فهرست مطالب سیدکمال کاظمی تبار

Castor (Ricinius communis L.) is one of the oldest medicinal plants in the world. The assessment of genetic diversity in castor beans plays a vital role in identifying superior genotypes to use in plant breeding programs. For this reason, the diversity and genetic association of 22 castor ecotypes were investigated. Out of 26 screened primers, 19 primers that produced the most polymorphic bands were used. Totally, these primers generated 188 bands, of which 180 bands (95.58 %) were polymorphic. The studied ecotypes were divided into two separate group’s using cluster analysis. The highest similarity was observed between ecotypes 4 and 5 (collected from Sari) and the lowest similarity was observed between ecotypes 1 and 14 (Sari and Babolsar).The highest Nei's genetic diversity (H) and Shannon index (I) were observed in population No. 2 including 12 ecotypes. According to the genetic structure of populations performed by Structure software, ecotypes were divided into two subpopulation clusters. The molecular analysis of variance showed that 37% of genetic variation attributed to between group's and 63% to within group's, which can be used in its breeding programs.

Drought stress is the limiting factor for rice growth in rice fields. One of the approaches to dealing with the negative effects of stress on crop production is the use of drought-tolerant cultivars. This research was conducted to investigate the effect of drought stress on changes in antioxidant enzyme activity and amino acid accumulation in a number of rice genotypes. In this research, the number of 6 rice genotypes along with the tolerant (Binam) and sensitive (IR64) control cultivars at the seedling stage in the form of a completely random basic design in 3 replications and 4 drought levels (from polyethylene glycol 6000) zero (Yoshida), -0.5, -1 and -1.5 times were investigated in hydroponic culture medium. The results of the analysis of variance showed that there is a significant difference between the examined cultivars and the level of enzyme activity also increased, and genotypes such as Danesh and LP8, which were more tolerant to drought, had a higher level of enzyme activity. The increase in activity in tolerant genotypes has been greater than that in sensitive cultivars. In the analysis of the amino acid profiles of the genotypes introduced above, the activity of glutamic acid, alanine, arginine, leucine and lysine increased significantly with the increase in drought stress. While no significant accumulation of amino acids was observed in the sensitive IR64 genotype under stress. Therefore, it can be concluded that the accumulation of amino acids is closely related to the drought tolerance of tolerant genotypes.

Sesame is one of the oil plants that has been cultivated for a long time. Unfortunately, the low yield of sesame and the easier production of other oil seeds have caused less attention to be paid to the cultivation of this plant, so it is necessary to take action in the direction of producing high-yielding cultivars. Soil salinity is an essential factor that affects the growth, development, and productivity of almost all land plants, including sesame. Increasing the concentration of salt in the plant growth environment leads to an increase in Na+ and Cl- ions in plants and induces oxidative stress, osmotic stress, and ion toxicity. Seed germination and early seedling growth are critical stages in the plant life cycle that largely determine crop yield. In this experiment, the sesame plant was investigated in three stages: germination (germination indices), seedling (phenotypic characteristics of seedling, SOD, CAT activities, MDA and H2O2 content), and maturity stage. Therefore, 21 different sesame cultivars were studied for genetic diversity and heritability of traits. Also, the relationship between traits in three stages and the influence of morphological traits in the farm environment were measured. Cultivars were grouped using these traits, and cultivars tolerant and sensitive to salinity stress were identified. The cultivars studied were divided into two groups, and high-yielding genotypes such as Oltan, 159, Naz Chandshakhe, Yellowwhite, Maghan, 418, American, and Chinese were placed in one group. To obtain new recombinant, the genotypes of distant clusters are used as parents for the hybridization program. The use of selected traits in the sesame breeding program increases yield.

Sesame is one of the oldest products known to man to date. Sesame was a valuable crop in the ancient world due to its drought resistance, ease of oil extraction from seeds and oil stability. Iran is one of the arid and semi-arid regions of the world in terms of climate. In these areas, low and scattered rainfall and high evaporation usually cause the accumulation of salts in the surface layer of the soil. Therefore, the salinity of soil and irrigation water causes significant morphological, physiological and chemical changes. Excess salt, that is, more than plants need limits crop growth and production and can lead to plant death.

In this experiment, 20 sesame genotypes were grown in greenhouses. The experiment was performed as a factorial in a completely randomized design with three replications. 75 mM sodium chloride was dissolved per liter of water and the pots were irrigated with saltwater. Percent morphological traits loss index (PML) was calculated.

According to the results of analysis of variance and comparison of the mean interaction of cultivar × stress in all studied traits were significant. American and Yellow- White cultivars with 17927 and 14.07 g, respectively, the highest and 714 and Dezful with 2.43 and 2.07 g, respectively, the lowest yield under normal conditions, and Oltan and American cultivars, respectively, with an average of 963 8.8 and 7.34 g had the highest and Darab 1 and Dezful had the lowest yield under stress conditions with 0.92 and 0.71 g, respectively. In this study, clustering method was used to group and separate useful (high yield) and susceptible (low yield) genotypes based on different traits. The results showed that the studied genotypes were grouped based on morphological traits and yield reduction percentage index using standard data. The studied genotypes were divided into 3 groups. In the first group, Oltan, American, Chinese, Dashtestan 2, 369 and 418 genotypes with the highest yield among the genotypes were studied. The second group included Darab 1, 730 and Dezful genotypes and the third group included other genotypes. In the first group, it is desirable to distinguish high-yield genotypes with desirable traits and the lowest percentage of yield reduction under salinity stress conditions from other genotypes.

