روح انگیز نادری

Marigold (Calendula officinalis L.) is also known as one of the common edible flowers. In this study, the improvement of nutritional value and shelf life of marigolds under the covers of packaging and gaseous composition was investigated. Marigold flowers in plastic packages made of polyethylene, polyamide, and the combination of these two covers with gas composition (1: 5% O2 + 5% CO2; 2: 5% O2 + 10% CO2; 3: 5% O2 + 20% CO2) or without gas combination were placed along with the control (without packaging). These packages were transferred to the cold store at 4°C, and sampling was done to evaluate the desired traits on days 0, 5, 10, and 15. The results showed that with the increased storage time in all edible marigold flowers, the amount of weight loss, ion leakage, and decay increased, and the relative water content (RWC), total phenol, flavonoids, and carotenoids decreased. At the same time, using polyethylene and polyamide packaging treatment, along with gaseous composition, improved the visual and nutritional quality of flowers. Among all the treatments, the combination treatment of 5% O2 + 10% CO2 and polyethylene + polyamide coating had better effects in maintaining the quality and increasing the shelf life of the edible marigold flowers. As a result, considering the nutritional and medicinal value of the marigold flowers, this treatment can be used as an effective and safe method to increase the shelf life and maintain the appearance quality and biochemical compounds of this plant.

The spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum) is cultivated mainly as an ornamental plant for its variegated leaves. This is a perennial rhizomatous plant with often short and indistinct rhizomes, while having thicker or slightly fleshy roots. . Nitrogen is an essential macro element for plant growth that is involved in many physiological reactions and is one of the elements that the plant needs in all its activities. The effect of nitrogen form on plant growth depends on plant species and soil nitrogen levels. Plants absorb both ammonium (NH4 +) and nitrate (NO3-) from the soil solution, and these two minerals are their most important sources of nitrogen. Most plants seem to have the best performance in a certain ratio of nitrate to ammonium. This ratio seems to regulate the distribution of absorbed nitrogen between the branches and roots. It may also vary between species. The optimal ratio may also depend on environmental conditions such as pH, light intensity and root zone temperature. This study was conducted to determine the effect of different levels of nitrate on growth and yield factors and the ornamental aspect of the spider plant as an ornamental product. The use of nitrate increases the yield and quality of these plants. However, despite the importance of the nitrogen in the performance of this ornamental plant (Chlorophytum comosum), the desired amount of nitrogen for its growth and quality has not yet been reported. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the effect of different levels of nitrate on the growth and physiological characteristics of spider plant to find the best level of application of nitrate fertilizer as an easily available source to increase the growth and visual quality of this plant.

In order to evaluate, the effect of different levels of nitrate in nutrient solution on the morphological and phytochemical characteristics of Spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum), an experiment was conducted based on randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four treatments and three replications. Treatments including four levels of nitrate of 2.5 (control), 5, 7.5, 10 mM were considered in nutrient solution by the source of ammonium nitrate, calcium nitrate and potassium nitrate. Nutrient solutions were applied in the form of fertigation twice a week. Desired factors such as morphological characteristics (plant height, leaf number, pot weight, fresh weight, dry weight, root fresh weight, root dry weight, root depth, root volume, root length, leaf area) and physiological characteristics (total chlorophyll, total protein, Shoot nitrate and proline) were measured. Soil analysis was performed before starting of the experiment.

The results indicated that the application of nitrate fertilizer significantly improved most of the studied traits. Supplying nitrate fertilizer at desired level meet the nitrogen demand of spider plant during the growth and improved production of further biomass. Maximum height, leaf number, shoot fresh and dry weight, root fresh and dry weight, root volume, root length and leaf area observed in 7.5 mM of nitrate level. The amount of protein, shoot nitrate, nitrate drainage water, total chlorophyll and proline were increased by increasing nitrate level of the supplied solution. According to the results of the experiment, treatment of 7.5 mM nitrate level increased growth and yield factors and the ornamental aspects of spider plant as a desired ornamental crop.

According to the results of the experiment, application of nitrogen fertilizer had a positive effect on growth, and consequently led to increase the plant vegetative yield. 7.5 mM nitrate treatment increased the growth and yield factors and the ornamental aspects of the spider plant as a desirable ornamental product. The use of 7.5 mM nitrate level is recommended to achieve acceptable quantitative and qualitative yield in this plant.

The cultivation of edible flowers, e.g. violet, which is native to Iran, is a good way to increase the availability of these new and nutritionally valuable sources to humans. This research employed a factorial experiment based on a randomized complete block design in three replications to explore the interactive effects of gibberellic acid (GA) at three rates of 0, 150, and 300 mg L-1 and nitrogen (N) at three rates of 0, 100, and 200 mg L-1  on the traits of two violet species (Viola tricolor and V. odorata). The results showed that the application of GA and N significantly improved the edible traits of both species so that the highest protein, carotenoid, Fe, and Zn contents in the petals of both species were related to the treatment of ‘GA300 × N200’. The maximum petal anthocyanin content was produced by the treatment of ‘GA0 × N100’ (58.32 mg 100 g-1 FW) in the sweet violets and by the treatment of ‘GA300 × N100’ (66.84 mg 100 g-1 FW) in the commercial violets. The commercial violets were richer in Se than the sweet violets. The highest Se contents in the commercial violets were obtained from the treatments of ‘GA300 × N200’, ‘GA300 × N100’, and ‘GA150 × N200’. In both violet species, the highest flavonoid contents at the wavelengths of 300 and 330 nm were related to the treatments of ‘GA300 × N200’ and ‘GA150 × N200’. However, these treatments were ineffective in flavonoids at 270 nm. The sweet violets had a higher antioxidant capacity than the commercial violets. The highest antioxidant capacity in the sweet violets (84.83 % DPPHsc) and commercial violets (78.17 % DPPHsc) was produced with the application of ‘GA150 × N200’. Based on the results, both species are effective sources of proteins, minerals, and antioxidant compounds. As well, ‘GA300 × N200’ and ‘GA150 × N200’ are recommended for improving the edible traits of these two species.

