نجمه هادی

Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) is a valuable medicinal plant with many applications in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic health industries. Chamomile's biological properties are attributed to its essential oil (EO) compounds, especially chamazulene and a-bisabolol oxide A, and flavonoids, esp. apigenin and luteolin. Evaluation of wild plant populations belonging to different geographical regions in situ (study on wild samples) and ex-situ (study on wild samples under agricultural conditions) is a crucial step in plant breeding and selection of promising genotypes. On the other hand, cultivation and domestication of wild plants under agricultural conditions improve plant yield and prevent unnecessary harvesting and extinction of the plant. In the present study, the quantitative and qualitative EO diversity of some wild chamomile was investigated. Flowers and seeds of 15 wild chamomile populations were collected from Iran's natural habitats, including 12 populations from Khuzistan province (Kh1-12), 2 populations from Fars province (F1-2), and 1 population from Bushehr province (F3) in 2021 (February-May). Flowers were used for essential oil extraction, and seeds were planted in a randomized complete block design (treatment = genotype) with three replications. The research farm located at Alborz Research Station, affiliated with the Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Alborz province, was considered a cultivation site without adding fertilizer to the soil. The seeds were sown directly in the field with a 15 cm distance between the planting lines and 15 cm between the plants on the lines (April 2021). Drip irrigation was used, and weeding was done mechanically. Flowers with less than 5 cm of peduncles were harvested manually at the 70% full bloom stage. The shade-dried flower EOs were extracted by water distillation (Clevenger) for 3 hours, and their quantitative and qualitative analysis was done using GC and GC/MS. The results showed that sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, oxygenated sesquiterpenes, and diacetylenes made the highest EO compounds percentage in both wild and cultivated samples. Chamazulene (from sesquiterpene hydrocarbons) and a-bisabolol oxide A (from oxygenated sesquiterpenes), as two important chamomile EO compounds, showed an increase from wild to cultivated samples. Among the wild samples, the highest chamazulene (5.3%) and a-bisabolol oxide A (21.5%) contents were assigned to the populations Kh8 and Kh4, respectively. In the cultivated samples, the highest amount of these compounds (11.1 and 32.3%, respectively) was obtained in the populations Kh7 and F2, respectively. In general, the main EO compounds (%) in the wild and cultivated populations included α-bisabolone oxide A (wild: 31.3 (F1) to 64.5 (Kh3) and cultivated: 29.8 (F2) to 56 (Kh3)), α-bisabolol oxide A (wild: 5.8 (Kh5) to 21.5 (Kh4) and cultivated: 10.3 (Kh3) to 32.3 (F2)), E-β-farnesene (wild: 6.1 (Kh3) to 23.3 (Kh8) and cultivated: 6.9 (Kh1) to 15.6 (F3)), Z-spiroether (wild: 0 (F1) to 16.1 (Kh1) and cultivated: 9.1 (Kh7) to 15.1 (Kh13)), and chamazulene (wild: 1.6 (F1) to 5.3 (Kh8) and cultivated: 4.7 (Kh6) to 11.1 (Kh7)). Also, the EO% was obtained more in the cultivated samples (0.9 (Kh5) to 1.4% (Kh13)) than in the wild ones (0.1 (Kh6) to 0.5% (Kh10). The results of this research showed that by cultivating wild populations under agricultural conditions and water and crop management, it is possible to have essential oil in the desired quantity and quality compared to wild ones. It should be noted that the results of repeating population cultivation under the same conditions in the following years will be reported in proportion to the data output.

The genus Anthemis L. is the second largest genus in the Compositae family, which consists of 39 annual and perennial species scattered throughout Iran. In this research, a species of Anthemis lorestanica Iranshahr was collected from two regions in Isfahan province, namely Makdin region (sample 1) and Badum Valley region (sample 2) in 2017.  The samples were identified in the herbarium of the Research Institute of Forests and Pastures in the Department of Botany. The essential oils were extracted from its flowers and leaves by water distillation method (Klenger method). Then the essential oil samples were measured and identified by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography connected to mass spectrometer (GC/MS). The amount of essential oil in sample 1 was 0.12% for flower and 0.08% for leaf. Major compounds in the flower consisted of methyl decanoate (18.6%), α-cadinol (11.1%), and n-tricosan (9.1%). Major compounds in leaves were neryl acetate (13.4%), α-cadinol (12.9%), and dihydro eudesmol (8.5%). Essential oil contents of sample 2 were 0.2% for flower and 0.08% for leaf. The main flower compounds included spathulenol (68.8%), dehydro-aromadendrane (5.2%), and oplopanone (3%). The main compounds of the leaves were oplopanone (12.3%), 1-icocen (11.5%), and dihydro eudesmol (10.9%).

