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Heavy metals reduce the plant growth and adversely affect plant performance potential. Heavy metals also induce the formation of reactive oxygen species leading to cell damage. Plants deal with heavy metal stress by activating enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant systems such as Superoxide Dismutase which converts superoxide anion to hydrogen peroxide. Then Peroxidase and Catalase convert hydrogen peroxide to water. Another method employed by pl-ants to deal with heavy metals is mycorrhizal symbiosis. In this study, mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal barley seedlings (Hordeum vulgar), var. Rayhan, grown in a greenhouse were treated with four concentrations of nickel (0,100,200 and 400 µg/g). Results showed greater antioxidant activity in mycorrhizal plants compared with non-mycorrhizal plants.  Also, it was determined that the accumulation of nickel in roots of mycorrhizal plants was greater compared with non-mycorrhizal plants.

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The study attempts to evaluate the effects of silver nanoparticles on preventing the destruction of ovarian tissue in mice treated with isoniazid. In this experiment, 40 adult female rats were randomly divided into 5 groups (n=8) including: control group (no treatment), sham group (0.2 mg / kg normal saline), experimental group 1 (50mg / kg Ison-iazid), experimental group 2 (50mg / kg Isoniazid and 0.25mg/kg silver nanoparticles) and the experimental group 3 (50mg / kg isoniazid and 0.50mg / kg silver nanoparticles). All injections were prescribed for 15 days and Isoniazid and silver nano-particles were received orally and intraperitoneally, respectively. All the animals were operated on and their ovarian tissues were removed and placed in 10% formalin solution. Then H & E staining was performed for histological studies. In experimental groups 1, 2 and 3, reduction in the number of secondary follicles and corpus luteum was obse-rved in comparison with the control group. There was a significant increase in the number of primordial and graafian follicles in experimental group 3 when it was compared with isoniazid group. In addition, a significant increase was observed in the number of primary monolayer follicles in experimental groups 2 and 3 in comparison with the experi-mental group 1. It should be assumed that by the utilization of the minimum dose of the silver nanoparticles, its toxic effects on the ovarian tissue could be ignored. Therefore, the minimum dose of the silver nanoparticles can reduce the isoniazid effects on ovarian tissue.

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With 29 species in Iran, Polygonum L. is comprised of annual and perennial plants in different habitats. P. aviculare makes a species complex, hardly distinguished from P. arenastrum and P. patulum. In the present study, po-llen grains, fruit surface and petals and leaves epidermis features were used to provide diagnostic features in order to se-parate species from one another. In Total, 33 populations of 6 annual species, including P. aviculare, P. arenastrum, P. patulum, P. argyrocoleon, P. polycnemoides and P. olivascens were studied. Specimens were gathered during field trips and studied by means of light and scanning electron microscopes. The Pollen grains of all the species which were stud-ied were monad, subprolate or prolate spheroidal and tricolpate. Main differences were also observed in their surface ornamentations. Length of equatorial and polar axes and colpus, granules diameters and the average distance between granules were other diagnostic features of the pollen grains. Statistical analysis of epidermis features revealed that the length and width of epidermis cells and stomata length varied in the species studied. A close relationship was found between P. aviculare and P. arenastrum on the one hand and P. argyrocoleon and P. olivascens on the other. The sepa-ration of P. polycnemoides could be attributed to differences in epidermis features. Results showed that a selected set of these features to be of taxonomic importance.

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Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus L.) has antioxidant, anti-diabetic, anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory proper-ties. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of tarragon hydro-alcoholic extract on anxiety and depression in male rats exposed to chronic restraint stress. Forty eight male rats were randomly divided into six groups including 1) control, 2) stress, 3) tarragon 100, 4) tarragon 500, 5) stress-tarragon 100 and 6) stress-tarragon 500. Groups 2, 5, and 6 were placed in restrainer for 21 consecutive days, 6 hours a day. Groups 3, 4, 5, and 6 were gavaged with tarragon extract of different do-ses (100 and 500mg/kg). At the end of this 21-day period, anxiety and depression were evaluated by elevated plus maze and forced swimming test. Data analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA, p<0.05 being considered significant. The pe-rcentages of open arm entry and time spent in open arm increased significantly in tarragon-stress groups compared with st-ress group (p<0.05). Tarragon extract decreased significantly the immobility time in rats exposed to stress in forced swim-ming test (p<0.01). The results suggested that hydro-alcoholic extract of Artemisia dracunculus L. reduced the anxiety and depression in rats exposed to chronic immobilization stress, probably due to its anti-oxidant compounds

