مجله پژوهش های حبوبات ایران
سال یازدهم شماره 1 (پیاپی 21، بهار و تابستان 1399)

Chickpea is the second important legume crops and because of high protein level (18-30 percent), has a key role in human diet. Chickpea is a weak competitor with weeds because of its slow growth at the seedling stage, lower height and slow canopy closer. Growing chickpea in weedy condition can suffer yield reduction up to 40 to 90 percent and weed management is one of the most important management methods in chickpea farming. Like another legumes, chickpea is more tolerate to pre-emergence herbicides compare to post-emergence herbicides. Experiments indicated using of one weed control method, can not have a proper and sustainable control on weeds and for this purpose we should integrate weed control methods for sustainable weed management. Mulches is one of the effective weed control method and reduced weed damages. In many cases, pre-emergence herbicides are used in combination with different mulches provide longer duration of weed control and suppress a broad spectrum weed species. Pre-emergence herbicides uses for combining with mulches mostly members of dinitroanilines such a trifluralin and pendimethalin or another pre-emergence herbicides like isoxaben and dichlobenil. In this regard, the goal of this study is evaluating the application of mulch-herbicide combination as a method in chickpea weed control.

The experiment was conducted in completely randomized blocks design with three replications at research farm of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran, during 2015. Treatments were included the pre-emergence application of trifluralin, imazethapyr and wood shaving mulch and two ways of mulch-herbicide mixtures application (application of herbicide under the mulch and application of pre-mixed herbicide with mulch) with full season hand weeding and full season weed interference as control treatments. For making pre-mixed mulch and herbicide, mulch is sprayed with herbicide in another place on plastic foil and mixed together with rake completely then transported to the field experiment and was spread in field experiment. Studied mulch is a carpentry wood shaved mulch and was spread on the field experiment in 3 centimeter height with rake. For application of herbicides under the mulch, herbicides applied on the soil surface first, then mulch would be spread on the soil surface. The data statistical analysis were performed by Mini Tab Ver 17 and draw the figures with Excel 2013. Means were also compared by LSD (Last Significant Difference) test at 5% probability level.

Results indicated that, application of imazethapyr injured chickpea hardly and stopped chickpea growth. Application of trifluralin and wood shaving mulch alone, decreased weed density and weed biomass and increased chickpea yield significantly. Combination of wood shaving mulch and trifluralin indicated that two different results, trifluralin-mulch mixed had the higher chickpea seed yield (1450 Kg.ha-1) and biomass (3700 Kg.ha-1). Although application of mulch after trifluralin application as pre-emergence, controlled weeds significantly and provide the longer weed duration control in growing season, but also injured chickpea, and decreased it’s suitable density and indicated that the lowest chickpea seed yield and biomass. There was not significantly difference between the trifluralin application alone and trifluralin-mulch combination in three periods of sampling in weed density and biomass it seems the mulch prevent the trifluralin to achieve to the soil surface and decrease weed control efficacy but when trifluralin applied under mulch, weed control efficacy increased and controlled weeds during the growing season significantly. Trifluralin is decomposable when is applied in day light but when it is under mulch it be more stable and increase efficacy compare with application alone.

Through the experiment, mulch is suppress weeds and reduced weed density and biomass significantly and increased chickpea biomass and seed yield. Chickpea is very sensitive to pre-emergence application of imazethapyr and it caused chickpea injury, although this herbicide is labeled for chickpea in Turkey and controlled weeds significantly but in this experiment it caused chickpea injury. Chickpea is less sensitive to trifluralin and trifluralin application, increased chickpea yield significantly and decreased weed density and biomass. It seems that to be trifluralin-mulch combination, when trifluralin applied under the mulch, is suitable and increase the efficacy weed control and decrease the costs with this regard but it caused injury crop and decreased chickpea yield. Pre-mixed combination trifluralin with mulch decreased trifluralin efficacy compare to application Trifluralin under the mulch.

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an especial important crop among Pulse crops. One of the most important factors limiting the yield of chickpea is fungal diseases. Ascochyta blight is the most problematic disease of chickpea. The fungus Ascochyta rabiei (also called Didymella rabiei) causes ascochyta blight of chickpea. Pathogenesis related (PR) proteins are one of the ways to control plant pathogens. These proteins are encoded by the host plant, but their express done only in the presence of disease agent or the related conditions (Ghannadha et al., 2006). PR-proteins are a variety group of proteins including: glucanase, chitinases, endoproteinase, peroxidases, protease inhibitors, as well as small proteins such as osmotins, thionins, defensins, and lipid transfer proteins (Jain et al., 2012). So far seventeen PR proteins have been identified (Liu et al., 2006). PR-2 is the only PR-protein that identified in chickpea. The PR-10 has many functions. Direct evidence of antimicrobial activity induced by PR-10 is known in microbiological labs. The ability to connect to ligands is also observed. It also has an enzymatic activity in the secondary metabolism of plants and plays a role in abiotic stresses (Liu et al., 2006). This research was done to detect pr-10 gene in chickpea genome.

In this experiment, six genotypes of chickpea, including two sensitive genotypes (MCC506 and MCC507), two resistant genotypes (MCC142 and MCC528) and two tolerant genotypes (MCC20 and MCC150), against ascochyta blight were used. The seeds were surface sterilized using 2% sodium hypochlorite and germinated in sterile petri dishes. The germinated seeds were planted in pots (with 20 cm in diameter) containing combination of perlite, coco peat and vermicompost with a ratio of 1: 2: 1 at a depth of 2.5 cm. After one month, DNA extraction was down from leaves using CTAB method. RCR reaction was down using primers of PSH-91 and MN in 2 steps. These primers were designed using Primer software Ver.5. The first step was performed using PSH-91 primer on genomic DNA and second step using MN primer on first PCR product. The detected gene was extracted using a Gel extraction kit manufactured by Denazist Company. Then PR-10 gene constructs were sequenced. Sequencing results were analyzed using SeqMan software.

Germination of plants was almost simultaneously. The shoot production of resistant and tolerant plants was more than sensitive cultivars. Resistant and tolerant varieties reached to flowering stage earlier and produced more abundant seed rather than sensitive cultivars. The presence of a single-band 1350 bp in the first PCR and a single-band 1289 bp in the second PCR indicated to presence of the PR-10 gene in the chickpea genome. The results of this research indicated that there is no difference in sequence of coding gene of PR-10 protein in chickpea genome with different resistance levels.

Due to the lack of diversity in the nucleotide sequence of pr-10 gene among resistant and sensitive cultivars, it is likely that when the protein is expressed in the presence of the disease agent, the expression difference between the different varieties is shown. This seems reasonable considering research on the pr-10 rice genes (Babaiezadeh & Sayyari, 2012). The PR-10 gene in rice is naturally not expressed in leaves and does not respond to ulcers, but it has high expression potential in the presence of ethylene and jasmine acids (Heidarinejad et al., 2014). Also, in evaluating the resistant and susceptible cultivar of rice blight pods disease, PR-10 gene expression in resistant cultivars was significantly increased compared with susceptible cultivars (Babaiezadeh and Sayyari, 2012). It seems that additional experiments are necessary in disease condition on expression of pr-10 gene in chickpea.

