zohreh hajibarat

Drought conditions at the terminal of grain filling stage are one of the main factors limiting barley yield. In stressful conditions, due to the limitation of current photosynthesis, the importance of storing more stems and its contribution to the production of the final product will be significant. Among other internodes of the stem, the penultimate internode plays the most important role in remobilization. The aim of this study is to investigate the drought tolerance of two cultivars and one line of barley with different degrees of remobilize of substances and also to investigate the comparative metabolic analysis on the penultimate internodes of three genotypes of barley Yousef (tolerant), Morocco (sensitive) and line PBYT17 (semi-tolerant) under the terminal of grain filling stage

Evaluation of metabolomics analysis of barley genotypes (Yousef, Morocco and line PBYT17) in response to drought stress was carried out 21 and 28 days after the application of drought stress in the grain filling stage. Also, the ability to remobilize stem penultimates of Yusuf, Morocco and PBYT17 genotypes in response to drought was investigated. Identification of metabolites profile which included 17 metabolites including soluble sugars, sugar phosphate, sugar nucleotide, organic acids, phosphorylated metabolites and nucleotides.

The results obtained from the metabolomics data showed that Youssef cultivar had a significantly higher efficiency than other cultivars in retransmission, related to penultimate. Among the investigated genotypes, 17 metabolites were identified. The amount of transferred reserves and the amount of remobilization efficiency were significantly different among different genotypes. Two cultivars Yousef and Morocco had the highest and lowest remobilization efficiency under stress conditions, respectively. Our results showed that the tolerant genotype, by increasing UDP-glucose and glucose-6-phosphate, led to the synthesis of trehalose-6-phosphate, which plays a key role in remobilization materials in the stem.

In general, the results of this research show that the effective metabolites in the remobilze of stem reserves can play a major role in maintaining the performance of barley plants during the drought stress at the end of the season, and this issue can be targeted solutions to increase the genotype performance. The desired varieties of barley that face drought stress at the end of the season should be used. This study may provide potential directions and valuable resources for further study of drought stress in the barley.

Plants use a variety of strategies to cope with abiotic stress, depending on the species and the growth of the plant. Abiotic stresses such as drought is the most important stress that affects yield of agricultural products. In addition, drought stress is one of the main limiting factors in plant growth, it can also inhibit respiration, photosynthesis, and thus affects the growth and physiological metabolism of plants. Plants activate several mechanisms such as morphological and structural changes as well as the expression of drought-resistant genes, the synthesis of hormones and osmotic regulators to reduce drought stress. Drought accelerates grain leaf senescence, altering the expression of thousands of genes and ultimately affecting grain protein content and grain yield. However, the genotypic variability exists for drought induced disruption and tolerance in barley. In this review, the approaches can help for improving barley genotypes in response to drought stress through breeding and physiological traits, genetic engineering, and marker-assisted selection (MAS). We detected genes and proteins involved in response to drought-tolerance using proteomics, transcriptomics and metabolomics approaches. Also, the introduced Quatitatives Traits Loci (QTLs) related to yield and Stay green and physiological traits found in this study can be used for MAS in barley improvement for drought tolerance in the future. In particular, comparative studies of genetically diverse germplasm exposed to adverse conditions such as drought provide valuable insights into plant responses to stress and create information on biochemical pathways involved in adaptation to environmental limitations. Proper evaluation of omics data can help the biomarker discovery.

The interaction of genotype with the environment provides the possibility of selecting stable genotypes for a wide range of environments. Evaluation of the interaction of genotype with the environment is necessary to increase the efficiency of selecting varieties with high and stable performance in a wide range of different environments. The objectives of this paper are: (1) evaluating the stability of 60 potato genotypes for tuber yield in two years using parametric and non-parametric stability methods, (2) identifying genotypes with good and stable performance when evaluated in variable environments and (3) investigating the relationship and correlation between stability statistics of tuber performance under water deficit conditions in Iran.

