siderophore (Enterobacter cloacae & Bacillus cereus) on biochemical properties of pistachio seedlings in conditions of availability and deficiency of iron was investigated. In this research, which was done in a factorial design in the form of a completely randomized pattern, ferric iron (Fe + 3) and ferrous iron (Fe + 2) were given to plants that had grown for two months at a concentration of 20 micromolar. Plants without iron (zero iron) were considered as controls. The results showed that ferric iron in concentrations of 20μM and zero iron reduced plant growth and damage to them. By using growth-promoting bacteria in ferric iron-treated plants, some growth parameters such as fresh weight, photosynthetic pigments, phenolic compounds, soluble sugars, lipid peroxidation and proline were improved. Treatment of plants with growth-promoting bacteria also increased the amount of protein in plants treated with ferric iron. Growth-promoting bacteria also increased iron uptake in the shoots of ferric iron-treated seedlings. It seems that in plants treated with ferric iron, growth-promoting bacteria with the production of siderophore led to the reduction of iron and increase the available iron in the plant and reduce iron deficiency stress.

There are various methods to remove oil pollution from natural sources, which biological methods seem to be more appropriate methods due to their cheapness, sustainability and biodegradability. So, the aim of the present study was to isolate and identify the bacteria which able to degrade oil from contaminated soils to determine the optimal conditions for decomposition of these compounds in complementary studies. Soil sampling was performed from contaminated areas around the Tehran refinery and after isolating oil-degrading bacteria in a culture medium containing 2% kerosene (as the only carbon source), the ability of separated isolates to oil degradation were evaluated using FTIR and GC-MS. Finally, these isolates were identified using morphological, biochemical and molecular methods.Results and The results showed that, three oil decomposing isolates were able to reduce or eliminate the aromatic compounds from the oil. They decomposed oil complex alkanes into simpler alkanes. So in their culture medium, substances with amine and carboxyl functional groups (organic compounds) were observed. The identification of these three isolates showed that they belong to the species Nocardia sp, Bacillus subtilis and Acinetobacter baumannii. As conclusion, the use of this biological method can be a good alternative for physical and chemical ones. Isolation of native soil bacteria that have adapted with petroleum products in the soil can be helpful for bioremediation.

Entrance nanoparticles into the environment provides possibility of their entry into living organisms body. Their entry into the body can affect biological macromolecules and affect their life. Here, to investigate effect of copper oxide nanoparticle (nCuO) on recombinant Lepidium draba peroxidase, changes in enzyme activity and structure were analyzed in the presence of nCuO. Enzyme activity was measured in the presence of different concentrations of nCuO and repeated three times. Results were statistically analyzed using SPSS software at a significance level of 5%. Intrinsic fluorescence studies in the presence of nanoparticles were utilized to investigate structural changes of the enzyme. These studies were done at different temperatures to determine thermodynamic parameters such as the type of forces involved in the nanoparticle-enzyme interaction. Enzyme activity in the presence of nCuO significantly increased at the level of 5%. The most enzyme activity were attributed to the concentration ranges of 80-180 nM nanoparticles, which it increased more than 46% compared to the control. Intrinsic fluorescence intensity decreased in the manner nanoparticles concentrations increased in media. Decrease intrinsic fluorescence emission indicates changes in the enzyme structure in presence of nanoparticle. Thermodynamic parameters including entropy (∆S°) and enthalpy (∆H°) related to the interaction of enzyme with nanoparticle were calculated as 0.108 and 3.81 respectively. The positive sign of these parameters indicates the important role of hydrophobic interactions in this process. On the other hand, negativity of free energy (∆G°) changes indicates that this process is exergonic and proceeds spontaneously.

Yaghooti grape is the earliest ripening grape in Iran and has advantages such as good taste and high heat and drought resistance; but it has highly cluster density. Physiological alterations of Yaghooti grape in three growth stages, as well as the amount of accumulation of some physiological substances, under the three hormones gibberellic acid, indole-3-acetic acid, and abscisic acid. Abscisic acid hormone had the most positive effect on total chlorophyll and carotenoid levels. The average amount of total chlorophyll was equal to (25.51), (18.76) and (26.16) mg/ml in the pre-flowering, flowering, and post-flowering stages, respectively. Under three hormones, the protein level is greatly reduced by 70%, Gibberellin treatment in the third stage of cluster development caused a 26% increase in carbohydrate level. The guaiacol peroxidase increased under indole acetic acid, but other hormonal treatments decreased the amount of this enzyme in Yaghooti grapes. The biggest reduction was related to gibberellin treatment with nearly 80% of the control sample in the first and second stage of cluster development and 55% in the third stage. The amount of ascorbate peroxidase enzyme was accompanied by an upward trend under influence of abscisic acid. Also, all three hormones almost caused a decrease in catalase enzyme activity in all three developmental stages. Indole acetic acid increased the activity of polyphenol oxidase enzyme during stages. Gibberellin, apart from slightly increasing the activity of ascorbate peroxidase enzyme during flowering, strongly reduced the activity of three other enzymes during all stages.

Phenolic acids are secondary metabolites which have many biological activates, which are found at different organs of plants and have an important role in human health. In this study, the extraction from different organs of Nepeta macrosiphon was done using ethanol 80% as solvent, and divided into free and esterified phenolic acids. Then, the total phenolic and flavonoid contents, antioxidant activity and inhibition of alpha-glucosidase enzyme of the extracts and their fractions were evaluated by using Folin-Ciocalteu, aluminum chloride, DPPH and spectrophotometric methods, and finally their compounds were analyzed by HPLC. The results indicated that the ethanolic extract of flower had the highest total phenolic and flavonoid, respectively. Also, this extract showed the highest antioxidant activity. Moreover, the flower extract had a greater ability to inhibit the alpha-glucosidase enzyme. The results of phenolic acids analysis showed that among the studied organs, flower had the highest amount of phenolic acids, and rosmarinic acid and para-coumaric acid were the main free phenolic acid, respectively, and caffeic acid was the main compound in the flower extract of esterified phenolic acids. Also, the flower extract containing free phenolic acids had the highest antioxidant activity and inhibition of alpha-glucosidase enzyme in comparison with the extracts containing esterified phenolic acids and other organs. Based on the results, the flower have the highest phenolic compounds, including rosmarinic, para-coumaric, and caffeic acids and due to its high antioxidant potential and inhibition of alpha-glucosidase enzyme, it can be used in the pharmaceutical and food industries.

Intrudaction: This work was conducted to study the morphological variation of longspine scraper (Capoeta trutta) in seven populations in the Iranina sub-basins of the Persian Gulf basin, including Sirvan, Little Zab, Karun, Karkheh, Zemkan, Godarkhosh and Zohreh. For this purpose, 161 specimens were sampled using cast-net and electrofishing device. To extract morphological data in the geometric morphometric method, photographs were taken from the left side of fish, and then 18 landmark-points were digitized on their 2D images. The results of Canonical Variate Analysis showed that Godarkhosh and Little Zab populations are separated from others. Based on the results of Mahalanobis distances between the studied populations, the maximum and minimum distances were between Tang-shive and Godarkhosh populations and Sirvan and Zemkan populations, respectively. Based on the Cluster analysis, the populations of Karkheh, Karun, Sirvan, Zemkan and Tang-shive were clustered together and Godarkhosh and Little Zab in another one. The results also showed the phenotypic plasticity of this species in adapting to different habitats in traits including depth of head, trunk and tail as well as head length, based on habitat conditions.