Bean is now considered as one of the most important products in the Middle East, Africa, China and parts of Europe and Australia in human and animal nutrition (Turpin et al., 2002). Bean is a suitable herb in rotation with cereals. Because it can break the cycle of many common diseases of grains and reduce the population of nematodes. The model is a tool that helps us interpret and understand the world in which we live (Boote et al., 2003). Precise prediction of the phenology of crops is one of the essential features of simulation models. From models, improved crop production management can be used to predict the probable dates of harvesting or predicting final yields, or more actively, to predict the timing of phenological events. The production and distribution of dry matter in crop simulation models is largely regulated by the timing of development stages. Understanding how the bean's phenological development response to day length and temperature, creates a model for predicting the time of occurrence of different stages of development of this crop. The aim of this study was to obtain a model for predicting phenological stages, maximum leaf area index, economic and biological yield, as well as harvest index of bean plant under Gonbad conditions.

For the main data, the values obtained from field experiments were carried out at the research farm of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources of Gonbad-e-Kavou’s University under favorable rainfed conditions and free of pests, weeds and bean diseases. The experiment was a factorial based on randomized complete block design with four replications in two years. Planting density was at four levels (8, 12, 16 and 20 plants/m2) and sowing date was in three levels (13 November, 1391, 13 December, 1391, 13 December 2012 and 7 December 2011, December 4, 2011 and December 17, 2011). The model used in this study was similar to that of Soltani et al, (1999) for chickpea. Meteorological and climatic data was from 1994 to 2014 of Gonbad. 24 different scenarios including different combinations of density and planting dates were defined for two years in the model. In order to compare simulated data with field experiment data, evaluation indices, explanation factor (R2), root mean square error, normalized root mean square error and line 1: 1 were used. The higher the R2 value from the linear regression of functions and the 1: 1 line closer to one, indicates a high correlation between simulated and observed values and is a sign of a better description of the model in simulating the desired attribute.

The coefficient of explanation between the predicted values and obtained from field experiments on day to flowering was 0.89. The root mean square error and its normalized value were 2.99 and 1.29 days, respectively. Also, comparison of the number of days to harvest obtained from field experiments with values obtained from the model showed that all of these values are in the range of 15% up and down the 1:1 line. The results showed that the model also well predicted day to pod setting. So that the explanation coefficient, root mean square error and normalized root mean square error, between the data obtained from field experiments and the predicted data of the model were equal to 0.81, 2.99, and 12.0, respectively. Regarding the day to the physiological maturity, the coefficient of explanation, root mean square error and normalized root mean square error were 0.9, 5.84, and 12.0, respectively, which all represent a good prediction of the model. The explanation coefficient (R2) was obtained by analyzing the linear regression of the functions between day to harvest and the predicted values equal to 0.91.

The results showed that the model could well predict the phenological stages of the faba bean, with the exception of the day to the emergence. This prediction was at the highest level in the stages leading to bean harvest, so that the highest coefficient of explanation with a value of 0.91 was found for the number of days to bean harvest. Our study showed that the above model cannot predict well the maximum leaf area index, yield, biological yield and harvest index in dune weather conditions and under our farm experiments.

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), is a cool season seed legume, serves as an important cheap source of protein and energy in developing countries. Plant phenology is an important aspect of plant adaptation to environmental conditions in order to match maximum the cropping cycle with the seasonal weather pattern (Vadez et al., 2013). Except of drought stress, other environmental factors such as temperature, photoperiod and nutrient deficiencies will affect the plant development stages (Soltani, 2009). The radiation use efficiency (RUE) indicates the amount of dry matter produced gram per unit of absorbed light (MJ) (John et al., 2005). Studies have shown that the supply of nitrogen and the change in planting date will affect on the time of entry into phonological stages and RUE and ultimately seed yield. Regarding the importance of chickpeas as supplier of protein for human and as fixation of nitrogen for plant, this experiment was conducted with the aim of evaluating the contribution of planting date, nitrogen and nitrogen fixation on phonological stages, RUE and seed yield in the climatic conditions of Gonbad Kavous.

The field experiment was conducted as factorial layout based on a randomized complete block design with three replications at the experimental farm of Gonbad Kavous University during the growing season of 2015-2016 and 2016-2017. Nitrogen (none consumption, consumption of 20, 40 and 60 Kg nitrogen ha-1), planting dates (early January and early February) and inoculation with Mesorhizobium (inoculation with Mesorhizobium and non inoculation) were considered as treatments. Half of nitrogen was used in planting time and the other half was used during seed filling stage due to the decrease of the symbiotic relationship between bacteria and chickpea. Seeds in inoculation treatments were inoculated with Mesorhizobium, strain SWRI14, which were obtained from the Soil and Fertilizer Research Institute, Tehran. The optical density (OD’s) were adjusted so that the cell concentration was 109 CFU ml-1. Plots (1.5 m×6 m) were designed with 5 rows per plot. Between blocks, 1.5 m alley was kept. Seeds were sown on 5 January and 2 February 2016 and 5 January and 4 February 2017. In order to obtain the desired density (33 plants/m2), two seeds were sown per hill and hand thinning (one plant hill–1) was performed when seedlings reached 4-6 leaf-stage. Phenological stages (including planting to emergence, planting to flowering and planting to physiological maturity), radiation use efficiency (RUE) and seed yield were studied. Comparison of means was performed by LSD test for 5% probability level by using of SAS statistical software version 9.1.3.

The results showed that planting date was the main cause of change of phenological stages of the plant in two years. Probably due to the presence of native rhizobium in the soil, nitrogen fertilizer and Mesorhizobium could not play the significant role in phenological stages and temperature and moisture had the main role in entering to the phenological stages. Generally with delay in planting time, the growth period of the plant decreased in both years. The seed yield of planting date in early-February compared to early-January in first and second year was decreased by 17.84% and 23.65%, respectively. This could be due to the short growing period of this planting date. The highest amount of this trait was obtained from 60 Kg N ha-1 in both years but there were no significant differences between 20, 40 and 60 Kg N ha-1 in both years. Seed inoculation with Mesorhizobium in the first and second year increased the seed yield by 242 and 170 Kg compared to non-inoculation, respectively. This is justifiable regarding to the role of nitrogen in improving plant growth, yield components and finally increasing of seed yield. The radiation use efficiency was fairly stable and was not affected by factors in both years. It seems that radiation use efficiency is relatively stable in similar environmental conditions. However, some environmental conditions such as drought stress have significant effects on leaf photosynthesis and thus the radiation use efficiency, so that drought stress reduced this efficiency in the second year compared to the first year.

The two years results showed that among factors, the role of planting date in chickpea was more than nutrient (nitrogen) and living factors (Mesorhizobium). Different climatic conditions between two years and between planting dates have significant role in the beginning and duration of phonological stages and seed yield. Therefore, considering the climate change and rainfall fluctuations in order to maximize the use of resources and achieving to high yield, it is necessary to select the planting date that provides the appropriate conditions for the plant in each region. Also the application of supplementation of adequate nitrogen for crops can increase seed yield.