To evaluate the performance stability and adaptability of the 60 potato genotypes, two cultivars and 58 advanced clones, 17 parametric and non-parametric statistics were evaluated for tuber yield across eight environments during the 2018-2019 growing seasons. The genotypes were evaluated under normal and water deficit conditions in Karaj and Ardabil. In this study, the parametric analysis for yield was determined by such parameters as regression coefficient (bi), environmental variance (Si2), coefficient of variation (CVi), deviation from regression (sdi2), and Wricke’s ecovalence (Wi2), The non-parametric analysis included Nassar and Huhn's statistics (S(1) and S(2)), Huhn's equation (S(3) and S(6)), Shukla’s stability variance (σ2i), Plaisted and Peterson’s (θi), Thennarasu’s non-parametric (NP(1), NP(2), NP(3), and NP(4)), and Kang’s rank-sum (KR) parameter. Parametric and non-parametric statistics are used by agronomists and plant breeders. Currently, researchers are interested in applying several stability statistics to obtain the desired results, crucial for the selection of stable varieties

Composite variance analysis showed that the effect of place and year as well as the effect of genotype are significant. The interaction effect of year × location × genotype was significant at the probability level of 1%. The genotype effect was also significant at the 1% probability level. The interaction effect of genotype x location and genotype x year was not significant, which indicates that the average performance of genotypes is not different in different locations and years. Grouping of genotypes based on average performance and parametric and non-parametric stability statistics showed that genotypes are divided into four main groups. In general, based on the average rank of parametric and non-parametric stability parameters, genotypes G31, G21 and G36 had the least changes and were recognized as the most stable genotypes, and therefore they can be introduced as stable genotypes. The results of stability statistics and cluster analysis showed that G31, G21 and G36 genotypes can be introduced as stable and compatible genotypes.

Our results showed that G21, G31 and G36 genotypes contributed the least to the genetic × environment interaction (G*E) and were considered as stable genotypes under water deficit conditions. The different parametric and non-parametric stability procedures can be proposed to select drought tolerant genotypes under different environments conditions; these procedures could be useable for recognition of the best genotypes under drought stress conditions. Therefore, the analysis of yield stability could be utilized in combination with parametric and non-parametric methods to evaluate and identify drought tolerance genotypes. Dendrogram results confirmed each other with the results of parametric and non-parametric statistics. While G49, G51, G53 and G56 genotypes with the highest values were the most unstable genotypes.

To evaluate the interaction of genotypes in the environment (GEI) and promising clones, 60 potato genotypes were used during the growing seasons of 2018-2019. To identify the best potato genotypes in response to water deficit, GGE biplot and AMMI models were performed under two treatments (water deficit and normal conditions) with two commercial cultivars Agria and Sante. The experiment was performed in eight environments (2 treatments, 2 locations, and 2 years) using a randomized complete block design with three replications. AMMI and GGE biplot analysis showed that the G21 clone was more different than other genotypes for selecting the superior genotype. The yield of the tuber of promising clones G21 (90227), G31 (8708.177), G44 (KSG95), G28 (8707/861), and G18 (90127) was higher in all environments. The best-proposed genotypes for introduction are based on their greater stability for the target environment or parallel environments. In this study, using AMMI and GGE biplot analysis, superior genotypes were identified and selected.

 Protein phosphatases (PP2Cs) are the main classes of protein phosphatases in plants, having pivotal functions in different plant stages and abiotic stresses. The PP2C genes are suggested to have critical roles in barley by exposure to heat and cold treatments.

 We surveyed HvPP2C genes from the barley genome in the present study. Phylogenetic analysis, functional annotation, synteny analysis, chromosomal distribution, prediction of cis-elements, and gene expression of HvPP2Cs under abiotic stresses were studied.

 In this study, HvPP2Cs of barley were surveyed using bioinformatics tools, and HvPP2C gene expression profiles under cold and heat stresses in 3 tissues (root, leaf, and stem) were analyzed.

