حمید حسنیان خوشرو

Chickpea is one of the most important crop for rainfed condition, which plays an important role in the agriculture sustainability. Chickpea generally is known as a sensitive crop to many herbicides and has a poor ability to compete with weeds in the early growth stage because of its slow growth rate and low leaf area at the early stages of crop growth; therefore, weeds become a serious problem in autumn sowing conditions. Development of herbicide-tolerant varieties could be considered as a suitable way to cope with weeds. Identification of herbicide-tolerant genetic resources is necessary for use in breeding herbicide tolerant varieties. The aim of this study was to investigate the genetic diversity of Kabuli chickpea varieties and advanced breeding lines in response to the post-emergence application metribuzin and imazatapir herbicides.

In this research, the genetic diversity of 150 Kabuli chickpea genotypes was studied for tolerance to the post-emergence application of Metribuzin and Imazethapyr herbicides. For this purpose, 50 and 150 genotypes was evaluated in the experimental filed of Dryland Agricultural Research Institute (Sararood Branch) during 2019-20 and 2020-21 cropping seasons, respectively. Three separate trials (control, spraying with Metribuzin, spraying with Imaztapyr) were conducted using an alpha-lattice design with two replications in each cropping seasons.

According to the results of this research, genotypes showed significant variation for tolerance to the mentioned herbicides. The genotypes were more sensitive to Metribuzin than to Imazethapyr. Metribuzin and Imazatapir reduced the grain yield by 27% and 15%, respectively. Among the studied cultivars, Adel, Goksu, Aksu and Arman were more tolerant to the Imazethapyr in comparison with other cultivars. The superior genotypes identified in this study could be used in breeding programs for development of herbicide-resistant cultivars.

Changing the chickpea planting system from spring to autumn, due to the increase in the length of the growing period, proper productivity from the late winter and early spring rains, the coincidence of the flowering and podding period with suitable soil moisture, and finally avoiding the dryness at the end of the season, is result in increasing the yield in Mediterranean climates. Wild relatives are useful sources of genetic diversity and resistance genes to biotic and non-biotic stresses, and the wider the base of diversity, the more likely the breeder will be able to find the desired genetic combination.

Photosynthetic efficiency and biochemical response of dryland chickpea genotypes were  evaluated as factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design with two replications under cold stress in two genotypes ILWC109 and ILWC119 along with two genotypes i.e. Ana (resistant control) and ILC533 (sensitive control). In the controlled environment, three different temperature levels including 22°C (as control), 4°C and -4°C were considered to evaluate biochemical characteristics.

The results of the field section showed that genotypes number 5 (ILWC109) and 23 (ILWC119) not only had the highest amount in terms of chlorophyll a content, but also in terms of ELI index and activity levels of CAT and PPO enzymes. They were better than other genotypes and cultivars and were recognized as cold resistant genotypes. In the controlled part, the results showed that the maximum fluorescence, the maximum photochemical efficiency of photosystem II, the efficiency of the water split complex in photosystem II and the photosynthetic efficiency significantly decreased in the studied genotypes under cold stress of -4°C. On the other hand, at -4°C, the amount of light current absorption increased in active reaction centers. The highest level of maximum fluorescence and photochemical efficiency of photosystem II and the lowest amount of light current absorption in the active reactive center were obtained in ILWC109 genotype. It seems that Anna genotypes and ILWC109 line have been able to increase the number of photosystem II active reaction centers under cold stress conditions of -4°C, and by absorbing light photons, electron transfer could take place with better efficiency. The improvement of the photochemical efficiency of photosystem II confirms this mechanism of action in genotypes tolerant to cold stress.

Fusarium wilt (FW) caused by F. oxysporum f. sp. ciceris causes extensive damage to chickpea in many parts of the Iran. The technique of Marker-assisted backcrossing (MABC) is one of the effective and accurate methods in transferring specific genes such as disease resistance genes in a short time in self-pollination plants. Hashem is one of Iranian chickpea cultivars with high yield, plant height and tall stems which its cultivation is limited due to susceptibility to the fusarium wilt. Therefore, Purpose of this study was to introgression resistance to fusarium wilt from Ana cultivar, as a donor, to Hashem as a recurrent and susceptible cultivar using molecular marker-assisted backcrossing.