The development and preservation of ecological balance will be achieved when used in accordance with land capabilities. By studying the factors affecting on products productivity, it is possible to plan with more comprehensive knowledge and provide appropriate facilities in accordance with the capabilities of the environment (Jafarbeyglou & Mobarak, 2008). Mostly, the systems under planting have low yields, which, in addition to management issues, the regional climate capacity is sometimes as limiting factor (Baniaghil, 2015). Pisum sativa is one of the legume family plants, which is important due to its short growth period, low nutrition needs and potential for nitrogen fixation. The agriculture lands of Golestan province are about 646.5 thousand hectare (32% of Province area). But not knowing of ecological needs and potential production of peas, non-suitable lands in Golestan province was allocated for peas planting; and this leads to non-reach to maximum production capacity and yield of a crop per unit area. Therefore, indicating advantages, strengths and weaknesses of the province can be a good guide for governmental and private investments in the region.

According to the geographical position, Golestan province is between 35 degrees and 47 minutes to 28 degrees and 8 minutes north latitude and 53 degrees and 10 minutes east of the Greenwich meridian. Golestan Province is located between Alborz Mountains, Turkmenistan's deserts, the mountains of North Khorasan and the Caspian Sea. In this study, climatic data (precipitation, maximum temperature, minimum temperature and optimum temperature) were obtained from 12-year (2013-2014), 4 synoptic stations and 21 climate stations in Golestan province. Isotherm and isopluvial maps in Arc map and by using interpolation method based on inverse distance (IDW) was prepared. After standardizing the factors (fuzzy) and weighing the layers, by using the weighted linear combination (WLC) method in the TerrSet software environment, optimum areas of peas planting were obtained. Finally, by integrating the maps, the overall zoning of the pea production at the province was obtained in the Arc map.

The minimum temperature map shows that in the geographical distribution of probability of suitable temperatures for emergence and growth period for peas, in the areas of central and northeastern regions are highly suitable. There was no difference in the suitable and not suitable regions for minimum temperature during the planting season and growth period. The maximum temperature map shows that in the geographical distribution of probability of suitable temperatures for emergence and growth period, the regions in the East, South-East and West parts of the province are less suitable. The geographic distribution of the probability of suitable temperatures during the emergence of a significant part of the province has been allocated, and only the margins of the province, which are located mostly in the southeast, south and southwest, are not suitable for emergence of the Peas. Based on the precipitation map of the geographical distribution, the probability of occurrence of suitable rain during the emergence period is limited to the northeast, southeast and a small part of the southern province. While the optimal distribution of precipitation for the growth period is limited to narrow areas that cover the province from the east to the south-east. The results of the analysis of the paired comparisons between the climatic factors affecting planting of peas showed that, the precipitation during emergence and growing season was the highest with the coefficient of 0.289 and 0.220 respectively, and the minimum temperature of planting and growth period was 0.036 and 0.046, the lowest coefficients in the ranking earned. Land suitability of the province showed that 26.02% of the total area of the province is highly suitable and 48.42% is suitable. Generally, the climate of northeastern lands and eastern margins has suitable conditions for the planting of peas.

According to the results of this research, a large area of the central lands, the north and east of Golestan province according to climatic factors are not limiting for planting peas. But some of the land in center, marginal the southeast, southwest and northwest of the province are not suitable for the planting of this crop.

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is a major crop legume that is used as food owing to the high nutrient components in seeds. Yield improvement is a major breeding objective of most crop breeding programs. Multivariate analyses are useful for characterization, evaluation and classification of plant genetic resources when a number of accessions are to be assessed for several characters of agronomic, morphological and physiological importance. Different types of multivariate analysis such as regression analysis, path analysis, principal component analysis (PCA) can be used to identify groups of genotypes that have beneficial traits for breeding and instructing the patterns of variation in genotype accession, to recognize relationships among accessions and possible gaps. Correlation coefficients describe the mutual relationships between different pairs of characters without providing the nature of cause and effect relationship of each character. Path analysis was also performed to determine the direct and indirect contribution of each character to seed yield. Principal component analysis has been widely used in the studies of variability in germplasm collections of many species. The objective of the present study was to estimate the correlations and partition of the coefficient of correlation between seed yield with its primary components, into direct and indirect effects to determine the relative importance of each one in faba bean seed yield. The other aims of the present study are to assess the genetic diversity present in the morphological and agronomical traits in 26 faba bean genotypes by principal component analysis.

This study was carried out during 2015-16 growing season in Lorestan province, Iran (longitude, 48° 45´ E; Latitude, 35° 55´ N; Altitude, 1629 m above sea level). Experimental material comprised 26 genotypes of faba bean. Field experiments were conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Each plot consisted of four rows with 4 m long and distance between rows and plants were 50 and cm, respectively. The characters included days to germination, days to flowering, days to maturity, plant height, number of stems per plant, number of node per stem, number of seeds per pod, number of seeds per plant, hundred seed weight, pod length, dry seed yield, biological yield and harvest index were measured before and after harvesting. SAS 9.2 used to analyses the correlation and regression coefficients. Path coefficients were estimated by path analysis software. Principal components analysis was done using SPSS and the graphs were drawn via Minitab.

 The analysis of variance indicated significant differences between genotypes for all of the studied traits. Correlation analysis indicated there were positive correlation coefficients between seed yield and number of days to germination, number of days to flowering, plant height, number of pods per plant, number of nodes per stem, hundred seed weight, pod length, biological yield and harvest index. Regression analysis indicated seed yield as dependent variable, while plant height, number of pods per plant, number of stems per plant, number of nodes per stem, number of seeds per pod, hundred seed weight and pod length were considered as casual variables. Path coefficient analysis indicated plant height (0.74), number of pod per plant (0.51), number of nodes per stem (0.11), number of seeds per pod (0.20), hundred seed weight (0.34) and pod length (0.41) had positive direct effects on seed yield. The results of principal component analysis showed that the eigenvalues were reduced with the increase of the number of PCs. Principal components analysis, identified six components that explained 80% of total variation. The maximum values of eigenvalues were obtained for first three PCs, which accounted for a cumulative percentage of total variance of 24.34%, 17.57% and 14.18%, respectively. The remaining percentage of the total variation decreased sharply. The eigenvalue of the first principle component had a variance of 4.14, while the other two components had much smaller variances. It could be said that the first principal component is by far the most important of the three and that the first principal component include the largest variance of any one unit the length linear combination of the observed variable. The first two and three PCs was used to grouping the genotypes in two and three-dimensional plots, respectively.

Attention should be paid to traits such as plant height, number of pods per plant, number of nodes per stem and pod length for augmentation of seed yield and these traits could be used as selection criteria in faba bean breeding programs. Tow dimensional plot based on first two principal components showed genetically different genotypes by the pattern on scattering. It could be concluded that the high yielding genotypes, such as 9 and 22 could be used to improve seed yield of faba bean and making possibilities of extending production of this legume crop.