The results of this experiment showed that there is a favorable variation among the study population, especially a significant difference was observed between the performance of genotypes in both normal environmental conditions and salinity stress. Correlation analysis of traits showed that under normal conditions, number of seeds per plant, number of capsules per plant and 100-seed weight, and under salinity stress, number of seeds per plant, number of capsules per plant and single plant weight had the highest correlation with yield. In this experiment, the best salinity tolerant lines were Oltan, American, Chinese, Dashtestan 2, 369 and 418 genotypes. It is noteworthy that these genotypes had a more stable performance than others in both conditions, so they have stress tolerance genes and can be considered in future studies. Also Darab 1, 730 and Dezful genotypes were the most sensitive genotypes to salinity stress in this experiment.

This study aimed to investigate the genetic parameters of ten Cucurbita pepo L. hybrid cultivars, including seven foreign hybrid cultivars (F1 Shiraz, F1 Khaleej, F1 Samar, F1 Roham, F1 Daphne, F1 Asma and F1 Oto) and three domestic hybrid cultivars (F1 Peronesh, F1 BL and F1 CL) in the form of a randomized complete block design with 3 replications at the Pest Investigation Research Station and the Shahid Fozveh Research Station of Isfahan, central Iran, in 2019. The bed preparation operation was done and the seeds were sown in the mid-June. The results showed that the highest fruits/plant was observed in CL and Shiraz genotypes and the highest yield/plant in four harvests was observed in Peronesh genotype. Roham and Otto genotypes showed the lowest total yield/plant. BL genotype showed the highest mean fruit diameter in four harvests and the highest fruit weight of the seed sample. The highest seed weight was obtained in Shiraz and Asma genotypes and the highest seed-to-fruit weight ratio was obtained in Samar genotype. BL, Asma and Shiraz genotypes showed the highest seed dry weight. The highest seed length and the highest dry weight of 100 seeds were observed in Peronesh and BL genotypes. A positive and significant correlation was also observed between some traits. Among the investigated genotypes, Peronesh and BL genotypes outranked the other genotypes in most of the traits. Also, Shiraz genotype had a significant advantage in some seed traits compared to other genotypes. According to the presented results, different genotypes of the pumpkin plant were significantly different from each other in terms of various traits, indicating that the ground is prepared to employ these resources for improving the yield of this plant species.

The rice is staple food in Iran. Despite of high quality of local rice varieties, they have unsuitable characteristics like higher plant height and lower yield. Mutation breeding is a suitable method for induction of genetic variation and improvement of agronomic traits in rice. EMS (ethyl methane sulfonate) create point mutation in DNA sequence and causing low and stable variation in comparing with radiation. In this study the effect of the chemical mutagen EMS was studied using three levels 0.17, 0.35 and 0.51 percent on Sang Tarom in research farm of the Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University. Genetic variation on agronomic traits like plant height, tiller number, panicle length etc. was assessed in M2 generation. A total of 17 selected genotypes, eight superior mutants were identified regarding phenotypic characteristics at M2 generation. These lines have less height, more filled grains per panicle and 100 seed weight comparing with the control (Sang Tarom). The average height of these lines is 131 cm while this value in original parent (Sang Tarom) is 164 cm. Other breeding process is underway in subsequent generations based on pedigree breeding method.

Drought stress is a major environmental stress that effects on plants Therefore, it is necessary to know the mechanism that plant shows in encounter of stress.

In order to evaluate the effect of drought stress on physiological and biochemical traits of castor plant, a factorial experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with three replications in Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University in 1397-8. The first factor was 22 castor ecotypes and the second factor was drought stress with 5 levels, full irrigation, four levels (irrigation was cuted at the primary of spike growth) (11, 22, 33, 44 days after Irrigation cut off). In this study, traits including superoxide dismutase (SOD), chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, carotenoids, phenol, flavonoids and protein content, as well as morphological traits such as plant height and leaf area index were measured.

The results showed that activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), the amount of protein, phenol and flavonoids increased significantly with increasing the intensity of stress while the amount of photosynthetic pigments and carotenoids as well as plant height and leaf area index showed a significant decrease with increasing level of stress. According to the results of cluster analysis under drought stress, castor ecotypes were divided into three clusters. Differences between ecotypes in the resistant group compared to sensitive ecotypes under drought stress in superoxide dismutase (SOD), chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, carotenoids, phenol, flavonoids, protein content, plant height and index Leaf area were 83.41, 83.33, 85.57, 84.21, 82.08, 88.7, 86.44, 86.81, 78 and 80.9%, respectively. According to the results, ecotypes 2, 3, 5, 8 and 19 were introduced as resistant ecotypes for future breeding. Programs.

In general, it seems that resistant ecotypes due to the severity of damage less in terms of growth indices and further increase in the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and accumulation of proteins, phenols and flavonoids, more resistance in Showed against drought stress.

Neurodegenerative diseases lead to the death of neurons and dysfunction of the nervous system. Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) can be used in the regeneration of neuronal cells. Curcumin is the active ingredient of Curcuma longa. The purpose of this study was to examine neurogenerative induction effects of curcumin on the BM-MSCs.