This research was conducted during five cropping seasons (2018-2023). Crossing was done between the selected parents of chickpea cultivar Ana (as a donor parent) and Hashem (as a recurrent parent) and the F1 progeny was backcrossed with Hashem to produce the BC1F1 generation. By using three backcrosses and one rounds of selfing, BC3F2 progeny was obtained. Foreground selection (FGS) was conducted with four markers (TA59, TA96, TR19, and CaM1402) linked to FW resistance genes. Background selection (BGS) was employed with evenly distributed 16 (Ana × Hashem) SSR markers in the chickpea genome to select plant(s) with higher recurrent parent genome (RPG) recovery. Finally, the selected lines of BC3F2 generation were phenotypically evaluated in terms of Fusarium disease resistance.

In first year, from the crossing of two parents, 20 real F1 plants were obtained and backcrossed with Hashem to produce BC1F1 plants. Based on results of foreground selection (FGS), was undertaken using four markers (TA59, TA96, TR19, and CaM1402) linked to resistance genes, 6 BC1F1 plants contained 4 resistant alleles and participated in the second backcrossing to produce BC2F1 plants. In the following, from a total of 52 BC2F1 plants 12 BC2F1 plants contained 4 resistant alleles, for background selection (BGS) to observe the recovery of recurrent parent genome using 16 SSRs, At this stage based on the BGS results 5 plant, with the highest background recovery, selected and backcrossed with recurrent parent to produce BC3F1 plants. Followed by cycles of, 6 plants in BC3F1 containing resistant genes and most similar to the recurrent parent were selected. The identified plants were selfed to obtain 6 BC3F2 lines which were screened phenotypically for resistance to fusarium wilt. Finally, 12 BC3F2 lines were obtained which led to identification of 3 highly resistant lines of Hashem with FWR gene introgressed in them. Also, in this study using Meta-QTL analysis region associated with genetic resistance to different race of fusarium wilt were identified on chromosomes 2, 4, 5 and 6.

Chickpea is one of the most important grain legumes, which plays significant roles in food security of developing countries and became more important with climate change in recent years. Germplasm characterization for desired traits will help to create efficient breeding populations that are important to achieve particular objectives. Therefore, this research was carried out to (i) investigate the genetic diversity of breeding lines and varieties of Kabuli chickpea under autumn sowing condition, (2) investigate the relationships between morpho-agronomic traits and (3) identify superior genotypes based on multi-traits.

In this research, genetic diversity of 150 chickpea genotypes including 12 Iranian varieties, 4 foreign varieties and 132 breeding lines were investigated for important agronomic traits including phenological traits, plant height and seed yield and its components in the experimental farm of Dryland Agricultural Research Institute (Kermanshah) during two consecutive crop seasons (2019-2020 and 2020-2021). Trials conducted using an Alpha Lattice design with two replications under autumn sowing conditions.

According to the results of combined analysis of variance, there were significant difference between the studied genotypes for all the traits except the seed filling period and seed weight. Results of genotype × trait biplot and genetic correlation analyses showed that number of pod per plant had a positive and significant correlation with seed yield in both cropping seasons. Based on the results of the cluster analysis, the investigated varieties and breeding lines were classified into three and two groups in first and second cropping seasons, respectively. Simultaneous selection of superior genotypes was done for high yield, high seed weight, higher plant height, higher number of pod per plant, early flowering, early maturity and short seed filling period using MGIDI. Genotypes 25, 143, 74, 66, 35 (Azad), 97, 133, 19, 4, 52, 15, 80, 36 (Adel), 40 (Saeed), 108, 22, 86, 106, 141, 99, 98 and 21 were recognized as superior genotypes in the first cropping season, while, genotypes 35 (Azad), 13, 34 (Nosrat), 70, 136, 46, 99, 20, 120, 36 (Adel), 30, 73, 51, 116, 59, 23, 19, 55, 41 (Samin) and 11 were recognized as superior genotypes in the second cropping season. Azad, Adel and genotypes 99 and 19 were identified as superior genotypes in both cropping seasons.

There was significant genetic diversity for traits related to seed yield in the studied germplasm, which allows the selection of superior genotypes. According to the results of this research, the number of pods per plant had an important role in the formation of seed yield in the autumn sowing condition. The superior genotypes identified in this research could be considered as parents of breeding populations in Kabuli chickpea breeding programs for autumn sowing condition of moderate regions.