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Pollen grains of 7 species of the genus Rubus L. were investigated using light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). 14 different pollen characters were described, illustrated and compared in the present st-udy. All pollen grains were monad, tricolporate, radially symmetrical, isopolar, and medium in size. As for pollen sh-ape, 3 forms were recognized in the same specimens: prolate, perprolate and prolate-spheroidal. Endopore was located in the middle of colpi. The sculpture of the grains was confirmed to have striate pattern. The size of perforation and the orientation of the muri were compared and appeared to indicate the differences between the species. R.caesius, R. disc-olor, R. dolichocarpus and R. hirtus appear to have steriate-scabrate sculpture; in contrast, R. hyrcanus Juz., R. persicus Boiss. and R. sanctus Schreber. appear to have meandrical and fingerprint-like sculpture. Perforations are of two types. They are either large or often extending to tectal ridges or minute holes. Characters of pollen grains were proved their usefulness for separating taxa at the specific level. It seems that there is a link between the diversity of pollens and the vegetation habitats.

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In this study the morphological and micromorphologcal characters of Ranunculus Sect. Batrachium species in Iran have been investigated. The characters describe leaf, petal and fruit, in addition to pollen grains in four species of the genus including, R. sphaerospermus Boiss. & Blanche, R. trichophyllum Chaix ex. Vill., R. rionii Lagger and R. peltatus Schrank. Pollen grains were tricolpate and had species-specific shapes. The sculpture of the exine was echinnate in all of the species studied. Seven morphological characters have been studied using statistical methods and SPSS software has been used in order to group the species. These analyses indicated that R. sphaerospermus was a valid species and very similar to R. peltatus. Also, intraspecific diversity in R. trichophyllum was confirmed by statistical methods

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In most parts of Iran, the presence of water and soil salinity in urban area results in problems for grass growth. One way to solve this problem is the use of plant growth retardant, such as trinexapac-ethyl (TE), which is common and routine in turf management. This study was performed to investigate the response of Agrostis stolonifera L., Agropyron desertorum L. and Festuca ovina L., grown in sandy loam soil, to TE and irrigation water salinity. Resu-lts showed that spraying turf grass with TE increased most of the vegetative growth characteristics and content of chlo-rophylls, carotenoids and proline in clipping leaves, whereas increasing the NaCl concentration in irrigation water resu-lted in steady reduction in the values of these parameters, except carotenoids and proline content, compared with the co-ntrol group. Both TE and salinity treatments decreased the plant heights, as well as the fresh and dry weight of clip-pings. In the species which were studied, Agrostis stolonifera turned out to be the most tolerant turfgrass. Results also indicated that the application of TE enhances salinity resistance by improving the percentage of green leaf, chlorophyll concentration and proline content and reduce clipping in the species studied

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Cutinase belongs to the family of serine hydrolases which are capable of hydrolysis of esters and small polyester such as cutin. The cutin of plants is composed of hydroxy and epoxy fatty acids and is substantially imperm-eable to water and only the plant pathogenic bacteria are capable of degrading it. Initially, in order to identify the extent of cutin in cucumber (Cucumis sativus' C. sativus'), golden apples (Golden Delicious apple 'Malus domestica'), red ap-ples (Red Delicious apple 'Malus domestica'') and tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum Mill. Commun ' S. lycopersicum'), their fruits were obtained. Cutin was extracted from the fruit skin of each studied specimen and compared by chloro-form-methanol method. Then, isolation of enzyme-producing strains was performed by the use of the specific medium containing cutin and enzyme activity assay. DNA of the specimens was extracted, and PCR were performed with univ-ersal primers for 16s DNA. The remainder was devoted to bioinformatic analysis, identification and registration of samples in the gene bank. The results showed that the percentage of extracted cutin in red apple was more than other samples and as a result, red apple are expected to be more resistant against diseases and pests. Also, six cutinase-prod-ucer strains of Klebsiella and Enterobacter were isolated with the help of enzyme activity and special culture medium containing cutin, and their 16s DNA region coding sequences were recorded in the GenBank.

