فهرست مطالب hamid farahmand

Over many years, with the increase in population, the increasing human demand for food consumption and the importance of maintaining environmental security, researchers have paid attention to the use of microorganisms to increase the amount of product per unit area more than in the past. Some species of Trichoderma fungus are known as growth promoters in plants. The sensitivity of different species of fish to toxic substances is different, so toxicology tests are done on different fish. In this experiment, 120 pieces of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) with 3 types of Trichoderma fungi (Trichoderma afroharzianum, Trichoderma ghanens, Trichoderma lixii), treatment 1 (TC-1), treatment 2 (TC-3), treatment 3 (TC-4) and control treatment (CL) were fed completely randomly. Finally, growth factors (daily growth rate, weight gain percentage, specific growth factor, food conversion factor), approximate carcass analysis (protein, fat, ash, and moisture), and hematology (hemoglobin, hematocrit, white and red blood cells, neutrophils, Monocyte, lymphocyte, mean hemoglobin red blood cells (MCHC), size red blood cells (MCV), mean hemoglobin red blood cells (MCH)) were evaluated. The investigation growth factors showed that the treatment (TC-3) had significant difference with other treatments and the control group. Also, the evaluation of blood parameters in this research showed that Trichoderma significantly reduces the level of these factors in rainbow trout. The analysis of the rainbow trout carcasses in the treatments fed by different strains of Trichoderma showed that the amount of protein, fat and moisture in the control groups and the treatments were not significantly different; but the lowest amount of cholesterol and triglyceride was observed in the control. Considering the changes in the hematological factors of fish treated with Trichodema, the measurement of these factors can be used as biological index, a tool for monitoring and evaluating the health of aquatic ecosystems. Since it is necessary to use chemical pesticides and their toxicity even in very small concentrations on fish, it is important to investigate the adverse effects of chemical pesticides on aquatic health from the perspective of fisheries and environment.

This study aims to evaluate the effect of nano titanium dioxide and microplastics, alone and in combination, on immune system function and oxidative stress of juvenile Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus.For this purpose, fish were randomly divided into 27 100L tanks using a 3×3 factorial design, including three concentrations of Nano titanium dioxide (0, 1, and 5 mg/l) and three concentrations of microplastic (0, 0.5, and 1 mg/l) separately and together each in triplicate. The results showed that immunoglobulin, malondialdehyde(MDA), and glutathione reductase (GR) had significant effects in all groups (P<0.05). Lysozyme, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) showed significant differences between the combined groups and the control (P<0.05). No significant differences were observed in C3 and C4 between groups exposed to MPs and Nano-TiO2 and the control (P>0.05). Superoxide dismutase (SOD) showed significant differences between the group exposed to MPs and Nano-TiO2 alone and the control group (P<0.05). In conclusion, the results showed that MPs could have a synergistic effect on the toxicity of Nano-TiO2.

Koi Herpes Virus (KHV or Cyprinid Herpesvirus 3, CyHV-3) is an etiological agent of an emerging and notifiable disease and one of the mostrisky factors affecting common carp and koi worldwide production with high mortality rates. Molecular methods have been developed and routinely used for the detection of KHV infections. These diagnostic tools are sensitive but still have some drawbacks: they require expensive and bulky apparatus, a large sample volume, and long sample preparation/detection times. Therefore, it is desirable to develop simpler, faster, cheaper and more portable detection methods. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) technique is a novel and next-generation tool which can amplify nucleic acids with high specificity, sensitivity and rapidity under isothermal conditions. In this study, a fragment of the CyHV-3 TK gene was amplified at 65°C in the presence of Bst DNA polymerase and a set of six specially designed primer mixture. The reliability, sensitivity and specificity of this assay for rapid detection of CyHV-3 was investigated and compared to conventional PCR. LAMP assay was successfully developed with the detection of KHV- generated product, and showed 100% specificity and sensitivity of 1.25 fg/µL, that is comparable to the most sensitive method reported to date. The assay was 8000 fold more sensitive and three times faster than conventional PCR. The LAMP assay described in this study revealed a highly sensitive, rapid and reliable diagnostic protocol for detection of CyHV-3..

