mojtaba yousefirad

a factorial pot experiment was conducted in the form of a complete random block design with three repetitions under greenhouse condition. The first factor of the study was mycorrhiza at three levels, namely control (no mycorrhiza), Glomus intraradices strain, and Glomus mosseae strain. The second factor of the study included three levels of humic acid, namely 0 (control), 15, and 30 mg L-1. The results showed that with the application of mycorrhiza and humic acid, the number of seeds per plant, seed weight per plant, chlorophyll index, percentage of seed protein content, and nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium contents of leaves increased. The highest seed weight per plant (13.47 g) was recorded in the red beans treated with 30 mg L-1 of humic acid + Glomus intraradices strain and 13.01 g and 13.72 g in the plants treated with 15 and 30 mg L-1 of humic acid, respectively along with Glomus mosseae strain. Also, the highest percentage of seed protein was 26.15% obtained from the treatment with 30 mg L-1 of humic acid + Glomus intraradices and 25.23% and 27.93% in the treatments with 15 mg L-1 and 30 mg L-1 of humic acid, respectively along with Glomus mosseae. Maximum leaf nitrogen content (5.85%) was obtained from the application of 30 mg L-1 of humic acid with Glomus mosseae. Mycorrhizae and humic acid seem to be able to improve the yield and yield components of red beans by providing nutrients to the plant

To investigate the effects of foliar application of salicylic acid and selenium on agronomic characteristics and grain protein content of dry land wheat, Sardari variety, a experiment factorial was conducted in randomized complete block design with three replications. Experimental factors were foliar application of 1 mM salicylic acid at of booting, flowering and dough developmental stages along with control (spraying with water), and foliar application of 18 g/ha selenium at stem elongation, heading (spike emergence) and milk developmental stages along with control (spraying with water). The results showed that both salicylic acid and selenium improved the studied traits, so that foliar application of salicylic acid at flowering stage had the highest biological yield (9202 kg/ha) and grain protein (11.3%), and foliar application of selenium at heading and stem elongation stages had the highest biological yield, spike length, grain protein content and number of tillers. Also, combined application of salicylic acid and selenium compared to their separate application had better results on plant height, yield and yield components of wheat, so that the highest grain yield, number of spikes and number of grains per spike were observed in foliar application of salicylic acid-selenium at flowering-stem elongation and booting-stem elongation stages. Therefore, the results of this study showed that foliar application of salicylic acid at booting and flowering stages along with foliar application of selenium at stem elongation and heading stages were the best treatments in this experiment and it is recommended to improve the yield and yield components of dry land wheat.

In order to investigate the effect of different methods of seed priming on germination indices, biochemical characteristics and yield component of three safflower cultivars under drought stress conditions, two experiment was carried out in the form of filed (as split factorial in randomized complete blocks design) and laboratory (as factorial based on completely randomized design) with three replications. The experimental factors included drought stress in two levels of complete irrigation during the growing season and drought stress at the stem elongation as the main factor and seed priming with osmopriming, hydropriming, hormopriming and control (without priming) and safflower cultivars included Isfahan, Sofeh and Goldasht as subplot factor. Simultaneous application of hydropriming and drought stress in Isfahan cultivar resulted in the highest root length (4.8 cm). Hydropriming and hormopriming increased the coefficient of velocity of germination in Isfahan cultivar 52.34% compared to control. Hydropriming increased the germination percentage by 11.33% compared to the control. The highest seed yield (100.72 g / m2) were obtained in Sofeh cultivar during complete irrigation and hydropriming application. The highest soluble carbohydrate amount (15.14mg/g FW) was related to the interaction between stress and no priming. Goldasht cultivar had the highest oil yield (24.93 g / m2) at the time of complete irrigation and hydropriming application. Usage of hydropriming during stress in Goldasht cultivar caused the highest amount of proline (10.08 mg/g FW). The interaction of hormopriming with drought stress causes the most activity of superoxide dismutase enzyme (56.1 mg protein/min).