The MSCs were extracted from rats. The cytotoxic effects of curcumin on the MSCs were evaluated by MTT assay. For the purpose of evaluating the induction of neuron differentiation, BM-MSCs were cultured with pre-induction medium for 24 h and then in inductive medium containing curcumin or BHA and DMSO (positive control). The results were evaluated by examining cell morphology via inverted microscope.

The results of the MTT test showed that curcumin (1, 5 and 10 μM) did not affect the growth rate of MSC cells. The results of induction of neuron differentiation showed that the differentiation of BM-MSCs cells was visible from the second hour under treatment with curcumin. While, during the fourth hour onwards, the BM-MSCs were transformed into spherical neurosphere masses like those that were treated in the positive control group.

Curcumin with a suitable inducing effect on the differentiation of MSC into neural progenitor cells can be considered as a potential agent for further studies to introduce an effective drug in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

 Tomato is a product with a wide range of genotypes with different yields and selection based on this trait and its components can accelerate the breeding programs of this plant. The most important goals of tomato breeders have been to increase yield, disease resistance, early maturity, and improve the quality characteristics of the fruit. Therefore, awareness of genetic diversity in the population is an important step in plant breeding, and to achieve this goal, the studied genotypes must first be identified in terms of genetic potential and favorable agronomic traits. The usual approach for describing and evaluating populations requires cultivating sample populations and evaluating their morphological and agronomic characteristics. In this regard, multivariate statistical methods play an important role in studying genetic diversity and selecting appropriate parents. Unfortunately, the tomato cultivars used in Iran are often not at the favorable level in terms of important traits such as the number of days to fruit ripening, fruit weight, fruit yield, fruit length, and width, and few studies have been done on these traits. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the morphological diversity, evaluate the yield and its components among some imported tomato lines using analysis of variance, cluster analysis, and principal component analysis.

 This study was performed in Sari University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Mazandaran, Iran in 2020. The plant material included 24 tomato lines imported from the Canadian Plant Gene Bank and one check variety. The experimental design used for morphological analysis was a randomized complete block design with three replications. Evaluated characteristics were included of the number of days to first flowering, number of days from germination to first fruit coloring (early ripening), plant height (cm), number of fruits per plant, average fruit weight per plant (g), plant yield (g), length and width of the fruit (cm). After measuring the characteristics at the farm and recording the data, analysis of variance was performed to examine the diversity between lines in terms of the studied variables, and Duncan test was used to compare the means and SAS software was used to test the correlation coefficients of the variables. Cluster analysis for grouping of tomato lines was performed based on the mean of the main data of standardized traits, which was determined by Euclidean distance to determine the distance between the lines, and the UPGMA method was used to merge the clusters. Principal component analysis was performed based on the mean of the main data of morphological traits.

 The results of the analysis of variance showed that there was a significant difference between all lines in terms of the studied characters. Also, principal component analysis based on morphological traits showed that the first two main components accounted for 75% of the total phenotypic variation in the data and the number of days from germination to first fruit coloring (-0.606), the number of days to first flowering (-0.516), fruit weight per plant (0.492), fruit width (0.480), fruit length (0.472), plant height (-0.445), fruit yield per plant (0.395) and the number of fruits per plant (-0.367) had the highest contribution in yield changes. Therefore, these variables might be taken into consideration for effective selection of parents for hybridization programs for broadening the genetic base in the population as well as to develop elite lines or F1 hybrids. UPGMA cluster analysis also divided the studied lines into nine groups. Group IX lines were in good condition in terms of yield traits and components, group VIII lines in terms of maturity and flowering, and group IV lines in terms of fruit number per plant. And the lines in groups I and V were in moderate condition for all traits. According to these results, the cross of the lines in the more distant groups can produce hybrids with high diversity and maximum heterosis.

 According to the main purpose of this study, which was to evaluate the yield and its components and according to the analysis performed, lines 8, 11, and 17 due to showing the least number of days to flowering and early, lines 10 and 14 due to having the highest yield, the highest fruit weight, and highest fruit length and width and lines 2, 9, 15, 21, and 24 due to having the highest number of fruits per plant and the favorable height are also recommended for use in tomato breeding programs.

One of the ways to overcome the limitation of fresh water and lack of sufficient water reserves for agriculture is to use unconventional waters such as seawater. Salinity stress is the most important abiotic stress in seawater application. Identification and planting of salinity tolerant genotypes of a plant species is one of the effective and valuable strategies in reducing the effects of salinity stress. Germination, growth and seedling establishment are among the salinity-sensitive stages in most plants. Therefore, for improvement of abiotic stress tolerance in plants, it is necessary to study the traits and indicators related to tolerance in the germination stage.

A factorial experiment was conducted based on a completely randomized design with three replications at the laboratory of Plant Breeding Department of Sari University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources in 2020. The first factor included the cultivars and the second included 5 salinity levels (control (no seawater), 3, 6, 9 and 11 dS (deciSiemens per meter) obtained from the incorporation of Caspian Sea and urban water. The number of germinated seeds was counted during eight days of salinity stress. Then, germination percentage, time required for 50% germination, seedling vigor index and germination rate were calculated. On the eighth day, radicle and plumule dry and fresg weights, radicle and plumule length and seedling dry weight were measured.