 In this study, 61 HvPP2C genes were detected from barley, and a phylogenetic tree was divided into 13 subfamilies. The results of chromosomal distribution showed that the HvPP2C genes were located on 7 chromosomes. Real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis of HvPP2Cs showed that they were largely expressed in different tissues (root, stem, and leaf) in the Azaran and Jolge barley cultivars. In Azaran, the HvPP2C gene expression increased in response to cold stress, whereas, in the Jolge cultivar, the HvPP2C gene expression increased in response to heat stress. The analysis of synteny revealed that HvPP2C24b with HvPP2C24a, HvPP2C24 with HvPP2C24a and HvPP2C24b; HvPP2C5 with HvPP2C5a, and HvPP2C41 with HvPP2C41a were paralogous.

 Results revealed a broad understanding of the HvPP2C gene family in barley, which can be valuable for the functional description of HvPP2Cs in plant response to abiotic stresses.

Drought is one of the most important factors limiting the environment for plant growth and productivity, especially in the flowering and filling stages of barley. A study was conducted to compare some statistical methods and different indicators of stress tolerance with the aim of introducing an ideal method for selecting drought tolerant lines. After wheat, barley is one of the most important crops. Barley is the fourth cereal crop in the world after wheat, corn and rice. One of the factors affecting the production of plants is water defecit, and barley has more efficient mechanisms against water shortage than other grains. Because it has higher relative drought tolerance compared to other grains. In these arid and semi-arid regions like Iran, the presence of drought stress during plant growth is a natural problem.

In this study, 18 diverse barley lines at two water levels (normal conditions and water deficit stress) were examined. This experiment was performed as a randomized complete block design with three replications at the Seed and Plant Improvement Research Institute of Karaj, Iran in 2020. Drought tolerance and susceptibility indices were assessed. These indices included stress sensitivity index, mean productivity, tolerance, stress tolerance index, geometric mean productivity, harmonic mean productivity, performance under stress conditions (Ys) and normal (Yp) conditions. Correlation coefficient between yield in drought and irrigation conditions and other stress indicators was estimated according to statistical techniques. Correlation between indices and grain yield under stress and normal conditions was calculated using Minitab software. Selection based on multiple traits in breeding programs is likely to be effective in improving grain yield under drought stress conditions. The purpose of this study is to identify the most suitable indicators and compare different stress tolerance indicators to select high-yielding and drought-tolerant lines and to identify the superior barley line.

The highest GMP and MP were related to 4 and 13 lines. Based on tolerance index (TOL), genotype 1 had the lowest and line 7 showed the highest level of tolerance, respectively. Based on MP and GMP indices, 4, 7 and 13 lines had high drought tolerance. A high positive and significant correlation was observed between MP, GMP, Ys, Yp, which indicates that these indices are suitable for identifying drought tolerant lines. Based on the results of the principal component analysis and the bi-plot diagram, it was observed that the lines tolerant to drought stress are almost consistent with the clustering pattern of tolerant lines and the lines sensitive to drought stress are also consistent with the clustering of sensitive lines. MP and GMP indices are suitable for evaluating drought tolerance because they showed a high correlation with grain yield under normal conditions and under water stress. The closeness of 4 and 13 lines to GMP, MP, HARM, Ys indicates the tolerance of these lines to drought stress and therefore they can be suggested as drought tolerant lines.

Selection of drought tolerant lines based on a combination of tolerance indices can provide useful criteria for drought tolerance. A high positive and significant correlation was observed between MP, GMP, Ys, Yp, which indicates that these indices are suitable for identifying drought tolerant lines. These results help the modifier to select lines in different environments. Principal component analysis showed that it is important to introduce genotypes with desirable traits such as genotypes with high yield and resistance to drought stress. It is possible to speed up the improvement of new barley cultivars by using stress tolerance indicators by breeders. In general, 4, 7, and 13 lines were drought tolerant and can be used for barley improvement programs. Based on principal component analysis, drought sensitive and tolerant lines were consistent with cluster analysis. Exploiting the results of the present study can help breeders to select and identify genotypes that have relative tolerance to drought stress.

