Medicinal Plants
M. Amani; S. Alizadeh Salteh; M. Sabzi-Nojadeh; M. Younessi Hamzekhanlu
Abstract
IntroductionMedicinal plants have long had a special place in the traditional agricultural system of Iran and the use of these plants as medicine to prevent and treat diseases has been considered by traditional medicine experts since ancient times. Medicinal plants with rich sources of secondary ...
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IntroductionMedicinal plants have long had a special place in the traditional agricultural system of Iran and the use of these plants as medicine to prevent and treat diseases has been considered by traditional medicine experts since ancient times. Medicinal plants with rich sources of secondary metabolites provide the basic active ingredients of many medicines. Although the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites is genetically controlled, but their construction is strongly influenced by environmental factors. One of the important climatic factors that affect the distribution of plants around the world and can cause morphological, physiological and biochemical changes in the plant is the lack of available water. Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) seems to show little resistance to water stress. For this reason, there is a need for protective mechanisms for the basil plant against stress due to water shortage. Plants are able to reduce or eliminate the effects of water shortage stress by coexisting with a number of soil microorganisms. Coexistence relationship plant with T. harzianum fungi is one of the ways to reduce dehydration in plants. These mushrooms by altering some of the root properties and absorbing nutrients in the host plants, they reduce the destructive effects of water shortage stress. Observing the positive effect of these fungi in increasing the absorption of nutrients from the soil, improving plant water relations, increasing water use efficiency in plants and finally increasing plant resistance to water deficit stresses on the one hand and on the other hand. The existence of water crises in different countries has prompted researchers to further study this aspect of the symbiotic relationship between the host plant and Trichoderma harzianum. Materials and MethodsPresent study was performed to investigate the effect of T. harzianum on the antioxidant content of Ocimum basilicum under water deficit stress. It is also intended to evaluate the effects of an endophytic fungi namely T. harzianum on the shoot yield, photosynthetic pigments, content and yield of essential oil from O. basilicum under water deficit stress. All experiments were performed as the factorial based on completely randomized design blocks with three replications in greenhouse condition. The experimental factors were the different irrigation regimes including 100, 75, 50 and 25% of field capacity and two concentrations of the T. harzianum (106 and 109 CFU/ml). At the beginning of flowering, water deficit stress was applied at four levels of 25, 50, 75 and the control treatment (100 percent) of field capacity until three weeks later. The application of water stress was such that the pots were weighed daily and the moisture deficiency in each treatment was removed by watering the pots until reaching the desired treatment level. After applying the stress, sampling and measuring traits were done at the full flower stage. After the plants reach the full flowering period, various traits including plant height, number of leaves, fresh and dry weight yield of the plant (as the economic yield of basil) and fresh and dry weight yield of roots per square meter, chlorophyll a, b, total (T), carotenoid, colonization percentage, yield and essential oil content were measured in all the plants in the pots. Results and DiscussionIncreasing the level of water stress reduced the economic performance of basil (O. basilicum). Coexistence with Trichoderma reduced the destructive effects of dehydration on the plant. With the application of dehydration stress, the essential oil content increased in mild and moderate stresses, but the yield of essential oil did not differ significantly from the control and plant height, number of leaves and plant pigments decreased under dehydration stress. According to the experimental results, it can be said that Trichoderma with a population density of 106 (spores per ml of inoculum) had a better effect on most growth indices, while the effect Trichoderma with a population density of 109 (spores per milliliter of inoculum) on important traits such as shoot fresh weight yield (212.2 g), percentage (0.7%) and essential oil yield It was higher. According to the obtained results, it can be stated that inoculation of basil with Trichoderma increased the percentage and yield of essential oil in both water stress and non-stress conditions, and considering that in cultivation of plants the goal is to increase the effective substance. It is in these plants. ConclusionFinally, the results indicated that the use of Trichoderma mushroom in comparison with the control (without inoculation with the fungus) under water stress conditions has the ability to improve plant growth and leads to an increase in plant efficiency under water stress conditions.
Breeding and Biotechnology of Plant and Flower
L. Baghazadeh Daryaii; D. Samsampoor; A. Bagheri; J. Sohrabipour
Abstract
Introduction Fungal Endophytes have symbiosis life within the plant tissues without causing any obvious negative effects. Seaweeds are one of the large and diverse groups of marine plants that play an essential role in marine and oceans ecosystems. Seaweeds show rich diversity of associated ...