The results of analysis of variance showed the significance of the effect of different salinity levels, genotype and the interaction of salinity and genotype for all calculated indices at p<0.01. Mean comparison of the interaction of different levels of salinity and cultivars and landraces showed that all the studied traits except for the time to reach fifty percent germination decreased with increasing salinity. Among the studied cultivars, Oltan cultivar had the highest value of germination percentage (100%), germination rate (24.17 seeds per day), seedling vigor index (5.03), plumule length (55.67 mm), radicle length (70 mm), plumule fresh weight (62 mg), radicle fresh weight (45 mg), plumule dry weight (4.77 mg), seedling dry weight (6/23 Mg) and the lowest amount of the time required for 50% germination (24.17 hours) in control treatment. In contrast, Pakistani cultivar had the lowest germination rate (3.06 seeds per day), seedling vigor index (1), plumule length (8.33 mm), radicle length (3 mm), plumule fresh weight (10 mg), radicle fresh weight (2 mg), plumule dry weight (0.57 mg), seedling dry weight (0.84 mg) and the highest time required for 50% germination (24.17 hours) in 11 dS / m salinity level. Using the results of this experiment, among the studied cultivars, Oltan cultivar was selected as the most tolerant and Pakistani cultivar as the most sensitive cultivars to salinity stress at the germination stage.

The studied cultivars and landraces showed different reactions in terms of germination indices when treated with salinity from seawater. The high significant difference in this experiment indicated the high genetic diversity among the studied genotypes. It is possible to choose from these genotypes for salinity tolerance breeding programs in sesame plant.

The current research was performed to evaluate 150 barley cultivars based on several agronomic and physiological traits. The experiment was conducted as an alpha lattice design with five incomplete blocks in two replications at normal and salinity stress (EC= 12 dsm-1) conditions at Agriculture and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Yazd, Iran, for two years. The combined analysis of variance showed a significant difference among genotypes in all traits except harvest index and relative water content, indicating the existence of genetic diversity among the evaluated barley genotypes. Phenotypic correlation coefficients based on the average of two cropping years showed that biological yield, days to physiological maturity, and leaf chlorophyll index under normal conditions and biological yield, harvest index, number of fertile tillers, and plant height under salinity stress had a significant positive correlation with grain yield. According to the path analysis, the days to physiological maturity and number of fertile tillers had the highest positive direct effect on grain yield in normal and salinity stress conditions, respectively, followed by leaf chlorophyll index in the normal conditions and plant height under salinity stress. Cluster analysis by Ward’s method grouped the studied genotypes into three clusters in both environments based on an average of two years. The discriminant function analysis was used to determine the number of clusters and check the accuracy of the grouping in the cluster analysis. Percentage deviation from the grand mean of clusters under salinity stress showed that genotypes of the first cluster had the highest grain yield and have the shortest maturity period. In the second cluster, physiologically efficient genotypes, and in the third cluster, late maturing and low-yielding genotypes were included. Therefore, according to the results of this study, it can be concluded that under salinity stress, the genotypes of the first cluster with the highest grain yield and earliest maturity dates can be used in future breeding programs to improve the salinity tolerance.

Calcineurin B-like proteins (CBLs) are a subfamily of calcium sensors that play a role in various plant cell processes and molecular functions. In sesame (Sesamum indicum), in silico analysis of the CBL gene family was performed to identify CBL proteins involved in calcium signaling. Using their orthologic relationships with Arabidopsis homolog genes, the nine SiCBL genes were identified and subdivided into six groups: SiCBL1, SiCBL2, SiCBL3, SiCBL4, SiCBL8, SiCBL10. The molecular weight of SiCBL proteins ranged from 24.4 to 37.9 kDa, the Isoelectric acid pH range, the instability index ranged from 33.99 to 47.46 percent, the aliphatic index ranged from 80.29 to 10.89, and the GRAVY ranged from -0.420 to 0.061. Prediction of post-translational modifications revealed that palmitoylation motif was observed in all siCBL, however majority of them did not have myristoylaton motif. In term of gene structure, 11% of SiCBL genes had nine exons, 11% had eight exons and 77% had seven exons. The RNA-seq pattern of the SiCBL subfamily under PEG treatment revealed that, whereas members of this gene family had generally similar expression patterns in both susceptible and tolerant cultivars, due to functional Convergence, each member of this gene family had a distinct expression pattern. Future research on the expression of SiCBL and SiCIPK gene family genes under various abiotic conditions could aid in understanding the mechanism of expression control of SOS-related genes.

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is a nutritionally and medicinally important oilseed crop that environmental stresses limit its yield potential. Ethylene-responsive factor (ERF) is one of the largest transcription factor families that play key roles in regulating plant response to abiotic stress. In the current study, a total of 113 ERF genes were identified from the sesame genome and they were divided into two subfamilies including, 46 dehydration-responsive element-binding (DREB) members, and 67 ERF members. Phylogenetic relationships, physicochemical properties of proteins, structural properties of genes, and conserved amino acid motifs in the sesame ERF family were analyzed. Then, the expression profile of sesame ERF genes in various tissues as well as under environmental stresses was investigated. Overall, several genes of the ERF Family were expressed noticeably in different sesame tissues, especially in roots, capsules, and flowers. Expression profiles also showed that RAP2.2L, PTI6, ERF017L, and ERF096 genes were strongly induced by drought, osmotic, salinity, and waterlogging stresses, respectively. Moreover, the qPCR results showed that the relative expression of the ERF061L gene was higher in the sesame tolerant genotype compared to the susceptible one under drought conditions. This study provides important data for understanding the evolution and functions of the ERF family in sesame that can be used in future breeding programs for abiotic stresses tolerance.