Abstract Salinity is one of the most important factors limiting plant growth and production around the world. Gibberellic acid is known as a strong growth stimulator, effective on seed germination and breaking of seed dormancy in various plant species. In order to study the response of Safflower,Sofeh cultivar, to salinity stress, a factorial experiment was conducted based on a randomized complete block designwith three replications in Pardis Agricultural Research and Education Center, Saveh, Iran. The first factor was salinity at three levels including 0, 100, and 200 mMNaCal. The second factor was seed priming with gibberellin at three levels including 0, 20, and 40 mgl-1. Findings suggested that the salinity and seed priming improved biochemical indexes of proline and peroxidase in the seedlings under study, increasing their mean germination time, germination rate, germination percentage, and chlorophyll contents. The maximum proline contents were observed in the seedlings treated with 200 mM salinity and priming with 49 mgl-1gibberelin, 3.48 mg per gram fresh weight. The maximum mean germination time, germination rate, germination percentage, and chlorophyll contents were related to 0 mM salinity and 40 mgl-1gibberellin as 2.86 days, 26.16%, 76.6%, and 8.05%, respectively. In sum, the findings suggested that priming of safflower seeds with gibberellin under saline conditions improves the plants’ resistance against salinity and their germination and growth.

Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is a plant that is cultivated for the first time due to the aroma, extra taste and healing properties. In the medical industry, it is used to treat nerve headaches, calming nerves, fever, diarrhea, and anti-nausea and vomiting. One of the serious environmental problems is soil contamination with heavy metals and has negative effects on human health and agricultural lands. Soil pollution to heavy metals is the result of many human activities such as mining, extraction and melting of metals and the using of fertilizers, pesticides and agricultural fungicides, etc. which endangers human health and ecosystems. The major problem with heavy metals is that these inorganic pollutants are not decomposable, in contrast to organic pollutants. Among heavy metals, cadmium is of particular importance due to the high mobility and dynamism in the soil and absorption by the plant. Many of the agricultural soils of the world have been contaminated due to the long-term using of phosphate fertilizers, sewage sludge, etc. with low to moderate concentrations of cadmium. Sodium nitroprusside is one of the compounds recently tested to reduce the effects of stress on plants. Sodium nitroprusside is a nitric oxide-releasing compound whose role in plants has been the subject of many research studies. This compound is red powder and is a plant growth regulator. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of sodium nitroprusside foliar application as a reducing agent on heavy metals stress on growth, vegetative, physiological, antioxidant enzymes and essential oil content of basil plant with different amounts of heavy metal cadmium.

This research to investigate the role of sodium nitroprusside in reducing cadmium toxicity in basil plant in a factorial form in a completely randomized design in 2017-2018 was conducted. The applied factors in this study were included cadmium at 0 (control), 10, 20 and 30 mg.kg-1 soil and sodium nitroprusside solution at 0 (control), 50 and 100 μM. The measured traits were included plant height, plant dry weight, number of leaves per plant, essential oil percent, malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase antioxidant activity, proline and cadmium concentration.

The obtained results showed that cadmium was decreased plant height, plant dry weight, number of leaves per plant, essential oil percent and superoxide dismutase activity, and was increased Proline cadmium and malondialdehyde concentrates. The most effect of cadmium on 30 mg.kg-1 treatment was obtained. It was also observed that Sodium nitroprusside using was increased plant height, plant dry weight, number of leaves per plant, essential oil percent and superoxide dismutase activity, and was decreased Proline, cadmium and malondialdehyde concentrations, in general, the most positive effect was obtained in 100 μM sodium nitroprusside using. Based on the results, sodium nitroprusside foliar application could improve the vegetative properties and reduce malondialdehyde under heavy metal cadmium stress conditions. According to the the results, it can be founded the positive effects of sodium nitroprusside, especially in the presence of cadmium and reducing the negative effects of stress on the basil drug.

It can be concluded that sodium nitroprusside moderates much of the harmful effects of heavy metal cadmium stress in basil plant and improves plant growth under stress conditions. Therefore, in the range of this study results, foliar application of this material on a stressed basal plant can be suggested as a factor for decreasing stress intensity and subsequently increasing yield.

