mohsen falahati-anbaran

Leishmaniasis is an important public health parasitic infection, which is endemic in many parts of the world, including Iran. We aimed to investigate genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationship among different Leishmania isolates using multilocus sequence typing (MLST).

Totally, 41 isolates collected either from patients referred to Leishmaniasis Diagnostics and Treatment Center at Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran or from animals during 2019-2021, were subjected to the study. They included L. major and L. tropica from human, L. infantum from canine, and L. turanica from rodents from different endemic foci of Iran analyzed using MLST including gp63, g6pdh, lack, nagt, and hsp70 genes.

A total of 5010 bps was analyzed from each isolate. The three targets, nagt, lack, and g6pdh, generated better topology comparing to the other genes. In the 44 isolates, 22 haplotypes (STs) were identified. Leishmania tropica contained the highest number of haplotypes (n=12) comparing to L. major (n=8), L. infantum (n=1) and L. turanica (n=1). All five genomic loci caused separation of Iranian Leishmania species at the species level, indicating conservation of these genes in the Leishmania parasite.

The highest number of haplotypes belonged to L. tropica, indicating that the genetic diversity of this species is higher than that of L. major. It was further confirmed that the MLST is a suitable method to examine genetic variation of Leishmania parasites with respect to evolutionary and epidemiological studies.

Prunus subgenus Cerasus belongs to the Rosaceae family with about 100 species in the world, of which 19 taxa are distributed in Iran. Pollen micromorphological traits of the Iranian taxa belonging to three sections, (Microcerasus, Cerasus, and Mahaleb) were examined using light and scanning electron microscopes. The hierarchical clustering method and principal component analysis of the pollen traits were performed using InfoStat. The results showed that in the subgenus Cerasus pollen grains are monad, radially symmetrical, isopolar, tricolpate to tricolporate, and medium-sized. Pollen shape is rectangular to cylindrical in the equatorial view and triangular to circular in the polar view. The exine ornamentation is striate with or without perforations. The studied pollen can be divided into two types and six subtypes. The rugulate exine ornamentation was only found in P. pseudoprostrata. Ward’s hierarchical clustering method and principal component analysis results did not support the existing sectional delimitation of taxa. However, a high variation in pollen grain characteristics could be observed in taxa within the subgenus Cerasus, especially in dwarf cherries (sect. Microcerasus). These differences are remarkable among closely related species, such as P. microcarpa and its allies. Finally, an identification key to the species is provided.

Apiaceae is one of the largest plant families with a wide distribution including 114 genera and 363 species in Iran. Heracleum consists more than 100 species in the world, eight of them being reported in Iran including three endemic species. Based on taxonomic descriptions in Flora Iranica, the species reported in Pubescentia and Wendia sections have several morphological similarities and some display extensive geographical variation. We used the nuclear ITS and the chloroplast rpl32-trnL nucleotide sequences were used to evaluate the genetic relationships of different populations of Heracleum species. The Bayesian analysis showed that the phylogenetic tree constructed based on both nuclear and cpDNA were relatively similar, but a higher number of variable sites were observed in ITS compared to rpl32-trnL. The tree constructed by combined sequences could separate the species associated with the different sections, but could not separate the species in the sections. The results of this study indicate that the molecular data is in agreement with the morphological data reported in Flora Iranica at section level. However various populations of the different species in each section, except H. gorganicum, could not be distinguished from the others. The result suggests that more work is required for the taxonomic classification for the endemic Iranian species, including H. anisactis and H. rechingeri, as a separate species.

Abstract   Background and Objectives Antioxidants can harness the oxidative stress caused by free radicals by releasing single electrons and hydrogen ions. Myriad plants including vegetables and fruits express enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant properties which are used by humans to maintain health.. In this study we aim to compare the level of antioxidants and the amount of total phenolic and flavonoid compounds at three different stages of fruit ripening including immature, semi-ripen and fully matured fruits in two species of raspberry after a period of storage at freezer.   Materials and Methods Fruits of Rubus persicus and R. caesius were collected at different maturity stages including immature, semi-ripen and fully matured stages from natural habitats. The extracts of fruits were stored at -20 °C for 6 months. The antioxidant activities of extracts were determined using DPPH free radical purification and ferric iron regeneration ability (FRAP) methods in June, 2013 in Research Laboratory of Science and Technology Park of East Azerbaijan province. The content of phenolic and flavonoid compounds was also quantified according to Folin–Ciocalteu’s phenol and aluminum chloride methods, respectively. The antioxidant activity and total phenolic and flavonoid contents were compared between species at three maturity stages in a completely randomized factorial design with three replicates.   Results Both methods applied to examine the antioxidant activity revealed a high mean value in extracts from fully matured fruits compared with immature and semi-ripen fruits. The magnitude of antioxidant activity was significantly higher in R. caesius than R. persicus except that the amount measured by DPPH free radical purification level was similar between species at only fully matured stage. A significant difference was observed in both total phenolic and flavonoid contents between immature, semi-ripen and fully matured stages in both species (P < 0.05) except that the total flavonoid content was similar between semi-ripen and fully matured fruits in R. caesius.   Discussion Results showed that the highest antioxidant capacity was found in the fully matured stage of fruits in both species and thus the fully matured fruits might be capable of counteracting and even neutralizing free radicals. The results also showed that different species had different level of antioxidant activity. The level of total phenolic and flavonoid content at fully matured fruits was also higher than immature fruits in both species. Our results suggest that the antioxidant potential of raspberry can have several medicinal applications and play an important role by reducing the oxidative stress.

Identification of informative markers associated with morphological traitscan be important in breeding programs specifically in selection of elite plants and constructing genetic maps. In this study, association analysis was used to detect informative markers. This technique is applied to study the relation between phonotypic and genetic diversity which allows subsequent constructing genetic maps. Stepwise regression analysis was used to determine the association between 15 morphological traits and 10 ISSR markers in 27 Iranian melon (Cucumis melo sp.) accessions. The 10 ISSR primers generated 88 polymorphic markers. The average number of ISSR markers generated was 17.2 per primer and the level of polymorphism was 51.2%. Polymorphism information content (PIC) was ranged from 0.15 for (AC)8G to 0.36 for (AG)8T and (CA)8A. Marker index was ranged from 0.54 (for (AC)8YG) to 6.67 (for (AG)8T). Minimum and maximum number of markers was found for placenta diameter (7 markers) and seed diameter (27 markers) respectively. Maximum total adjusted coefficient of determination (R2) (99.7 %) was estimated for 100-grain weight.Results indicated that the use of markers having high linkage with morphological traits can also be utilized to identify informative markers associated with these traits. This result showed that relation between primers and morphological traits is independence of marker index and polymorphism information content.