Medicinal Plants
Alireza Moshrefi-Araghi; Seyyed Hossein Nemati; Mahmood Shoor; Majid Azizi; Nasrin Moshtaghi
Abstract
Introduction Mentha is one of the most important genera of aromatic plants which belongs to the Lamiaceae family. The genus of Mentha is distributed across Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, and North America. Mentha longifolia L., also known as wild mint, is a fast-growing aromatic perennial herb. ...
Read More
Introduction Mentha is one of the most important genera of aromatic plants which belongs to the Lamiaceae family. The genus of Mentha is distributed across Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, and North America. Mentha longifolia L., also known as wild mint, is a fast-growing aromatic perennial herb. It is widely used as herbal medicine and is beneficial for the immune system and fighting with secondary infections. The essential oil of this plant is partly responsible for the decongestant, antispasmodic and antibiotic effects. Currently, much emphasis is being laid on conserving plant germplasm as valuable bio-resources. Selection between and within accessions for a high level of herbage yield and other characters requires an effective tool to be applied by mint breeders. Achieving to cultivars that are more capable of optimum producing is a breeding goal. The objectives of this study were to analyze the diversion of the agronomical traits of Mentha longifolia L. genotypes from different regions of Iran under a similar condition in order to find the superior genotypes and introduce for the domestication of this plant. Material and MethodThis research was performed at the research field of the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. The field is located at 36˚15' North latitude and 59˚38' East longitude, at an altitude of 985 meters. The information related to temperature and precipitation was obtained from climate station. Soil sampling was done in the depth of 0.3 meter and physical experiments on samples were done before starting the experiment. The field was fertilized by 25 kg/ha animal manure. Seeds of 20 genotypes of M. longifolia L. were prepared from Gene Bank of Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands and a view of the wild mint genotypes distribution was presented on the map. The experiment was performed in a field with 500m2 areas in 2015-2016 growing seasons. The experiment in form of compound analysis arranged in complete randomized design with three replicates of 20 wildmint's genotypes in every replication. In each furrow, fourteen bush was totally studied, in which the distance between the two plants was 20 cm. The plot was considered 1.2 by 3 m and the distance between rows was 0.50 m. The dimension in the plots for every replication area was 3.6 m2 and the distance between blocks were 1.5 and between experimental units were 0.5 meters. Picking up was done after elimination of 0.5 meters from every side of replication. The essential oil was extracted using Clevenger type apparatus and by hydrodistillation. Results and DiscussionAnalysis of variance showed that the effect of the diversity among the genotypes on morphological, agronomical and essential oil yield parameters of wild mint was significant (P≤0.01). The results of this study showed that Mentha longifolia L. herb has a high diversity under the same culture conditions among genotypes collected from 20 regions of Iran. Correlation result shows that vegetative organs have more effect on the essential oil content than the reproductive organs. This may be due to the distribution of essential oil accumulation and storage sites, which requires further research in this regard. The study of vegetative and reproductive characteristics suggests that the genotypes of the dry and semi-arid climates have different conditions, which may causes the separation of their genotypes compared with the other genotypes. The bi-plot, based on PC1 and PC2, reflects the relationships between the studied genotypes. The results of bi-plot of cluster analysis confirmed that genotypes were divided into two main groups based on agronomical and morphological traits. Conclusion Finally, plants of genotype G13 belongs to Hormozgan province and then G16 genotype belongs to Khuzestan province were selected because of more biomass, more aerial part volume and also the most essential oil performance compared to the other genotypes. Desirable traits for the aerial part such as the time of flowering, leaf length, leaf width, plant height, the highest number of leaves in the stem and internode distance are important traits that should be considered. In addition, the cultivation of these genotype in order to the further production can be the great help in the domestication of this species and, given the fact that the diversity is a precursor of breeding, this research can be an introduction for future breeding operations. However, further research is needed to confirm the phytochemical superior genotypes.
Medicinal Plants
Mina Amani; Saeideh Alizadeh Salteh; Mohsen Sabzi-Nojadeh; Mehdi 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 ...
Read More
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.
Ornamental plants
Rasul AbaszadehFaruji; Mahmood Shoor; Ali Tehranifar; Bahram Abedy
Abstract
Introduction Unbalanced and frequent use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides results in the degradation of soil physicochemical properties, loss of soil-born organisms, reduction of quality of produced crops and reduction of yield plant. Nowadays, due to environmental considerations of chemical ...
