طاهره حسنلو

Oilseed crops with a high relative amount of unsaturated fatty acids content are one of great significance for human health. Canola oil is considered one of the most health-promoting vegetable oils in terms of unsaturated fatty acid. Seed fatty acid composition and oil content of canola are also affected by drought stress. Large parts of the world are increasingly affected by drought. Drought stress is one of the most important abiotic factors which adversely affect growth, metabolism and yield of crops worldwide. In many parts of the Iran, canola is grown under rainfed conditions. Plant response to moisture stress has a negative effect on grain yield, which decreases significantly as a result of drought stress. Drought stress during flowering and seed-fill stages can alter oil contents and fatty acid compositions of canola seed. The present experiment studied the effect of drought stress on oil contents and fatty acid composition in canola genotypes at water stress under end-of-season drought (flowering and siliquing stages).

The experiment was conducted as split plot based on randomized complete block design with three replications. Irrigation regimes were considered as main plots and cultivars as subplots. Six winter canola cultivars including SLM046, Tassilo, Karun, Adriana, Cooper and Lilian were evaluated under irrigated and no irrigated. The irrigation regimes included: well-watered (irrigation during full season), water deficit at flowering stage and water deficit at siliquing stage.

The proportions (%) of fats (monounsaturated: polyunsaturated: saturated) in this study were approximately 68.0:26.0:6.0. The most abundant fatty acids in the current research were the oleic monounsaturated fatty acid (C18:1) and the polyunsaturated fatty acids, Linoleic acid (C18:2) and Linolenic acid (C18:3), in the proportions 67.96:17.21:8.75. The most abundant saturated fatty acid was Palmitic acid (C16:0), Stearic acid (18:0) and Myristic (14:0), in the proportions 3.87: 2.11: 0.044 % in samples. Based on analysis of variance, significant differences were observed between genotypes for oil yield (%), seed yield (kg ha-1), Palmitic acid, Palmitolic acid, Stearic acid, Oleic acid, Linoleic acid, Linolenic acid, total saturated fatty acid (TSFA) and ratio of total unsaturated to total saturated fatty acid (TU/TS). The results of analysis of variance indicated that drought stress at flowering and siliquing stages significantly affected the amount of Myristic, Palmitic, Palmitolic, Stearic, Linoleic acids. The results showed that the highest and the lowest Oleic acid and seed oil percentage were found in "Lilian" and "Tassilo" genotypes, respectively. Also, the highest and the lowest palmitic and linoleic acids content belong to "Tassilo" and "Lilian" genotypes, respectively. These results suggest significant associations between Oleic acid with Palmitic and Linoleic acids. Oleic acid had significantly and negatively correlated with Palmitic acid, Linoleic acid and Linolenic acid, but it had a significant and positive correlation with oil content. Strong and negative correlation between oleic and Linoleic acid suggest significant connections among these fatty acids, as expected by their close biochemical association. Under well-watered conditions (non-stress), the values of Palmitic, Myristic, Linoleic acids were significantly higher than drought stress at flowering (excepted for linoleic acid) and siliquing stages. At drought stress at flowering and siliquing stages, reduction in Palmitic acid content was 3.78 and 3.58%, in Myristic acid content was 17.06 and 21.67% and in Linoleic acid content was 2.24 and 3.44%, respectively. Under well-watered conditions (non-stress), the value of TSFA was significantly higher than drought stress at flowering and siliquing stages. Whereas, water stress under end-of-season drought increased TU/TS compared to the non-stress condition.

In this study, the water stress under end-of-season drought (flowering and siliquing stages) in canola crops considering fatty acid composition and seed oil stability has been studied. The changes in fatty acids composition in the present study were probably due to the combined effect of water deficits and high temperatures during the seed-filling period with the end-of-season drought treatment (flowering and siliquing stages). This study showed that drought decreases slightly seed oil percentage, alters fatty acid composition and affects fatty acid composition stability. In addition, development of drought tolerant canola genotypes with stable high oleic and low Linolenic acid genes is critical to maintain the stability of oil production and desirable fatty acid composition. In conclusion, Further work is needed to determine the cause of alters in oleic and in fatty acids concentration, under drought stress in canola. The highest Oleic acid and seed oil percentage in non-stress and water stress under end-of-season drought were found in "Lilian" genotype. Therefore, this genotype would be good parents in a breeding program to develop cultivars for stressed conditions, because their oil content remains unaffected but Oleic acid is increased by drought, thus improving the oil shelf-life and quality.

