The Lorestan newt, Neurergus kaiseri is one of the endemic amphibians, distributed in some parts of Lorestan and Khuzestan Provinces in west and south western Iran. In the current study, morphological characteristics of the Lorestan newt was investigated through sampling of 85 individuals from eight sites in the south of Lorestan and north of Khuzestan during 2015-2016. Four main morphological features including, tail length (TL), head length (HL), body length (SVL), total length (BL) and four ratios: (BL/ HL), (BL/ TL), (BL/SVL) and (TL/ SVL) were measured and compared among populations. The average body length for females in Luristan and Khuzestan Provinces were 13.331cm (12.95- 13.72) and 12.782 cm (12.53-13.09) respectively and for male specimens were 11.815 cm (11.49- 12.21) and 12.11 cm (11.80- 12.36). The results obtained from the ANOVA analysis indicated that there were significant differences (P ≤ 0.05) in all morphological characteristics of the newt between northern and southern clades except for the total body length.

Feasibility of using geometric morphometrics on larvae of Loristan newt for population identifications Lorestan newt (Neurergus kaiseri, Schmidt 1952) is one of the native amphibians inhabiting streams, springs and waterfalls in the mountain regions of south and southwestern Iran. The current study was conducted, for the first time, to investigate the feasibility of using geometric morphometrics on larvae to distinguish the populations of this species. Image processing for morphometric analyses was performed on 112 larvae collected from eight sites. Two-dimensional land marking was used and 19 landmarks were selected for digitization. Morphometric data were then overlaid and analyzed using multivariate statistical methods (PCA and CVA). Results showed morphological differences between larvae of the studied populations and two morphological clusters can be distinguished within the populations. Therefore, due to differences between these populations and the difficulty of distinguishing these larvae based on the color patterns, it is recommended to be more cautious about releasing larvae to the wild.

Morphological observations are made on several populations of Hoplolaimus indicus and Hoplolaimus seinhorsti, recovered from rhizosphere of mango, tamarind, sour orange and sugarcane from the southern regions of Iran. Detailed studies on the two species Hoplolaimus dubius and H. indicus being separated from each other based on some morphological characters, revealed each of them having intra-specific and overlapping variations in morphology and morphometric ranges, enough for not separating two closely related aforementioned species and as a result, H. dubius is considered as a junior synonym of H. indicus. Observations on H. seinhorsti also supported the Siddiqi’s decision on the synonymy of Hoplolaimus sheri with H. seinhorsti. The results of the phylogenetic analyses using D2-D3 expansion segments of 28S rRNA gene were in agreement with the results of previous works, i.e. the classic scheme for assigning species of the genus into two "ancestral" and/or "derived" groups was supported. In phylogenetic trees inferred, using different analysis methods, the Iranian populations of H. indicus were located in the same clade with H. seinhorsti and H. columbus, belonging to "derived" group of species of the genus characterized by having six nuclei in pharyngeal glands, less than four incisures at each lateral field and anteriorly situated position of excretory pore to hemizonid.

Chelonibia testudinaria is a globally widespread epibiont barnacle. Previous phylogenetic studies have shown that specimens of this species positioned in three separate clades. One clade contains specimens of the Eastern Pacific, one clade contains specimens of the West and East Atlantic, and one clade contains specimens of the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia. In the present study, we addressed the phylogenetic position of specimens of C. testudinaria from the Persian Gulf using the mitochondrial COX1gene. The results show that specimens of the Persian Gulf cluster with specimens of Southeast Asia from Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore as well as Japan in a supported clade. The widespread distribution of this species in the Indo-West Pacific seems to have been facilitated by sea turtles.

Abstract Circassians are one of the ethnic groups in the South-West of the Caucasus who speak Circassian language which is one of the branches of the north-east Caucasus languages (Ebrian-Caucasian). This ethnic branch includes the Caucasian ethnic Abkhaz-Adygian group, which are nowadays divided in three republics in the north Caucasus Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia and Adygeya. By using the title Circassia, we mean historical geography of Circassians that in the last 300 years has become the center of contention among Iran, Russia and Ottoman Empire. In the history, Circassians have always played a slavish role and Iranians and Ottomans have abused them. In this case, these people had the opportunity to penetrate the Iranian and Ottoman Courts and had a significant influence on the same historical events. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, their tendency to independence in this region started and Circassians entered a period of dispute. One of the largest struggles during these years was the conflict between Georgia and Abkhazia in which Circassian military forces, battled against Georgia.