Water deficit poses severe limitation to potato cultivation as a drought-sensitive crop plant. Selection of tolerant genotypes based on a combination of tolerance indices can provide useful criteria for breeding drought tolerant potato varieties. Water deficit affects plants at various levels and stages of their life cycle. This abiotic stress not only affects plant–water relations through the reduction of leaf water content, turgor, and total water, but it also affects stomata closure, limits gas exchange, reduces transpiration, and disturbs photosynthesis. In potato, tolerance to drought is a very complex trait. Photosynthesis is one of the basic physiological processes of plants with internal and external conditions. Any reduction of the intensity of this process causes a decrease in the amount and quality of crop plants. One of the indicators for early prediction of potato yielding can be the measurement of chlorophyll content. It is an informative tool for studying the effects of dif ferent environmental stresses on photosynthesis.  Chlorophyll content has an important role in photosynthesis and in understanding plant functions.  In any research, measuring of the chlorophyll content is used for assessment of potato genotypes tolerant and/or sen sitive to environmental stresses.

In this study, 20 potato genotypes were evaluated under two water levels; normal and water deficit stress conditions. The experiment was performed as spilt-plot based on randomized complete block design with three replications at the Seed and Plant Improvement Institute, Karaj, Iran in 2018. The correlations among the different traits were measured and estimated by calculating Pearson correlation coefficients using the statistical tool in Minitab 17. Tuber yield, yield components, growth parameters, and morphological traits were measured under both well-watered and water stressed treatments. Morphological and reproductive characteristics such as plant height, leaf dry weight, chlorophyll content, yield tuber, ware yield, seed yield, non-marketable yield, and marketable yield were measured. 

Analysis of variance showed that stem number, chlorophyll content, stem thickness, plant height, leaf dry weight (LDW), total yield, ware yield (yield>55 mm), seed yield (yield 35-55 mm), non-marketable yield (yield<35 mm), and marketable yield (ware and seed yield) were significantly affected by genotype and drough and their interaction. Analysis of variance showed that the simple effect of genotype treatment on all studied traits including yield, ware yield, seed yield and marketable yield, LDW, stem thickness, plant height, chlorophyll content, and stem number were significant at 1% level. Correlation of stem number and plant height was highly positive and significant at the 0.01 level. Principal component analysis (PCA) and measured traits showed that genotypes 2, 5, 7 and 13 had high performance in the studied stress environment. To fully reflect the various factors that played a principal role in the comprehensive indicators, PCA was carried out on quantitative traits. The accumulative contribution rate accounted for 99% of the total variation for PC3. Analysis of PCA by the correlation matrix and the biplot analysis methods used in this study revealed that these parameters could be used for evaluating the responses of potato genotypes to water deficit in different environments.  The associations among traits related to yield and genotypes are graphically revealed in a biplot of PC1 and PC2. The PC1 and PC2 axes mainly distinguish the morphological traits and yield-related traits in three different groups.   

Parameters related to yield and leaf photosynthetic pigment content (chlorophyll content) were used to rank the clones and cultivars tested for comparative analysis. Based on our results, genotype 7 performed well under normal and water stress conditions. Water deficit is an important constraint limiting the crop productivity worldwide. Plants show a wide range of responses to water deficit which are mostly expressed by a variety of alterations in the growth and morphology of plants. Field experiments revealed that water deficit affects all evaluated morphological and yield related traits.