Organisms Exposure to multiple contaminants in the environment can have different effects on them than when exposed to only one pollutant. Investigation of the impacts of nano titaniumdioxide and microplastic, on Nile tilapia was the aim of this study. 270 fish (average weight of 23.5±0.6 g) in factorial design (including concentrations of 0, 1 and 5 mg/l nanotitanium and concentrations of 0.5 0 and 1mg/l microplastic) were treated for 30 days in triplicate. The results indicated that the amount of protein in all groups showed a significant decrease compare with control (P<0.05). The amount of albumin and globulin in all groups showed a decrease that was not significant in the microplastic groups alone (P>0.05). Creatinine phosphokinase (CPK) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activities as well as triglyceride levels showed a significant increase in all groups except the microplastic group alone (P<0.05). Gammaglutamyl transferase (GGT) activity in all groups showed a significant increase compared to controls (P<0.05). Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity and glucose levels showed a significant increase only in the groups exposed to pollutants (P<0.05) and cholesterol levels did not show a significant change in any of the groups (P>0.05). In general, the results of the recent study showed that the combined groups had more effects on fish. Also, in comparison with the effects of the two pollutants, titanium dioxide had more effects than microplastics and caused more changes in blood parameters.

Recently, Luciobarbus conocephalus from the Hari River was reported for the first time, but there is doubt about the validity of this species between authors, because some of them placed it as a subspecies or synonym of L. capito. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the status of phylogeny and the validity of this species. For this purpose, specimens captured from Hari River (between the lower of Dosti dam and Khatoun bridge) using an electrofishing device. After DNA extraction from the fins, Cytb gene was amplified and sequenced. Using sequences, the phylogeny tree was plotted by Bayesian inference and Maximum likelihood estimation. According to the results, Hari barbel is a valid species and differs from Bulatmai barbel. Colonial jaundice was found in genealogical trees depicted in a separate cluster of L. capito with high support. Hari barbel was found in phylogenetic trees depicted in a separate cluster of L. capito with high support, and the Alignments results of Cytb gene of this species also differed in 11 unique loci with L. capito. In addition, the mean genetic distance of K2P for the two species of Hari and Bulatmai barbels was about 1.3%, which seems to be an acceptable distance for the valid species of the genus Luciobarbus.

Anionic detergents make up a large portion of domestic wastewater due to their high consumption. With the entry of wastewater into water sources, these substances enter the aquatic environment and cause serious damage to aquatic animals, including fish, by reducing dissolved oxygen in water and causing stress. The aim of this study was to obtain evidence to determine the effect of these substances on the embryonic growth of rainbow trout. For this purpose, rainbow trout eggs and embryos were exposed to doses of 1 mg / l of washing powder, 0.5 mg / l of dishwashing liquid, 0.25 mg of bleach in different stages from fertilization to hatching and sampling was done during this period. The treatments were tested for embryonic growth time, percentage of eyeing, percentage of mortality, appearance and cortisol levels of eggs and embryos. The results showed that detergents accelerate the stages of embryonic development, increase the mortality rate, reduce the percentage of eyeing, induce stress and increase cortisol and cause fetal abnormalities. In general, it can be concluded that the entry of domestic and industrial wastewater and subsequently entry of detergents into water sources can cause toxic effects and irreparable damage to aquatic species

Luciobarbus is one of the most important and economical genus of the Cyprinidae family, most of them are similar in appearance, making it difficult to identify species. In the present study, 519 stations in seven basins, including: Caspian, Namak, Urmia, Hari, Tigris, Persis and Hormuz basins were sampled using nets, electro fisher and jigging, during the years 2011-2011. In total, the presence of nine species including L. barbulus, L. brachycephalus, L. capito, L. conocephalus, L. esocinus, L. kersin, L. mursa, L. subquincunciatus and L. xanthopterus was confirmed in Iran's inland waters. For the approved members of this genus in Iran, the identification key were presented and their distribution map were prepared. Also, after examining the conservation status of the members of this genus, it was suggested that a well-codified, principled and scientific program be considered to identify populations, suitable places for reproduction and release of larvae from reproduction in captivity.