Sesame as one of the most important oilseed crops has high industrial, food, and medicinal potentials. Drought stress challenges sesame production, especially at the germination and seedling stages. To screen sesame genotypes for drought tolerance at the germination stage, a factorial experiment was performed in a completely randomized design with 3 replications. The studied factors included 4 drought levels induced by polyethylene glycol (concentrations of 0%, 20%, 25%, and 30%) and 15 sesame genotypes. Based on the results of ANOVA, the effect of genotype, drought, and their interaction on all studied traits including germination rate, germination speed, vigor index 1 and 2, radicle length, plumule length, and seedling fresh and dry weight was significant (P<0.01). Significant reduction (P<0.05) was observed in all levels of stress compared to the control in the studied traits. Germination rate, radicle length, and plumule length (with 10%, 17%, and 18% reduction, respectively) showed less sensitivity to drought stress at weak level (20% concentration), while the most negative effect was obtained for vigor index 2, seedling dry weight and seedling fresh weight (with 52.5%, 47.3%, and 34.4% reduction, respectively). On the other hand, the highest decrease was observed in plumule length, vigor index 1 and 2 (98%, 97%, and 96%, respectively), under severe drought (30% concentration). The calculated drought tolerance indices of each trait were used for principal component analysis and biplot visualization. Thus, genotypes were divided into 5 categories based on tolerance. Dashtestan 2 and Darab 1 genotypes were selected as the most tolerant and Qaem, Yekta, Sudan, and Kerman genotypes were selected as the most sensitive genotypes. The findings of this study can be used in future studies and breeding programs of sesame for drought tolerance.

Sesame seeds are a good source for food and health due to their protein and unsaturated fatty acids and secondary metabolites such as lignans. Soil and water salinity is one of the most important factors limiting the growth of this crop. By examining the physiological reactions related to salinity tolerance among different landraces and cultivars, tolerant and sensitive cultivars can be selected and used in breeding programs and cultivation development of this important oilseed. For this purpose, physiological reactions in eight different sesame genotypes in a factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design with the main salinity factor due to mixing Caspian Sea water with normal water at 3 levels(control, 6 & 9 dSm-1) and sub-factor 8 Sesame genotype includes Babol, Dashtestan 2, Oltan, Pakistani, tn-78-389 and tn-78-393, Halil, Naz single-branched genotypes in three replications in pots in the greenhouse of the Plant Breeding Department of Sari University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources in the year 2020 were examined. The results of this experiment showed that at salinity levels of 6 and 9 dS, among the eight different genotypes of sesame studied, Oltan cultivar with the highest amount of total dry weight (8.42 & 5.27 gr), proline (10.35&15 μmol/g fresh leaf weight), membrane stability index ( 82.65&74.14%), relative water content(81.33 & 69.33%), leaf chlorophyll and carotenoid content(based on mg/g fresh weight), chlorophyll a(0.74&0.7),total chlorophyll(1.12&0.95)and carotenoids(0.41&0.46)and antioxidant enzymes activities (based on enzyme unit per gram fresh weight), superoxide dismutase(18.22&29.05), ascorbate peroxidase(14.9&19.21),catalase(1.51), guaiacol peroxidase(4.8&5.43),potassium(6.6%),sodium to potassium ratio index (0.06&0.12) and the lowest amount of sodium(0.41&0.7)was more tolerant of stress than other cultivars. In contrast, Pakistani cultivar with the lowest amount of total dry weight (5.12 & 2.14 gr), proline(5.86&6.7 μmol/g fresh leaf weight), membrane stability index(66.31 & 57.86%), relative water content (58&48.33%), leaf chlorophyll and carotenoid content (based on mg / g fresh weight), chlorophyll a(0.46&0.37), total chlorophyll(0.69&0.5)and carotenoids(0.25&0.27)and Antioxidant enzymes activities (based on unit of enzyme per gram of fresh weight), superoxide dismutase (11.61&10.31), ascorbate-peroxidase (8.61&8.78),catalase(0.84),guaiacol peroxidase(1.77&2.16), potassium(3.68%), sodium to potassium ratio index(0.59&1.12)and the highest amount of sodium(2.15&2.57)was the most sensitive cultivar in stress tolerance compared to other cultivars. Based on the evaluated traits and the response of the studied cultivars to salinity stress, oltan was identified as a tolerant cultivar and Pakistani as a salinity sensitive cultivar compared to the other cultivars. Therefore, these cultivars can be suggested for use in future breeding programs to introduce new cultivars.

Rice is the staple food consumed by almost half of the population in Asia and the world. Rice is a self-fertile plant with various varieties. Due to the decrease in the area where rice is cultivated, there is a great need to increase yield performance in rice per unit area. Heterosis is a phenomenon that reveals advantages over its parents in F1 hybrids resulting from the crossbreeding of various parents (Saleem, 2008). The two main methods for producing hybrid rice are the three-line system and the two-line system. These two methods are different due to the use of two different types of male sterile lines. In the production of F1 hybrids, CMS lines are crossed with fertility restorer lines. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the new fertility restorer lines in terms of important crop characteristics and determine the fertility percentage of pollen grains and evaluate the heterosis rate of the resulting hybrids.