Read More
Introduction Unbalanced and frequent use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides results in the degradation of soil physicochemical properties, loss of soil-born organisms, reduction of quality of produced crops and reduction of yield plant. Nowadays, due to environmental considerations of chemical fertilizers, use of organic acids for quantitative and qualitative improvement of crops has been increased. Humic materials are natural organic compounds that contain 50 to 90% of organic matters of peat, wood coal and rotten material, as well as non-living organic matters of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Humic compounds indirectly increase soil fertility by providing micro- and macro-elements for root, improving soil structure, increasing medium permeability to water and air, increasing soil microbial population and beneficial microorganisms, increasing cation exchange capacity and the ability to buffer pH of medium or nutrient solution, and providing some special substances for plant roots such as nucleic acids and acetamides.Materials and Methods In order to investigate the influence of humic and fulvic acids on some growth characteristics in ornamental plant of Scindapsus spp., an experiment was conducted based on a completely randomized design with three replications at greenhouse in Ferdowsi University of Mashhad during 2014-2015. The first factor was humic acid in four levels of 0, 0.2, 0.5, 1 g/l, and the second factor was fulvic acid in four levels of 0, 0.2, 0.5, 1 g/l. Cuttings were taken from the plant in late March. Two weeks after transferring the rooted cuttings to pot, the treatments were applied on plants via fertigation. The traits measured in the experiment included plant height, mean number of nodes, internode length, leaf number, leaf length, leaf width, leaf area, root length, root fresh weight, leaf fresh weight, shoot fresh weight, aerial organ fresh weight, root volume, aerial organ volume, root dry weight, leaf dry weight, shoot dry weight, aerial organ dry weight, fresh and dry weights ratios of aerial organ to fresh weight. Statistical analysis of data was performed by 8-JMP software. LSD test was used to compare the means of the data.Results and Discussion Based on the results obtained, the combined use of humic acid and fulvic acid had a significant effect on height, fresh and dry weights of leaf, shoot, aerial organ and root, number of node and leaf and volume of aerial organ, fresh and dry weights of root, length and volume of root and the ratio of fresh and dry weights of aerial organ to root. Thus, combined use of humic acid and fulvic acid caused an increase in all the measured traits compared to the control treatment. Furthermore, an increase was observed in the length, width, and area of leaf, and internode length as the result of application of humic substances when compared to the control treatment. Organic fertilizers increase plant growth by improving soil conditions and increasing availability of plant to nutrients. Humic compounds cause changes in the specific distribution of cytokinins, polyamines and ATP by affecting the activity of root H+-ATPase and the distribution of root nitrate in the stem, thus affecting the growth of the plant stem. Humic materials increase plant growth by using different mechanisms such as hormonal effects, direct effect on plant cell metabolism, increase of cell division, chelating power and nutrient uptake, increase of soil ventilation and enhancement of plant photosynthesis by increasing Rubisco enzyme activity. Increasing nitrogen uptake leads to the increase in the growth of shoots and aerial organs. It also increases the number of branches in plants and increases the production of dry matter by increasing the production of photosynthetic materials.Conclusion In general, according to the results of this experiment, it can be concluded that application of humic substances (humic acid and fulvic acid) together, improved the growth characteristics of the plant and led to the better growth of the plant; therefore, these materials can be a good alternative to plant growth-stimulating chemical fertilizers.
Growing vegetables
Meisam Najafi; Hossein Arouiee; Mohammad Hossein Aminifard
Abstract
Introduction: The deficiency of organic matter in the soil is one of the factors limiting cultivating and growing of plants. While the organic matter is the main factor of soil fertility and the ideal organic matter content of agricultural soils is about 4-6% according to the experiments performed, this ...