Background and objectiveRapeseed (Brassica napus L.) is a major crop cultivated worldwide mainly for oil, human consumption and renewable fuel. Plant growth is controlled by several factors, of which water plays a vital role. Large parts of the world are increasingly affected by drought. Drought stress is one of the most important abiotic factors which adversely affect growth, metabolism and yield of crops worldwide. Drought stress, during any particular growth stage of crops results in yield reduction. Under shortage of water, plants accumulate metabolites, such as sugars and inorganic ion, to regulate osmotic potential. Mixed linear model (MLM) methods have proven useful in controlling for population structure and relatedness within genome-wide association studies. Materials and methodsIn other to identify the informative markers of physiologic traits and indices of 22 canola genotypes under drought stress, 36 microsatellite markers linked to the QTLs controlling morphologic characteristics (shoot dry weight, total dry weight, root dry weight and plant height) under drought stress were used. In order to identify genomic regions involved in controlling physiological traits, GLM and MLM association models were used. Results and discussionsThirteen six selected primers produced 166 bands, with 157 (94.58%) being polymorphic, indicating considerable genetic diversity among lines and genotypes. The polymorphic information content values of loci was varied from 0.043 (CB10502) to 0.398 (CB10234), respectively. The highest PIC values were for CB10234, CB10143, SR94102, NA10-E02 and BRMS-030 primers, and the lowest for CB10502, Ol10-B02, CB1003, and FITO133 primers.The results of Mantel test showed that the correlation coefficient for stress and non-stress conditions was 0.024 and 0.06, respectively. According to this test, the correlation between physiological traits and molecular data matrix was not significant. Based on the 36 microsatellite markers used in this study, population genetic structure subdivided into eight subpopulations (K=8) that barplat results also confirmed it. In association analysis based on GLM and MLM models, 6 and 16 loci showed significant relation with assessed traits at non-stress conditions, respectively. Also based on GLM and MLM models, 42 and 46 loci indicated significant relation with assessed traits at drought stress conditions, respectively.In this study, 16 markers include Ol10-B02, BRAS084, Na10E02B, BRAS074a, CB10526, Na10-C01f, CB10003b, OL11-H06, FITO133, Na14-096, BRAS072a, CB10143, NA10-E02b, BRMS-031, CB10502, CB10010 hadn’t significant relationship with the physiological and morphological traits. The markers BRAS041, CB10597, BRMS-036, Sorf73b, CB10081c, MR013c, Na12-B05 and NA14-E08a were associated with the traits in non-stress conditions. Also, the markers CB10597, BRMS-036, SR94102, BRAS100, CB1059b, BRMS-024, BRMS-096, BRMS-30, MR013c and Pmr52 showed a significant relationship with physiological and morphological traits in drought stress conditions. ConclusionFinally, the markers BRMS-036, SR94102, BRAS100, CB1059b, BRMS-024, BRMS-096, BRMS-30, MR013c and Pmr52 showed the most significant relationship with physiological traits in drought stress conditions. Therefore, it is probably that these markers would be a very suitable and promising candidate for drought stress tolerance programs, such as marker assisted selection for canola. Also, probably the genes associated with these traits are near genes in the chromosomal location and may be useful in providing basic information about the indirect selection of traits through relevant markers.

In recent years due to the demonstration of destructive side effects of chemical drugs, utilizing herbal drugs to treat diseases have increased. The medicinal Vaccinium is one of the popular plants which have many pharmaceutical, food and industrial values. There are about 100 species of this genus around the world but Ghare-Ghat (Vaccinium arctostaphlyus) is the only species present in Iran which has been reported in six regions of the country. The major metabolites in the leaves and fruits of Ghare-Ghat are phenols, especially anthocyanins, which have antioxidant properties. The fruit essence contains 30% sugar, 5.15% protein, 1.5% fat and the young shoots contain hexadecanoic acid, vitispirane Beta-ionone and sandaracopimaradiene. In Iranian traditional medicine, fruit infusion has been used to reduce blood sugar and blood pressure. Due to high levels of acid in Ghare-Ghat it has antibacterial effects and is used to treat bladder infections. It also has anti cyanosed compounds which help in the formation of stronger capillaries and reduction of the stickiness of blood platelets. Today, with the remarkable advances of biotechnology including tissue culture, access to high quality and quantity of products of this genus has increased. The genus Vaccinium and in particular Ghare-Ghat has high economic value in Iran and requires further study to increase its cultivation and production of food and pharmaceutical products.

Biochar which is producing by thermal decomposition of organic material under limited supply of oxygen and relatively low temperatures, produces with the intent to be applied as a technique for improving soil properties. Adding biochar to the soils boosts soil fertility and improves the porosity, moisture, cation exchange capacity, pH, and development and reproduction of microbes in the long term. Research indicated that biochar potentially enhanced soil water holding capacity. This infers that soil amendment with biochar may improve crop productivity by retaining more water from rainfall in arid regions and reduce the frequency/amount of irrigation water in irrigated regions. Currently there is no logical method to increase precipitation during drought periods, therefore using drought resistance cultivars and appropriate agricultural techniques are the best solution to deal with this problem. Using soil amendments like biochar to increase water retention has been considered for a long time to decrease the drought effects. This study aimed to assess the effect of biochar on growth and yield of fenugreek landraces under deficit irrigation.