Silicon is a suitable solution to alleviate salinity stress and improve crop production. Investigation physiological and biochemical traits of Single Cross 704 corn affected foliar application of silicon (from a Sodium silicate source) under salinity stress. This research was carried out according split plot experiment based on randomized complete blocks design with three replications. The main factor included salinity at three level (a1: control or 0.34 ds.m-1, a2: 4 ds.m-1, a3: 8 ds.m-1) and foliar application of silicon (from a Sodium silicate source) belonged to subplot at three level (b1: control or non-spraying, b2: 1 mM b3: 2 mM silicon). Salinity stress reduced leaf dry weight, plant dry weight, root dry weight, and decreased stem height. It also increased levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), proline and sodium, and reduced potassium concentration in the plant. Foliar application of Silicon improved the growth traits, such that foliar application of 2 mM silicon brought about the highest dry weight of leaves and plants (21.73 and 120.85 gr). Foliar application of 1 and 2 mM silicone reduced MDA concentration by 12.93% and 13.7% at 8 ds.m-1 salinity compared to the control. The foliar application of silicon (1 and 2 mM) also led to 13.78 and 17.79% reduction in amount of proline at control salinity level and 28.51% and 21.08% reduction of proline levels at 8 ds.m-1 salinity levels compared to the control. Application of 1 and 2 mM silicon led to reduction of the leaf sodium concentration and increased Leaf potassium concentration at all salinity levels compared to the control. So the consumption of silicon reduced the effects of salt stress on corn. Finally according result of this research foliar application of silicone in amount of 2 mM can be recommended.

A pot experiment was conducted based on a factorial study and complete random block design with three replicates to investigate the phytoremediation potential of Sorghum biocilor L. in soils polluted with nickel and manganese during 2017-2018. The first factor was nickel nitrate (0, 60, and 120 mg kg-1 soil) and the second factor comprised of manganese sulphate (0, 50, and 100 µM). The characteristics under investigation were shoot height, root length, shoot dry weight, root dry weight, nickel concentration of shoots and roots, manganese concentration of shoots and roots, and nickel and manganese translocation factors. Findings suggested that under nickel and manganese stress, shoot height, root length, shoot dry weight, and root dry weight reduced. Also, with an increase in the soil nickel and manganese, so did the concentration of these heavy metals in roots and shoots of the plants under study. Maximum effect of nickel and manganese were recorded in the treatments comprising 120 mg Kg-1 Nickel and 100 µM manganese sulphate, respectively while compared with nickel, manganese caused less damage to the plants under study. Application of nickel to the soil increased the translocation factor while there was no difference between the two levels of nickel applied. On the other hand, application of manganese did not affect the translocation factor compared to the control and the translocation factors for both elements were less than 1. Therefore, based on the findings of the study, sorghum showed a relatively good tolerance to nickel and manganese, the absorbed nickel and manganese were mostly concentrated in the plant root, and Sorghum biocilor L. is not recommended for phytoremediation.

In order to investigate the effect of interaction of mycorrhiza and humic acid on morphological characteristics, seed protein percentage, and nutrients concentration of red beans, an experiment was conducted as factorial randomized complete block design in three replications. Research factors included mycorrhiza at three levels of control, Glomus intraradice, Glomus mossea, and also foliar application of humic acid at three levels of control, 15, and 30 mg/l. The experiment was conducted as pot and under normal and uncontrolled conditions. Measured traits included plant height, root length, number of plant pods, number of seeds in each pod, 100 seeds weight, seed protein, and nitrogen and phosphorus concentration of leaves. Application of mycorrhiza and humic acid increased measured traits except for the number of seeds in each pod and 100 seeds weight. There was no significant difference between the two strains and also levels of 15 and 30 mg/l humic acid in the studied traits. Generally, foliar application of 15 mg/l humic acid in the presence of mycorrhiza was more effective than other treatments.

To investigate the effect of ascorbic acid foliar application on phenological and physiological characteristics of sweet corn under water deficits, an experiment was carried out as split plots in randomized complete block design with three replications at Hashtgerd in 2014. Three levels of drought stress (complete irrigation, moderate and severe drought stress) were considered as main plots and four levels of ascorbic acid foliar application (control, 40, 80 and 120 mg.lit-1) as sub-plots. The studied characteristics were plant height, number of grain per ear, 1000-grain weight, grain yield, total chlorophyll, relative water content (RWC), proline and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. The results showed that drought stress decreased plant height, number of grain per ear, 1000-grain weight, grain yield, total chlorophyll, RWC and increased proline accumulation and SOD and catalase activities so that severe drought stress conditions decreased number of grain per ear, 1000-grain weight and grain yield about 43.03, 23.11 and 49%, respectively. In contrast, ascorbic acid foliar application increased plant height, 1000-grain weight, grain yield, total chlorophyll and RWC and reduced proline accumulation and SOD and catalase activities so that the most positive effect of ascorbic acid was observed in 120 mg.lit-1. Also, ascorbic acid foliar application with 120 mg.lit-1 increased grain yield about 32.1%.