The aim of this study was to investigate the maturation time of rice husk compost and its effect on some substrate quality characteristics and growth indices of marigold flowers in greenhouse conditions. In this study, the time to produce complete compost was 90 days and sampling was done at 0, 30, 60 and 90 days. The bulk density indices, C/N, EC, pH and elements N, P and K were measured to quantitatively compare the compost properties. The results showed that compared to the available standard values, 90-day rice husk compost (RHC90) has better quality characteristics and is more stable than 60-day rice husk compost (RHC60). To evaluate the maturity of RHC60 and RHC90 with control in marigold planting, an experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with 3 different substrates and 6 replications. The substrate consistsed of soil, sand and perlite and organic matter in equal proportions and control without organic matter. RHC60 substrate treatment showed the highest results on Marigold characteristics including leaf area, number of leaves, stem length, root volume and plant dry and wet weight,,while RHC9 0 treatment responded better for chlorophyll, mean leaf diameter and flower head diameter.  RHC90 treatment showed better yield in the plant and is therefore recommended as marigold substrate. RHC60 treatment is recommended in landscapes by considering its effects on reducing the production time and increasing yield and economic efficiency and also the appearance of flowers and the need for landscapes.

 The genus Chlorophytum (also known as spider plant) which is mainly cultivated as an ornamental plant for its slash and colored leaves, specifically distributed in the pantropic regions. It is a perennial rhizomatous plant with often short and indistinct rhizomes, while with thicker or slightly fleshy roots. The roots of these species are considered as one of the important phytochemical components. the use of Chlorophytum comosum as a contaminant accumulator has already been documented in the literature.This plant is a soil conditioner and can absorb lead, cadmium, Se and As while its leaves accumulate mercury. It is also able to absorb toxic organic pollutants such as formaldehyde and benzene and is also able to retain CO2. Leaf surface morphology has been shown to affect the ability of a particular plant to retain contaminants. Chlorophytum comosum introduced as a plant that requires high nitrogen. Nitrogen is an essential macro element for the growth and development of plants which involved in many physiological reactions and it is one of the elements that plants need in all their activities. The effect of N form on plant growth depends on plant species and nitrogen level of the soil. Plants absorb both ammonium (NH4+) and nitrate (NO3-) from soil solution, and these two mineral forms are their most important sources of nitrogen to supply the plant demand. Absorption of ammonium by plants requires less energy than absorption of nitrate. It seems that most plants have the best performance in a certain ratio of nitrate to ammonium (NO3-/NH4+ ratio). This ratio seems to regulate the distribution of absorbed nitrogen between the branches and roots. It may also vary between species. The optimal ratio may also depend on the environmental conditions such as pH, light intensity, and root zone temperature. This study was performed to determine the effect of different levels of ammonium nitrate on growth, yield factors and ornamental aspects of the spider plant as a desired ornamental product. The use of ammonium nitrate to meet the houseplants demand considering the supply of both types of nitrogen sources, increases the yield and quality of these plant. However, despite the importance of the nitrogen in the performance of this ornamental plant (Chlorophytum comosum), the desired amount of nitrogen for its growth and quality has not yet been reported. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the effect of different levels of ammonium nitrate on the growth and physiological characteristics of spider plant to find the best level of application of ammonium nitrate fertilizer as an easily available source to increase the growth and visual quality of this plant.

 This research was conducted based on randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four treatments and three replications.  Treatments include four levels of ammonium nitrate of 100 (control), 200, 400, 600 mg-1 kg of soil. Treatments applied first at the substrate preparation process and then was applied in the one third depth of each pot, monthly. Desired factors such as morphological characteristics (plant height, leaf number, stolon number, fresh weight, dry weight, root fresh weight, root dry weight, root volume, root depth, root length, pot weight, leaf area) and physiological characteristics (total chlorophyll, total protein, texture nitrate and proline) were evaluated. Also soil analysis was performed before starting of the experiment. Statistical analyses of the data for examined traits were performed using SAS software and comparisons of means using Duncan's multiple range test, at 5% probability level.

 The results indicated that the application of ammonium nitrate fertilizer significantly improved most of the studied traits. Supplying ammonium nitrate fertilizer at desired level meet the nitrogen demand of Spider plant during the growth and improved production of biomass. The plant height, leaf number, fresh weight, dry weight, root fresh weight, root dry weight, and leaf area were increased by increasing ammonium nitrate level. Nitrogen fertilizers play an important role for increasing plant yield by expanding shoots and producing sufficient carbohydrates. In addition to plant growth, they also affect plant morphology. Maximum amount of protein, nitrate of tissue and total chlorophyll observed in 400 mg-1kg of ammonium nitrate level. Nitrogen is one of the essential elements that plays an important role in the production of chlorophyll and protein, therefore the use of nitrogen fertilizers leads to synthesis of chlorophyll and protein at higher level. The highest amount of proline (11.20 μg-1 mL) was measured at 600 mg-1kg of ammonium nitrate level and the lowest (3.57 μg-1 mL) in the control, because with high consumption of nitrate, the plant needs more water and nitrogen is a structural component of proline. Accumulation of proline helps the plant to survive and recover after drought stress.