To assess the effect of biochar on growth and yield of fenugreek landraces under deficit irrigation, a field experiment was conducted in 2015 at the Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute of Iran, Karaj, Iran. Six branched fenugreek landraces including Dezful, Shushtar, Ardestan, Rehnan, Yazd, and KhomeyniShahr were treated by biochar application and non-application under 2 different irrigation intervals. A split plot factorial experiment in a randomized complete block design with three replications was used. Each plot had the size of 4 m × 2.5 m with a plant density of 40 plant m-2. Biochar was derived from rice husk at 500°C in an oxygen depleted environment. Biochar application rate was calculated based on bulk density for the 30 cm layer of the soil (8:92 v/v) and added to the top layer of the soil. Increasing irrigation interval from 4 to 8 days applied from 50% of flowering stage. Seeds were sown on May 10th and mature plants were harvested on November 11th. Plant height, number of main and secondary branches, as well as yield and yield components were measured. Statistical analyses were done using SAS (9.2) software.

According to the results, assessed traits were not significantly affected by triple interaction effect of treatments and also double interaction effect of landrace and biochar. But biochar application increased the number of main and secondary branches, 100-seed weight, and seed yield on 4- days irrigation interval by 19.75, 18.13, 17.54, and 24.33%, respectively and on 8-days irrigation interval by 2.61, 19.52, 8.67, and 26.66%, respectively. Moreover, increasing irrigation interval decreased plant height by 22.42, 22.01, 27.23, 13.66, 27.13, 26.62%; the number of main branches by 6.18, 7.92, 31.84, 16.66, 24.22%, 32.97%; the number of secondary branches by 40.54, 39.09, 40.99, 39.83, 40.89, 40.88%; 100-seed weight by 20.43, 8.70, 17.22, 26.98, 26.44, 23.11%; and seed yield by 61.20, 47.55, 50.12, 44.71, 38.44, 46.24% in Dezful, Shushtar, Ardestan, Rehnan, Yazd, and KhomeyniShahr landraces, respectively. However, the number of pods plant-1 and seeds pod-1 were not significantly affected by interaction effects of treatments. Several studies showed the reduction of crop growth and production under water deficit. Baradaran et al. (2013) also indicated increase in irrigation intervals decreased plant height, the number of pods, the number of seeds pod-1, and thousand-seed weight in fenugreek. This results are due to increase in allocation of photosynthetic material to roots than shoot resulting in smaller plants with less leaf area as a key factor in receiving solar radiation, water and energy exchange, and biomass production. Several studies reported increased water holding capacity by biochar addition because of its high adsorption capacity and porous structure. Akhtar et al. (2014) also reported that addition of biochar increased the soil moisture content in deficit irrigation which consequently improved physiology, yield and quality of tomato compared with non-biochar control.

In conclusion, adding biochar at a concentration of 7-8% to a loamy soil reduced the effect of water deficit on fenugreek growth and seed yield. Biochar increase seed yield by increasing seed weight rather than the number of pods plant-1 and seeds pod-1.

Drought stress is one of the most important abiotic factors which adversely affects growth, metabolism and yield of crops worldwide. The goal of the research was identify drought tolerate canola genotypes using the different drought tolerance indices. The experiment was conducted as split plot based on randomized complete block design with three replications at the experimental farm of agricultural and natural resources research center, Yazd, Iran .Two irrigation levels consisting of irrigation after 80mm evaporation from class “A” pan as control, no irrigation from flowering stage were applied in main plots and subplots were 21 winter canola cultivars/double haploid. Six drought tolerance indices, including stress tolerance index (STI), geometric mean productivity (GMP), stress susceptibility index (SSI), mean productivity (MP), stress tolerance (TOL), harmonic mean (HM) were used and calculated for all treatments. Then selection index of ideal genotype (SIIG) based on both tolerance indices (STI, GMP, SSI, MP, TOL, and HM) and morphological traits were defined and calculated. Selection index of ideal genotype (SIIG) is a decision making method that is very simple to implement. The results showed water stress negatively affected yield and yield components, plant height, and number of branches of rapeseed genotypes. Based on the results "SLM046" and "Adriana" with maximum SIIG (0.791 and 0.756) were identified as the most ideal genotypes among assessed genotypes. As "SLM046" and "Adriana" genotypes were superior to the other genotypes under drought condition, they can be considered as promising genotypes for drought regions. These results were also approved by three dimensional scatter graphs. It is concluded that selection index of ideal genotype (SIIG) could be serve as an appropriate index to identify drought tolerance genotypes based on a set of drought stress tolerance indices and morphological traits in crops.