A data set consists of 6,030 weight records of Iran Black sheep (3,051 males and 2,979 females) progeny of 141 rams and 1525 ewes of Iran Black collected during 1973-2010 from Abbas Abad breeding centre, Mashhad were utilized for investigating inbreeding trend and its effect on body weight traits. The traits under consideration were birth weight (BW), weaning weight (WW), weight at 6-month (W6), weight at 9-month (W9), yearling weight (YW) and pre-weaning daily gain (PWDG). Inbreeding coefficient of all animals was computed using CFC software. A mixed linear model was applied for analyzing the data using SAS software. Among the animals, 5,333 (88.44%) were inbred indicating that the effective number of base population might be low. Average (standard deviation) of inbreeding coefficient were found to be 8.78 (6.34) and 9.33 (5.83) % for whole and inbred populations, respectively. Minimum and maximum inbreeding coefficients were 0 and 38.48 %, respectively. In whole population, average (standard deviation) of inbreeding coefficients were 8.75 (6.31) and 8.82 (6.37) % for male and female lambs, respectively. The corresponding figures were 8.69 (6.25) and 8.90 (6.37) % for single and twin lambs, respectively. Inbreeding depression was detected for WW, W3, W6, W9 and YW in twin males, for BW in twin females, and for W9 in twin females. Annual trends of inbreeding coefficient were 0.2022 and 0.1632 % for whole and inbred animals which were found to be statistically significant (P<0.0001).

Turkey is a multi-ethnic country that is inhabited by diverse Eurasian minorities such as Armenians, Georgians, Uyghurs, Laz, Zazas, and Circassians. Under the influence of historical circumstances, Turkey has religious, ethnic, linguistic, and national minorities. During their rule, the Ottomans conquered various regions, including Eurasian ones. Of Turkey’s 82 million population in 2018, 35% are minorities. According to the statistics, 18.9% are Kurds, 7.2% are Tatars, 1.8% are Arabs, 1% are Azeris and 1% are Yorks. The other 5% are minorities such as Armenians, Georgians, Circassians, Laz, and Balkans. Despite their small population, Eurasian minorities are highly diverse among Turkish minorities. After the establishment of the Republic of Turkey (1923), the constitution emphasized “Turkish homeland”, “Turkish citizens” and “Turkish existence”. The implementation of a policy of population unification based on Turkish identity led to the denial of minorities. This is although Turkey had made commitments to minorities in Articles 37 to 45 of the Treaty of Lausanne (1923), part of which relates to Eurasian minorities, especially Armenians. The treaty defined minorities as non-Muslims, including Greeks, Jews, and Armenians. They had legal rights, schools, and religious services. Events such as Expulsion, confiscation of property, forced migration, and massacres such as tragedies (1915) against Armenians, the massacres of Kurds in Dersim (1938), and the Alawites in Sivas (1993) are some of the bitter happenings in the history of minorities in Turkey. After the AKP came to power (2002), there were changes in Turkey’s Eurasian approach as well as attitudes towards minorities. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2009 in the city of Duzce expressed a desire for fundamental reforms in minority rights. He called his country’s past policies on minorities wrong and fascist. Subsequently, the issue of amendments to the 1936 law and the return of confiscated property of the Armenian and Greek religious minorities were raised. But this approach has changed since 2012 with a shift in Turkey’s domestic and foreign policies. Due to the common concern of the international community about the consequences of the violation of the rights of minorities, in 1992 the “Declaration of the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities” was adopted by the General Assembly. Earlier, Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) emphasized the rights of ethnic, religious, and linguistic minorities. This Covenant is binding on all nations. With the development of the international law of minorities, and under the influence of the continuing unrest in some parts of Turkey and the strengthening of Ankara’s Eurasianist approach, attention has increased to the situation of Eurasian minorities. The purpose of this article is to examine the situation of Eurasian minorities in Turkey from the perspective of international law. The article seeks to answer the question of what is the status of Eurasian minorities in Turkey under Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) and the 1992 Declaration of minorities? The article hypothesizes that the legal status of Eurasian minorities in Turkey is not the same. This article, while theoretically explaining the concept of minorities and their rights, uses citation and descriptive-analytical methods. The results show that despite the positive steps taken to promote minority rights in Turkey, due to the dominance of the political view on the legal approach, the denial of minorities in the constitution, and the rejection of international minority rights instruments, the situation of Eurasian minorities in Turkey has been evolved from suitable to undesirable one. They are divided into satisfied and dissatisfied minorities. Satisfied minorities do not believe that their rights are systematically violated by the government. Some of these minorities have historically been absorbed into the majority culture in Turkey and their traditions and language have been destroyed or weakened. Therefore granting some rights to these minorities is not defined as a threat by the government. Some of these minorities have racial or cultural similarities with the Turkish majority or such similarities are propagated, such as Turkish Azeris or Chinese Uyghurs. Dissatisfied minorities believe that cultural and linguistic rights are violated, effective participation is denied, confiscated property has not been returned, forced integration into the majority happened, continued hatred dragged on, lack of access to a fair trial, historical renaming, and direct and indirect discrimination was implemented. This situation is contrary to the three principles emphasized in international minority rights, namely non-deprivation, non-discrimination and non-forced integration. The findings of the article indicate that Turkey’s approach to minorities is political, not legal. There is no legal guarantee in Turkey for the implementation of the rights provided for minorities in international law. The few concessions made to minorities, especially from 2002 to 2011, were mostly cross-cutting government action rather than a change in laws. The extent of ethnic affiliation with the Turkic race and religious affiliation with the Sunni-Hanafi religion has influenced the situation of the Eurasian-ethnic minorities. Despite this, the linguistic, religious, and cultural characteristics of most minorities have been weakened by Ankara’s approach. Over the past century the number of some minorities such as Circassians, Georgians, and Armenians, has dropped tenfold. It seems that Turkey needs to change its political approach to a legal one to raise the status of minorities to the level of international law standards. The first steps in this process are the acceptance of the four customary minorities in the constitution, joining the Declaration of Minorities, stopping the forced integration of minorities, stopping the Turkification of minorities, propagating and teaching the history and culture of minorities in textbooks to combat hatred, reforming laws dating back to the Ottoman period, and providing real statistics on minorities and promoting multiculturalism.

