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Nowadays, the use of a wide range of medicinal herbs such as saffron and its aromatic compounds is increasingly being regarded as natural sources of antioxidant properties. In addition to saffron stigma, saffron petal is a rich herbal source of antioxidant compounds. The present study was conducted in a completely randomized design with three replications to study some of the enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants of two species of wild saffron in Guilan Province compared with agronomic saffron (C. sativus). The results of this study showed that total phenol, flavonoids and anthocyanins in agronomic saffron were significantly higher than those in the other two species. The amount of flavonel in C. speciosus and the level of antioxidant activity (DPPH) in C. caspius were significantly higher than other species. The level of PPO activity in C. sativus and C. speciosus was significantly higher than that in C. caspius. However, there was no significant difference in the level of POD activity among the three studied species. Therefore, according to the results of this study, petals of different species of saffron are good sources of non-enzymatic and enzymatic antioxidants and can be used as an available natural antioxidant in the food and pharmaceutical industries.
 

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Epilobium minutiflorum belongs to the genus Epilobium with important medicinal properties. In this study, the natural variation of phytochemical compounds of E. minutiflorum at different altitudes has been investigated. Aerial parts of plants were collected at flowering stage from natural habitats at different altitudes of 2387, 2569 and 2813 masl. The plant extracts were obtained with 80% methanol and several phytochemical properties were measured. The properties included the total flavonoid content (TFL), total phenol (TPH), antioxidant capacity (AOX) and anthocyanin content (ACY) measured by the AlCl3, the Folin-Ciocalteu, the Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and the differential PH methods, respectively. In addition, phytochemical components were identified by the GC/MS method. The results of photometric analysis indicated that the population of Shemshak, located at the highest altitude showed the highest content of TFL, TPH and AOX with 30.39 mg/gr DW, 938.91 mg/gr DW and 77.77 mM/gr DW, respectively. The TFL, TPH and AOX values showed a positive correlation with altitude. The results of GC/MS analysis revealed the presence of 41 compounds in E. minutiflorum, which were separated into flavonoids, phenolic acid and its derivatives, steroids and terpenes groups. Shemshak population showed the highest value in all identified compounds. A positive correlation was also observed between altitude and 30 compounds identified by the GC/MS method including mainly flavonoids and phenolics. The results of this study indicated that environmental factors at higher altitudes may influence the elevation of the flavenols and phenol content in E. minutiflorum. The identification of these influential factors on phytochemical content at higher altitudes requires further studies.

 
 

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Impaired motor functions were reported in cholestatic animals. This disorder in the function and death of motor neurons is highly dependent on changes in the environment around astrocytes and the blood-brain barrier, which is moderated by the aquaporin 4 protein. For this reason, the effects of cholestasis on motor cortex histology and morphology and aquaporin 4 protein levels were investigated in this study. Samples were stained by hematoxylin-eosin method. Histological changes in cortical brain were investigated. The amount of AQP4 protein in control, sham, and experimental groups were tested by immunohistochemistry. The thickness of motor cortex in cholestatic samples increased in comparison with the control and sham groups. Also, cholestasis caused wrinkle chromatic nuclei. On the other hand, tissue necrosis was detected in cholestatic group compared with sham and control groups. Reduction of cells densities in some cortical layers has been observed, which is probably indicative of cholestasis-induced cell death. AQP4 expression significantly decreased in BDL (p <0.05), but not in other groups (P<0.05). In this study, the pathology of motor cortex, which has also been associated with the decrease of neurons, could be considered the cause of motion abnormalities and AQP4 level reduction in cholestatic rats.
 

 

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In this study, the cytotoxic effects of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Sedum album L. on human stomach cancer cell line (AGS) and breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) were evaluated by MTT, BrdU and TUNEL assays. The results demonstrated that both extracts had antiproliferative and apoptotic effects in a dose-dependent manner. The MTT assay data revealed that the AGS cell underwent more cytotoxicity in comparison with the MCF-7 cell. It also revealed that ethanolic extract was more potent than aqueous extract. The BrdU assay results showed that the proliferation of AGS and MCF-7 cells was reduced to 50% and 43%, respectively, at the highest concentration of the aqueous extract. In addition, the ethanolic extract reduced the proliferation of AGS and MCF-7 cells to 75% and 60%, respectively. The AGS and MCF-7 cells underwent 52% and 12% apoptotic death upon treatment by the ethanolic extract as TUNEL assay showed. The aqueous extract induced 28% and 25% apoptosis in the AGS and MCF-7 cells, respectively. Both inhibition of proliferation and induction of apoptosis are desirable strategies for cancer treatment among researchers. Identification of S. album compounds and analyzing their effects in animal model of cancer can help us with understanding its anti-cancer properties.
 