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This study was conducted in order to measure glucose, cholesterol and hematocrit as indicators to evaluate the effect of caraway seeds meal (CSM) on the health and resistance of common carp to salinity stress. To attain this goal, fish (2.457±0.057 g) were divided into four groups fed on diets containing different levels of CSM; 0 (control), 0.5, 1 and 1.5%. After 56 days of feeding, blood samples of the fish were obtained in five stages (once before and four times after stress) to evaluate glucose, cholesterol and hematocrit levels. The experiments indicated that salinity sign-ificantly affected glucose, cholesterol and hematocrit. On the first day after stress, the hematocrit and glucose levels were considerably increased in all groups compared with their levels before stress. After stress, cholesterol level signif-icantly decreased in all groups compared to before stress. The level of hematocrit indicated no significant difference among the groups before and after stress. On the first day after stress, the glucose levels significantly increased in trea-ted groups with CSM compared with the control group. The glucose and hematocrit levels were decreased gradually in all groups from the third day on. After stress, no differences were observed for survival rates among the experimental diets. However, the highest survival rate belonged to treated groups with CSM. The overall result indicated that the suplement of CSM has a positive influence on the glucose, hematocrit and resistance of common carp to salinity stress.

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Kura bleak, Alburnus filippii, a member of the family Cyprinidae, is found in the rivers of Aras and Sefidrud, and the Anzali lagoon of Iran. The current study was conducted to provide a detailed osteological description of this sp-ecies since there was not adequate information in this regard. In order to attain this goal, 20 specimens were collected from the Ahar Chay River by electrofishing device, and fixed in 10% buffered formalin. The specimens were cleared, stained with alizarin red S and alcian blue for osteological examination and a detailed description of its skeletal structure was provided. The results showed that this species can be distinguished from other members of this genus in Iran by a combination of osteological characters, including having pointed process of the maxillae, dorsal tilting of the coronoid process, protruding of the anterior margin of the hyomandibular, fan-shaped anterior part of the basihyal, pointed end of the pre-vomer posteriorly, small fourth infraorbital and 11 pterygiophors in the dorsal fin.

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A revision was carried out on the genus Lappula Moench (Boraginaceae) in Khorassan provinces. A total of herbarium specimens collected from different parts of the studied area, including the three provinces of North, Razavi and South Khorassan, were studied. All specimens are deposited in Ferdowsi University of Mashhad Herbarium, (FUMH). According to the results of the study, there are 6 Lappula species in the region: L. barbata, L. microcarpa, L. semiglabra, L. sessiliflora, L. sinaica and L. spinocarpos. In addition, by revising the annual specimens that had been previously misidentified as L. drobovii, a perennial species, these specimens were identified as L. sessiliflora. Identification key, distribution map and species pictures in this article have been presented.

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Considering fundamental changes in the classification of angiosperms, based on phylogenetic studies, makes revising and updating Floras inevitable. Hence, in this paper, changes in the flora of Afghanistan have been listed and compared with the flora of Iran. As the latest studies indicate, according to APG IV system, the flora of Afghanistan comp-rises 40 orders, 130 families, about 1030 genera and 5065 species of angiosperms. In comparison the flora of Iran comprises 42 orders, 139 families, nearly 1252 genera and 8090 species of angiosperms. Moreover, the two countries share 39 orders, 124 families, 844 genera and about 1800 species. In Afghanistan the largest number of families belongs to Lamiales and in Iran to Caryophyllales. Asteraceae contains the largest number of genera in both countries. As far as the number of species in concerned, the largest angiosperms family in Afghanistan is Asteraceae, but in Iran it is Fabaceae. The most diverse ge-nera of both countries are Astragalus and Cousinia respectively. Gymnosperms have two orders, four families, seven genera and 22 species in Afghanistan, while in Iran they have two orders, three families, five genera and 17 species. By adding 58 species of pteridophytes and 311 species of bryophytes to Afghanistan’s flora and 60 species of pteridophytes and 534 spec-ies of bryophytes to Iran’s flora, in total, Embryophyta have approximately 5460 species in Afghanistan and 8700 species in Iran.