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is the most important field crop among the food legumes in Iran. According to the published statistic by agricultural ministry of Iran, about 90% of planting areas of chickpea is under dryland conditions. In Iran, chickpea is often cultivated in areas with limited rainfall or soil moisture and drought is always a potential problem for its production. From the importance issue, drought stress is the second abiotic stress that affect on chickpea yield. Also drought stress is the most important factor which reduces food legume crops production (especially chickpea, lentil and pea) under dryland conditions of west Mediterranean and North Africa regions. Limiting or cutting of regional rainfalls at the end growing season time and existing of drought damage in flowering time is one of the most important limitations in chickpea cultivation under dryland conditions that have highly negative effect on chickpea yield and reports show that, the yield of chickpea is low in these regions. Suitable field management for using from the existing water in order to reduce drought stress damages, increase the yields of crops under dry and semi dry regions. Results of studies show that, using from supplementary irrigation in chickpea increase the total dry biomass, leaf area index, plant height and finally increase its yield under drylands. Also researchers reported that, flowering stage and pod filling period are the most important stages for application of supplementary irrigation in order to reducing of drought severity in food legumes.

This study was performed to evaluate the effects of supplementary irrigation on some agronomic traits and grain yield of four chickpea genotypes. The experiment was conducted for three consecutive seasons during 2010-13 under field condition in Maragheh Dryland Agricultural Research Station (Latitude 37°15′ N, Longitude 46°15΄ E, and Altitude 1720 meter above sea level). The main plots were irrigation three-time (irrigation at planting, irrigation at planting and flowering times, and irrigation at planting, flowering and pod filling period). Each irrigation treatment included 40 mm water application in the experimental field. The sub plots were four Kabuli chickpea genotypes (Azad, Arman, ILC482 and a Turkish landrace from Van city). The soil of the experimental site is clay-lome, and the climate of the station is cold and semi drought with mean long term annual rainfall 360 mm, and with mean maximum and minimum absolute temperature about 37°C and -25°C in summer and winter, respectively. The mean annual air temperature in station is 9.3°C. Each experimental plot was 6 planting rows with 6 meter length and 25 cm distance between two rows. Some agronomic traits such as number of days from planting to 50% of flowering and maturity, pod filling period, plant height, 100 seed weight, dry biomass, grain yield, harvest index and productivity score of genotypes were noted and analyzed by MSTAT-C program. The comparison of means method was Duncan’s Multiple Range Test in 5% probability level.

Combined analysis of variance showed that the year factor had significantly affected in all studied traits. The effect of irrigation times was significant on all traits except 100 seed weight, harvest index and productivity score. There were significantly differences among the genotypes in plant height, 100 seed weight, grain and dry biomass yields, harvest index and productivity score. The interaction of year×genotype significantly affected on all traits except plant height, dry biomass weight, harvest index and productivity score. Results showed that interaction effect of irrigation time by genotype was significant on seed and dry biomass yields. It shows that different studied genotypes had different responses to supplementary irrigation times. The highest seed yield and dry biomass in all studied genotypes belonged to three-time irrigation. Azad cultivar seed yield under irrigation at planting time and flowering stage time was 1029 Kg.ha-1 that comparing with its yield under irrigation only at planting time (648 Kg.ha-1) increased about 58.8%. It was the highest increasing in response among all studied genotypes for this treatment. The lowest response (increasing seed yield) under two-time irrigation (planting time+flowering time) belonged to Turkish landrace and was 28.9%. In comparison of genotypes seed yields between one time irrigation treatment (irrigation at planting time) and three-time irrigation treatment (irrigation at planting+flowering and pod filling period) the highest and lowest increasing (71.6% and 51.3%) belonged to Arman cultivar and Turkish landrace, respectively. The interaction of year×irrigation time×genotype had not significantly effect on studied traits. The highest seed yield (1064 Kg.ha-1) belonged to the three times irrigation treatment. Among the studied genotypes, the highest seed yield (939 Kg.ha-1) belonged to ILC482.

In conclusion and based on the results it would stated that, application of 40 mm irrigation increases grain yield and improve most of the agronomic traits in spring cultivation of chickpea crop under Maragheh dryland condition.

Lentil is one of the oldest sources of human food. Since around 25% of the daily protein requirement of the developing world's peoples comes from legumes, considering to significant percentage of protein (about 23%) and high amino acids content of alpha-hydroxy- ornitin, alpha-hydroxy-arginine and hemoarginine in addition to ordinary amino acids in lentils, this plant commonly known as good protein supplements. Drought stress as one of the most important non-biological stresses causes an average of 50% reduction in crop yield in the world. In Iran is also faces a shortage of water in many areas due to climate characteristics and more than half of the country's land are in arid and semi-arid areas. Research on lentil has shown that this plant is more sensitive to drought during advanced stages of growth than the early stages, and it seems that the adaptation of this period to the end of the season is the main cause of its reduced yield. Therefore, achieving genotypes that are able to resist drought condition can significantly prevent crop yields. It has been observed that, under drought stress conditions, the activity of antioxidant enzymes in tolerant plants is much higher compare to sensitive plants. It seems antioxidant enzymes have an important role in tolerance to drought stress. Therefore, in this study, the effects of drought stress on catalase enzyme activity and CAT gene expression pattern in three lentil cultivars (Kimia, Gachsaran and L7) in both stages of vegetative and reproductive were studied.

The experiment was performed in a completely randomized design with three replications for three levels of drought stress (without drought stress, stress in the vegetative stage and stress in the reproductive stage) and analyzed in factorial experiment. Young leaf tissues were used for RNA extraction, samples were transferred to ribonuclease free microtubules and stored at 80°C. The total RNA extraction was performed using the Denazist Total RNA isolation kit. To eliminate the possible contamination of the genomic DNA from extracted RNA samples, the samples were treated with DNaseI enzyme. An agarose gel electrophoresis was used to confirm the quality and quantity of RNA samples. Synthesis of the first strand of cDNA was performed using DNA synthesis kits, RB MMLV Reverse Transcriptase, manufactured by RNA Biotechnology Company. Two specific primers CAT (Catalase) and ACT (Actin) (internal control gene) were used to analyses the gene expression. In this reaction, the RB SYBR qPCR kit containing SYBR® Green I Dye was used manufactured by RNA Biotechnology Company. The reaction was carried out using Thermocycler Applied Biosystem, Model Step One 48 well by Comparative Ct (ΔΔCt) method and according to the methodology presented by the manufacturer. The threshold cycle (Ct) for each sample was determined by the device, then the data were analyzed by relative quantitative method by Pfaffl et al. (2002). The activity of catalase enzyme was measured by Aebi (1984) method. Analysis of Real Time PCR data was performed using Excel and LinRegPCR softwares. The SAS software was used to analyze the variance of the data. Comparison of the averages was performed using the least significant difference (LSD) method at the 5% probability level.