 According to the results of our experiment, application of nitrogen fertilizer had a positive effect on growth, and consequently led to increase the plant vegetative yield. Treatment of 400 mg-1kg of ammonium nitrate level increased growth and yield factors and the ornamental aspect of Spider plant as a desired ornamental crop. Application of 400 mg-1kg of ammonium nitrate level are recommended to access an acceptable quantitative and qualitative yield in this plant.

Drought stress is one of limitation factors in landscape expantion. In order to investigate response of four wild roses species (Rosa canina, R. beggeriana, R. orientalis & R. persica) to water deficit, a factorial experiment was carried out in a completely randomized block design with two factors Rosa species and water deficit at three levels (control (-0.03), -0.8 (moderate) & -1.5 (Severe) MPa). One year old plant obtained from mentioned rose sucker were subjected to water deficit treatment. Based on the results, leaf mass area (LMA) was different between species and water deficit had no effect on that. Water deficit caused decreased relative leaf water content (RWC), performance index (PI), chlorophyll content and increased electric leakage (EL) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in R. persica. In R. canina RWC, PI and free radical scavenging capacity (DPPH) decreased and EL and MDA increased. In R. beggeriana EL and DPPH increased and in other characteristics difference was invisible. In R. orientalis water deficit had no dramatic effect on traits. Based on the results R. orientalis and then R. beggeriana are more tolerable to drought stress.

The cyclamen (Myrsinascea) as the flowers growing in some temperate regions, are of high ecological and botanical importance and endangered as well. Therefore, to provide an opportunity to identify and protect its species, Iranian native cyclamen was studied. Plants were collected (in winter and spring) from three northern provinces of Iran, i.e., Guilan, Mazandaran, and Golestan, and their morphological traits (14 quantitative and 10 qualitative traits) were assessed. Based on the analysis of variance, there were significant differences in some recorded traits, e.g., leaf number, flower number, flower color, and flower and leaf shape, which would allow selecting plants with more optimal traits. The cluster analysis divided the plants into three groups. Accordingly, the plants collected from the Shadan region in Golestan province and those collected from the Sinava and Shahsheshmeh regions in Chalus County, Mazandaran province differed from the plants collected from the other regions. The plants were collected from the Abpari and Lavij regions in Nur County, the Pasand region in Behshahr County, the Qarnabad region in Gorgan County, and the Deylaman region in Siahkal County were placed in the same group due to their similar morphology although they had been collected from three different provinces. The first group included the cyclamens of the Qarnabad region in Gorgan County, the Lavij region in Nur County, the Deylaman region in Siahkal County, the Pasand region in Behshahr County, and the Abpari region in Nur County. These plants had lowly toothed leaf margins, long petals, and few seeds. The second group included the cyclamens of the Shadan region in Kordkuy County. These plants had longer and heavier hypocotyls, larger and wider leaves, and smaller flowers. They showed the highest number of seeds, hypocotyl diameter, length, and weight, flower number, leaf length and width, leaf area, petiole and peduncle length, and peduncle diameter. The third group included the cyclamens of the Sinava and Shahsheshmeh regions in Chalus County. They had the highest petal width but the lowest peduncle diameter, leaf length, width, and area, flower and leaf number, and hypocotyl weight, length, and diameter.  The cyclamens native to Iran are highly diverse in morphological traits and they need to be further investigated by cytogenetic, phytochemical, and molecular methods.

Lilium ledebourii is a native and endangered rare species in Iran. It requires a cold period for proper growth and flowering. This experiment was performed to investigate the effects of cold storage on changes of endogenous abscisic acid (ABA), indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), gibberellic acid (GA3), sucrose, fructose, glucose, and total saponin during dormancy of Lilium ledebourii bulbs. The bulbs of lily were stored at 1 or 7 ºC, for 0, 30, 60, 90, and 120 days, and after each period removed from storage and analyzed using HPLC system. The results indicated that, cold storage at 1 ºC for 120 days decreased the levels of ABA while, 7 ºC in the same duration increased its content, slightly. The levels of IAA increased at 1 ºC storage, while remained almost constant at 7 ºC. Cold treatment at 1 ºC increased the levels of GA3, while storage at 7 ºC caused slight decrease in its content. Sucrose and fructose concentrations increased in both temperatures during the storage, while minor reduction in glucose content was observed. Storage at 7 ºC for 120 days induced the highest content of total saponin. The magnitude of changes in hormones and soluble sugars measured at 1 ºC was greater than that at 7 ºC.

Drought stress is one of the most important environmental factors, which limit the growth of plants. By the end of the 21st century, the incidence of drought stress is expected to increase because of the global warming phenomenon. As a consequence, trees growth and viability in the forests and urban greenspace will reduce. Thus, selection of plants that are more tolerant to severe drought stress and are able to cope with such environmental conditions needs to be considered in future silvicultural strategies. This study was carried out to identify candidate drought-tolerance proteins in Maclura pomifera. Therefore, we aimed to explore the performance of Maclura pomifera under a severe drought stress and analyse the proteome changes of Maclura pomifera leaf in response to drought.