Southern Caspian Kutum, Rutilus frisii kutum (Kamensky, 1901) is an important economic species in north of Iran. This study was conducted in order to identifying QTLs associated with growth traits, body weight and total length, in Caspian Kutum (R. frisii kutum) using microsatellites from close species, Common Carp (cyprinus carpio). The eleven full-sibs family were produced by mating between eleven male and eleven female that were collected from Sefid Rood river. Sampling was accomplished from broodstock caudal fin. Three month after hatch the offspring were collected and stored in alcohol 96%. Altogether 75 offspring were sampled. Genomic DNA was isolated from broodstock and offspring according to the protocol. With applying four microsatellite markers (HLJ2225, HLJ3366, HLJ3988, and HLJ2316) related to growth traits, altogether 10 loci, 13 genotype, were selected for performing statistical analyses. Genotyping was accomplished using AlphaEaseFC software. Statistical analyses were performed by GenAlEx 6.1, Arlequin ver. 3.5.2 and Excel 2013 softwares. Investigating the number of alleles per locus, effective number of alleles per locus, expected heterozygosity, observed heterozygosity, fixation index, polymorphic information content, R and F statistics, Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium showed that these loci, HL1, HL2, HL3, HL4, HL5, HL6, HL7, HL8, HL9 and HL10, were suitable for applying in marker-assisted-selection (MAS) program for Caspian Kutum (R. frisii kutum). The heritability was calculated for each locus, for total length and total weight. Then based on linkage disequilibrium five heritable linkage group, LG1, LG2, LG3, LG4 and LG5, were constructed for total length in Caspian Kutum (R. frisii kutum). The LG4 with eight loci (nine genotype), including loci HL3, HL4, HL5, HL6, HL7, HL8, HL9 and HL10, was selected for family linkage group selection (LGS). The LG4 had a relatively average heritability ( = 0/432). Altogether, six family based on LG4 were selected to use in R. frisii kutum selective breeding program. This study showed that using microsatellite markers related to growth traits in close species to Caspian Kutum (R. frisii kutum) can aid to identifying QTLs associated with growth traits in Caspian Kutum, an important commercial species.

In the present study, the morphological variations of 162 specimens of Chondrostoma regium (Heckel, 1843) collected from the Beheshtabad, Shalmzar, Karoun, Gandman, Sheikh Ali Khan (Chaharmahal-e Bakhtiari Province), Tof Sefid and Seimareh (Isfahan Province), Khersan, Beshar (Kohgoluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province), Dinevarab, Alvand (Kermanshah Province), Homeil (Ilam Province), Doab, Kafraj (Lorestan Province) and Zab (Kurdistan Province) were analyzed. A total of 27 morphometric and 11 meristic characteristics were assessed. To investigate the morphological variations between the studied populations, morphometric and meristic characteristics were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance, Kruskal-Wallis analysis, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA), and Canonical Variates Analysis (CVA). The results of the study showed that 20 morphometric and 10 meristic characteristics had significant differences (p < 0.05). Among the morphometric characteristics, the first two components showed 55.2% of the variation between the individuals. CVA analysis of morphometric characteristics showed that the populations had a great overlap and only the Zab population was separated from the others, whereas in the meristic characteristics, most of the populations were separated from each other. Based on the results, the studied populations of Brond-snout fish showed significant morphological differences and in this species. Meristic characteristics had a higher discriminability than morphometric characteristics.

The species of the genus Alosa are very similar to each other in terms of morphology and cannot be identified easily. The present study used geometric morphometric techniques based on outline techniques on scales of the genus Alosa in the southern Caspian Sea, as the simple methods to identify fishes, on the specimens collected in the Southern Caspian Sea, i.e. Parehsar, Anzali, Roodsar and Tonekabon. Three species were found among the samples, i.e. A. braschnikowi, A. caspia and A. kessleri. Some scales from the ventral part of the body (keel) were removed and photographed. The wavelet analysis was performed using shapeR in the software R and canonical principal coordinate analysis were then applied on the scores produced by the wavelet analysis. Also, a Fourier analysis was performed on the outline of the scales followed by pairwise T2 Hotelling tests on the coefficients of the Fourier analysis. Our results indicated that there was a significant difference between A. braschnikowi and A. caspia in shape of the scales.