Nitrogen is one of the most important components of biomolecules, amino acids, nucleotides, proteins, chlorophyll, and many plant hormones, which are essential and necessary for plant growth and development. In the condition of nitrogen deficiency very different responses such as yield reduction, leaf chlorosis, plant growth and root structure formation appears in phenotypes of plants. In the last decade, to increase the amount of biomass and as a result the yield of plants, a wide use of nitrogen has attracted the attention of researchers. In this study, the expression analysis of seven nitrate transporter genes (NRT2) was investigated in Arabidopsis in response to nitrogen deficiency stress at 4 and 7 days after this stress. The expression analysis of NRT2.3 and NRT2.4 genes showed increased expression at 7 days after applying nitrogen deficiency stress. But all the genes did not show a significant increase in expression at 4 days after N stress application. NRT2.4 gene showed a significant increase in 4 and 7 days after applying nitrogen stress compared to other genes. Overall, our results showed that increased nitrate transporter gene expression in leaves contributes to nitrogen uptake for plant growth and nitrogen accumulation in response to long-term low nitrogen stress. These findings can lead to a better understanding of the mechanism of low nitrogen tolerance and therefore the increase of other cultivars with nitrogen deficiency stresses.

Seed germination is an important process that determines the beginning of the seed plant life cycle. However, the mechanism underlying seed germination in barley remains unclear. To understand the molecular mechanism of the seed germination in barley, WGCNA analysis was used to detect the hub and responsive genes and to reveal the expression of the genes on seed germination. WGCNA is a valuable tool for studying the correlation between genes, identifying modules with high correlation, and identifying Hub genes in different modules.

Raw microarray data related to germination stage were obtained from the GEO microarray database for 0h, 3h, 9h, 18h, 33h and 71h after germination stage. Then, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was utilized for detection of co-expressed network genes. In the present study, a barley cultivar, Mahtab, was utilized to show expression pattern after 9h, 18h and 71h after germination stage. A total number of 4137 differentially expressed genes (DEG) were identified, with some genes showing higher expression in Mahtab and three genes verified by qRT-PCR

Most of these DEGs were involved in metabolic processes, cellular processes, glycolysis, and response to stimulus. Hub gene in MEbrown was alpha/beta-Hydrolases superfamily protein, MEpurple was U-box domain-containing protein 4, and MEdarkgrey was B3 domain-containing transcription factor ABI3 which were positively correlated with germinated seeds. The results showed a microarray database and candidate genes for further study of barley at germination stages. In addition, DEGs were divided into three modules by WGCNA. In this study, gene modules associated with seed germination during barley seed germination were identified. Transcription factor and alpha/beta-hydrolase played an important role at germination stage. Also, gene modules and hub genes at 9h, 18h, and 71h after germination were detected. As there is lack of information on seed germination requirements of barley, this research was conducted to study seed germination mechanisms as well as evaluation of hub genes to study molecular mechanism seed germination in barley.

The results of the present study provide new insights into the molecular mechanism underlying barley seed germination. Based on the network analysis, transcription factors (TFs) and ubiquitin proteins were involved in germination. Most of the genes related to each module were related to proteins involved in carbohydrate metabolism, glycolysis, and protein degradation. Our gene expression results can serve as molecular markers in barley cultivars during seed germination. These findings can be suitable for molecular assisted selection and breeding of fast germinating barley genotypes.

Calmodulin is a regulated protein of calcium and is a small intracellular protein that binds to calcium ions and mediates many of its intracellular actions. Calmodulin-binding transcription factors (CAMTAs) are recognized as one of the stress-responsive proteins. In this study, CAMTA genes were selected in maize. In this study, CAMTA family genes in maize were selected and chromosomal distribution, gene structure, domain patterns, and phylogenetic tree of CAMTA genes in maize were analyzed to further evaluate. To identify expression levels in different plant tissues, CAMTA gene expression analysis in response to heat stress and germination was studied. ZmCAMTA1 and ZmCAMTA2 genes were expressed in heat stress. Gene structure was similar in most proteins in each group, confirming the phylogenetic classification of CAMTA. Prediction of cis-elements in the promoter region of genes showed that bZIP and AP2 / ERF had the highest cis-elements in the promoter region of ZmCAMTA genes. In leaf tissue, ZmCAMTA1 gene was up-regulated expression in response to heat stress. ZmCAMTA2 gene was up-regulated in stem tissue in response to heat stress. The ZmCAMTA2 gene in response to increased expression germination showed that this study could be considered as a useful resource for future comparative studies of ZmCAMTA in different plant species and provide useful information for finding candidate genes in response to stress.