The experiment was carried out on 4-year-old Maclura pomifera saplings genotypes cultivated on a flat field in the Botanical Garden of University of Tehran. Saplings were exposed to irrigation regimes of 100% and 25% field capacity in a completely randomized design. Leaf samples were collected and were frozen immediately in liquid nitrogen and then stored at −80◦C to be used for further analyses. Experiments were performed using the gradient pH 3-10 NL IPG strips for the isoelectric focusing. IEF was carried out using the PROTEAN IEF. Strips were then equilibrated first for 15 min in reducing solution and then 15 min in alkylating solution. Equilibrated IPG strips were then placed and fixed using hot agarose on the top of home-made 12 % SDS- polyacrylamide gels. Separation of proteins in the second dimension was carried out in Protean XL cell. The protein spots were visualized by staining with BioSafe Coomassie gel stains following manufacturer’s instructions.

After doing two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, 25 protein spots that had displayed significant protein level changes were identified. Differentially expressed, proteins were divided in three groups. The first group included stress and defense proteins such as lipoxygenase, two types of heat shock protein, Allergen, Convicilin and legumin A2 precursorm; the second group included oxidative stress proteins such as Catalase, Chloroplast stromal ascorbate Peroxidase, Cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase, Iron superoxide dismutase and Manganese superoxide dismutase. Thethird group included energy and metabolism proteins such as Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase large subunit, Ribulose -1,5- bisphosphate carboxylase /oxygenase small subuni, Translation elongation factor, Aldolase, Hydroxy-acid oxidase, Isopentenyl diphosphate isomerase, Dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase and glyoxalase. The present results indicate that most proteins have been identified and their changes caused an increase in tolerance and adaptation of Maclura pomifera to drought stress. Also, our data suggest that drought tolerance of M. pomifera might be correlated with diminishing oxidative damage by activation of the antioxidant systems.

The present results indicate that most proteins have been identified and their changes caused an increase in tolerance and adaptation of Maclura pomifera to drought stress. Also, our data suggest that drought tolerance of M. pomifera might be correlated with diminishing oxidative damage by activation of the antioxidant systems.

To evaluate the effect of some air pollutants on photosynthetic pigments and stress resistance parameters in Sansevieria trifasciata L., a completely randomized experiment with 7 treatments including control, benzene 50 and 25 ml.l-1 , acetone 50 and 25 ml.l -1 , ethanol 50 ml.l-1 and methanol 50 ml.l-1 with three replications. To apply the treatments, glass chambers with closed environments and same volume and area were prepared, each glass chamber containing valves for injection or air suction. One plant was placed in each chamber and the plant volume was measured and then certain concentrations of contaminants were injected into the chambers. The results showed that the evaluated air pollutants had a negative effect on the studied characteristics compared to the control, but acetone 50 ml.l-1 caused the most severe stress in censorship and stimulated the production of reactive oxygen species, thereby increasing proline production and increasing the plant's defense system increased protein levels. The photosynthetic activity of the Sansevieria plant also increased under the influence air pollutants. Accordingly, it seems that Sansevieria plant has a good resistance to the dominant air pollutants in the construction space of hospitals, laboratories, etc., which is recommended for these places.

Selenium (Se) is an essential microelement for humans and a beneficial element for plants. Recently, biofortification with Se has emerged as a key practice to increase plant quality. The aim of present study was to investigate the postharvest responses of Pelargonium peltatum L. to the application of Se in soil. The Se was used as sodium selenite (Na2SeO4) in soil application of 20, 40, and 60 µM L-1 distilled water. The results showed that flower weight, relative water content (RWC), anthocyanin, and vitamin C decreased over the storage time. Malondialdehyde (MAD) increased by progressing the time of storage. Total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) were significantly enhanced at early days of storage and then decreased up to the end of storage on days 4 and 6. Se significantly improved flower weight, RWC, anthocyanin, vitamin C, TPC, and TFC entire the storage. Although, Se was effective in enhancing the quality of P. peltatum L., there was no significant difference between 40 and 60 µM Se in all traits. Therefore, this experiment suggests using 40 µM Se to alleviate adverse effects induced by postharvest time growth on productivity of P. peltatum L.

Chloroplastic matk gene is one of the best genes for a plant barcode and study of phylogenic/evolutionary relationships between plant species and families, possesses a high evolutionary rate at a nucleotide/amino acid level. Lilium, with ~100 species, is the most important genus in the Liliaceae that have been classified. The classification of Liliaceae is continuously studied morphologically, cariologically, and phylogenetically. New molecular phylogenic approaches have lead in fundamental changes in this classification. Lilium ledebourii is a valuable species endemic to Iran, but it is seriously endangered. Notwithstanding its valuable characteristics, Lilium ledebourii has never been phylogenetically studied together with the other members of the Liliaceae. Using matk sequence, we studied the taxonomic position and evolutionary relationships of Lilium ledebourii and 41 other Lilium species.