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Hairy root induction in plants is the result of the insertion of T-DNA from Agrobacterium rhizogenes into the plant genome. The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of bacterium strain and plant species type on hairy root induction in two endemic (Salvia eremophila and S. reuterana) and five non-endemic (S. macrosiphon, S. multicaulis, S. nemorosa, S. verticellata and S. virigata) Salvia by four bacteria strains including 1724, 2659, ATCC-15834 and A4. Petiole and stem explants were not capable of inducing hairy roots, while almost all leaf segments produced it. Confirmatory studies were carried out by direct detection of inserted rol C by the PCR. The results showed that different Agrobacterium rhizogenes strain and Salvia spices had significant effect on hairy roots number and frequency. The infection of S. macrosiphon via A. rhizogenes strain ATCC15834 showed the highest number of infe-cted roots per explant (5.12 hairy roots) and root frequency (82%). The highest number of hairy root per explant in S. eremophila (3.32 hairy roots) and S. reuterana (3.92 hairy roots) were achieved by inoculation with strain A4. Strain 2659 produced the highest hairy roots number in S. nemorosa (2.6 hairy roots), S. multicaulis (4.36 hairy roots) and S. verticillata (5 hairy roots). Also hairy roots formation occurred at the highest number in S. virigata (3 hairy roots) with infection by strain ATCC15834.

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A laboratory experiment was carried out to investigate the effect of salinity on some morphological and phys-iological parameters in four Canola (Brassica napus L.) cultivars (Talaye, Sarigol, Zarfam and Opera) under salinity stress. Plants were grown in hydroponic solution (Hoagland 1/4 strength) under greenhouse conditions and on five-leaf stage, treated with different concentrations of NaCl: 0 (control), 50, 75 and 100 mM. After 14 days of treatment, plants were harvested and the length of shoots and roots, photosynthesis, chlorophylls and carotenoids contents of leaves were measured on four studied cultivars. In general the results showed that increasing salinity reduced leaf relative water co-ntent, shoot and root lengths and leaf area. Photosynthetic rate was declined in Talaye and Sarigol, but it was elevated in Opera and Zarfam. It should be noted that the changes induced by salinity on photosynthetic pigments was not regu-lar. The results of this study showed that among the investigated cultivars, in vegetative phase, Opera and Zarfam had higher capacity and function to salt stress tolerate than other cultivars. It also seems that Sarigol may be more vuln-erable than other cultivars under salinity stress.

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Secondary metabolites have great pharmaceutical value in medicine. This study evaluates the effect of alti-tude on the amount and variety of secondary metabolites in lavender plant from two sites located in Mazandaran prov-ince. Sampling was performed in a randomized design with three replications. After the plants were dried, essential oil was extracted by distillation. Isolation and identification of constituents of the oil were performed by gas chromato-graphy and gas chromatography connected to mass spectroscopy. The results of this research led to the identification of 22 (99.96% of the total constituents) and 24 (97.01% of the total constituents) constituents in Baladeh and Behshahr sa-mples, respectively. Characteristics constituents included Andoyorneol (22.36%), 1, 8 cineole (20.7%), camphor (8.69%), α-Cadinol (7.60%), Caryophyllene oxide (5.09%) and Propanol (18.4%) in Behshahr population samples and Borneol (26.78%), 1, 8 cineole (20.19%), camphor (9.59%), α-Cadinol (5.80%), caryophyllene oxide (4.99%) and pr-opanol (3.41%) in Baladeh population samples. The differences in the output and combination of the essential oils in-dicated that the environmental as well as genetic factors can affect the production and amounts of the chemical comp-ounds in medical plants. Therefore, medicinal plants should be cultured in proper areas based on the aim of cultivation and the desired type of active materials.

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Floral morphology of 24 species of the genus Alchemilla in Iran was studied by means of light and digital mi-croscopes. Flower samples were collected from different species and their morphological traits, including hypanthium, calyx, epicalyx, pedicels, ovaries and stamens, were measured. The most useful features for the separation of species were turned out to be the calyx shape and length, trichomes position on calyx and pedicle. Principal Component Anal-ysis (PCA) and Cluster Analysis (CA) were used to determine the potential contribution of floral morphological char-acters in the expression of species relationships. A total of 17 qualitative and quantitative characters were utilized in both analyses. The results of UPGMA and PCA methods were found to be consistent and in agreement with current classifications.