 

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In order to study the effects of magnetopriming on the physiological and phytochemical characteristics of Hyssopus officinalis plants, this research was conducted as a factorial experiment in a completely randomized design. Results showed that magnetopriming (particularly at 200mT/5 min) increased the level of shoot dry weight (82.6 percent), root dry weight (86.5 percent), total chlorophyll (32.8 percent), carotenoids concentration (32.4 percent) and polyphenols content (2 folds) in 60-day-old Hyssopus officinalis. Also, electrolyte leakage and lipid peroxidation decreased by 27.6 and 45 percent, respectively. In addition, reducing power, DPPH and superoxide anion scavenging activities significantly augmented. However, higher activities of superoxide dismutase (76 percent), catalase (4.2 folds), ascorbate peroxidase (2.4 folds) and guaiacol peroxidase (48 percent) were found at 90 mT. Results suggested that the application of magnetopriming promoted growth in H. officinalis through augmentation of cellular membrane integrity as well as biomass and photosynthetic pigments content. Furthermore, it was found to enhance the antioxidative system. Magnetopriming might apparently improve the medicinal properties via increasing the level of polyphenols and antioxidant capacity in H. officinalis.

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In this paper, the new taxa Lepidium ferganense (Brassicaceae) was recorded for the flora of Iran for the first time. This taxon belongs to Irano-Turanian region. It was compared with the closest taxa in the present study. In addition, a morphological description, several Illustrations, and a distribution map were presented.

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Polyploidy induction in German chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) by herbicide trifluralin
 
Leila Karami¹, Mohammad Modarresi², Mohammad Amin Kohanmoo², Fatemeh Zahabi Ahmadi² & Saeed Irian^3
1Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Persian Gulf University, Bushehr, 7516913817, Iran; ²Department of Plant Breeding, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Persian Gulf University, Bushehr, 7516913817, Iran; ³Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran.
Correspondent author: Leila Karami, leila.karami@pgu.ac.ir
 
Abstract. Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) is a medicinal herb belonging to Asteraceae family. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of trifluralin on the induction of polyploidy in chamomile. Two independent full factorial experiments on seedlings and 2-leaf stage apical buds were performed.  Following morphological, biochemical and cytogenetic analysis, chromosome numbers of 18 and 36 were detected for diploid and tetraploid types, respectively. Morphological and biochemical examinations revealed that an increase in the number of full chromosome set results in a reduction in stomata number per unit area as well as an increase in stomata size, chloroplast number, and chlorophyll content. Induction of ploidy level increments also reduced plant height and increased the number of lateral branches, leaf size, and diameters of stems, flowers and receptacles. It is concluded that a concentration of 22.5 µM trifluralin in both methods is optimum for the production of tetraploid chamomile with the highest rate of polyploidy induction and the lowest percentage of abnormality.
 
 

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The distribution patterns of taxa belonging to the section Hypoglottidei DC. were investigated using DIVA-GIS software. Based on Zohary classification, five global patterns, with the exception of widely distributed species, include 1. Centro-Asiatic province, 2. Irano-Anatolian province, 3. Pontic province, 4. East Mediterranean subregion and 5. West Mediterranean subregion, were identified. In addition, the Iranian species of this section were classified in three patterns: 1. Central Zagros 2. Khorasan-Kopet Dagh 3. Central and Eastern Alborz. The maps and distribution patterns of the species were also presented.

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Magentotactic bacteria are the types of bacteria capable of orientation in an external magnetic field because of the ability to produce structures called magnetosomes. Magnetosomes, nanometer-scale structures, are present in most of the magnetotactice bacteria. They are intracellular organelles composed of magnetic iron mineral crystals individually surrounded by a phospholipid layer. Because of the unique features of magnetosomes, magentotactic bacteria have become the fascinating subject of research in many research and applied fields of study, including robotics, medicine, biology, environment and geology. In this review, we have tried to introduce magentotactic bacteria, the formation of magnetosomes and their structures, in order to highlight the importance of these bacteria. Finally, some applications of these bacteria in different areas of research, e.g. targeted drug delivery, cancer treatment and removal of heavy metals from water, were described in order that a better understanding of their applications could be obtained.