Based on the obtained result, there was no significant difference between the cultivars of lentil in control treatment (no drought stress) for catalase activity. By applying drought stress, the activity of catalase enzyme increased in all three cultivars. The highest activity of catalase was observed in L7 (Twice as much as the control) and Kimia and Gachsaran cultivars were significantly different from the L7 cultivar. Significant differences were observed between the cultivars in CAT gene expression. The L7 cultivar with 1.7 showed the highest gene expression and Kimia and Gachsaran cultivars had the lowest CAT gene expression with 0.95 and 0.94, respectively. Gene expression level at reproductive stage was increased to 0.39 in compared to vegetative stage. Drought stress increased the CAT gene expression significantly (about 1.6 times of control). In both vegetative and reproductive stages, L7 cultivar had the highest gene expression with rate of 1.39 and 2.2, respectively. Investigating the interaction of drought stress with cultivar showed that there was no significant difference between Gachsaran and Kimia cultivars in control and stress conditions in terms of gene expression level, while in both control and stress conditions, L7 cultivar showed the significant difference.

Based on the results of this study, in all three lentil cultivars, the gene expression pattern showed high correlation with physiological results. Due to the fact that expression of CAT gene in other cultivars causes drought resistance, it is expected that more resistance will be observed in the cultivars by increasing the expression during drought stress. Under stress conditions, L7 cultivar showed higher catalase activity in both vegetative and reproduction stages than the other two cultivars. Therefore, it seems that L7 cultivar is more tolerant to drought stress than Kimia and Gachsaran cultivars.

Wilt and root rot diseases caused by Fusarium oxysporum and Fusarium solani are among the most important diseases of chickpea throughout the world and Iran. However, there is not effective chemical fungicide against these soil-borne pathogenic fungi. In recent years, rhizospheric bacteria and fungi developed as promising biofungicides against soil-borne plant pathogens. These microbes exploit several mechanisms such as antibiotics, volatile organic compounds, sidereophore and induced systemic resistance to suppress pathogenic fungi. Recently, the cost of agrochemical innovation and the period of time for their registration have increased rapidly due to stringent legislation, both of these reasons favor investment in the manufacture of biopesticides. The annual progress rate of the biopesticide bazaar is more than 16%, but that of synthetic pesticides has been decreasing by 1.5% annually. Biopesticide companies such as Agroquest, Gustafson, Marrone Bio Innovation, Certis, BioWorks, Becker Underwood, ABiTEP GmbH, and Prophyta have released effective biopesticides to the market. Agrochemical great-companies such as Bayer CropScience have also been engrossed in the bio-pesticide market. Bayer CropScience bought Agroquest in 2012 at a price of 425 million US dollars. Overall, biological control of plant pathogens is promising technology in management of plant disease in sustainable agriculture.

 In this study, potential of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPRs) were investigated on biological control of this diseases in laboratory and greenhouse condition. Soil samples were collected from chickpea fields in Kermanshah and Kurdestan provinces. The effect of isolated bacteria were assessed on mycelial growth of F. oxysporum and F. solani in dual culture test. The chickpea seeds were inoculated by 109 CFU/ml of each bacterial isolates and sown in pots. The effect of bacterial isolates have been investigated on plant growth factors in greenhouse situation. The same experiment was conducted to assess the biocontrol ability of selected isolates against Fusarium wilt and root rot disease of chickpea. The greenhouse experiments were conducted based on completely randomized design with four replicates. Data were subjected to analysis of variance procedure in SAS ver. 9.1 software and means compression analysis was done by Fisher protected LSD. Finally, the 16S rDNA of the four selected isolates, B2, B3, B6 and B13 were sequenced and identified based on Genebank data.

Sixteen out of 100 isolated inhibited the growth of both fungi in vitro. Isolates B13 with 11 mm inhibition zone had the highest growth inhibition activity against F. oxysporum. In absence of pathogens, B2 increased aerial part dry weight from 1.08 to 3.69 g in greenhouse condition. B3 and B4 were the best isolates in improving root growth. They increase root dry weight to 1.42 and 1.36 g, respectively. B2 and B13 isolates had the greatest effect on plant health and reduced disease severity up to 90% in F. oxysporum inoculated plants. The lowest biocontrol activity against F. oxysporum was recorded for isolate B6. B2 increased aerial part fresh weight from 0.56 to 2.49 g, root fresh weight from 0.24 to 1.31 g. B6 was the best isolate for suppression of F. solani and reduced the disease index by 73%. This isolate increased aerial organs fresh weight as up to 3.2 folds and root fresh weight up to 2.9 folds. However, all of bacteria isolates were able to reduce Fusarium root rot disease, significantly. Isolates B2, B3, B6 and B13 were characterized as Bacillus sp., Achromobacter sp., Bacillus pumilus and Burkholderia sp. based on 16S rDNA sequencing, respectively. Bacillus spp. strains exploit several mechanisms such as antibiosis, volatile organic compound production and induced systemic resistance against plant pathogens. These bacteria are good candidate to be formulated in spore suspension form. Here, Achromobacter introduced as good candidate for biological control of Fusarium diseases of chickpea for first time. Overall, plant probiotic bacteria could be consider as promising approach in management of chickpea Fusarium diseases.

Bacterial isolates have different ability in plant growth improvement and suppression of plant pathogens. Bacillus sp. was the best isolate for enhancing the shoot dry weight while Achromobacter sp. was the best to improving root dry weight. Indeed, bacteria have several mechanisms for promoting plant growth. Auxin induction by volatiles of Bacillus spp. increase root while decreasing the shoot accumulation of auxin. Overall, consortia of bacteria strains seems to be promising approach to suppression of both diseases in chickpea.

Beans are the major part of the diet of many people in the world, because the large amounts of protein in combination with cereal grains could provide a valuable source of food. Iran is located in dry and semi-arid region, and water deficit due to the drought are observed in most parts of Iran. Therefore, implementation of irrigation techniques in order to be more productive than water resources is a scientific approach to reducing water consumption. Meanwhile, based on research, the use of super absorbent hydrogels can increase the yield or reduce the damage caused by scarcity of water resources. Accordingly, this experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of super absorbent polymer under low irrigation conditions on quantitative and qualitative traits of cowpea.

This research was conducted in summer 2015 in a field located 12 Km far from Ahvaz. This experiment was carried out as strip-plot in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The first factor consists of: 1) furrow full irrigation (control), 2) fixed alternate furrow irrigation and 3) variable alternate furrow. The second factor included three levels of super absorbent polymers: 1) Absence of super absorbent (control), 2) 75 Kg/ha and 3) 150 Kg/ha. Super absorbent on the basis of treatments was mixed with the soil with the help of a disk machine. Stagger furrow irrigation is one of the irrigation methods which can be applied fixed or alternatively by irrigation of half of the furrows. In the irrigation of variable alternate furrow, the furrows are irrigated as arrange in a series of alternating intervals. That way, in one irrigation time, two furrows and in next irrigation time, only the middle furrows is irrigated. In this method, only half of the plant roots, tolerate a period of drought stress and in the next irrigation, the dry period is removed and the other half is subjected to drought stress.