First, DNA was extracted by using Qiagen DNEasy. After verifying DNA quality and quantity, real-time sequencing (SMRT) was performed using the next generation PacBio platform and a complete matK sequence was obtained using bioinformatics tools. Finally, it was registered in NCBI (ID: MN557236 - Pending publishing). For the study of the phylogenetic relationships, matk sequences of the 41 species were downloaded from NCBI. The sequences were aligned by Mega7 software, following the ClustalW method. Phylogenetic tree was drawn according to the maximum likelihood method. Genetic distance was calculated by the K2P method. The maximum composite likelihood of the nucleotide substitution pattern was estimated using the substitution matrix. By using FFPred, InterProScan, TargetP, and Phyre2, secondary structures such as Alpha helix, Beta turn, and random coil, as well as the tertiary structure of the protein, were studied.

According to the phylogenetic tree, the Lilium species were classified into 4 clusters: A, B, C, and D. The Iranian species was placed in cluster B. According to phylogenic topology as well as to the study of genetic distance, Lilium ledebourii had the highest similarities to L. pyrenaicum, L. ciliatum, and L. candidum with 97% bootstrap. In bioinformatic analysis, a high level of conservation was observed in the alignment of this protein. Lilium ledebourii contained arginine at position #271, which was similar only to L. pyrenaicum, L. ciliatum, and L. candidum. The other species had lysine at this position. The species displayed many differences in the positions of amino acids, such as at #317, #346, #363, and #417. The study of the similarities of the secondary structure of matk in L. ledebourii showed this protein to have 233 amino acids at α helix (45.51%), 24 amino acids at β turn (4.69%), and 156 amino acids at random coil (30.74%).

The present study analyzed matk in Lilium ledebourii for the first time, revealing its secondary structure, the position of α- helix and β- turn. Additionally, the Tertiary structure of this protein was proposed for the first time. According to phylogenic topology as well as to the study of genetic distance, Lilium ledebourii had the highest similarities to L. pyrenaicum, L. ciliatum, and L. candidum. Overall, the molecular relationship (phylogenetics and protein structure) of Lilium ledebourii with other Lilium species was studied.

Recognition of genetic reserves and desirable genes is the basis of breeding programs. So far, in Iran, due to the lack of recognition of genetic resources, a considerable breeding program has not been done on native plants. The study of the genetic diversity of violets as a native plant with ornamental and medicinal uses is the great importance in advancing the breeding goals of this plant. So, in the present study, nine populations of Viola spp . from different regions of Iran were used for evaluation of inter and intra-population genetic diversity with RAPD marker, and eight populations of them were used to evaluate morphological, vegetative, and reproductive characteristics. From 11 used primers, 145 bands which showed high resolution and their length was between 250 to 3000 base pairs, were counted and used for RAPD analysis. According to the cluster analysis using the JACCARD similarity coefficient and UPGMA method, significant differences were found among populations. Molecular analysis of variance showed 77 and 23% inter and intra population genetic diversity, respectively. Principal component analysis classified effective characteristics in 6 groups which justified 89.62% of total changes and in the cluster analysis of morphological traits, populations were classified into three groups in distance 10. The results of our molecular and morphological analysis showed considerable diversity among violet populations in Iran, which can be used in future breeding programs.

Nowadays, soil contamination with heavy metals is one of the major environmental concerns. Among heavy metals, lead is one of the main concerns due to its effects on human health and environment. The most important sources of this pollution in most parts of the world are mines, industrial waste, chemical fertilizers and pesticides. In order to investigate the adsorption capacity of lead by the ornamental plant of viola (Viola tricolor) and to find the morphological and physiological responses of plant against lead stress, a study in contaminated soil with different levels of lead (0, 200 and 400 mg/kg) was done in a completely randomized design with five repetitions in the greenhouse of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tehran. The results showed by increasing the concentration of lead in the soil, its amount increased in three parts of shoots, roots and flowers of the plant and the highest accumulation of lead in the roots was found to be 41.27 mg/kg. The high lead pollution reduced the fresh and dry weight of shoots and roots and the root length as compared to the control. Also, total antioxidants and glycine betaine as a defensive factor against stress were found at a concentration of 400 mg/kg lead, which were 61.3% and 114.33 μmol/g, respectively. Therefore, violet can be recommended as an adsorbent of lead and a stress reliever in urban and industrial green space cultivation.

Violet is one of the most important plant in field of ornamental and medicinal purposes that grow wild in most part of Iran. Therefore, it is important to identify and evaluate the characteristics of Iranian native violets. In this study, 37 morphological characters were measured on 8 wild populations of Viola </em>spp collected from Alborz, Hamedan, Kermanshah, Ardebil and Mazandaran province. Correlation analysis showed some positive and negative correlations between characters such as lamina length from the base to maximum width with lamina sinus depth (r=0.911), number of fimbriae with number of glandular fimbriae along both stipule margins (r=0.914), lamina apex angle and colors corolla (r=0.854), lamina sinus angle with lamina length/lamina width (r=0.854), the lamina dentations has correlation with posterior petal length (r=0.736), stipule width with anterior sepal length (r=0.726). Factors analysis of these characteristics set the traits to six operating groups that justify 89.62% of total variance. Cluster analysis at Euclidean distance of 10, divided the populations into three branchesand important factors in cluster separation contain feature of flower color, flower size, shape of stipule and number of fimbriae on stipule. The results showed that violets with larger flowers such as Kermanshah and Chalous populations, violets with long stolons with fertile buds such as Sisangan population and also violets with large leaves in Kermanshah population and Varian can be used for medicinal and decorative purposes.

