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.

Mg-Cu-Zn ferrite was prepared through a wet synthetic method by a self-combustion reaction directly from a citrate precursor. The as-synthesized powders were sintered at 750 °C for only 2 h. XRD patterns and FTIR spectra confirm the formation of single phase Mg-Cu-Zn ferrite after combustion. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that Mg-Cu-Zn ferrite is sintered at such a low temperature. The sintering process increased the crystallinity of the solid and the domain sizes.

Bulky nanocomposite materials in many miscellaneous technical domains, hybrid films, patterned structures, and core-shell particles are emerging as fascinating functional materials with features that go beyond the current state of the art. This section of Nanomaterials covers all aspects of nanocomposites, including design, synthesis, characterization, and application for a wide range of applications. Because of its poisonous nature, Methylene Blue (MB) dye, which is widely used in a variety of sectors, poses a hazard to the environment. Before being out into the location, wastewater from an assortment of businesses must be treated. As an adsorbent, we created a Zn-Cu-GO nanocomposite using a one-pot hydrothermal technique. The effect was related to Zn-Graphene Oxide and Cu-Graphene Oxide nanocomposites for the elimination of Methylene Blue colouring. The adsorption capacity of the Cu-GO, Zn-GO and Cu-Zn-GO nanocomposite were measured to be 308 mg g−1 and 392 mg g−1 and 544 mg g−1, respectively. The removal efficiency of Cu-GO, Zn-GO and Cu-Zn-GO nanocomposite were recorded to be 72%, 82.3%, and 95%, respectively. The functional groups in the nanocomposite were also validated by the functional groups in the nanocomposite after the hexagonal Zinc nanoparticles and cubic Copper nanoparticles were examined using X-Ray diffraction (XRD). Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy is a method. Both the flakes type Copper nanoparticle and the flakes type Zinc nanoparticle share a similar morphology. Granular copper nanoparticles were found on GO sheets and characterised by transmission electron microscopy.

The primary purpose of this investigation is contamination mapping in surrounding areas of Irankuh Pb–Zn mine, located in central Iran, using an integrated approach of principal component analysis (PCA) with the Concentration-Area (C-A) and Power Spectrum-Area (S-A) fractal models. PCA categorized the 45 elements into eight principal components. Component 2, containing the toxic elements of Pb, Zn, As, Mn, Cd, and Ba, was identified as the contamination factor. This multivariate contamination factor was modeled using the C-A and S-A fractal methods (in spatial and frequency domains) to delineate pollution areas. Modeling of PCA data using the C-A fractal method showed four main populations for the contamination factors. Two populations with higher fractal dimensions are associated with contamination from mining activities or anthropogenic effects. Low fractal dimensions are considered the background population, which has not been affected or is less affected by these activities. Five geo-chemical populations were obtained for contamination factors using the S-A fractal modeling of PCA in the frequency domain. Therefore, various geo-chemical populations were achieved using geo-chemical filtering and two-dimensional inverse Fourier transformation. The geo-chemical populations related to classes 2, 3, and 4 containing intermediate frequency signals showed the pollution anomaly. The spatial distribution of pollutant geo-chemical signals exhibits excellent conformity with the mining operation limit and tailing dam location as pollutant sources. The results indicate that the elements Pb, Zn, Cd, and As have significant values in the surrounding soils rather than their concentrations in the earth’s crust. The results demonstrate that the S-A fractal models can more precisely delineate the environmental anomaly than the C-A fractal model, especially in intermediate frequency populations.

Detection of dispersed and blind mineral deposits is an important aim in the mineral exploration. Detailed exploratory operations such as drilled boreholes which are performed for exploration of mineral deposits in the depth caused high cost and risk. In this research, a new scenario based on spectral analysis of geochemical data has been utilized for prediction of mineralized zones in the depth without any additional cost. The variations of mineralized elements from the surface to the depth are predicted and delineated by using this approach based on surface geochemical data. This proposed approach is the state-of the-art application of two-dimensional Fourier transformation (2DFT) for geochemical image processing. This approach which is named frequency coefficient method (FCM) has been defined based on the behavior of elements in the frequency domain. In this study, the FCM shows two Pb and Zn mineralized zones at the surface and moderate depth and a non-mineralized zone at the profound depth in Chichakloo Pb–Zn mineralization. Finally, the results of FCM have been validated and confirmed by the results of drilled boreholes and geophysical surveys.