NFXL1 and NFXL2 proteins have NF-X1 type zinc fingers domains, DNA binding, and PHD finger motifs, which potentially mediate its protein interactions. NF-X genes play an important role in response to defense signaling using plant hormones.

In this study, 12 NF-X genes were selected in barley, maize and wheat. The gene structures, duplication patterns, phylogenetic tree, developmental of the 12 NF-X transcription factors in nine species were analyzed to further investigate the functions of these factors. In the present study, a comparative analysis was performed to identify orthologs and paralogues of NF-X in the genomes of maize, barley and wheat.

The phylogenetic tree of NF-X from H.vulgare and Z.mays revealed two groups based on their homology and the exon numbers of NF-X genes, ranging from 1 to 13. According to the synteny analysis, NF-X genes of barley, maize and wheat revealed high similarity, which TaNFXL1.2 with HvNFXL1; HvNFXL2 with TaNFXL1.3, TaNFXL2, TaNFXL2.1; TaNFXL1 with TaNFXL1.1, TaNFXL1.3; ZmNFXL1 with ZmNFXL1.1 genes revealed similarity more than %90. Prediction cis-elements showed that NF-YB; NF-YA; NF-YC, bHLH, myb/SANT, WRKY, Dof, and Trihelix had maximum frequency in the promoter region of NF-X genes.  The HvNF-X2, ZmNF-X2 and TaNF-X2 genes had the highest number of cis-elements. Analysis of NF-X genes showed that tandem duplication and segmental duplication play an important role in the development of barley, maize and wheat genomes. NF-X gene expression analysis showed that these genes were up-regulated in almost all developmental stages. However, the number of tandem and segmental duplication showed that these factors are major factors in the evolution of NF-X genes. Since this is the first study to compare NF-X genes in three species, our findings could be considered as useful source for future NF-X genes studies in comparative studies among different plant species.

The aim of this study was to identify and characterize NF-X genes in nine species via in silico genome-wide analysis approach. HvNFX1, HvNF-X2, and ZmNFXL1.1 genes showed that gene expression in all development stages. The gene structure in most proteins in each group was similar, which validated the NF-X transcription factors phylogenetic classification.

One of the evaluation steps in the safety of transgenic crops is the potential for allergenicity. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the allergenicity of the produced proteins of transgenic organisms using bioinformatics analysis before anything else. In this study, three allergen databases (Allergenonline, SDAP and Allermatch) were used to evaluate the bioinformatics of six important proteins of transgenic products. Query sequences were analyzed for survey of allergen sequences by full FASTA and 80 amino acids with more than 50% and 35% similarity in allergen databases, respectively. Among the studied proteins, Chitinase and PRP (pathogenesis-related proteins) showed high homology with allergen proteins, that these proteins have plant origin and are naturally and are consumed by humans. In contrast, growth hormone protein (Growth Hormone-1), Cry1AC (resistant to insect pest), CspB (drought tolerance protein) and (Rpi-vnt1.2) has not shown any homology to allergenic proteins. The results showed that the evaluation of allergenicity and other analysis (study of total proteins) before commercialization of these products seems necessary to confirm the safety of transgenic products.