The research materials used in this study included 16 new restorer lines as paternal parents and NedaA cytoplasmic male sterility lines as maternal parent as well as its fertility maintainer lines NedaB. In the first year, the agronomic characteristics including plant height (cm), number of fertile tiller, panicle length (cm), number of grains, number of filled grains, grain length (millimeters), grain diameter (millimeters), weight of one thousand grains (grams) and grain yield (grams) were recorded and at the flowering stage, all fertility restorer lines were crossed with NedaA CMS line. Among the available hybrids, 7 F1 genotypes were cultivated with their parents in the second year. After flowering, iodine-potassium iodide (I₂/KI) solution was used to perform fertility assessment of pollen grains in F1 hybrids (Gao et al, 2011). At maturity stage seed setting performance of F1 genotypes recorded. Analysis of variance and mean comparisons using Duncan test were made using SPSS software. Grouping of genotypes was made using cluster analysis through Ward method.

Mean comparison of genotypes showed that K14, K3, K4 and K11 lines had the highest average height, respectively, which was a positive feature for paternal parents (pollinators) as restorer genotypes. In terms of number of fertile tiller, K4, K7 and K1 restorers accounted for the largest number of fertile tillers, respectively, and K4 genotype was superior to other genotypes in terms of panicle length. Researchers identified the fertile tillers, panicle length, and number of filled grains as the most contributing traits to yield. Lines K16, K12 and K4 had the highest average grain length per panicle. This feature is one of the important traits of marketing in Iran. Lines K12, K4, K3 and K2 had the highest weight of one thousand grains, respectively. Cluster analysis classified the genotypes into two main categories (Figure 1). The genotypes in same group were more genetically related than the genotypes in other branches, hence, cluster analysis can be used as a tool to select parental lines in hybridization programs (Kiani &Nematzadeh, 2013). The first group included 11 genotypes (68.75%) that were below average in terms of all traits except grain diameter. 5 genotypes (31.25%) were placed in the second cluster. The K12 and K16 genotypes were included in this group as two successful parents in cross with the NedaA male sterile genome. The fertility rate of hybrid pollen grains ranged from 41.71 to 95.35 percent. NedaA/K7, NedaA/K12 and NedaA/K16 hybrids had more than 80% fertility rate, which indicated the suitability of K7, K12 and K16 restorer lines for crossing with Neda A.All the promising hybrids outperformed their paternal parents in terms of grain length. The highest 1000 grain weight was observed in NedaA/K16 hybrid and the highest yield was observed in NedaA/K7. Heterobeltiosis of the NedaA/K7 and NedaA/K12 genotypes were 93.47% and 98.95%, respectively and the NedaA/K16 genotype showed 26.22% of Heterosis.

Three genotypes (K7, K12 and K16) were found to be desirable fertility restorer lines for NedaA due to their beneficial characteristics as well as representing more than 80 percent fertility percentage of pollen grains and seed setting in their panicles. These lines could be used as new sources of fertility restoration for WA cytoplasmic sterility system and promote hybrid seed technology in Iran.

Sweet flag (Acorus calamus) is a perennial, semi-aquatic and aromatic plant of the family Acoraceae that, in addition to its multiple medicinal properties, is used in health, food and agricultural industries (as pest control). This research was conducted to comparasion study of genetic diversity of natural and regenerated plants from tissue culture of Arzefon, Pelesk and Alandan populations of Sweet flag by using ISSR molecular markers. Out of 15 screened primers, 9 primers produced the most polymorphic bands. Totally, these primers generated 83 bands, of which 52 bands (62.65%) were polymorphic. The percentage of polymorphic locus for natural and regenerated plants was 43.37% and 55.42%, respectively, and Nei’s genetic diversity (H) was calculated to be 0.239 for the two studied groups. The Shannon’s index (I) for natural and regenerated plants was estimated to be 0.251 ± 0.033 and 0.299 ± 0.031, respectively. Among the natural and regenerated groups, the highest genetic similarity was observed between the samples of Alandan population (0.63), and the lowest value was observed between the samples of Pelesk population (0.44). Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that 94 % of genetic variation attributed to whithin groups and 6 % to between groups. Based on the results, the genetic diversity of the regenerated plants was higher than the natural plants. According to the results of the present research, the lowest rate of genetic divergence was observed between natural and regenerated plants of Alandan populatiuon, so the plants of this population could be suitable for domestication and cultivation in Iran.

Nowadays salt tolerance of crops is becoming more and more important, owing to the constant increase of salinity in arid and semi arid regions. This research was carried out in order to test of different salinity levels effects on yield of barley (Hordeum Volgar L.) genotypes, in split plot experiment on the base of Randomized Completely Block Design with 3 replications. Salinity treatment involved 5 levels: S1 (control)=EC 4.5 ds/m, S2=EC 7.5 ds/m, S3=EC 10.5 ds/m, S4=EC 13.5 ds/m and S5=EC 16.5 ds/m as main plot and subplots were 9 genotype involved promising lines and varieties. The effect of salinity treatments studied by sampling on yield and tolerance indices, such as geometric mean productivity (GMP), stress susceptibility index (SSI), mean productivity (MP), stress tolerance index (STI), tolerance index (TOL) and yield reduction ratio (Yr). Result showed significant decrease in yield by increasing in salinity levels. The best performance belonged to ValFajr and MBS8715 genotypes, and MP, GMP and STI were determined as major and suitable indices for selecting cultivars with high yield under different levels of salinity stress and non- stress conditions.