Rainbow trout fish fed one of the diets containing fresh kilka oil with 50 mg kg-1 of vitamin E 1)without (control A, FO50) or 2)with hydrolyzed protein (4% replacement for fishmeal) (treatment B, FO50HP), 50 mg kg-1 vitamin E with oxidized oil 3)without (treatment C, OO50) or 4)with hydrolyzed protein (treatment D, OO50Hp), 250 mg kg-1 vitamin E with oxidized oil 5)without (treatment E, OO250) or 6)with hydrolyzed protein (treatment F, OO250HP) in a completely randomized design (six treatments and three replications) for eight weeks. The lowest FCR was in treatment B and the highest was in treatment E (P< 0.05). The amount of other growth indices were higher (P< 0.05) in treatments A and B than other treatments. The highest and lowest concentrations of alanin amino transferase (ALT) occurred respectively in treatment C and treatments A and B (P< 0.05), the highest and lowest concentrations of aspartate amino transferase (AST) occurred in treatments C and D and treatment B (P< 0.05), respectively. The highest neutrophil (Nut) and the lowest lymphosit (Lym) percentages were in treatment E while the vise versa were observed in treatment C (P< 0.05). The phagocytosis amount was highest in treatments C and D while it was the lowest in treatment A (P< 0.05). The fillet 14: 1n-9 concentration was the highest in treatment F while it was the lowest in treatment B (P< 0.05). The fillet 18: 0 content was the highest in treatment A and the lowest in treatment D (P< 0.05). Treatment D showed the highest fillet 20: 4n- 6 content while treatment F had the lowest content (P< 0.05). Accordingly, vitamin E (50 mg kg-1 diet) with hydrolyzed protein (as a substitute for fish meal by 4%) would be able to prohibit the damages resulting from oxidative stress in growing rainbow trout.

MicroRNAs are short noncoding RNAs that control gene expression in post-transcriptionally manner, estimated about 60% of all genes controlled by these RNAs. Among vertebrates in Salmonids this type of RNA poorly investigated. In this study for profiling isoforms of Let-7 MicroRNA of Salmonids, the data from NCBI database was extracted and analyzed. About 43 million reads with 22 nucleotides span were analyzed. Among them, 17.8 million reads were matched to to Let-7a isomer of this MicroRNA family. 9 Isoforms of this family detected in which 8 of them were detected before in other animals. One of detected isoforms was novel and not reported in other species. The novel isolated isoform in this study contains one nucleotide difference with Let-7f in Atlantic salmon (salmo salar). let-7a isomer abundantly expressed comparing with others. 20 loci for all isomers were on reference genome (Otsh.V1) in NCBI, and 7 of these loci organized as MicroRNA gene clusters in genome. The other 2 loci for Let-7c were detected on unplaced fragments of reference genome as well.

Targeted use of ammonia and nitrite degrading bacteria could increase the efficiency of the closed recirculating fish culture systems. Ammonia and nitrite assimilation by heterotrophic bacteria are important along with autotrophic species. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of two strains of nitrifying bacteria Dyadobacter sp. (no. 68) and of Janthinobacterium sp. (no. 100) in the rainbow trout breeding system. These two types of bacteria with a dilution of 8×109 cfu (A) in a 1000 ml container transferred into 400 liter fish or experimental tanks containing 50 pieces Trout 50.65±3.89 g, also one treatment was considered as control group [n=3] (C). After 10 days, hematological and qualitative indices of water in rainbow trout were investigated. The results showed that the concentration of ammonia in the experimental group containing these two types of bacteria was lower and the nitrite and nitrate in this group were higher than the control group. The hematological indices in the control group did not show any significant changes from baseline, whereas in the control group hematological indices decreased. It was concluded that Dyadobacter sp. (no. 68), Janthinobacterium sp. (No. 100) were usable to assimilate ammonia and nitrite in the rainbow trout system. Finally, it can be concluded that the use of these two strains could have a positive effect on improving the quality of the environment and consequently on physiological conditions in the rainbow trout system.