Benefits of cut style method and ovary slice culture for overcoming pre-and post-zygotic barriers in lily crossing were studied. Three Asiatic hybrid cultivars (Tressor, Pirandello and Ceb duzzel) along with four cultivars of Oriental section (Rialto, Sorbonne, Paradero and Manissa) were used as maternal plants. Lilium ledebourii has selected as pollen donor plant to cross with maternal plants using stigma pollination or cut style pollination methods. Harvesting of produced capsules for ovary slice culture was done after 10, 20 and 40 days. Ovary expansion index, number of produced capsules, capsule weight, and number of cultured slices, number of produced seeds, seed weight and number of germinated seeds were recorded. Results indicated that cultivar had significant influence on all recorded parameters. The number of seeds was significantly affected by capsule harvesting time (p<0.05). In cut style experiment in crosses between Lilium ledebourii and Mannisa, Tressor and Sorbonne 172, 80 and 60 seeds were produced respectively. The rate of seed germination for Mannisa by L. ledebourii was 1.1 percent. In stigma pollination experiment capsules were expanded but none of them produced viable seeds. Totally, in this experiment, use of CSM pollination method was successful for by passing pre-zygotic barriers in lily interspecific crossing.

The quality and vase-life of cut flowers are highly dependent on stability of stems and antioxidant potential. This experiment was conducted as two factorial experiments in a randomized complete block design to study the effect of silicon fertilization and salicylic acid on quality of the gerbera(Gerbera jamesonii Bolus.) cut flowers in soilless culture and postharvest activity of antioxidant enzymes. First experiment was foliar application of 0, 10 and 20 mM of silicon as potassium silicate and 0, 100 and 200 mM of salicylic acid (SA) before harvest. In the second experiment pre-harvest silicon supplementations were similar to the first experiment and post-harvest treatments with 0, 200, 400 µM of salicylic acid were done. Flower stems length in winter and spring seasons, decreased by silicon nutrition (P≤0.05), but number of flowers increased by silicon supplementation (p≤0.001) and salicylic acid foliar application (p≤0.05). SA treatments increased lignin biosynthesis (p≤0.001). Silicon supplementation increased the vase life of cut flowers (p≤0.001), but activity of catalase and peroxidase were increased as affected by postharvest SA treatments (p≤0.001). These results suggest that silicon and salicylic acid applications could improve the quality and vase life of cut flowers in gerbera.

The optimum temperature storage of anthurium flowers is 12.5–20 ºC because they are very sensitive to chilling injury (CI). In this study, the effects of 0, 1, 5, 10, 15 and 20 mM γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) treatment applied by preharvest spraying or postharvest stem-end dipping (15 min at 20 ºC) on CI of anthurium flowers (cv. Sirion) stored at 4 ºC for 21 days was investigated. CI symptoms were accompanied by spathe browning and increase in electrolyte leakage as well as malondialdehyde (MDA) content. GABA treatment at 1 and 5 mM by pre and postharvest treatment, respectively, delayed spathe browning and increases in electrolyte leakage and MDA accumulation. Also, GABA treatments delayed decrease in total anthocyanins leading to significantly higher total anthocyanins content in GABA treated anthurium cut flowers during storage at 4 ºC for 21. GABA treatment at 1 and 5 mM by pre and postharvest treatment, respectively, delayed decrease in spathe RWC. Also, glycine betaine (GB) content in anthurium cut flowers treated with GABA was significantly higher than control flowers during storage. These results showed that GABA treatment at 1 and 5 mM by pre and postharvest treatment, respectively, ameliorated chilling injury of anthurium cut flowers, which can be used as promising technology at commercial scale.