This study evaluated the effect of mycorrhizal inoculation on growth characteristics and gel quality of Aloe Vera. Research was conducted as a randomized complete block design with three replications. Eight treatment of experiment were plant inoculation by different strains of mycorrhiza, namely, Glomus fassiculatum, G. interaradise, G. mosseae, combination of two strains of G. fasiculatum and G. mosseae, combination of two strains of G. Fasiculatum and G. interaradise, combination of two strains of G. Interaradise and G. mosseae, combination of three strains of G. fasiculatum, G. interaradise, and G. mosseae, and control treatment (without inoculation). The research results indicated mycorrhizal inoculation decreased gel pH and leaf area index, whereas mycorrhiza fungi increased the content of vitamin C, aloin and barbaloin content, relative growth rate, and ratio of mature leaf gel to weight of mature leaf skin compared to control treatment. Results of the present research revealed highest and lowest effects on studied traits was seen in combination of three strains and control treatment, respectively.

Phytoremediation is a relatively new method in agricultural science for removing soil contaminants to some extent through cultivating some plants with the least cost. This research was conducted to examine the role of nickel as a heavy metal in catalase and peroxidase activities and also to study uptake and transfer ability of nickel in the organs of Persian clover. Experiment was done as randomized complete blocks design with four treatments. Treatments were consumption of Ni (NO3)2 at four levels of 0, 100, 200, 300 ppm. The plants were treated for 10 days. The results of research showed that the increase in nickel concentration reduced LWCA and the fresh weights of shoot and root; however, it had no effect on the dry weight of shoots, RGR, and leaf area. Moreover, nickel concentration in aerial organ was higher than in roots. The results showed that catalase and peroxidase activity increased by increase of nickel in the nutrient solution. The results of this research indicated that protein content decreased as nickel increased. TF was greater than 1 but BCA and BCF were less than 1 and with increase in soil Ni so did ratios value. Therefore, Persian clover is not suggested as a suitable plant for phytoremediation.

Heavy metals are among soil pollutant resources that in case of accumulation in the soil and absorption by the plant, enter into the food chain and poison the plants or the people who consume those plants. This research was performed in order to examine the role of cadmium as a heavy metal in the activity of catalase and peroxidase as well as protein concentration in Trifolium resupinatum L. based on a randomized block design with three repetitions. The used treatments included consumption of Cd (NO3)2at four levels, namely, 0, 100, 200, and 300 ppm. The plants under study were treated for 10 days. The results of the study showed that catalase activity decreased by the increase of cadmium. Moreover, peroxidase activity increased by an increase inthe consumption of cadmium. The analysis of protein level showed that plantlet protein decreased in high cadmium concentrations. The findings also demonstrated that cadmium concentration in roots was higher than in shoots.

In order to study the effect of Pseudomonas fluorescens on growth, morphological characteristics and phosphate uptake by rapeseed (Brassica napus L. Hyola 401), an experiment was performed in 2010. The study was carried out as a randomized complete blocks design with three replications. The treatments included plants inoculation by Pseudomonas fluorescence strain 11, strain 4, strain 169, the dual combinations of strains 11+4, 11+169, 4+169, combination of all three strains studied (11+169+4) and treatment without inoculation (control plant). The findings suggested that application of strain 169 increased plants height, number of leaves and pod; however, it was ineffective on dry and wet weight of root and shoot compared to control and other treatments. It also increased phosphate concentration of roots and shoots compared to the control plant. Results showed strain 169 had successful and important function on improving growth of rapeseed (Brassica napus L. Var Hyola 401). On the other hand, these bacteria caused an increase in phosphate uptake.