Reviewing the narration of Muhammad ibn Jarir Tabari (died: 310 AH) on Sāsān, the ancestor of the Sasanians and his connection with the fire temple of the goddess Anāhitā in Pars Istakhr and comparing this report with the Zoroastrian legal knowledge of the Sasanian period, Pedram Jam in a new study titled "Were Sasanians of Priestly Lineage?" concludes that Sāsān was “the Lord of Fire” and did not have a religious position in this temple. He also compares the Agathias’ report, a Byzantine historian, on the lineage and family background of Ardašīr son of Bābak (224-240 AD), the founder of the Sasanian Empire, with other historical sources and believes that Agathias' account has nothing to do with the priestly lineage of Ardašīr and his family. Thus, Jam assumes the view of Iranian and non-Iranian scholars on the priestly descent of the Sasanians and that according to Tabari, they considered Sāsān as a "mobed", " hērbed " or "guardian of the fire temple of Anāhitā" in Istkhar, Pars or that according to Agathias, they regarded Ardašīr as a clergy man, to be misinterpretations of the Tabari’s and Agathias’ narrations and he considers the ancestors of Ardašīr as local aristocrats of Pars province. Nevertheless, I believe that Jam's perceptions and conclusions are incorrect and Sasanians were indeed of priestly lineage. Analyzing the reports of Tabari and Agathias and also the views of some Iranian and non-Iranian scholars about the Sasanian descent and the identity and the status of Sāsān and Bābak and their connection with the Anāhitā fire temple in Istakhr, Pars, this study criticizes the recent view and approach of Jam on the aristocratic origin of Sasanians and non-priestly lineage of them.

The oomycete pathogens causing white blister rusts on members of Asteridae comprise different species within the genus Pustula (Albuginales, Oomycota). During the collection of white blister rust specimens in the South Khorasan province (eastern Iran) in April 2019, a specimen collected from Takhtajaniantha pusilla (Asteraceae), was identified morphologically as Pustula junggarensis (Albuginales, Oomycota). BLAST search using the ITS nrDNA sequence data, confirmed the identification. Also, the phylogenetic analysis using cox2 sequences clustered the species in the same clade with P. junggarensis sequences from China. This is the first record of P. junggarensis in Iran. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a disease caused by a causative fungal/fungal-like agent on T. pusilla in Iran.

Pythium is a fungus-like genus with worldwide distribution that is found in most terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. It is a species-rich genus contains important plant pathogenic species. Little is known on the systematics of Pythium in West Azarbaijan province (N.W. Iran). Thus, the aim of this study was to identify 200 isolates collected from different cultivated soils of West Azarbaijan province during 2012–13. Based on morphological and molecular (ITS and coxI sequences) data, 14 Pythium species from six clades, A, D, E, F, I and J, were identified. Of these, P. ornamentatum from clade D, P. nodosum from clade J and P. stipitatum from clade E are new records for Iran mycobiota. Molecular data failed to separate P. glomeratum, P. ornamentatum and P. viniferum from closely related species and they were identified based on morphological features. Detailed description is presented here for P. minus, P. ornamentatum, P. nodosum and P. stipitatum.