The aim of this study is to determine the total phenol and flavonoid content and antioxidant activity of hydroalcoholic extracts from different parts of pumpkin (skin, seed and flesh). The maximum extract production was obtained for flesh (27.83 g extract/100 g powder) while the lowest yield obtained from the seed extract (6.30 g extract/100 g powder). For seed extract, the highest amount of total phenol (25.80 ± 0.69 mg (GAE)/g extract) and flavonoid content (7.24 ± 0.28 mg(QE)/g extract) obtained respectively through the assay of Folin Ciocalteu and aluminum calorimetric and the best antioxidant activity was gained through antioxidant  assays of DPPH (IC50=794.32µg/ml) and β-carotene bleaching (at a dose of 2000 µg/ml it was equivalent to synthetic antioxidant BHA in the concentration of 200 µg/ml). Based on the results of oxidative stability index (OSI) for extracts, the skin extract showed the highest stability (8.58 ± 0.55 h) and no significant difference was observed between the seed and fruit extracts (7.13 ± 0.168 h and 7.33 ± 0.08 h, respectively). The results suggested that hydroalcoholic extracts of various parts of the pumpkin’s fruit, especially its seeds, may serve as a potential source of natural antioxidant for food and pharmaceutical products.

Background and objectives Mutational breeding is an effective tool for improvement of agronomic traits in crops. The purpose of this study, mutation induction in local rice varieties using chemical mutagen ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS) to improve their agronomic traits and evaluating genetic variation at M2 generation. Materials and methods In this study the effect of EMS concentrations (0, 0.17, 0.35 and 0.51 percent) was studied on Tarom Mahalli and Tarom Hashemi local varieties. Superior genotypes were selected in M2 generation based on phenotypic status as well as their important agronomic traits were recorded. Results Evaluation of induced genetic variation was done using agronomic traits as well as 12 SSR (Simple Sequence Repeat) markers at phenotypic and molecular levels, respectively. The EMS effectively reduced significantly average of traits like plant height as well as non-filled grains and increased the mean values for 100-grain weight and panicle length. Mutant no. 13 (derived from Tarom mahalli) had superior agronomic characteristics like lower height (147 cm), more tiller number (37), panicle length (29.3 cm) and filled grains (158) in comparison with its control. Also, mutants no. 3 and 10 (derived from Tarom Hashemi) identified as superior lines and their height were 144 and 139 cm, respectively. Discussion Results of the study showed successful induction of genetic variation in mutant lines comparing with respective controls.

Salinity stress has an important role in reducing crop production. There is a possibility of cultivar diversity use in desirable traits selection under stress. This research was carried out in order to test of different salinity level on yield of barley (Hordeum Volgar L.) genotypes, in the split plot experiment on the base of Randomized Completely Block design in 3 replications. Salinity treatment involved 5 levels: S1(control)=EC 4.5 ds/m, S2=EC 7.5 ds/m, S3=EC 10.5 ds/m, S4=EC 13.5 ds/m and S5=EC 16.5 ds/m as main plot and subplots were 9 genotype involved promising lines and varieties. The effects of Salinity treatments studied by sampling on yield of genotypes and using stability parameters. That based on Shukla stability variance, Wricke ecovalance and Eberhart and Russell regression model the STW82153, MBS8715 and Valfajr genotypes and based on Romero environmental variance the MBS8712 genotype exhibited the most stability. The best performance in all salinity levels was shown by genotypes STW82153، MBS8715، ESBYTM8910 and Valfajr. Genotype MBS8712 showed the least change with increasing salt concentration and with the improvement of environmental conditions, genotypes MBS8715 and WB7910 had the highest production capacity. The results indicated that used stability parameters would be useful for simultaneously selecting for high yield and stability under salinity conditions.

Nowadays, biotechnological methods such as transgenic hairy root culture and application of elicitors have become an attractive source for secondary metabolites production. Hyssop species (Hyssopus spp.) having active ingredients including antioxidants such as phenolics, in this plant have shown anti-mutagenic, anti-carcinogenic and antiglycemic effects.

The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of silver nanoparticles on the growth and antioxidants of transgenic hairy root in two Hyssopus species including H. officinalis and H. angustifolius.

In this experiment, we used silver nanoparticles concentrations of 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 mg/l on transgenic hairy roots and Agrobacterium rhizogenes ATCC15834 strain for induction of hairy roots. Extraction of the samples were performed following ultrasonic method. Total phenolics content were determined using spectrophotometry. The antioxidant activity (AOA) of the extract were evaluated through 2, 2-dipheny l-1-picryl-hydrazy l (DPPH) method.