Plants utilize different strategies to combat abiotic stress, depending on the species and growth stage. One of these strategies is to increase the remobilization of water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC) under stress, which can be important sources of carbon to fill the grain in response to drought stress. Drought is one of the most important abiotic stresses affecting yield of agricultural products. In addition, drought stress is one of the main limiting factors in plant growth, it can also prevent respiration, photosynthesis and opening and closing of plant stomata. As a result, it affects the growth and physiological metabolism of the plant. In response to drought stress, plants activate drought response mechanisms such as morphological and structural changes as well as the expression of responsive-drought genes, the synthesis of hormones and osmotic regulators to reduce drought stress. Drought initiates the senescence of cereal leaves, including changes in the expression of thousands of genes that ultimately affect grain protein content, grain yield, and nitrogen utilization efficiency. Also, under drought stress, soil nitrogen availability is reduced causing initiation and acceleration of the leaves senescence. Leaf senescence is strongly influenced by plant hormones and environmental factors including the availability of nitrogen. During maturity or drought stress, reduced nitrogen uptake can cause nitrogen to be redistributed from leaves and stems to seeds, eventually leading to leaf senescence. Under these conditions, genes involved in the fructan biosynthesis pathway and in chloroplast degradation and proteases show increased expression. For example, genes involved in protein degradation (proteases) and transcription factors (NAC, WRKY) are expressed in the process of cells senescence. In this paper, it was shown that the genes involved in the fructan biosynthesis pathway, chloroplast degradation, protein degradation (proteases), and transcription factors (NAC, WRKY) during the aging process show increased expression.

Potato is considered as a strategic product in the food security of the country and is the fourth most consumed food product in Iran.  Due to its shallow rooting system, this plant is sensitive to water deficit.  In order to study the response of 20 potato genotypes to drought stress, a field experiment was conducted during 2018–2019 at the Seed and Plant Improvement Institute located at Karaj, Iran. The experimental design utilized was a Strip-plot based on randomized complete block design with three replications under two irrigation regimes (normal and stressed). ANOVA showed a significant difference for genotypes at 1% level for overall tuber yield, ware yield (tubers larger than 35 mm), seed yield (tubers between 35 and 55 mm), small yield (non-marketable potatoes), and marketable yield (total ware yield and seed yield). Eleven drought tolerance indices including STI, SSI, TOL, HARM, GMP, MP, YSI, DSI were calculated based on tuber yield under water deficit (Ys) and irrigated (Yp) conditions.  Our results showed a highly significant and positive correlation between MP, Yp and Ys.  The results of the analysis of PCA and the analysis of clustering showed that the drought-tolerance and drought-sensitive genotypes with the clustering pattern are consistent.  The MP, GMP, STI and MSTI identified 902027 genotypes as the best genotype under normal and stress conditions.  Among the genotypes and cultivars studied, 902027 and 8703- genotypes showed the highest MP and GMP, indicating high stability of genotypes in response to drought stress and thus can be considered as drought tolerant genotypes.

Flower initiation is an important factor influencing plant yield. Environmental factors significantly affect flowering initiation. Bioinformatic analysis was performed on MADS-box transcription factors which are considered as important components in the flower formation. Brachpodium is a new experimental model which used to understand the genetic, cellular mechanism and molecular biology of plants. In this study, 43 sequences of Brachypodium MADS-box genes were analyzed using phylogeny relationships, conserved motifs, chromosomal location, detection of transcription factor binding sites, and amino acid composition. The aim of this study was to better identify molecular mechanisms related to flowering. In this study, results showed that MADS-box genes distribute on all Brachypodium chromosomes, while gene clusters were located on all chromosomes except chromosome five. Analysis of the amino acid composition revealed that lucine, serine, and glutamate, with the highest amount, and tryptophan, with the least amount, elicit appreciable flowering. Based on the phylogeny analysis the genes were divided to four clusters. Tajima test indicated the presence of balancing selection in MADS-box sequences and as a result polymorphism is conserved in the sequences. Thus, the total diversity in MADS-box genes were high. Overall, our results provided useful information for the survey of flowering response genes, thereby detection of molecular mechanism and intergenic relationships facilitate flowering pathway.