The results showed that the differences between different levels of irrigation was significant in number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, 100-seed weight, protein percentage, grain yield, biological yield and harvest index at 1% probability level. The effect of different levels of super absorbent on all tested traits was significant at the level of probability of 1% and grain protein content at 5% level. The interaction between different levels of irrigation and super absorbent on number of pods per plant and harvest index was significant at 5% probability level. The maximum grain yield under furrow full irrigation and 150 Kg/ha super absorbent were 2853.4 and 2314.5 Kg/ha, respectively, and the minimum grain yield under fixed alternate furrow irrigation and absence of super absorbent was obtained were 1108.2 and 1453.2 Kg/ha, respectively. It has been stated that the beans are sensitive to water shortages throughout the growth stage and water shortages, especially during flowering stage and grain filling period, can reduce grain yield. The role of super absorbents in increasing the grain yield can be attributed to a better supply of water and nutrients and the availability of them during stress and also to the reduction of water and nutrients waste. The maximum percentage of protein under fixed alternate furrow irrigation and absence of super absorbent was 28.89% and 27.58%, respectively, and the minimum percentage of protein was observed under furrow full irrigation and and consumption of 150 Kg/ha super absorbent was observed with 22.57% and 24.08%, respectively. It has been stated that drought stress increased the protein percentage of seeds relative to normal irrigation conditions. The reason for reduction of protein is to reduce the transfer of photosynthetic material to the seeds. Because, the percentage of protein in the shell and embryo is higher than endosperm. Therefore, in water shortage conditions due to reduction of transfer of photosynthetic material to endosperm, the seed protein percentage is increased compared to endosperm. Super adsorbents create better conditions for water absorption. This increases the photosynthetic capacity and storage of carbon hydrates in the seeds and decreases the protein content.

In general, the results of the experiment showed that the effect of super absorbent application in furrow full irrigation conditions with increasing production parameters and under low irrigation conditions, with reducing the effects of water deficit and improving the damage caused by it, could be effective in increasing the yield. However, with the use of super absorbent, the yield qualitative was reduced

Mungbean (Vigna radiata L.) is an important legume crop. It is a great source of proteins, vitamins and minerals. The seed contains 24% protein content, 1.30% fat and 60.4% carbohydrates; calcium is 118 and phosphorus is 340 mg per 100 g of seed. Its capacity to restore soil fertility through nitrogen fixation makes it a valuable crop. Phosphorus is considered to be the most limiting element after nitrogen for the plant. However, a large amount of phosphorus in chemical fertilizers occurs after entering the insoluble soil. Converting soil insoluble phosphates to a form available for plants is a necessary goal to achieve sustainable agricultural production. Biofertilizers, are considered as a new technology to increasing nutrients in the soil and reduce the use of chemical fertilizers. Biofertilizers keep the soil environment rich in all kinds of micro and macro nutrients, via nitrogen fixation, phosphate and potassium solubilisation or mineralization, release of plant growth regulating substances, production of antibiotics and biodegradation of organic matter in the soil. The main objective of this study was to evaluate biofertilizers inoculation.

To study the effect of Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria, Mycorrhizal fungi and different levels of fertilizer phosphorus on the yield and yield components mung bean (Vigna radiata L.) a field experiment was carried out as a factorial based on a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications at research field of the Faculty of Agriculture of Gorgoan University in 2016 and 2017. The treatments of this research consisted of three levels of phosphorus (Control, 150 Kg.h-1 and 225 Kg.h-1) and eight levels of Growth Promoting Bacteria and Mycorrhizal fungi (Control, Azospirillum lipoferum, Pseudomonas fluoresens, Glomus mosseae, Azospirillum and Pseudomonas, Azospirillum and Glomus mosseae, Pseudomonas and Glomus mosseae, and Azospirillum lipoferum, Pseudomonas fluoresens, Glomus mosseae). In this experiment, Rhizobium bacteria (R. leguminosarum) was used in all plots. Grain inoculation was done in shadow and after drying, inoculated grains were immediately cultivated. Mycorrhizal fungi was applied under the grain hole just prior to sowing. Chemical fertilizers were applied at a rate of 50 and 100 Kg.h-1 in N and K respectively. At harvest, random samples of 10 plants for each experimental unit were taken and plant height, pod length, number of pods per plant, number of seed per pod, 1000- seed weight, biological yield, seed yield and harvest index were recorded. Data were subjected to analysis of variance procedure using the SAS statistical software and for comparing the mean effects of interactions with Slicing method, in order to compare the mean of simple effects, the least significant difference test method (LSD) was used at 5% probability level.

The results of experiment revealed that the effect of year, phosphorus fertilizer and biological fertilizer showed a significant effect on yield and yield components, plant height, pod length and protein content. The results also showed that the interaction of biofertilizer and phosphorus on plant height, biological yield and harvest index were significant. The results of the comparison of the mean of data in the first year showed that the highest grain yield (226 g.m-2) was obtained in inoculum treatment with Azospirilum and Mycorrhiza fungi at a consumption level of 225 Kg.h-1 phosphorus fertilizer, Which increased by 29.6% compared to the control. In the second year of experiment, the highest grain yield (216 g.m-2) was obtained with 38.7% increase in comparison with control in inoculation with Azospirilum, Pseudomonas and Mycorrhiza fungi at 225 Kg.h-1 phosphorus fertilizer level. The results of the comparison of the mean of the data in the first year showed that the highest number of pods per plant, grain yield, biological yield, harvest index and seed protein were related to Azospirillum and Glomus mosseae inoculation, and in the second year they were treated with Azospirillum lipoferum, Pseudomonas fluoresens, Glomus mosseae. Also The results of the comparison of the mean of the data showed that the highest 1000-seed weight (52.9 g), number of seeds per pod (8.5 Number in pods) in 225 Kg.h-1 treatment of phosphorus fertilizer.

Biofertilizer are beneficial bacteria and fungus that colonize plant roots and enhance plant growth by a wide variety of mechanisms. The use of biofertilizer is steadily increasing in agriculture and offers a new way to replace chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and supplements. According to these results, it can be concluded that the best treatment for mung bean cultivation and reducing the use of phosphorus fertilizer is the use of Azospirilum and Mycorrhizal fungus. Application Azospirilum and Mycorrhizal fungus in this study caused to increase the seed yield and protein content of seed.

Research, selection and protection of landraces in most countries of the world are very important and considered as one of the most important and significant issues in plant breeding programs. Despite the recent progresses in plant breeding programs, using of landraces is still particularly important, especially in the self pollinated crops. In breeding programs, the existence of favorable variation in the population is essential and without variation, the progress and development of breeding programs will be slow process. Lentil seeds are a major role in feed and food security for millions of people, especially among the low income Asian population, because of protein content and cheap price. The lentil plant has also played an important role as a rotation crop for increasing the fertility of soils and it has been special attention for agronomists and researchers in case of sustainable agriculture. Food legume cultivation traditionally is common in Iran. Except in the northern wet areas, lentil cultivated in most parts of Iran. Its cultivation areas is 150-200 thousand hectares and ranked as second important food legume in the drylands area. There are little studies about evaluation and purification of lentil landraces in Iran. Kouhin region in Ghazvin province with about 12000 hectare lentil cultivated area is one of the most favorite regions of cultivation and production of lentil in Iran. Green Koohin lentil landrace has good quality and nutritional value and is famous for consumers in the country.