Garlic (Allium sativum( is one of the most important pharmaceutical and industrial plants with medicinal properties such as lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, fighting against infectious diseases, cancer prevention, anti-diabetic properties, antioxidant and anti-fungal properties. It is a rich source of organosulphur compounds such as allicin (diallyl disulphide oxide) which is produced enzymatically from alliin (S-2- propenyl-L-cystiene sulfoxide) if cells are damaged. Hairy root culture using Agrobactrium rhizogenes is one of the practical methods for studying secondary metabolite pathway. These hairy roots are genetically stable and grow rapidly. In this study, the hairy root induction is studied in two separate experiments which were run in a factorial completely randomized design with three replications. In the first experiment, the effects of bacterial strain (ATCC15834 and A4), variety (Gorgon and Ramhormoz), inoculation medium (MS, MS containing 3% sucrose and MS containing 6% sucrose) and bacterial densities (OD600 = 0.6 to 0.9 and 1.2 to 1.5) were examined. In the second experiment, the effects of co-culture medium (MS, MS containing acetosyringone, B5 and B5 containing acetosyringone) and co-culture time (24, 48 and 72 hours) were studied. A systematic study using two strains and densities of Agrobactrium rhizogenes was carried out to determine the best condition for hairy root induction in two varieties of garlic in different inoculation and co-culture media. Results showed that bacterial strain A4, MS inoculation medium containing 6% sucrose, OD between 0.5 and 1, MS co-culture medium containing acetosyringone, and co-culture time 72 hours had the highest percentage of hairy root induction. Hairy roots were approved using polymerase chain reaction for gene rol B. Amplification of the specific gene was noted in the transformant at 780 bp. Hairy root cultures have received more attention in recent years and were extensively used to produce important secondary metabolites and also as experimental systems for secondary metabolic pathway elucidation studies. The results of this studymay be very helpfulfor hairy root induction in garlic which could further be useful for studying gene function and consequently, production of secondary metabolites in this plant.

Melia indica and M. azedarach (Meliaceae) are widely used in traditional medicine. These species are considered as natural pesticides. Their major compound is azadirachtin (AZD) which is considered as the marker for quality control of these species. In the present investigation, AZD content of the leaves and fruits (comprising the whole fruit, peel, pulp and seeds) of M. indica and M. azedarach have been determined. The leaves and fruits of M. indica and M. azedarach were collected from Bandar Abbas and Gorgan, respectively and identified. The peel, pulp and seeds were separated from each other. One gram of each sample was extracted using methanol. AZD content of each extract was determined by HPLC with following condition: C18 column, mobile phase: acetonitrile: H2O (60:40), flow rate: 1 mL/min, wave length: 227 nm and run time: 6 min. The results revealed that the fruits of the species contained higher amounts of AZD compared to the leaves. Comparing the species, AZD content of M. indica fruits was about two folds in comparison with M. azedarach fruits; also, the content of AZD in the seeds of M. indica was more than peel and pulp of the plant fruits. AZD content was high in peel of M. azedarach and was trace in pulp and seeds of the plant fruits. It is concluded that M. azedarach peel could be suggested to be used regarding pesticide properties while it is better to use the whole fruits of M. indica for insecticidal effects.

In the present study, genetic diversity among 41 lines and genotypes of canola including 19 open-pollinated and hybrid cultivars, 17 promising lines and 5 double-haploid lines were determined using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers related on drought tolerance QTLs. Thirty-six selected primers produced 166 discernible bands, with 157 (94.58%) being polymorphic, indicating considerable genetic diversity among lines and genotypes. The polymorphic information content values of loci were varied from 0.046 (FITO133) to 0.327 (BRMS-024), respectively. The average of PIC index was estimated 0.212. Cultivars were classified into two sub-populations according to analysis of population structure including (Talaye, Hyola420 and Hyola401 genotypes and DH1, DH5, DH8, Dh9 and DH11 double haploids) as first group and winter cultivars as second group (other cultivars and lines). Based on the analysis of molecular variance, intra-population variance was higher than inter-population variance. The results showed that average of marker index including Nei’s gene diversity, Shannon’s information index, the effective number of alleles were 1.508, 0.449 and 0.298 respectively in line and genotypes of canola. In total, the marker wasn't found to be using it as a marker for selecting genotypes of drought tolerant used in the first step of breeding programs.

To study the haplotype and allelic diversity and to identify the informative markers of morphologic characteristics of 41 canola lines and genotypes under drought stress, 36 microsatellite markers linked to the QTLs located on the chromosome A1, C3, C5 and C6 controlling morphologic characteristics under drought stress were used. Thirteen seven selected primers produced 166 discernible bands, with 157 (94.58%) being polymorphic, indicating considerable genetic diversity among lines and genotypes. The results showed that average of marker index including Nei’s gene diversity, Shannon’s information index, the effective number of alleles were 1.508, 0.449 and 0.298 respectively in line and genotypes of rapeseed. The haplotype diversity was characterized with SSR markers associated using the QTLs associated with the two traits (shoot dry weight and total dry weight) on chromosome A1, C3, C5 and C6. The results showed that forty one rapeseed lines and genotypes divided into 9 and 5 different haplotypes based on total dry weight QTL located on chromosome A1 and C3, respectively using SLM046 cultivar as the reference. The haplotypes possessing Ol2-F11, BRMS-096 and BARS041 markers on chromosome A1 and Na10-E02, FITO133 and Na12-A08 markers on chromosome C1 could discriminate the tolerant genotypes and hence could be useful for marker-assisted selection of QTL associated with drought tolerance.