Salinity is one of the most important environmental stresses that disrupt the natural growth of plants. Plant use different mechanisms to cope with stress conditions, such as salinity, in which changes in protein expression is the most important one at molecular level. Changes in protein expression depends on their physicochemical changes such as half- life, stability index, iso-electric point, molecular weight, extinction coefficient etc. Furtermore, identification of motifs, patterns and protein domains make it possible to predict changes in the conformation, structure and proteins functions. In this research was selected a number of changed protein in expression under salinity stress in wheat based on the previous proteomic studies for further was selected bioinformatic analysis. Study Physicochemical properties of proteins by ProtParam software, identification of domains by InterProScan and CDD, identification patters for prediction of post translational modification by ScanProsite, similarity by Blast, alignment of similar proteins for identification of conserved block was performed by T-Coffee. Out of the 25 proteins associated with salinity stress, 20 proteins have a half-life more than 20 hours. The molecular weight of these proteins was varied between 13 to 117 kDa and 15 protein showed instability index of less than 40 and therefore classified as stable proteins. Investigation of proteins using TMHMM and Protscale softwares, it was found that Aquaporins, Plasma membrane intrinsic proteins, Plasma membrane ATPase and Rust resistance kinase Lr10 are highly hydrophobic proteins, whose major structure located inside the membranes. Out of 25 proteins, 8 proteins were selected and analyzed for identification of patterns, domains, structure and function. α-tubulin as a monomer participates with -tubulin to make α-tubulin dimer. Tubulin create a major part of microtubules that are essential for cell growth and division. This protein consisted of one pattern, Tubulin subunits alpha, beta and gamma signature domain namly PLN00221. For the Triosphosphate isomerase protein, a domain called TIM, which is involved in the catalytic mechanism and for the Calmodulin protein a domain called PTZ00184 was identified which is a calcium binding domain. For the Putative glycine decarbixylase subunit a domain called PRK01202 has been identified that has carboxylase activity. For Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase protein the domain called as SOD is involved in the absorption of superoxide. For Fructose-bisphosphate aldolase protein, the catalytic converter domain was identified as PLV02455 and for Hsp 70- Hsp 90 organizing protein, STI1 domain was identified with ATPase property. For the 2- Cys peroxiredoxin BAS 1 protein, for the PRX-Typ 2 cys domain that plays an important role in regulating oxidation- cell reduction.

Soil salinity and Zn deficiency are among the most important limiting factors for growth and yields of pistachio trees in many regions of Iran, especially in the Rafsanjan area. The use of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) is new strategies to reduce destructive effects of salinity and improvement of nutrient availability. This study investigated the interactive effect of the fluorescent pseudomonads rhizobacteria and Zn on the fractionation and availability of Zn in the rhizosphere soil and uptake of Zn by shoot of pistachio seedlings (cv. Badami) under salinity condition.
Material and A greenhouse experiment was conducted in a factorial experiment based on completely randomized design with three replications in order to evaluate the interactive effect of fluorescent pseudomonads rhizobacteria (pf0 (non-inoculated control), pf1, pf2 and pf3) and Zn application (0 and 5 mg Zn kg-1) on the Zn fractionation in the different levels of soil salinity {0 (1.46 dS m-1), 1000 (7.32 dS m-1) and 2000 (12.0 dS m-1) mg NaCl kg-1 soil} and its relationship with concentration and uptake of Zn in the pistachio seedlings (Pistacia Vera L. cv. Badami) shoot.
The results indicated that salinity and inoculation with fluorescent pseudomonads increased the DTPA- extractable Zn (DTPA-Zn) content and the forms of water soluble plus exchangeable (WSEXC) Zn, carbonate-bound (CA) Zn and organic matter-bound (OM) Zn, while decreased Fe-Mn oxide-bound (FeMnOX) Zn and residual (RES) Zn in the rhizosphere soil. Inoculation by fluorescent pseudomonads increased the DTPA-Zn, WSEXC-Zn, CA-Zn and OM-Zn contents by 52, 26, 29 and 35%, respectively but decreased FeMnOX-Zn and RES-Zn contents by 24 and 3 %, respectively. Also, Zn application significantly increased all forms of Zn (except residual form) in the soil. The results showed that salinity reduced the concentration and uptake of Zn in the pistachio seedlings shoot, while inoculation with fluorescent pseudomonads and treatment with Zn incrased its contents at all salinity levels. However, the combined application of the fluorescent pseudomonads and Zn were more effective. There was a positive and significant correlation between Zn uptakes by shoot and DTPA-Zn, WSEXC-Zn, CA-Zn and FeMnOX-Zn. As well as, soil salinity and inoculation by fluorescent pseudomonads reduced pH value of rhizosphere soil from 7.73 to 7.46 and 7.59, respectively.
The results showed that soil salinity increased Zn availability in the rhizosphere soil, while reduced the concentration and uptake of Zn by pistachio seedlings shoot due to reduce of root volume, water availability and high content of Na ion. Thus, the use of superior isolates-especially Zn solubilizing bacteria- can effectively increase the availability of Zn in soil and uptake of Zn by plants through increasing root growth. However, WSEXC-Zn, CA-Zn and FeMnOX-Zn could be used as available fractions of pistachio seedlings.