This conducted to study the taxonomic status of the Turcinoemacheilus populations from the Gaveh River drainage, a part of the Tigris River basin, sampled in 2016, using the COI gene and morphometric characters, since provided morphological and colouration feature could not resolve its identification. For this purpose, after sampling DNA of specimens were extracted using phenol-chloroform method, their COI gene were amplified by thermal cycler and sequenced after purifications. Based on the results, the members of the Turcinoemacheilus populations from the Gaveh River clustered with T. kosswigi with 0.61% genetic divergance. In addition, this population revealed remarkable morphological differences with other populations of this species and can be distinguished by having almost truncate (versus little emarginate), absence of black spot on the base of the dorsal fin and accumulation of melanophore spots at the base of caudal fin.

This study aims to assay the main protease (pepsin and trypsin) activity and pepsinogen relative gene expression, as well as histological development of digestive tract in Sobaity from hatching up to 40 days post- hatch (DPH). The results showed that exocrine pancreas, including zymogen granules, differentiated during yolk sac absorption and further developed at 14 DPH. The early appearance of trypsin before mouth opening is attributed to a genetically programmed process. The trypsin activity showed fluctuated pattern (with two peaks at 16 and 30 DPH), coincident with food intake, and related to diet shifting during larval feeding. The most obvious differentiation in the digestive tract was the formation of an incipient stomach surrounded by striated muscle fibers and the development of the gastric glands at 12 DPH. The stomach fully developed at 25 DPH with the transition from striated to smooth muscle cells. The pepsinogen relative gene expression was not detectable before 12 DPH and meaningfully detected at 14 DPH. The pepsinogen expression augmented exponentially coinciding with shifting diet from live to microdiet. Pepsin activity trend was considerably parallel to pepsinogen and started two days after pepsinogen, subsequently increased sharply during the weaning period (25-30 DPH) up to the end of the study. The study concluded that the appearance of the incipient stomach at 12 DPH, early pepsinogen expression, and ontogenetic development of pepsin and trypsin, make it possible to feed Sobaity larvae by inert diet before 25 DPH to reduce the live food consumption and improve the weaning efficiency.

In order to increase the knowledge of the probiotic effects on reproductive indices of fish, this study was conducted to investigate the effects of different levels of probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum on gonadal development and sexual maturation in zebrafish (Danio rerio). Some 720 zebrafish were fed the experimental diets in four treatments such as: 0%, 0.5%, 1.5% and 3% probiotic diets for 40 days. Based on the measurement of reproductive indices in this species, the maximum absolute fecundity was observed in the diet containing 3% probiotic, which was significantly different from the control treatment and the diet containing 0.5% probiotic. Based on relative fecundity index, the control treatment showed the lowest fecundity rate compared to the other treatments. The gonadosomatic index data showed the utmost gonadal index in the diet containing 3% probiotic compared to the other treatments, which was significantly higher than the control and 0.5% probiotic treated diets, but it did not show any significant difference with the diet fed 1.5% probiotic. Histological examination of gonads in males and females showed gonads development and complete sexual maturity in treatments fed 3% and 1.5% probiotic levels. The present study indicates that probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum at 3% level will have the best effect on reproductive and gonadal development parameters in zebrafish.

Ferula gummosa Boiss from the Apiaceae family is native to East and West of Iran. Galbanum is an oleo-gum-resin with high pharmaceutical and industrial values, which is exuded from F. gummosa in response to wounds. Although galbanum ranks first in terms of Iranian export of pasture medicinal plants, but little information on the genetic and biochemical mechanisms of these compounds are existed. RNA-Seq techniques are now one of the most used and most accurate methods in transcriptomics. In the present study, RNA-Seq was used to evaluate the root and flower of F. gummosa transcriptome. Short reads obtained from Illumina HiSeq2000 were assembled by Trinity. The assembled transcriptome with 158,436 transcripts and N50 1,348 bp was annotated using different databases. In total, 100,275 transcripts were annotated using BLASTX with an E-value cut-off of 10-5. Gene ontology (GO) classification of annotated transcripts was done by Blast2Go and Trinotate pipeline and in total 73,678 transcripts with at least one GO were identified. In terms of biological processes, cellular and metabolic processes are the most GO terms indicated that the plant is in a metabolically active status. Transcriptome assessment of orthologous genes by NCBI-KOG database led to the identification of 42,452 genes from 3,925 families and 26 functional classes. The largest class of orthologous genes was associated with signal transduction mechanisms , followed by other classes such as secondary metabolites-transport and catabolism with a frequency of 4.25 % indicating an active status of F. gummosa roots and flowers for secondary metabolite production and transportation.