High demand for herbal medicines and the limited plant sources necessitates more research on these plants to increase their yield and effective compounds. The present study assessed the effect of biochar on yield and seed trigonelline content of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graceum L.) ecotypes under different irrigation regimes. Six branched fenugreek ecotypes including Dezful, Shushtar, Ardestan, Rehnan, Yazd and Khomeyni Shahr were treated by biochar application (at a rate of 7-8% of soil v/v) and non-application under two irrigation intervals of 4 (normal irrigation) and 8 (deficit irrigation) days using a split plot factorial experiment in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The study was conducted in the research field of Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute of Iran in 2015. According to the results, biochar application increased the seed yield and biological yield under both irrigation intervals. The decreasing effect of increasing water intervals on seed yield, biological yield and trigonelline yield was observed in all ecotypes. Changes in seed trigonelline content did not follow a similar trend in different ecotypes. In summary, although biochar prevented the growth and yield reduction by decreasing water deficiency effects, itdid not have any significant effect on seed trigonelline content.

In this research, the possibility of applying selection index of ideal genotype (SIIG) technique for identify tolerate genotypes using the different drought tolerance indices be amended. The experiment was conducted as split plot based on randomized complete block design with three replications at the experimental farm of agricultural research institute and natural resources, Yazd, Iran in 2011-2012. Three irrigation levels consisting of irrigation after 80mm evaporation from class “A” pan as control, no irrigation from stem elongation stage until flowering and flowering stage until podding stage were applied in main plots and Subplots were six winter canola cultivars. Thirteen drought tolerance indices including stress susceptibility index, stress tolerance index, tolerance index, abiotic-stress tolerance index, stress susceptibility percentage index, stress non-stress production index, relative drought index, harmonic mean, percentage of yield reduction, yield stability index, yield index, mean productivity and geometric mean productivity and also selection index of ideal genotype were calculated. The results indicated that drought stress significantly decreased the stomatal conductivity at stem elongation and flowering stages. Tassilo genotype with the highest selection index of ideal genotype values, near to one was accepted drought tolerance genotype; also Cooper and Adriana genotypes with the lowest selection index of ideal genotype values, near to zero were accepted drought susceptible genotypes at drought stress conditions from stem elongation stage until flowering. Lilian genotype with the highest selection index of ideal genotype value, near to one, perceived as the drought tolerance genotype under drought stress in flowering stage and Cooper and Adriana genotypes with the lowest selection index of ideal genotype values, near to zero were perceived as the drought susceptible genotypes. Thus, Tassilo and Lilian genotypes may be used as the genetic sources for drought resistance.

This experiment was conducted to investigate of drought effect on some physiological parameters and amino acids accumulation in two canola cultivars (SLM046 and Cooper; tolerance and sensitive to water stress, respectively). The experiment was carried out during two growth phase (stem elongation and flowering stage) using irrigation levels consisting of irrigation after 80 mm evaporation from class “A” pan as control, no irrigation from stem elongation stage and flowering stage. The results showed that water stress significantly diminished seed yield, stomata conductance, chlorophyll a and b, carotenoid content and soluble protein content in leaves of both cultivars. Also antioxidant enzyme activity (catalase, peroxidase and ascorbate peroxidase) were enhanced with drought stress at stem elongation stage, but peroxidase and ascorbate peroxidase activity were decreased at flowering stage. The amino acids of Tryptophane, serine, glutamine and α-amino butyric acid showed highest abundance of total amino acids at stem elongation stage, also glutamine, isoleucine, serine and histidine revealed highest amount of total amino acids at flowering stage. An increase in contains most of amino acids in response to drought stress at flowering stage was observed. The significant accumulation of aspartic acid, asparagines, glutamine, lysine, cysteine, tryptophan and phenylalanine under drought at elongation stage, and significant accumulation of glutamine, glycine, thyrosine, methionine, phenylalanine and isoleucine under drought at flowering stage were observed in the drought-tolerant SLM046, whereas no were showed the significant accumulation of amino acids in the drought-sensitive Cooper under drought. Thus it can conclude that tolerance of genotypes to drought stress is closely associated with their accumulation of free amino acids.