This study was performed to evaluate a lentil landrace originated from Kouhin region in Ghazvin province. The experiment was conducted for two consecutive seasons during 2010-12 under field condition in Maragheh Dryland Agricultural Research Station (Latitude 37°15′ N, Longitude 46°15΄ E, and Altitude 1720 meter above sea level). In spring 2011 and 2012, the seeds of 120 pure lines (individual plants that were selected from Kouhin landrace), planted at farm under rainfed condition and eight traits (No. of days to flowering, No. of days to maturity, grain filling period, plant height, 100 seed weight, seed yield, biological yield and harvest index) were noted. Statistical parameters (maximum, minimum, mean, standard division and phenotypic coefficient of variance) were calculated for noted characteristics. After standardization of data, distance modulus squared Euclidean distance cluster analysis was done in Ward method.

Analysis of variance results showed that there were significant differences between the genotypes in all studied traits except in the case of biomass yield and harvest index. These results indicating the existence of genetic diversity among the pure lines extracted from the Kouhin lentil landrace. Results of estimating descriptive statistics of studied characteristics in the 120 pure lines showed that, the grain yield among the studied characteristics in two years means had the highest diversity. In the first year, the minimum and maximum grain yield (160 and 1420 Kg/ha) belonged to genotypes No. 98 and No. 14, respectively. In the second year grain yield was also varied from 170 Kg/ha (genotype no. 113) to 980 Kg/ha (genotype no. 73). This result indicated the existence of high performance potential within the Kouhin landrace and in order to improve the grain yield of population, identification and purification of the high yielding genotypes from population recommended. Among the studied traits the minimum diversity belonged to number of days from plating till flowering and maturity. Regarding to this point that the Kouhin landrace was cultivated from long time ago by farmers, natural factors such as day length, existence of drought stress (especially after flowering because of dryland farming) removed the late genotypes and caused relatively hemozigosity on these two traits in the Kouhin population. Results of clustering showed that genotypes were categorized in six groups. Twenty five genotypes were in the fifth group that their grain yield (527.6±126.8 Kg/ha) was higher than other groups.

The results of this study showed that it could be improved the grain yield and other characterstics of Kouhin population under drylands condition by selection of pure lines. Also it is possible to use the existing potentialities in Kouhin landrace (genetic diversity) in the lentil breeding programs under dryland condition. Conclusion of the results showed that there is suit variation in Kouhin lentil landrace and it could be used as a precious resource for lentil breeding programs under dryland of Iran.

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is the third most important grain legume in the world and the second grain legume in the Mediterranean environment including Iran. Average of chickpea grain yield in Iran is about 500 Kg ha−1 while in the world this average is 900 Kg ha−1.These data indicate the importance of research on chickpea. Water deficit stress is one of the most important factors in reducing grain yield of chickpea in the Mediterranean region. In such areas, water shortage almost take place at flowering and post flowering period. Generally, water deficit stress with decreasing plant photosynthesis and consequently reducing the production of photosynthetic products, the process of plant growth and development caused reduction of plants economic grain yield. In chickpea, flowering and podding stages are the most sensitive growth stages to water deficit and water shortages in these stages result in a significant reduction in grain yield. Hence, the present study was conducted to investigate the resistance of commonly chickpea cultivars used under cultivation in Kermanshah region in different water deficit stress conditions from the beginning of flowering and podding until maturity time.

In order to investigate the effect of post anthesis water deficit on yield and its components in different chickpea cultivars, a split-plot experiment based on complete block design with three replication conducted in research filed and labs of agronomy and plant breeding department of Razi university. The main factor was the moisture regime with three levels included: 1) control, 2) Irrigation cut from flowering till maturity and 3) irrigation cut from podding till maturity. Sub-factor consisted of different chickpea cultivars (Arman, Azad, Bivanij, Hashem and ILC482). Sowing was done manually. Each plot was consisted of six rows with three meters in length and with a spacing of 25 cm and 10 cm seeds space on the row. Harvesting was performed when each cultivar were matured under control and water deficit treatments and different traits was evaluated. These traits consist of: grain yield, biomass, straw yield, harvest index, number of pod per plant, number seed per pod, number of seed per plant, and 100 grain weight. Correlation coefficients between different traits under different water regime were estimated. The obtained data were exposed to analysis of variance (ANOVA). Means comparison was done using Duncan's new multiple range test (DMRT) using MSTAT-C software. Correlation coefficients between traits were estimated with SAS software ver. 8.0 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA).

 According to the results, water deficit at both levels, significantly reduced the grain yield, biomass, harvest index, 100 seed weight, number of seeds per plant and pod and number of pods per plant. The highest reduction in grain yield and biomass under water deficit from beginning of flowering till maturity was observed with about 51 and 36 percent, respectively. Under control condition, the highest grain and biological yield in Arman cultivar was 1355 and 3126 Kg ha-1, respectively. In application of water deficit from the beginning of podding until maturity, the highest grain and biological yield in Azad and Bivanij cultivars was 1035 and 2570 Kg ha-1, respectively and under water deficit stress from the beginning of flowering until maturity the highest grain and biological yield in ILC482 cultivar was 715 and 2000 Kg ha-1, respectively. Also, according to the results of correlation analysis, there was a positive and significant correlation between grain yield and biological yield, harvest index, number of pods per plant and number of seeds per plant. Azad, Bivanij and ILC482 cultivars showed better performance at both levels of moisture stress. Regarding the occurrence of moisture stress in the studied area at flowering and podding time in spring planting, spring cultivation of these cultivars is more desirable.

The results of this study showed that Azad, Bivanij and ILC482 cultivars were resistant to drought stress and their yield reduction was less than Arman and Hashem cultivars, also it is recommended that the Hashem cultivar dose not cultivate in spring at Kermanshah region. Generally, more resistant to drought varieties were more capable of water management which also improved the process of photosynthesis and helped to maintain better functionality in these conditions

Lentil (Lens culinaris Medic.) as one of the oldest sources of human nutrition is of particular importance among beans due to the ease of digestion and high protein content. Priming method refers to a number of different seed characteristics improvements. In these methods, seeds are allowed to absorb some water so that the early stages of germination are performed, but the root can not grow. Due to the fact that lentil is usually cultivated in rain-fed areas and under dry conditions, it is often possible to provide sufficient moisture in the early stages of growth and germination for planting, in the early stage of growth and germination. Research results indicate that seed germination can be achieved through rapid germination, uniform appearance and strong establishment of the plant. One of the most important germination seed germination treatments is priming. Priming refers to a number of different seed improvement methods, in which all controlled seeding is applied. In priming, seeds are allowed to absorb some water so that the early stages of germination are performed, but the root can not be removed. In other words, the seeds go up to the second stage, but they do not enter the third stage. After priming treatments, the seeds are dried and cultivated as untreated seeds. Hydro priming is the simplest method for increasing the rate and percentage of germination and uniformity of deposition under stress conditions, especially in arid regions. In the experiment, which was performed on seed maize (Zea mays), it was observed that seed priming increased germination speed while the polyethylene glycol reduced the germination rate. In addition, hydro priming of seeds for 36 hours increased germination, root germination and seedling dry weight. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of different priming treatments and the duration of priming on seed germination and growth seedling growth and selection of the most suitable treatment of two lentil genotypes.