 This study was conducted to examine the phylogenetic relationship of the genus Turcinoemacheilus in Iran based on osteological characteristics. A total of 25 fish specimens of four species belonging to the genus Turcinoemacheilus from Tigris and Isfahan basins were considered as in-group and Cobitis linea as out-group. The skeletal elements were examined after clearing and staining. A total of 19 character-states were described that showed differences between the studied taxa. Phylogenetic analysis was performed using osteological characters with the maximum parsimony method. Based on the results, the most parsimonious tree with a length of 29, the consistency index of 1, and a retention index of 1 was obtained. Turcinoemacheilus hafezi and T. bahaii with 76% support were in a sister group and the two species of T. kosswigi and T. saadii with 97% support were in another clad. The presence of the lateral fontanel in T. hafezi, the overlap of the internal lateral-wall of autoplatinii with posterior lateral-wall of the ethmoid, symmetry of the posterior part of the autoplatinii and divergence of the hemal spin’s process in T. kosswigi, ratio of the ascending process to the horizontal process of the maxillary, and beginning of the first dorsal-fin petrigiophore to vertebra 17 in T. bahaii were distinguishing osteological characters of the studied species.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) generally are involved in host immune responses against microbial invasions. Mono meric felagellin, the structure component of bacterial felagella is the agonist of TLR5m. After binding to felagellin, TLR5m initiates specific signal transduction pathways and triggers immune responses. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in this gene regulate inflammatory pathways and are associated with susceptibility/resistance to infection. In this study using polymerase chain reaction, sequencing and aligning the sequences, we investigated TLR5m gene of Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and identified 6 polymorphisms consist in 3 SNPs: (2412, T/A), (2415,T/A) and (2385, G/A) and 3 insert/deletion: (inser/dele. C, C/T, 2091), (inser/dele. T, 2566) and (inser/dele. C, 2102). A bacterial challenge was performed to explore their association with humoral immune responses such as lysozym content and complement activity levels in serum. The results show that polymorphisms (inser/dele. C, C/T, 2091) and (inserldele. T, 2566) were significantly correlated with higher complement activity levels (p<0.05).These results suggested that these 2 polymorphisms could be potential markers applied in future selection of Rainbow Trout with enhanced resistance to Aeromonas hydrophila.

This study was conducted to determine the profile of Epeorus genetic diversity along the Gamasiab River. The sampling was done from four stations ranged source of the river downward, about 500 meters from each other, in four seasons with three replications from the middle and riverside of the river by the Surber sampler. After isolation and fixation of the Epeorus, the DNA extraction steps were performed and the quality of DNA was investigated on the electrophoresis gel. After gene amplification using specific cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) primers, PCR products were sequenced. Sequencing was performed with MEGA 6 software. Molecular investigations indicated that the reduction of genetic diversity at station 2 exposed to wastewater and trout farm effluents, especially in the seasons which are associated with decreasing water charge.

Morphological variation among Cyprinion species in Iran was studied using landmark-based geometric morphometrics. A total of 848 specimens were caught from five basins throughout Iran during 2013-2015. A total number of 15 landmark-points were defined and digitized on 2D pictures. Despite of intraspecific differences among Cyprinion fishes, CVA divided all populations into three major groups viz. C. macrostomum, C. kais and C. tenuiradius (group X), C. watsoni and C. microphthalmum (group Y) and C. milesi (group Z). According to the results, C. macrostomum group can be distinguished from other groups by having deeper body, least head length and depth, the longest dorsal-fin base and least caudal peduncle length. Cyprinion milesi has the longest anal-fin base, least body depth, deepest caudal peduncle and longest head. Cyprinion watsoni has the longest caudal peduncle and least dorsal-fin base and C. microphthalmum is distinguished by having the least caudal peduncle length and depth. The main reasons of observed intraspecies morphological diversity among the fishes is proposed to be some phenotypic plasticity related to climatic and zoogeographical factors. The results suggest that the most possible factor influencing morphological variations among Iranian Cyprinion species is habitat related differences.