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Introduction Fungal Endophytes have symbiosis life within the plant tissues without causing any obvious negative effects. Seaweeds are one of the large and diverse groups of marine plants that play an essential role in marine and oceans ecosystems. Seaweeds show rich diversity of associated microorganisms compare with the other multicellular organisms. Citrus species, are amongst the most important evergreen fruit trees, cultivated in many countries worldwide. There are several obstacles for citrus production in southern of Iran that limiting continuity of citrus production. Lack of suitable soil, is one of the main challenges threatening citrus industry in southern of Iran. Similar to other citrus species, the production of Mexican lime is threatened by certain biological stresses (such as pests, plant diseases and weeds) and non-biological stresses (such as salinity, drought, floods, cold and heat stress). Here, we have evaluated the potential of inoculating Mexican lime seedlings with seaweeds fungi endophyte, Aspergillus niger, to improve morphological, biochemical, antioxidant and photosynthesis pigments characterizes. Endophytes are advantageous group of microorganisms that protect plants from biotic and abiotic stresses. One of the alternative ways to restore normal plant growth may be to use plant growth to stimulate endophytes. Endophytes can play an important role in plant growth. Endophytes from marine environment are gaining special interest because of their existence in the harsh conditions of marines and ocean ecosystem such as temperature, light availability, high salinity and osmotic stress. Fungi have already been isolated from various marine habitat, including marine plants, marine invertebrates and vertebrates. Among these organisms, seaweeds are one of the most prevalent sources of marine-derived fungi for chemical studies. The purpose of this study was the isolation of associated fungi with seaweed species in Persian Gulf to investigate morphological and molecular characterization by using PCR amplifications ITS1-5.8S-ITS4 regions and primitive assessment of their potential as bio-fertilizer.Materials and Methods The main aim of this study was investigation the role of endophytic fungi (Aspergillus niger), in improving the growth of Mexican lime seedlings. Cladophoropsis membranacea, green seaweed, was collected from coastal region of Bushehr province. Fungal endophytes were isolated and identified based on morphological and molecular methods. Molecular characteristic was investigated using PCR amplification of ITS1-5.8S-ITS4 regions. Mexican lime seeds were sterilized with 0.5% sodium hypochlorite for 20 minutes and then completely distilled three times with distilled water. Seedlings pots containing autoclaved soil were placed in the greenhouse of the Faculty of Agriculture, Hormozan University. Isolated fungi by MT420720 accession number was used as bio-fertilizing agents in eight months old Mexican lime seedlings. The suspension was adjusted to a concentration of 1×106 cell per ml. For better contact of seedlings with fungi, inoculation was performed three times. After three months, morphological (trunk diameter, stem length, root length and width, leaf and branch number, leaf, stem and root dry and fresh weight), biochemical (Protein, MDA and SPAD), antioxidant (CAT, POD, SOD, APX and Gr enzymes activity) and photosynthesis pigments (Chlorophyll a, Chlorophyll b, Total Chlorophyll and Carotenoids) characterizes in treated Mexican lime seedlings were analyzed. The experiment was arranged in randomized complete design with three replications. Analysis of variance of traits was performed using SAS software version 9.4 and the means were compared using LSD method with a probability level of P≤0.05.Results and Discussion The genera of Aspergillus was the most frequent isolates of the isolated fungi. The results show that most traits were significant compared with control. For example, leaf number (144.42%), root fresh weight (144.13%), stem fresh weight (94.85%) and root width (105.55%) were significantly higher compared with control (P>0.001). Fungal inoculation can significantly improve the photosynthesis pigments such as chlorophyll a (10.98%) and carotenoids (40.62%) (P>0.001) compared with control. In antioxidant capacity of seedling, CAT, POD, SOD, Gr and APX enzymes were analyzed. Fungal inoculation can increase the enzymes activity. For biochemical traits, fungal inoculation can significantly increase SPAD number and decrease MDA in inoculated seedlings compare with control (P>0.001). Conclusion The results showed that the use of entophytic fungi increased the growth of Mexican lime seedlings. Thereby it can be used as an effective tool for growing salinity-sensitive plants such as Mexican lime in saline conditions.