Aim: The effect of chitosan (low molecular weight) as elicitor was evaluated on silymarin production and biochemical factors in hairy root cultures of Silybum marianum.
Material and Different concentrations of chitosan (0, 5, 10, 20 and 30 mg/50 ml of culture media) was added to hairy root cultures of S. marianum (30 days) and sampling were carried out after 12, 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 hours. The silymarin level, activity of guaiacol peroxidase and ascorbate peroxidase as well as concentration of H2O2 were determined in the samples.
The results indicated that the highest dry weight was in cultures treated with 10 mg /50 ml culture chitosan after 48 and 96 h. Silymarin production was significantly increased from 0.37 in control to 1.19 mg g-1 dry weight in the treated samples, at which the increased level was 1.4-fold higher than the control. Guaiacol peroxidase was activated by chitosan and reaching a pick after 120 h (21.86 ∆OD g-1FW min-1) which was 2.2 fold higher than the control. The ascorbate peroxidase activity kept increasing until 96 h after elicitation (5.14 ∆ODg-1FW).
The results showed that the silymarin production has been promoted by chitosan (low molecular weight). Increased of enzymes activity occurs as a result of free radical elimination and represents a reaction to chitosan as a stress factor.

In order to evaluate the effect of zeolite application and selenium spraying on some physiological traits and grain yield in medicinal pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo L.) under different moisture regimes, a study was conducted in a factorial experiment based on randomized complete block design with three replications during 2010 in Takestan at Gazvin province, Iran. The three levels of irrigation factors including normal irrigation based on 60mm evaporation from class A pan (control), withhold irrigation at the flowering and fruit formation stages, zeolite factors including two levels of non-application and use of 10 tons per hectare and selenium was sprayed at two concentration in zero and 30 grams per liter per hectare. The results showed that water deficit stress decreased stomatal conductivity, carotenoid content, chlorophyll a, total chlorophyll, grain yield and increased proline concentration and chlorophyll b content. Zeolite application of 10 tons per hectare under water deficit stress conditions had desirable effect on chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b content and grain yield, also improved traits as stomatal conductivity and reduced proline concentration. The highest grain yield (1329 kg.ha-1) was obtained with zeolite and selenium application together at normal irrigation conditions. According to the results, it seems that application of zeoilite and selenium in areas that are subjected to water deficit stress can be useful in improving plant growth and production.

The effect of drought stress and application of mineral zeolite was evaluated on morphological and physiological traits of mallow on complete random blocks design with three replications in greenhouse conditions in Maragheh (1390). Factors including, drought stress (control (100 percent FC), mild drought stress (75 percent FC) and intense drought stress (50 percent FC)) and zeolite (0, 2, 4, 6, 8 gram/kilogram soil). Significant differences were observed between the treatments. The results show that the highest shoot fresh weight (164 gram), root ( 87/66 g), shoot length ( 79 cm), stomata conductance (875.00 milli mol/m2/second) electrolytic leakage (87.72 milli mol cm-1), a and b chlorophyll (25/72 and 9/06 mg g-1 ) were observed in 8 gram zeolite and 100 percent moisture field capacity. Also the highest amount of soluble sugar (155.20 and mg g-1 DW) and prolin content (1/41 µMg-1 FW) was belong to zeolite control level, 50 percent moisture field capacity. The application of different levels of zeolite in each three moisture conditions improved agricultural traits. Totally, the results of this research shows that the application of zeolite in combination with soil prevent from water waste and facilitate water availability to plant.

Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) is one of the major crops cultivated mainly for oil, human consumption and renewable fuel all over the world. Drought stress is one of the most important abiotic factors which adversely affect growth, metabolism and yield of crops in semiarid and arid area. Drought stress during any particular growth stage of crops causes yield reduction. In order to evaluate the effect of drought stress on yield, physiological, morphological and biochemical characteristics of rapeseed in flowering stage, this field experiment was carried out in Yazd agricultural research institute during 2011-2012. The experiment was conducted in split-plot design based on randomized complete blocks with three replications imposed. Irrigation was considered as the main plot at two levels including control (irrigation after 80 mm evaporation from class A pan) and stress in the anthesis stage (irrigation after 160 mm evaporation from class A pan) and cultivars (Oise, Triangle, Karun and SLM046) were considered as sub plots. Sampling was carried out 7, 12 and 26 days after drought stress imposed. In each plot, 7, 12 and 26 days after stop irrigation from flowering stage (drought stress treatment), 4-5 expanded leaves from above of canopy were harvested. Relative water content of leaves and stomatal conductance were recorded. Soluble carbohydrate and proline content were measured. The lipid peroxidation level of the leaves was determined by measuring the content of malondealdehyde. Yield and yield components (number of grains per pod, number of pod per plant and weight of 1000 grains) were recorded at maturity. The results showed that drought and cultivar interaction on SPAD value was not significant after stress. The interaction of the drought on leaf relative water content was significant at 26 days after the stress. The results revealed that, drought stress led to a significant decrease in relative water content of leaves and stomata conductance in all cultivars. However, soluble carbohydrates and proline were increased after stress application. The interaction of drought on soluble carbohydrate was significant at 26 days after the stress. Interaction of treatments on leaf proline content in each sampling period was significant. The highest content of proline was observed in SLM046 (11.76 mM g-1 fresh weight) and the lowest proline content was observed in Oise cultivar (6.01 mM g-1 fresh weight). MDA content was increased in stress conditions. The highest MDA content was observed in Oise cultivar (1.15 µM g-1 fresh weight) 26 days after the stress and the lowest MDA observed in SLM046 cultivar (0.695 µM g-1 fresh weight) 7days after the stress. Analysis of variance for yield and yield components under irrigation regimes showed that, interaction of treatments on grain yield and weight of 1000 grains was significant. Triangle and SLM046 cultivars had higher grain yield in compare to the other cultivars. SLM046 exhibited the highest stress tolerance and also contained the highest yield, grain weight, number of pod per plant, relative water content and stomata conductance among all the cultivars. In addition, the highest and the lowest yield were observed in cultivars SLM046 and Karun (2553and 2178 kg ha-1, respectively), following stress application. Water deficit stress on canola decreased the number of pods per plant and the number of grains per pod. Occurrence of drought stress during flowering reduced the number of grains per pod and canola yield. The results showed that, there was significant difference between cultivars for crop yield, weight of thousands grains, relative water content, stomata conductance, proline and carbohydrate content. Increased carbohydrate and proline content as osmolites caused lower cell water potential. The cultivars had different response to drought stress and the the highest yield and RWC were observed in SLM046 cultivar. Sugar and proline in the cell, the cell water potential decreased. The drought tolerance of SLM046 was better than other cultivars and had the highest yield and Relative water content.