Satureja spp. are annual or perennial aromatic plants of the Lamiaceae family, the green parts of which are used orally, and their essential oils (EO) are widely used in the food and pharmaceutical industries. There are 16 Satureja species in Iran, ten of which are endemic. S. hortensis and S. montana are two well-known savory species for food consumption cultivated in many parts of the world. Two phenolic compounds, including carvacrol and thymol, are the main constituents of these two savory species EO. A study on the yield and EO compounds of native and endemic Iranian savory species showed that some of these species contained EO of much higher quantity and quality than the cultivated one (S. hortensis), for example, S. khuzistanica (EO yield: 3.3-4%, more than 80% carvacrol) and S. rechingeri (EO yield: 3.8-4.2%, up to 90% carvacrol). S. bachtiarica, with about 3% EO yield and 70% carvacrol or thymol, is the only Satureja species with two chemotypes in Iran. S. sahendica, with 1.5-3% EO yield and thymol as the main compound of its EO, is one of the few savory species that has a wide distribution range in Iran. In this paper, a summary of the studies on the content and EO composition and application of different native Iranian Satureja species is presented.

Plants are the main sources of secondary metabolites with high medical value. The most important member of these valuable compounds are alkaloids with the different drug purposes. Concerning the limited production of some of these metabolites in the plants, these medicinal compounds can be produced naturally and commercially with the identification and transfer of alkaloids-producing enzymes corresponding plant genes to the microorganisms as an alternative method. In this way, the characterization of the corresponding genes is the first step. Among the different enzymes involved in the alkaloid biosynthesis, the cytochrome P450 enzymes play an important role. Due to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) localization of these enzymes and their glycoprotein characters, they cannot be expressed functionally in the standard bacterial systems. Consequently, the heterologous expression aimed to verify the enzymatic activity can favorably be performed using the eukaryotic systems, like yeast or insect cells. Herein, in this study, with employing a phylogenic comparison of cheilanthifoline synthase sequence of Eschscholzia californica Cham. and comparing the sequence with the homolog amino acid sequences of Chelidonium majus L. achieved from bioinformatics databases, six cytochrome P450 enzymes responsible for cheilanthifoline synthase in Ch. majus were identified. To prove the efficacy of these enzymes practically, their genes were cloned into the pPIC3.5 vector. Then, these recombinant vectors were transferred to the yeast cell (Pichia pastoris) and the scoulerine alkaloid was given to its media. Finally, the cheilanthifoline alkaloid microbial production by P. pastoris containing the recombinant plasmids was evaluated by LC-MS. The results of the present study indicated that among the enzymes genes cloned and introduced to the yeast host, only the Contig8931 enzyme had the cheilanthifoline synthase activity.

Nepeta is one of the largest genera of the Lamiaceae family, and Iran is one of the main centers of origin of the genus. There are lots of reports related to biological activities of secondary metabolites of Nepeta that shows the importance of the genus. Quantity and quality of essential oil (EO) components of 12 accessions of three Iranian Nepeta species, N. cataria, N. menthoides and N. crassifolia, cultivated in West of Tehran, were studied.Also, EO components capability on intra and inter-specific relationships was investigated. Plant aerial parts were harvested at full bloom stage. EO was extracted by hydrodistillation method from shade-dried plant materials. EO was quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed by GC and GC/MS, respectively.Principal component analysis was used in order to determine the role of each EO components in intra and inter-specific diversity. The most part of EO yield (w/w) belonged to “Markazi” accession of N. cataria (2.5%). Main EO component(s) of species were NepII (4aα,7α,7aβ-nepetalactone) in N. cataria, 1,8-cineole and NepII in N. menthoides and NepI (4aα,7α,7aα-nepetalactone), 1,8-cineole and NepII in N. crassifolia. N. crassifolia and N. cataria species, respectively, allocated on the first positions based on the quantity of NepI and II. N. cataria had the most total quantity of nepetalactone (97.8-99.1%). Results indicated that EO components were able to distinguish species, and to identify intra and inter-specific relationships. N. crassifolia and N. cataria species were separated from N. menthoides by cluster and PCA analysis based on EO components.