Cultivation of ornamental plants in terrariums is common, but the use of flowering plants in such environment is difficult and rarely seen. Common geranium (Pelargonium hortorum L.H.) is the most well-known potted and garden plant in the top of 25 popular world's market rankings. Today, one of the main goals of commercial producers is the production of the uniform plants in terms of morphological traits such as uniformity in the height that needs some management. To achieve this objective plant genetic potential, managing the growth and environmental factors, restrictions on root environment, water and nutrition to a level that does not affect the quality as well as application of chemical plant growth retardants (PGRs) could be considered. Paclobutrazol (PBZ) commercially known as Bonzi and chlromequat chloride (CCC) known as cycocel are commonly used to control the height of some pot plants. Additionally, Benzyladenine (BA) as a synthetic cytokinin can influence the growth characters of plants. This experiment conducted to evaluate the effect of paclobutrazol, cycocel and benzyladenine on the growth and flowering of geranium as a flowering terrarium plant. The effect of PBZ, CCC and BA evaluated as a factorial experiment based on CRD on the growth and flowering of geranium (Pelargonium hortorum L.H. Bailey ‘Horizon’) as terrarium plant. At first, geranium seeds planted in tray cells as plugs filled by sieved black peat to below 2 mm in early autumn, Oct. 2015. Seedlings were grown in a greenhouse conditions with an average day/night temperatures of 25/20 ± 2 °C, nourished with 1:2 ratio diluted Hoagland nutrient solution as irrigation demand, until 2-4 leaves stage then transferred into terrarium containers (with 20 cm of middle diameter and 15 cm of height). Inside container relative air humidity was about 75±5% and growing environment light intensity (PPF) was about 500 µmole m-2S-1. Irrigation and nutrition also applied at seedling stage in terrarium. Terrarium glass container totally filled to a quarter of volume considering a drainage layer of gravel, activated charcoal, a layer of substrate barrier (plastic net), potting soil containing of 20 vol.% sieved field loam soil, 10 vol.% of fine perlite and 70 vol.% of sieved black peat. PBZ at the levels of 0, 25 and 50 ppm and CCC at the levels of 0, 1000 and 2000 ppm applied one month after transplanting (Feb. 2015) and BA treatment for flowering management applied at the levels of 0, 50 and 100 ppm four months after transplanting (May 2016). Growth and flowering characters evaluated thoroughly while root and shoot fresh and dry weight, photosynthetic pigments of chlorophyll, carotenoids, and anthocyanin index assessed at the end of the experiment. Both growth retardants PBZ and CCC led to a significant reduction in plant height in high concentrations. Thus, the effect of PGRs on plant height was significant, while the effect of BA and its interactions by PGRs on this trait was not considerable. Effective treatments on this trait were PBZ in concentration of 50 ppm and then CCC in 2000 ppm. In particular, the use of these concentrations without BA treatment led to the shortest plants. Comparison of plants cultivated in the pot and terrarium conditions showed that the growth conditions had a considerable and significant impact on plant height and growth. Stem diameter, number of leaves and leaf area significantly reduced by PBZ compared to the control, but CCC did not show a significant effect on these traits. Smaller stem diameter occurred through 25 ppm of PBZ together with 50 ppm of BA. Application of PBZ especially at 25 ppm resulted in a significantly reduced number of plant leaves and leaf area compared to the control and application of CCC. Application of CCC at the level of 2000 ppm combined with BA of 50 ppm caused to a significant increase of leaf area compared to the control. Results on the number of lateral branches showed that application of PGRs had no effect on this character, while restriction of growth in terrarium conditions led to decrease in the number of lateral branches. Number of lateral branches raised by application of BA and CCC, while less number of branches observed with PBZ treatments especially at the level of 25 ppm. Chlorophyll and anthocyanin content of leaves decreased by both retardants. Days to flowering shortened by PBZ treatment of 50 ppm and slightly by CCC treatment of 1000 ppm in terrarium conditions. In general, flowering process accelerated via these treatments, while PBZ of 25 ppm and CCC of 2000 ppm delayed the flowering of plants compared to the control. The acceleration effect of 50 ppm PBZ was superior to the effect of 1000 ppm of CCC. The effect of BA on flowering time was insignificant despite of initial prospect. Finally, the photosynthetic pigments, leaf area and stem diameter increased because of BA, while flowering characters not influenced by means of BA. In general, 50 ppm of PBZ and without BA treatment was able to improve production characters of geranium plants in terrarium conditions. The goal of this research was managing the growth and flowering of geranium in the restricted terrarium conditions by PGRs. It was found that treatment of plants by 50 ppm of PBZ could properly control the plant height and whereas positively accelerated flowering without and negative side effects on the plant performance. It seems that a good hormonal balance performed by this concentration of PBZ compared to CCC and BA. Early flowering is a positive quality trait for the most flowering ornamental plants. However, BA application itself and in interaction with CCC could enhance the photosynthetic pigment contents and thus improved the growth characters but it could not influence flowering traits even though delayed the flowering, significantly. Restriction of the root area via planting in terrarium could considerably limit the vegetative growth characters and delayed the flowering compared to the potted plants.

The main object of this study is to investigate the effect of plant growth regulators on the prolongation of vase life of two kinds of cut carnation under normal and ethylene. Carnation is one of the most popular flowers that has a short life due to its sensitivity to ethylene. Also, the effect of plant growth regulators on several physiological traits under ethylene stress and normal conditions was studied. The effects of short-term treatment with benzyl adenine, salicylic acid, and methyl jasmonate on two types of cut carnations (Dianthus caryophyllus L.), one-headed standard cut carnation and multi- flower mini cut carnation, under exposure of ethylene condition were investigated. Benzyl adenine 100 µM short-term treatment had the most effect on total chlorophyll content. Salicylic acid 100 µM treatment enhanced the soluble carbohydrates, and also prolonged the cut carnation vase life. Methyl jasmonate 400 µM treating elevated the catalase and peroxidase enzymes activity and increased the proline content in cut carnations. All considered traits were reduced by exogenous ethylene. None of short-term treatments could repel the inappropriate exogenous ethylene effects. One-headed standard carnations were also tolerant of ethylene more than multi- flower mini carnations.

Our study was to develop a rapid and successful method for promoting asymbiotic seed germination and growth and development of protocorm like bodies (PLBs) and subsequent plantlets of Phalaenopsis orchid. Four basal media i.e. Murashige and Skoog (MS), half strength MS (½MS), Knudson C (KC) and, Vacin and Went (VW) supplemented with coconut water and peptone were examined for their effectiveness in large-scale multiplication by asymbiotic seed germination. Seed germination, leaf number, root number, root length, seedling length and fresh and dry weight were scored. Well-rooted plantlets 4-cm in height were transferred to a greenhouse in trays containing expanded clay, charcoal, cocopeat and perlite (4:2:1:1) or sphagnum moss. The seed germination frequency and seedling development was found significantly higher in organic growth supplement-enriched MS and ½MS media. The results indicated that the highest seed germination (94 %) was obtained in MS medium supplemented with 100 mg/L coconut water or 1 g/L peptone and ½MS containing 1 or 2 g/L peptone. However, the longest seedling was found in MS or ½MS media supplemented with 100 mg/L coconut water or MS containing 1 g/L peptone. Ninety-seven percent of plantlets survived after 1 month in mixture media expanded clay: charcoal: cocopeat: perlit.