In this study, the essential oils of Thymus daenensis and Thymus fedtschenkoi were investigated in terms of phytochemical, antibacterial, and antifungal properties. After identifying the essential compounds of these two species of thyme, their antimicrobial properties against Gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, and Enterococcus faecium), Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Salmonella enteritidis), and fungus (Candida albicans) were investigated. For this purpose, the flowering branches of T. daenensis and T. fedtschenkoi were collected at full flowering stage from west of Iran (Arak and Hamedan, respectively) in June. Then, the constituents of the essential oils were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). To determine the sensitivity of microbial agents to the essential oil of these plants, disk diffusion and microdilution methods were used. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of the essential oils of both plants were determined against bacteria and fungi. Based on the results, the essential oil content of T. daenensis (3.4%) was more than that of T. fedtschenkoi (2.9%). The main compositions of the essential oils of T. fedtschenkoi ​​ and T. daenensis were linalool (83.1%) and thymol (73.9%), respectively. The essential oils of both species had significant antibacterial and antifungal effects albeit with different levels. In general, the antibacterial activity of T. fedtschenkoi essential oil was higher than that of T. daenensis, especially in the case of gram-positive bacteria. On the other hand, the antibacterial activity of T. daenensis essential oil against E. coli (gram negative) was more than that of T. fedtschenkoi. Antifungal activity of T. daenensis essential oil was higher than that of T. fedtschenkoi against C. albicans. The essential oil of T. fedtschenkoi was rich in linalool, and the higher antimicrobial activity of this species could be attributed to the high percentage of this compound in comparison with T. daenensis.

Evaluating of the chickpea genotypes under different environmental conditions would be useful to identify genotypes with stable and high yield potential. The purpose of this study was to identify high yielding genotypes, cold tolerant and stable types for sowing in cold regions of Iran. The experiment was conducted using thirteen chickpea genotypes in randomized complete block design with four replications in four cold regions of Iran including Maragheh, Kurdistan, Urmia, and Hamedan during three successive cropping seasons (2017-2020) in autumn planting under dryland conditions. Among the chickpea genotypes, the highest and lowest average seed yield obtained in G1 (893 kg.ha-1) and G9 (744 kg.ha-1), genotypes, respectively. The contribution of environments (E), genotypes (G), and genotype × environment interaction (GEI) to the total variation in seed yield was 68.4%, 1.21% and 10.30%, respectively. According to singular value partitioning, the first two principal components explained PC1=42.86% and PC2=27.88% of total variations in data of seed yield. On the basis of GGE biplots, G1, G3 and G8 had high seed yield and yield stability as compared to the other genotypes. In conclusion , G1, G3 and G8 with high mean yield and stability performance can be used in selection/ recommendation process of cultivar.

Understanding in variation in tree leaf related to altitude and climate change define the plant adaptation. These variations will predict their respond to the future changes. According to the vast distribution of Persian oak (Quercus brantii) trees in Zagros forest, the study of structural changes and the recognition the Persian oak ecological needs is crucial for their conservation and management. The aim of present study was to study the changes in the physiological traits of Persian oak leaves due to low changes in altitude as well as growing seasons (spring and autumn) in Gachan, Ilam province. For this purpose, leaf physiological traits were investigated in three oak populations at altitudes of 1640 m, 1821 m, and 1900 m a.s.l along an altitudinal slope. In each population, five seed-originated trees with almost similar diameter and characteristics were selected. The sampled leaves were collected from outer and middle part of tree crown. The leaves were mixed together and then about 20 were randomly sampled for physiological study. According to the results, highest values of EC, Chlorophyll a, and total were 31.81%, 15.57(Mg/g FW), and 20.72 (Mg/g FW) in autumn and at low altitude. Highest amount of RWC and Proxidase were determined in spring and low altitude as 30.15% and 0.17 (μmol-1 min-1 g-1 FW-1), while highest amount of pH, carbohydrate and Catalase were respectively: 5.12, 0.09 (μg/g FW), and 0.70 (μmol-1 min-1 g-1 FW-1) in autumn and high altitude. Additionally, highest amount of proline was determined in spring and middle altitude as 0.34 (μg/g FW). In general, the results of this study indicate that the physiological traits of Persian oak leaves are affected by less change in altitude as well as different growing seasons.