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In recent years, the involvement of nitric oxide (NO) in numerous physiological processes, particularly the mitigation of stress-induced negative effects on plants, has been clarified. Under salinity conditions, plants are subjected to a secondary oxidative stress.  The present work was designed to examine the exogenous application of nitric oxide (NO), in the form of its donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP), in mitigating the deleterious effects of salinity on Zygoph-yllum fabago L. plants. SNP (200 µM) was applied to plants growing medium under saline (200 and 400 mM NaCl) and non-saline conditions. Growth, oxidative stress markers [cell membrane stability index (MSI) and H₂O₂ conc-entration], antioxidant enzymes activities [peroxidase (POX, EC 1.11.1.7) and catalase (CAT, EC 1.11.1.6)], as well as the contents of some antioxidant compounds (flavonoids and carotenoids) were determined. Salinity lowered the shoot and root dry weights, while it enhanced peroxidase and catalase activities. High salinity increased H₂O₂; however, it de-creased the carotenoids content of leaves. Exogenous NO enhanced the growth, MSI, flavonoids and carotenoids co-ntents of salinized plants. In salinity plus SNP treated plants, H₂O₂ concentration and the activities of the examined en-zymes were reduced. Data suggest that a cooperative process is performed by the antioxidant systems in Syrian bean ca-per in order to cope with salinity. Also, the application of exogenous NO was found to be useful in the mitigation of salinity-induced oxidative stress in plants.

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The species Astragalus podolobus is one of the endemic species of winter pastures that grows in arid and semi-arid areas in the north of Gonbad-e Kavous. To investigate effective methods of breaking seed dormancy of Astr-agalus podolobus, an experiment was carried out in the framework of a completely randomized design with 15 treatm-ents and 3 replications. Treatments included controls, 98% sulfuric acid, dry chilling for 10 and 15 days, wet chilling for 10 and 15 days, and boiling water 1, 3, 5, 10 and 15 minute, respectively. Analysis of variance showed that the perc-entage and speed of germination were significant in different groups while the average time of germination in different treatments was not significant. The results of comparing mean values showed that the percentage and the speed of germination in boiling water treatments were best in comparison with other treatments with significant differences. The results of this experiment also showed that reducing the exposure time of seeds to boiling water increases the germination percentage and speed, consequently, the highest percentage and speed of germination was observed in boil-ing water 1 minute. Boiling water 1 minute treatment can increase the germination percentage up to 47% and the seed germination speed from 0.43 to 3.09 seeds per day

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Phenolic compounds, especially those with plant origin, constitute an essential part of the human diet due to their antioxidant properties. Antioxidants protect biological systems (nucleic acids, proteins, lipids, lipoproteins) against free radicals and reactive oxygen species. Some medicinal plants contain so high amounts of antioxidants that their use can be considerably effective for human health. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of flooding extraction method on phenolic compounds, flavonoids and the level of free radical scavenging properties of medicinal plants including Thyme, Hamadani Yarrow, Shirazi mountain thyme, Yarrow, Chamomile, Saffron corm hyssop Sagebrush, wormwood, Artemisia and Ziziphora clinopodioiedes, in four extraction solvents including water, methanol, acetone and ethanol. The results showed that methanol and water solvents had the highest and the lowest total phenolic, flavonoid and antioxidant activity, respectively. The results also showed that methanol extraction of Shirazi thyme and water extraction of Wormwood plant had the highest and the lowest phenol and flavonoids contents, respectively. The results of trapping the free radicals of DPPH indicated that the methanol extract of Shirazi thyme and aqueous extract of wormwood had the highest and the lowest inhibition activities, respectively. Therefore, the selection of solvent type can affect the rate of the extraction of phenolic compounds, flavonoids and antioxidant activity.
 

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The genus Crataegus L. has a wide distribution in Iran. Induviduals of Crataegus meyeri Pojark. show morphological variations in different regions. In this research, the effects of climatic variations on morphological traits of C. meyeri were studied. Seventy five specimens collected from nine provinces of Iran were measured in two sets of quantitative and qualitative traits. Statistical analysis of climatic data and morphological traits showed that wind and temperature were the most effective factors affecting the variety of morphological traits including leaf blade of short shoot and flowering shoot, indumentum of fruit surface and fruit shape. Relative humidity has also been correlated with the shape of the fruit base. Quantitative traits of leaf blade of short shoots and flowering shoots showed the highest correlation and leaf blade of elongate shoots with the least statistical correlation with climatic data.