Drought is one of the major environmental factors limiting crop production in the world. In order to evaluate some physiological and biochemical traits of rapeseed varieties (Brassica napus L.) under drought stress, a field experiment was conducted as a split plot, arranged in a Randomized Complete Block Design (CRBD) with three replications at the end of flowering to seed filling (26 days). The main factor was drought stress in two levels including stress and control (160 and 80 mm evaporation from pan, respectively) and the sub-factor was cultivar at three levels including 1– Billy 2- Adriana and 3- Tassilo. Relative water content, stomatal conductance, proline and total sugar content were measured 7, 12 and 26 days after the cessation of irrigation. The results showed drought stress at flowering stage (7 days after stress) reduced the relative water content, stomatal conductance and increased total sugar and proline content. Stress at pod setting stage (12 days after stress) and seed filling (26 days after stress) reduced the relative water content and stomatal conductance and increased proline and total sugar content. Seed yield and its components were measured after plant maturity. Stress at flowering stage reduced seed yield and its components but reductions in seed weight were not significant. The highest and lowest seed yield was observed in Adriana in control treatments (2814kg/h) and in Tassilo in stress conditions (994/4kg/h), respectively. According to the results, Adriana showed a better performance under drought stress than other cultivars. Thus, cultivation of this cultivar is recommended in arid areas.

Uncontrolled use of chemical drugs increases microbial strains resistant to antibiotics. There is an urgent need for discovery of new anti microbial compounds. Nowadays, many researchers have been done to introduce antibacterial compounds with natural origin. Aim of this study was in vitro assessment of antimicrobial effects of methanolic extract from dried fruits of Silybum marianum. Hungarian seeds of Silybum marianum were defatted by ethyl acetate. The flavonolignans were extracted with methanol. Antimicrobial effects of methanolic extract (pure extract, 2000, 1000, 500, 250 125, 62.5 and 0 mg/ml) were examined on six species of microorganisms (Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus antheracis) with three methods such as disk diffusion, well diffusion, porpelite and spread-plate methods. The experiment was performed three times with three replicates. According to results of this investigation, there was no growth inhibition zone in disk diffusion method for all dilutions of plant extract. The highest growth inhibition zone (19 mm) was observed in Strep. pyogenes in well diffusion method. In porpelite method, the growth inhibition zone was indicated in all of dilutions plant extract for B. cereus culture, in 2000 and 1000 mg/ml for B. antheracis and in 2000 mg/ml for Strep. pyogenes. Our results showed that, the extract had antibacterial effect on B. Cereus, B. anthracis and Strep. pyogenes in spread-plate method but had less effect on S. aureus, P. aeruginosa and E. coli. With attention to our finding, it could be concluded that methanolic extract of Silybum marianum has antibacterial effects on current clinical pathogen microorganisms. Therefore, it must be evaluated in vivo and clinically.

The effect of salicylic acid and methyl jasmonate elicitors on the growth speed and the secondary metabolites production was investigated in G.glabra hairy roots. Considering the importance of the Glycyrrhizin and Isoliquiritigenin secondary metabolites in the roots of this plant, a method of the induction of transformed hairy roots was used in this study. Hairy roots culture was established by Inoculated leaf and stem explants with Agrobacterium rhizogenes of the three-week old seedlings. The presence of T-DNA in the hairy root lines was performed by PCR. The effect of Salicylic acid was caused an increase in the production of Glycyrrhizin. Correlation of test results showed an inverse relationship between dry weight and amount of Glycyrrhizin in the treatment with salicylic acid. The highest amount of Glycyrrhizin and the lowest dry weight was obtained in 500 micro-molar concentration. Treatment of the hairy roots with salicylic acid was caused a significant decrease in Isoliquiritigenin. Also results showed, methyl jasmonate reduces the production of Glycyrrhizin and Isoliquiritigenin.