This study was carried out in Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran, as a factorial experiment based on completely randomized design with four replications in 2017. The treatments consisted of two lentil genotypes (Rabat and Kalposhch), six priming levels (non-priming (control), gibberellic acid (C19H22O6) 100 mg.l-1, Dayan seedlings solution 4 ml.l-1, potassium nitrate (KNO3) 500 mg.l-1, zinc sulfate (ZnSO4) 1000 mg.l-1 and hydro priming and priming duration (7 and 16 hours). After priming seeds were removed from the solutions and then placed in a laboratory for 24 hours until complete drying. Seeds were then disinfected 1% NaCl solution (NaClO) for five minutes and then washed three times with distilled water. Petri were also disinfected with 5% sodium hypochlorite solution. In the next step, 25 seeds were prepared from 12 cm diameter primer treatments between two layers of Watman filter paper and each petri was added to the required amount of distilled water. To germinate to a germinator by setting a temperature of ± 20° Celsius and the dark environment. The emergence of two-millimeter radicle length was considered as the beginning of seed germination and number of germinated seeds was daily recorded. At the end of 14th day, number of germinated seeds, seedling dry weight and length, root and shoot length and root and shoot dry weight were measured and germination indexes, such as germination percentage, germination rate and seed vigor were calculated.

Results indicated that total number of germinated seeds, germination percentage and germination rate were significantly affected by genotype, priming component and interaction of genotype and priming duration. Robat genotype at 16 hours of priming had the highest number of germinated seeds, germination percentage and germination rate, but in Robat genotype with seven hours of priming, there was no significant difference observed. Root length was significantly affected by genotype and priming components. The best genotype for this characteristic was Robat and the most suitable priming treatment was control (non-priming). There were no statistically significant differences with zinc sulfate. The length of stems and seedling were affected by genotype, priming components and priming durations. For both characteristics, the best genotype, Rabat and the most suitable time, seven hours priming and for stem length, non-priming (control) was the best treatment, but there were no statistically significant differences with gibberellic acid, potassium nitrate and zinc sulfate.

Results of this study showed that Robat genotype has superior characteristics than Kalpush genotype, which can be used for cultivation. Generally, according to the results of this study, seed germination characteristics of these two lentil genotypes were positively affected priming treatments of gibberellic acid, potassium nitrate, zinc sulfate, Dayan solution and hydro priming. It seems that complementary studies on other compounds are needed to find suitable treatments for germination improvement

Chickpea is one of the pulse crops and its protein percent is about 22 to 24 percent. Therefore it plays an important nutritional role in human being diet. All plants, including chickpea, experience physiological changes and decreased growth while facing water deficit. Change in photosynthetic electron transport under low-irrigation conditions is one of the factors causing formation of reactive oxygen species (free radicals) including oxygen peroxide, super oxide and hydroxyl (oxidative stress). These free radicals are mainly produced in chloroplast, mitochondrion, and peroxisomes which could inflict destructive and harmful effects on plant cells. In stressed plants, the endogenous polyamine compounds are increased which is mainly a defensive response of plant to oxidative stress. Polyamines are aliphatic hydrocarbons with low molecular weight, straight chain of 3 to 15 carbons, which arginine and ornithine amino acids are their precursor. There are two major biosynthetic pathways for putrescine including ornithine decarboxylase and arginine decarboxylase. After putrescine synthesis, the larger polyamines (spermidine) are synthesized. This process is catalyzed by spermidine synthase through consecutively adding aminopropyl groups to putrescine. This experiment aimed to study the possibility of decreasing harmful effects of low-irrigation on growth and yield of chickpea through spermidine spraying.

This study was carried out as split plot based on complete blocks design with three replications in research farm of Shahrood University of Technology in 2016 in which the chickpea was sown in June as a secondary planting. The experimental treatments were irrigation regimes (distributed in main plots) in three levels (control (the conventional irrigation; 7-day interval irrigation), 10-day interval irrigation, and 13-day interval irrigation) and spermidine spraying in three levels (control (spraying of water on plant), concentration of 0.3 and 0.6 mM) at 4-leaf, flowering and milky stages. The studied traits were biomass, grain yield, number of pods per plant, grain protein percent, chlorophyll content and activities of catalase and guaiacol peroxidase enzymes.

The results indicated that under 13-day interval irrigation conditions, the activity of guaiacol peroxidase decreased with increasing concentration of spermidine (About 0.07 µM/min.g fw for 0.1 mM increase in spermidine concentration). No significant difference was found between zero (control) and 0.6 mM in terms of catalase enzyme; these spermidine levels appeared to have the highest activity of catalase enzyme. Under 10-day interval irrigation conditions, the catalase activity amount was statistically similar to its activity under control conditions. However, under 13-day interval irrigation conditions, the activity of mentioned enzyme was almost 80% higher than control. The linear decrease of guaiacol peroxidase activity with increasing spermidine concentration under 13-day interval irrigation conditions and also decrease in catalase enzyme activity under spraying plant with 0.3 mM spermidine may confirms the previous reports regarding the capability of polyamine compounds in direct elimination of free radicals and promoting stability and conserving the membrane. The experimental evidences have indicated that the application of exogenous potrisine has increased the polyamines amount in thylakoid membranes; these results have also been repeated by application of exogenous spermidine. Under 13-day interval irrigation conditions, the relative leaf chlorophyll content appeared to be linearly increased with enhancing the spermidine concentration (One Spad value for 0.1 mM increase in spermidine concentration). In each irrigation regimes, the number of pod per plant was proportionally increased with increasing spermidine concentration (Averagely, about one pod per plant for 0.1 mM increase in spermidine concentration). In each irrigation regimes, the biomass and grain yield were proportionally increased with increasing spermidine concentration (For 0.1 mM increase in spermidine concentration, the average increase in biomas and grain yield was about 72 and 31 Kg/ha, respectively), which proves that spermidine alleviates the harmful effects of low-irrigation. The 0.6 mM spermidine could alleviate the harmful impacts of 10- and 13-day irrigation regimes on grain yield by 20% and 34%, respectively. Proportional to spermidine concentration, grain protein content got increased (About one percent for 0.1 mM increase in spermidine concentration). So that for 0.3 and 0.6 mM spermidine concentrations, the grain protein content was higher than control by 3% and 6%, respectively.

The results indicated that imposing low-irrigation stress affected all measured traits. The application of spermidine polyamine at three stages of 4-loaf, flowering and milky stages caused some changes in activity of antioxidant enzymes catalase and guaiacol peroxidase. These changes took place along with increasing chlorophyll content and number of pod per plant (decreasing flower abortion and enhancing fertile flowers). The changes in the mentioned traits were some of the reasons for spermidine-resulted alleviating the negative effects of low-irrigation on growth and grain yield of chickpea. The 0.6 mM spermidine was found to be the best treatment level for both drought stress and no drought stress conditions.