Caspian lamprey (Caspiomyzon wagneri), a native species of the Caspian Sea, is under threatened by destruction of its habitats. The present study was carried out to investigate the possibility of separation between fall and spring run populations of Caspian lamprey in Shirud River due to different migration time using microsatellite markers. For this purpose, Caspian lampreys were sampled in fall and spring during their reproductive migrations at the Shirud River Bridge. After extraction of DNA from 46 fish, 4 primer pairs were used for polymerase chain reaction for selective proliferation. In this study, a total of 3 specific alleles were identified, one for fall autumn population in Locus Lun3 and two others for spring population in Lun5. The results showed no significant difference between the fall and spring immigrant populations, and the genetic distances of Fst (0.76) and Nei (0.206) indicated they belong to one population Units. Therefore, it can be concluded that the rate of homing behavior in the Caspian lamprey is very low preventing the formation of a separate populations.

Skin aging is accompanied by up regulation of the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) expression and down regulation of collagen synthesis. Extracted sterols of marine algaes have been reported as anti-cancer agents and antioxidants, which can indicate the potential for anti-wrinkle properties in the human skin. In this study, the sterols extracted from Persian Gulf red algae Gracilaria salicornia were evaluated at concentrations 1.7, 3.5, 7, 14, 28, 56 and 112 μg / ml for determination of procollagen synthesis in human skin cells. To determine the acceptable dose of this precursor, the cytotoxicity test of G. salicornia sterols on the human skin fibroblast cells was tested at levels 2.3, 4.6, 9.3, 18.75, 37.5, 75, 150 and 300 μg/ml. The results indicate increased procollagen synthesis in the skin cells by increasing the concentration of sterols, and the lack of toxicity of this substance in the required dosage of the treatment. The extracts IC50 for human skin fibroblasts was 111 μg / ml. The effect of extracts on increasing of skin procollagen showed significant differences at concentrations 1.75 to 112 μg / ml (P<0.0001). Therefore, extracted sterols can play an important role on reducing the skin aging process due to the synthesis of skin cells procollagen. More research is needed for other uses of algae sterols for the use of cosmetic products.

Present study investigates the effects of two commercial dietary prebiotic and probiotic supplements on thermal and salinity stress resistance and intestinal Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) population in zebrafish. A total of 630 healthy 15 days old zebrafish were distributed in 21 aquariums and assigned to 7 groups fed control (T0) or diet supplemented by 2, 4 and 8 g kg-1Agrimos® (T1, T2& T3) and 0.1, 0.2 and 0.4 g kg-1Bactocell® (T4, T5& T6) for 90 days. At the end of the experiment, the results of prebiotic treatment showed significant (P<0.05) increase in salinity stress resistance treated fish to the control group during the experimental period. In thermal stress resistance, all groups showed positive results compared to control one. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) count in Prebiotic and probiotic treatments was significantly higher than control group (T0), but in total bacterial count, probiotic treated fish showed significant difference with other groups. The result demonstrated that these commercial dietary supplements have beneficial effect on the assayed parameters and can improve stress resistance and modulated intestinal microbiota of zebrafish.

This work aimed to study some meristic and morphometric variations among Cyprinion of Iran to find new morphological differences and phenotype plasticity among them. Specimens of six reported species were collected from five Iranian inland water basins. 10 meristics were counted, 12 morphometric were measured and 17 ratios were calculated. The multivariate analysis of variance/canonical variate analysis was used for group comparisons. The meristic and morphometric characters of C. microphthalmum and C. watsoni were widely overlapping and could not distinguish the species. In case of C. kais, it is distinguished from others by having the least head depth, the largest body depth at dorsal fin origin, the most dorsal fin base length/SL, the most pectoral fin length/SL and the most dorsal fin height/SL ratios. Cyprinion milesi is a very distinct species from other congeners based on having the largest head height/body depth, the least body depth/SL, the least dorsal fin base length/SL, the least pectoral fin length/SL and the least dorsal fin height/SL ratios.