Crop rotations are practiced to eliminate the effect of monoculture, but the succeeding crop may be influenced by the phytotoxins released by the preceding crop. Among plants, Brassica species contain allelochemical compounds as glucosinolate that is, under special conditions, released to environment and affects seed germination and plant growth. Wild mustard (Sinapis arvensis L.) as a weed of 30 crops in 52 countries which has a series of allelopathic effects that prevent germination of other plants. Products of glucosinolate- like ionic thiocyanate (SCN-) inhibited the root or shoot growth of many crop species. Also volatile compounds like isoprenoid and benzenoid released from Brassica tissue degradation may suppress many crops growth. It was also found in many studies that allelochemicals, which inhibited the growth of some species at certain concentrations, might stimulate the growth of same or different species at lower concentrations. The present research was conducted to evaluate the effects of aqueous extract concentration of various mustard parts on barley seed germination and seedling growth. In order to evaluate the allelopathic effect of mustard in agro ecosystems, a factorial experiment based on completely randomized design with three replications was carried out in botany laboratory of agriculture faculty, Illam University in 2014. Experimental treatments included five concentrations of mustards foliage and root aqueous extract (0, 10, 30, 50, and 70 percent) that were studied at germination and early growth stage of barley (cv. Abidar) in two separate experiments. In the seed germination section, the effects of aqueous extract of mustard on germination rate and germination percentage of barley seed were measured. In the study of the effect of aqueous extract of mustard on barley seedlings, weight and length of root and shoot, leaf chlorophyll content, proline and soluble sugars content were measured. Results showed that the highest amount of barley seed germination percentage and germination rate (100 and 19.5, respectively) were observed in control and the lowest amount (40 and 9.5, respectively) belonged to mustard root aqueous treatment with 70 percent concentration. The most decrease in barley seedlings length and weight were observed at the highest concentration of aqueous extract. The amount of chlorophyll a decreased from 2.39 in control to 1.66 mg per fresh weight in 70 percent concentration of aqueous extract treatment. The highest amount of proline (66.8 μM per fresh weight) in barley foliage was observed in 70 percent aqueous extract treatment. The results from this study showed that mustard allelopathic effect may be a possible mechanism controlling the barley germination and early growth stage in agro ecosystems. Generally, we were able to demonstrate short term auto toxicity and possible short-term allelopathy due to mustard has harmful effects on barley including reduced seed germination and emergence of barley seedling. Depending on the concentrations of Mustard extract, allelopathic activity will vary Mustard. Further investigations are also needed to determine the influence of cultivar variations, and to identify the active compounds involved in mustard auto toxicity and Allelopathy.    Highlights: 1-Mustards aqueous extract reduced seed germination percentage and plant growth in barley. 2-Mustards aqueous extract increased proline and soluble sugars in barley, but it reduced amount of chlorophyll in this plant.

Biotic stresses such as Botrytis Disease are the main obstacles in the production of gerbera flowers. In order to identify the genes related to resistance against Botrytis, EST analysis of Gerbera cDND library was performed. 1920 EST sequences of the Gerbera library, infected with Botrytis, from NCBI Genbank were used. All EST sequences were trimmed initially, clustering and assembling that resulted in 1139 unigenes (361 Contigs and 778 Singletons). BLAST X revealed that 688 unigene had significant hit among the Arabidopsis protein database, whereas the remaining unigenes displayed no significant match with no hit. Classifying and gene enrichment analysis of Gerbera EST sequences library with PANTHER software, based on molecular functions, protein classes, and cellular components, put them into 10, 25 and 6 different functional groups, respectively, where 6 groups of them were statistically significant at α=0.01.Gene network of high expression Contigs, revealed that MYB transcription factor family (e.s. MYB73¡ ATMYB21, RHC1A) that strongly influenced by the Jasmonic Acid pathway, antioxidants genes, genes involved in Ca signaling (e.s. CAM7) and UBQ protein family have a large share of regulatory networks and play a key role in resistance to Botrytis disease. The genes identified in this study could be good candidates for manipulating the resistance to botrytis disease in Gerbera.

To determine chickpea genotypes competition ability against weeds, 49 chickpea genotypes were evaluated under weeds-free and weedy conditions using 7 × 7 simple lattice design with two replications in 2006 in Kheirabad Agricultural Research Station of Zanjan, Iran. Each plot was equally divided into two sub-plots in which the first sub-plot was weed-free and the second was left with weeds to grow naturally. Results of correlation between seed yield and its components with weeds density (in two growth stages) and dry weight (in one grown stage) showed that weeds density in early days of plant growing had the highest reduction of seed yield. Factor and correlation analyses and biplot method of grain yield in both conditions showed that MP, GMP, STI indices were more suitable for identification of genotypes with higher yield stability. Cluster analysis based on tolerance indices and yield under weeds-free and weedy conditions grouped chickpea genotypes in four clusters and genotypes of higher tolerance were located in the first and second clusters. The more sensitive genotypes with the largest margin were located in the fourth cluster.