This experiment was carried out in a Zn-deficient calcareous soil to study the effects of Zn deficiency on shoot dry weight, shoot content, and concentration of Zn, and also to identify new sources of Zn efficiency for further improvement of Zn efficiency with (+Zn = application of 5 mg Zn/kg soil) and without Zn supply (-Zn = non-application of zinc) on 50 durum wheat genotypes for 45 days. Variance analysis for shoot dry matter, shoot Zn concentration, shoot Zn content, and Zn utilization efficiency revealed that these traits were significantly (P< 0.01) affected by Zn application and durum wheat genotypes. Results revealed that dry weight of shoot and shoot Zn accumulation were considerably improved by Zn fertilizers. Furthermore, there was a considerable genetic variation in the expression of Zn deficiency symptoms (slight to severe), Zn efficiency (49-100%), shoot Zn concentration (7.1-20.1 and 10.4-33.1 mg Zn/kg dry weight under Zn deficient and sufficient, respectively), shoot Zn content (0.31-1.47 and 0.7-2.9 µg/plant under Zn deficient and sufficient, respectively), and Zn utilizationefficiency (59.2-139.1 and 34.3-94.0 g dry weight/µg Zn under Zn deficient and sufficient, respectively) within durum wheat genotypes.In general, the presence of lines (AAZ, 4025, 45868, 45558 and Azarbayjan) with greater Zn efficiency than Zn efficient durum wheat cultivars (Ege-88, Aydin-93 and Akcakale-2000) indicates that the new lines can be used to improve current levels of Zn efficiency in durum wheat genotypes.

Although there are numerous studies on the effect of soil and foliar application of Zn on rice yield, knowledge on Zn distribution in rice tissues through simultaneous soil and foliar application of Zn is limited. Therefore, The current experiment was conducted to explore the effect of soil and foliar application of zinc sulfate fertilizer on Zn and protein content of grain, and Zn content of rice (Oryza Sativa L.) tissues at different growth stages of Hashemi local cultivar. This filed experiment was carried out on two factors (soil application of Zn at three levels and foliar application of Zn at four levels) using complete randomized block design with three replications. The maximum grain yield (4283 kg ha-1) was recorded at simultaneous application of 20 kg Zn ha-1 (basal soil application) with foliar application of Zn solution at ripening stage, giving 32% increase compared to the control (2915 kgha-1). The highest increase in leaves and stems Zn content (2 times) was recorded at the combined treatments (10 kg Zn ha-1 and foliar spray at the maximum tillering stage). Also, the maximum increase in panicle and rice grain Zn (around 2.5 times) was obtained by application of 10 kg Zn ha-1 and foliar spray at the flowering stage. The highest linear correlation coefficient was found between grain and panicle Zn content (0.58**). Meanwhile, the grain protein content positively correlated with grain Zn content (0.68**), panicle Zn content (0.64**) and Zn content of stem (0.64**). Among the aerial parts, the highest linear correlation coefficient was found between Zn content of panicle and leaves at ripening stage (0.69**), Zn content of leaves and stems at flowering stage (0.65**), Zn content of stems at ripening stage and root Zn content at flowering stage (0.45**). The fitted stepwise multiple regression analysis  among protein content of rice grains and Zn content of all rice tissues at different rice growth stages indicated that grain Zn content, Zn content of leaves and stems at ripening stage had positive significant relationship with protein content of grains. According to adjusted coefficient of determination, these characters demonstrated 56% of protein content variations. It can be concluded that soil application of 20 kg Zn ha-1 in combination with Zn foliar application of  0.5% Zn sulfate at flowering stage of rice plant enhance grain yield and quality.

Due to calcareous soil conditions, zinc deficiency is a yield limiting factor for wheat production in Iran. One solution for this problem is the cultivation of Zn-efficient wheat varieties. Ten wheat cultivars (nine bread wheat and one durum wheat) with different tolerance to Zn deficiency were studied in a greenhouse experiment. Plants were treated with Zn (10 mg Zn Kg-1 soil as ZnSO4.7H2O) and without it. Based on the results of pot experiment, two wheat cultivars with different Zn efficiency were selected to assess the ability of phytosiderophore release from their roots. Visual Zn deficiency symptoms, such as light colored necrotic patches and reduction in plant height appeared more severe in Alvand, Mahdavi (bread wheat) and Yavares (durum wheat) cultivars. Under Zn deficiency, shoot dry matter decreased in most cultivars. Zn efficiency of wheat cultivars ranged from 80.4% to 106.2%. Based on shoot dry weight, Pishtaz and Darab were the most Zn-efficient and Alvand and Mahdavi were the most Zn-inefficient wheat cultivars. Zn supply markedly increased the Zn concentration and content of shoots of all cultivars. Cultivars differed in Zn uptake under Zn-deficient and Zn-sufficient conditions. On average, Zn-efficient cultivars had more Zn uptake efficiency compared to Zn-inefficient cultivars. Our results strongly suggested that sensitivity to Zn deficiency varied widely among wheat cultivars. Different susceptibility of cultivars did not correspond well with the Zn concentration of the shoot. In contrast, the total amount of Zn of shoot was better related to the sensitivity of wheat cultivars to Zn deficiency. Under Zn deficiency, different ability of genotypes to release phytosiderophore from roots was observed. Pishtaz exuded more phytosiderophore than Alvand. Higher Zn uptake in Zn-efficient wheat genotypes may be attributed to higher release rates of Zn-mobilizing phytosiderophores from roots.