Dog rose (Rosa canina L.) is a medicinal plant. The fruits of this plant have many medicinal properties that are unknown to many people, especially in Iran. In vitro propagation of rose has a very important role in rapid multiplication of species with desirable traits and production of healthy and disease-free plants. Vitamins of media and plant growth regulators are one of the most important factors in the plant micropropagation. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of various concentrations of 6- Benzylaminopurine (BAP) and vitamins of media (MS and LS) on the proliferation of nodal segments of Rosa canina. This experiment was performed as completely randomized design (CRD) with factorial arrangement. The results of this study showed that the highest percentage of proliferation (90%) and number of shoots (4.7) were observed in 0.5 mg/l BAP in MS medium vitamins. While the highest number of nodes (4.24) was obtained in 1 mg/l BAP in MS medium vitamins. As a general conclusion, the results of this study showed that MS medium vitamins have a better effect on proliferation of nodal segments of Rosa canina than LS medium vitamins.

Rose production is a function of the genetic traits and environmental characteristics, including quantity and quality of the irrigation water. Due to the limitation in availability of high quality water resources in most regions of Iran, the effect of electrical conductivity of irrigation water (due to variation in sodium chloride concentration) was investigated on the yield and quality of rose cv. Dolce vita in hydroponic system. The experimental treatments included four nutrient solutions with different electrical conductivities of 1.6, 1.8, 2.0 and 2.2 dS m-1 containing 3.18, 4.57, 5.69 and 6.87 mM sodium and 1.58, 2.71, 3.76 and 5.11 mM chloride concentrations, respectively. Results indicated that treatments not only had no significant effect on quantitative and qualitative performance of rose cv. Dolce vita, but also they improved petal pigmentation only if ions concentrations and ions ratios were properly adjusted in the nutrient solutions. Despite applying 40 percent leaching fraction, electrical conductivities of pots drain water were gradually increased. In addition, by increasing sodium and chloride ions concentrations, only chloride concentration was significantly increased in leaf tissue. Overall, results of this research indicated that by optimizing the nutrient solution, rose cv. Dolce vita tolerated variation in electrical conductivity of nutrient solutions in the range of 1.6 to 2.2 dS m-1 (because of variation in NaCl concentration) without any reduction in performance or quality.

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of foliar application of putrescine on the pre-harvest stage on vegetative quality and postharvest attribtes of Lisianthus ‘Miarichi Grand white’ cut flowers. Plants were planted in the pots containing soil, sand and peat with a volume ratio of 1: 1: 1. The pre-harvest putrescine treatments by 0 (distilled water), 0.5, 1, and 2 mM were applied as foliar spray at the stage of bud initiation. Vegetative quality attributes such as number of flower bud, flower bud length and diameter, flower stem length, flower stem fresh and dry weight, leaf area and chlorophyll content were measured. Results showed that application of putrescine increased number of flower bud, flower bud length and diameter, flower stem length, flower stem fresh and dry weight, leaf area and chlorophyll content compared to the control. Also, putrescine at 2 mM was the most effective treatments in this study. To investigate the effects of preharvest putrescine on postharvest characteristics of Lisianthus cut flowers, the flowers were harvested when two flowers were fully opened. The results showed that pre-harvest treatment led to increase vase life, relative fresh weight and relative water uptake compared to the control. Also, the decrease in ionic leakage, less accumulation of malondialdehyde, reduced enzyme activity lipoxygenase, less accumulation of H2O2 and increase of antioxidant enzymes catalase and ascorbate peroxidase in the concentration of 2 mM putrescine were observed.

Because of the extensive green roof and the special conditions of an environment that is created for plants, the selecting suitable plant species to provide the necessary accuracy. In order to introduction of suitable plant species and investigation of effect of the irrigation treatments and the suitable depth and type of medium, the plants were culture in boxes for five months (July - November) and they were placed on the roof of a building. Selected plants including Ophiopogon (Ophiopogon jaburan), Frankenia (Frankenia thymifolia), Carpobrotus (Carpobrotus edulis) were from three different families. They were placed in boxes with 10 and 20 cm deep including the culture medium with and without peat in wet and dry irrigation conditions. The characteristic of plant morphology were appearance, length and surface area, root and shoot fresh and dry weight. Results showed that the highest quality, coverage and length during the three treatment plants beyond to depth of 20 cm, wet medium irrigation and peat medium. It should be noted that the treatment plants with water depth of 10 cm and medium-dry without peat, in the longer time their quality, coverage and length were acceptable.  Since of the extensive green roof system requires minimal maintenance and less deep, this situation can be considered appropriate. In comparing the three plants, Carpobrotus and Frankenia had better performance than the Ophiopogon. The topic of green roofs in Iran is very new so the importance and necessity of this research is quite clear. This research for the first time did pay attention to the green roof and suitable selected plant species for this system in Iran.