The results showed that silver nanoparticles as an elicitor had significant effect on the measured traits. The highest dry weight and fresh weight of the transgenic hairy roots were observed as much as 3.8 and 16 g/l in H. angustifolius and 3.2 and 14 g/l in H. officinalis, respectively. Which were caused by silver nanoparticles at the concentration of 0.1 mg/l, The amount of total antioxidants in H. angustifolius and H. officinaliswere 90.81% and 89.84%, respectively. In this study, we could observe relationship between antioxidant activity and plant phenolic content.

In general, we found that 0.1 mg/l silver nanoparticles could improve the growth of transgenic hairy roots and increase their phenolics and antioxidants content.

St. John’s wort is a traditional herbal medicine used to treat depression and wound healing. Natural resource dependency and traditional cultivation methods often require months and years of time to reach medicinal plants. Establishing a hairy root suspension culture system can accelerate proliferation on a large scale, improve breeding and protect the species, but optimization and production on a large scale require an increase in the biomass and secondary metabolites of the root. In this study, the effect of different concentrations of myo-inositol (50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175, 200, 225, 250, and 275 mg / l) were evaluated on biomass, phenol, flavonoid, DPPH activity and secondary metabolites in St. John's wort adventitious root in Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute-Central Region of Iran. The results showed that 125 and 150 mg L-1 myo-inositol concentration had the highest dry weight, growth rate and growth ratio. The concentrations of 100 and 250 mg L-1 myo-inositol have been showed the highest and lowest amount of hypericin and pseudohypercin, respectively. From the viewpoint of production of hyperforin, the treatment with 100 mg L-1 myo-inositol was highest and the concentration of 125 mg L-1 had the least effect on the level of hyperforin in St. John's wort adventitious root culture. There was a significant difference between treatments in terms of phenol and flavonoid content, so the concentration of 75 and 225 mg L-1 and 75 mg L-1 myo-inositol had the highest amount of phenol and flavonoids. The DPPH activity changes were different between treatments, and the 50 mg L-1 showed the lowest amount of DPPH activity. However, the DPPH activity was highest in treatment with 75 mg L-1 myo-inositol concentration. Since the potential for stimulating secondary metabolites varies among cultures, elicitors, conditions for applying different treatments and other parameters, further research is needed to optimize better and more efficient guidelines.

Determination of morphological characteristics of different promising lines of rice and the effects they have on yield can be considered a good tool for identification of preferable lines with ideal agronomical traits.

In order to evaluate the most important characteristics of cultivars affecting yield in 2017, a field experiment was conducted in a research farm of Sari University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, in a randomized complete block design with three replications, in 5 square meters plots with 25×25 space between them. Morphological characteristics include plant height, panicle length and number measured before harvest in the farm, as well as other characteristics after harvest in laboratory. At the end of growth season, panicles were harvested and collected in separate bags and were selected randomly for measurement of their morphological characteristics. Mean comparisons were calculated with Duncan method in 5% level of possibility. Also, variance analysis was calculated for all the traits. Cluster analysis was calculated with ward method. The genotypes were 30 promising lines of rice. In this study, 10 traits including plant height, panicle length, panicle number, total number of grains, number of filled grains, grain length, grain diameter, grain length to width ratio, 1000 grain weight and yield were evaluated.

Correlation analysis results showed that there was a positive and significant correlation between yield and number of panicles, number of filled grains and 1000 grain weight, but the length of the grain had a negative significant correlation with yield.The results of path analysis showed that the number of filled grains had the highest direct effect (0.67), and, after that, the number of panicles (0.59) and grain width (0.47) had the highest effect on yield.Therefore, based on the results obtained from this study, number of panicles and number of filled grains as selection index on rice yield improvement were identified.The results of cluster analysis of the studied lines were also classified into four groups. The genotypes in the second and the third, in addition to the higher yields, had the lower height, number of tillers and more grain number.The average deviation of clusters from total mean was calculated for these lines and the existence of this deviation can demonstrate diversity. The genotypes in the second group add up to 57% of all the genotypes, which is above the total mean in traits including panicle number, grain length, grain diameter, 1000 grain weight and yield.

According to the results of this study, the highest lines in terms of yield and other agronomical characteristics were 8, 13, 14, 15 and 28. Also, traits including number of panicles and filled grain number can be considered selecting factors for improvement of rice yield.

Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is one of the most important crops in tropical and subtropical areas. Study of variation among existing varieties is essential for development of new varieties. This study was conducted to investigate the quantitative characteristics and trait correlations in 14 eggplant genotypes. The cultivars and genotypes were grown in a randomized complete block design with three replications at research farm of Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University during 2018. Various traits including plant height, fruit weight, number of fruits per plant, day to 50 % flowering, number of branches per plant, fruit length, fruit diameter and fruit yield were measured. The results showed that there were significant differences among the genotypes for all measured traits at 1 % probability level. According to the results of mean comparisons AVF1 was identified as the best genotype with high fruit yield per plant. The study of trait correlations revealed that fruit yield had a positive and significant correlation with fruit weight, number of fruit per plant, number of branches per plant and fruit length. Using the stepwise regression analysis number of fruits per plant and fruit weight were selected as the significant variable in the model. The biplot analysis based on the first two components showed that there is a suitable genetic diversity among the studied genotypes, which can be used in eggplant breeding programs. Also, according to the direct relationship between the number of fruits per plant and the weight of fruit with fruit yield, these two characteristics can be used as a selection indicator to improve yield in eggplant.