In vitro propagation has proven a suitable method for mass multiplication of uniform and diseases-free plants and acts as a new tool for modern breeding through genetic manipulation. This experiment was conducted to study the in vitro effects of growth regulators on proliferation and rooting ability of Rosa canina. Auxiliary buds were used as explant in this experiment. The stem formation was tested using completely randomized factorial design. MS medium for shoot proliferation was supplemented with various concentrations of BA (0.5, 1, 1.5, 2 mgl-1) and Kin (0, 0.5 mgl-1). Analysis of variance showed that shoot number and shoot height were highly significant at 1% level. The most shoot proliferation was observed at 1 mgl-1 BA with 0.5 mgl-1 Kin. Maximum plantlet length was obtained with 0.5mgl-1 BA and 0.5mgl-1 Kin in combination. Number of roots, ratio of root number to root length and root length showed statistically significant difference in response to different root induction treatments. Furthermore, best root regeneration was obtained at 1.2 mgl-1 IBA in R. canina. All hardened plantlets were transferred to commercial rose greenhouse.

The software implements standard statistical approaches commonly adopted in validation studies to estimate analytical method performance (limits of detection and quantitation, precision and accuracy). This software can also be used for tests to determine the normal distribution of data, to check the homogeneity of variances as well as a choices of method selection according to specific user needs. The importance of validation of analytical methods have been risen. Validated methods for the detection of genetically modified organisms (GMO) are requested by European :::::union::::: (EU) legislation in order to accept GMO crops on the European market. The AMPE software could be used to synchronize and standardize the results of the assessment of GMO in different countries and the competent authorities. In most cases, validation requires the assessment of the performance of the proposed method by means of an inter laboratory studies. This application has been developed based on international protocols ISO, Codex CCMAS and the ISO 5725 (1994). This software has to compare different methods and evaluate their adequacy with respect to specific needs, based on summarized information collected during the validation and recognition GMO crops.

Plants are considered as one of the world’s valuable genetic resources. It is expected that more than 15 to 40 percent of all living species will become extinct by the year 2050. Since 1960, studies were seriously raised over species going extinct as well as conservation of genetic resources leading to establishment of international organizations. These organizations have proposed some actions to protect endangered species such as, establishing of plant gene banks, determining protected areas for the conservation of genetic resources, and cultivation of becoming extinct plant species in the botanical gardens. Their works was mainly based on new procedures such as genetic engineering as a quick and efficient tool to save becoming extinct species. This technique allows identification and cloning genes responsible for resistance against biotic and abiotic stresses from different organisms and transferring the resistance resources into becoming extinct species to save them. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of transgenic plants in the conservation of becoming extinct species and increase of biodiversity.

In order to find the most effective method to overcome seed dormancy in Teucrium chamaedrys L. medicinal plant species the effect of some chemical and physical breaking methods including: cold stratification (5 °C), scarification with sandpaper, stratification with needle, concentrated sulfuric acid, gibberellic acid and combination of these methods were investigated. Treated seeds along with control were sown in the germinator at 25±2 °C for 45 days according to a randomized complete block design with three replications. Results showed that all seed treatments increased seed dormancy, however, the highest germination percentage and lowest mean germination time obtained when seeds were treated with sulfuric acid followed by chilling and gibberellic acid, respectively. Sulfuric acid increased the permeability of the seed coat and the effect of gibberellic acid was enhanced by cold treatment. Results showed that T. chamaedrys seeds have both physical and physiological dormancy.

Identification of genetic diversity and classification of genetic resources (germplasm) are of important and essential activities in breeding and management of plant genetic resources. In order to study of genetic diversity of chickpea genotypes، 38 pair’s primers of SSR were used on 18 landrace and 30 improved varieties. After genomic DNA extraction and PCR reaction، primers produced 117 polymorphic bands and the mean of polymorphic band per primer was 3. 5. The highest value of polymorphic information content (PIC) belonged to TAA170 primer (0. 77) and the lowest value of PIC belonged to Cstms5 primer (0. 08). Mean of PIC for all primers was 0. 48. Calculated Jacard similarity coefficient ranged from 0. 47 to 0. 94 among genotypes. In order to assess genetic relationships، cluster analysis was performed by method NJ with Splitstree (ver 4. 13. 1) software. Results of this study revealed that SSR molecular markers has a valuable potential for evaluation and discrimination of chickpea genotypes.