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Nowadays plant endophytic bacteria have found diverse and useful applications in biotechnology; therefore, much attention has been paid to the isolation, identification, and evaluation of these microorganisms. Since the sterilizing plant tissue surfaces from epiphytic bacteria is difficulty, the efficacy of three different screening methods for endophytic bacteria including 1- HClO sterilization, 2- Periodic sterilization (modified tyndallization) and 3- Triton X100 and HClO sterilization, was evaluated in this study. The modified Tyndallization is an innovative method used in this study to appropriately remove the internal spores of epiphytic bacteria, considered to be an obstacle to the isolation of endophytes. Most of the endophytic bacteria were isolated from dicotyledons and leaves. Endophytic bacteria were also studied for the production of different hydrolase enzymes, whereas the protease enzyme was produced in a wide range of endophytic bacteria in greater quantities than other enzymes. The EndoA strain was molecularly identified and found to be 100% similar to Bacillus halotolerans.

 

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Phenazine 1-corboxylic acid (PCA) is an antibiotic, which inhibits the growth of a vast number of micro-organisms. PCA has has been applied in fields such as pharmaceutical, agricultural, marine and chemical industries. In this study, the antibiotic properties of PCA (produced by pseudomonas aeruginosa MUT.3, which is kept at the Microbial Collection of Malek Ashtar University of Technology) was studied. The impacts of temperature and light conditions on the activity of PCA was investigated within a 230-day period. To investigate the rate of PCA destruction in the experiment, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was utilized. Moreover, the antibacterial activity of PCA under various conditions was studied by minimum inhibitory (MIC) and minimum biocidal concentration (MBC) methods against E. coli DH5α. The results showed that PCA could be active up to 210 days in darkness (at 25^oC). Meanwhile, the antibacterial activity of PCA was reduced to 100 and 50 days by increasing the temperature to 35 and 45^oC, respectively. In addition, PCA could be active up to 120 and 10 days in visible and ultraviolet light condition, respectively. The MIC and MBC data were consistent with the HPLC results. Detailed data on the activity and stability of phenazine 1-corboxylic acid under various environmental conditions, as presented in this study, could be helpful in industries and healthcare services.
 
 

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In this study, the extract of coffee powder for green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles has been used because it is compatibility with the environment and it does not produce any toxic substances in the reaction. Then, the interaction of zinc oxide nanoparticles with calf thymus DNA with various spectroscopic methods such as UV-Visible, fluorescence and circular dichroism (CD) techniques was investigated. UV-Visible data showed that zinc oxide nanoparticles induced denaturation in DNA in a dose-dependent manner at both the room and physiologic temperatures. Extrinsic fluorescence emission of ethidium bromide (EB) results also showed that the increase of zinc oxide nanoparticles concentrations, decreases the emission intensity of EB. This may be the result of the intercalation of nanoparticles. Also, CD data showed that the synthesized zinc oxide caused structural changes in DNA. Finally, according to our results, it can be concluded that zinc oxide nanoparticles can bind with DNA and induce some structural changes in DNA structure.
 
 

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The Hezar-Masjed Mountain range is one of the main highlands of the northeasten Iran. The vegetation of its upper elevations has been poorly studied. This study aimed to compare the plant biodiversity of different aspects of the Hezar-Masjed Summit. A total number of 139 random 1m² plots were recorded from different aspects of the study area. In each plot, the abundance and canopy cover percent of vascular plant species were recorded. Hill’s numbers (i.e., N₁, N₂) along with the Camargo evenness index and total species richness with bootstrapping approach were calculated. Rarefaction method was used to compare species richness among the aspects. Also, Hill’s diversity profile for each aspect was drawn. For each aspect, rank-abundance method was used to evaluate the dominant species. Biodiversity calculations and statistical analyses were performed using R software. The east- and south- facingslopes were found to have the highest and lowest indices in richness, evenness, and diversity, respectively. Despite adequate water availability in north-facing slopes, they show lower diversity than that of the east-facing slope, probably due to the of dominance of a poisonous species (Seseli transcaucasicum). Our results shown that in the Hezar-Masjed Summit, aspects have different biodiversity which is a result of their various environmental conditions.
 

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