This study is performed to analyze the effect of zeolite application on yield and yield components of rapeseed under drought conditions as a factorial-split on the base of randomized complete block design with four replications in 2011-12 in research field of Seed and Plant Improvement Institute, Karaj. The effects of zeolite levels Z0 (0) and Z10 (10 ton/ha) under three drought stress levels, control (irrigation after 40%), moderate stress, (irrigation after 60%) and severe stress (irrigation after 80% soil water depletion) were in main plots and four genotypes of Brassica napus (KR4, Eldo lines and GKH 305, Anatol cultivars) were in subplots. Based on the results, negative impact of drought on yield components, lead to a significant fall in grain and oil yield. The most negative impact of drought stress was seen in the grain number per silique. The use of zeolites with a positive impact on the number of silique per stem, seed number per silique and seed weight showed an increase of 27, 64 and 94% average seed yield, in control, moderate and severe stress conditions, respectively. Between genotypes, GKH305 in none stress condition and Anatol in both mild and severe stress conditionshad the highest yield. According to the result, zeolite can be used in growth period or part time of drought stress.

Burdock (Arctium lappa L.) is an important medicinal plant containing arctiin and arctigenin، which are important secondary metabolits used as anticancer reagents. Due to the existence of important secondary metabolites in this plant، development of a reliable in vitro tissue culture and regeneration methods to facilitate genetic transformation in this plant is important. In the current study، for optimization of the callus induction، leaf، petiole and root explants of A. lappa were cultured in solid MS medium، which was supplemented with 0. 5% PVP (as an anti-oxidant) and different concentrations and combinations of BA and 2،4-D hormones. This study revealed that the petiole explants induced highest callus rate comparing to the other tested explants. In addition، two hormones combined concentrations of 0. 5 mg/L BA + 1. 0 mg/L 2،4-D and 1. 0 mg/L BA + 2. 0 mg/L 2،4-D، produced the highest amount of callus and were the most suitable treatments for the callus induction.

In order to study of drought stress on physiological and agronomical characteristics of rapeseed varieties، an experiment was carried out as split plot based on randomized complete block design with three replications at Yazd region during of 2011-2012. Irrigation treatments was designed in two levels as main plot including irrigation after 80 mm evaporation from evaporation pan، class A (control treatment) and drought stress as withholding irrigation from flowering stage، and varieties lilian، Cooper and Savannah as sub plots. Sampling stages was done 7، 12 and 26 days after treatment. The results indicated that drought stress significantly decreased the stomatal conductivity، relative water content (RWC)، plant height، silique per plant، 1000 grain weight and grain yield، whereas، in comparison with control SPAD value was higher. Lilian indicated the higher stomatal conductivity (196 mmol m-2 s-1) and RWC، silique per plant (300 silique)، 1000 grain weight (4. 06 g) and grain yield (1411 kg. ha-1). In this study، Geometric mean productivity (GMP) and Stress tolerance index (STI) had the high correlation with grain yield in normal and drought stress conditions. Also، Bi-plot diagram based on two principal components indicated that Lilian variety with higher GMP and STI indices in addition with higher GMP and STI both in stress and non stress environment had the highest grain yield.

This experiment was conducted as factorial laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications in Roudehen Research field, in 2010. Two factors; vermin compost at four levels (5, 10, 15, and 20 ton.ha-1 and check) as first factor and phosphate bio-fertilizer in two levels (Inoculation and Non Inoculation) as second factor. Results showed vermin compost had significant effect on all of investigate traits. Seed inoculation with phosphate bio-fertilizer had significant effect on capsule number, fresh weigh of leaf, fresh weight of stem, fresh weight of flower, total fresh weight per plant, dry weight of flower, total dry weight per plant, and seed yield. As well as, only capsule diameter not significant at interaction of vermin-compost phosphate × bio-fertilizer. The most of seed yield was produced with 20 ton vermincompost, because of increased capsule number, capsule diameter and 1000 seed weight. As, plant height, fresh weight of leaf, fresh weight of stem, fresh weight of flower and total fresh weight per plant, dry weight of flower and total dry weight per plant had maximum in this rate. With inoculation of phosphate bio-fertilizer, cause of increase capsule number and capsule diameter, had observed highest seed yield. The maximum seed yield (2150.2 kg ha-1) was obtained at interaction of 20 ton vermin-compost × with inoculation. Therefore, 20 ton vermin-compost and phosphate inoculation, because of increased seed yield was introduced the best treatment.