Read More
Introduction: The deficiency of organic matter in the soil is one of the factors limiting cultivating and growing of plants. While the organic matter is the main factor of soil fertility and the ideal organic matter content of agricultural soils is about 4-6% according to the experiments performed, this amount is very low in arid and desert areas such as those in Iran. The significant capability of humic fertilizers in the rapid improvement of soil fertilization level is quite recognizable. Humic acid has a direct role in determining the producing potential of the soil. Humic substances can have a positive effect on plant growth in different ways. Humic acid results in an increasing nitrogen uptake by plants and stimulates and enhances the uptake of Ca, Mg, P, and K. By enhancing the resistance to environmental stresses, increasing chlorophyll concentration and thus affecting photosynthesis, amino acids are effective in plant growth and yield. Given the conditions that agriculture faces, drought is the main limiting factor of agricultural production in the present and future. Research has reported that the improvement of plant growth under stress conditions by application of humic substances and amino acid. The use of these factors that increase plant growth in stressful conditions and improve yield is a useful and effective method. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of organic fertilizers on growth traits of cucumber plants under drought stress.Materials and Methods: In order to explore the effect of drought stress on cucumber plant, an experiment was carried out in the research field of agriculture faculty of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in 2015-2016. This study was performed as a factorial design in a completely randomized block design with three replications. The first factor was fertilization at four levels (control, humic acid application (200 ppm), glycine amino acid and glutamic acid application (6 liters per hectare), and combined application of humic acid (200 ppm), glycine amino acid and glutamic acid (6 liters per hectare), and the second factor was irrigation at three levels of 3, 5 and 7 days. Furrows with 2 m apart, 40 cm deep, 50 cm wide and 20 m long were created. Following the soil irrigation, the cucumber seeds were planted on the edge of the experimental hills (4-5 seeds per hill) that were spaced 50 cm apart. The treatments were applied via irrigation at specified concentration. At the end of the experiment Morphophysiological traits were measured.Results and Discussion: The results showed that drought stress reduced fresh and dry weights of plant, a number of branches, root length, stem length, and internode length. The amount of available water to plants affects their growth traits. Increasing irrigation interval decreased vegetative growth parameters in this plant, which is undoubtedly due to the lack of water available to the plant. Drought stress leads to stomata closure, plant wilt, swelling reduction, and reduced water content and total potential of the leaf, resulting in decreased cell division, especially in shoots and leaves. As a result, the first effects of dehydration in plants can be seen in their smaller leaf size and lower height than normal conditions. The highest level of drought stress (7 days) decreases all the traits. Unfortunately, the use of humic acid and acid amine had no effect on the highest levels of stress (7 days). The application of humic acid alone could improve the effects of drought stress on the plant. Humic acid enhances plant growth by affecting plant cell metabolism as well as chelating power, increasing nutrient uptake, and increasing nitrogen content. Experimental studies have shown that glycine betaine strengthens enzymatic structures and activities and protein components, and cell wall stability against the damaging effects of environmental stresses is considered to be one of its activities. It seems that organic matter and humic compounds including humic acid through positive physiological effects including effects on plant cells metabolism, increased leaf chlorophyll concentration, increased metabolism within cells, and increased durability of photosynthetic tissues (Increasing leaf durability) leads to increase of production performance and biomass production in plants.Conclusion: The use of humic acid alone led to improved leaf area, root length, and other traits. These factors caused an improvement in the photosynthetic rate in the plant, resulting in improved yield and growth under drought stress conditions (increased irrigation intervals). The protective and moderating role of the humic acid application under drought stress is one of the reasons for growth improvement by these compounds. In general, the combined application of humic acid and amino acid in the form of irrigation fertilizer in cucumber under drought stress improved growth traits and prevented yield reduction.
Medicinal Plants
Zhaleh Zandavifard; Majid Azizi
Abstract
Introduction: St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum L.) is a medicinal plant which used mainly in treatment of mild depression, neurological disorders and has been recently shown to have anticancer potential. The principle medicinal components of St. John’s wort are hypericin, pseudohypericin, ...
Read More
Introduction: St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum L.) is a medicinal plant which used mainly in treatment of mild depression, neurological disorders and has been recently shown to have anticancer potential. The principle medicinal components of St. John’s wort are hypericin, pseudohypericin, and hyperforin. Light is one of the most important environmental factors affecting plant growth, survival, reproduction and distribution. The light quality, light intensity, duration and photoperiod directly affect plant growth. Light quality refers to the color or wavelength reaching the plant's surface. A prism (or raindrops) can divide sunlight into respective colors of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Red and blue have the greatest impact on plant growth. Green light is least effective (the reflection of green light gives the green color to plants). Blue light is primarily responsible for vegetative leaf growth. The principle objective of the current study was to evaluate the effects of different spectral quality including red, blue, green and white on the growth factors and production of hypericin.Materials and Methods: This experiment was conducted on the basis of Completely Randomized Design with four treatments and 10 replications in the growth chamber in the Department of Horticulture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (FUM), Iran. In this study, seeds were obtained from the research greenhouse of FUM. Seeds after soaking in running water for 24 hours were planted in small pots (250g). After the seedlings have reached to height of 25cm, each 10 pots were put inside the boxes (20×30cm) made of colored filters. Experiment continued in a growth chamber with day and night temperature 25 and 21°C, respectively, relative humidity 45%, 16 hours of light with the intensity of 1000 lux and 8 hours of darkness for 50 days. Then morphological parameters including plant height, number of stems, number of leaves, number and length of internodes, fresh and dry weight of shoot and root were measured. To count the number of black nodules, the upper, middle and lower parts of seedling were evaluated individually. Hypericin content of the H. perforatum plantlets were measured according to the previous work of Azizi & Omidbaigi, 2002. Data were analyzed statistically by using SAS and Excel software. The significant differences between means were assessed by Tukeyʼs test at P < 0.05.Results and Discussion: The results showed that morphological parameters including plant height, leaf number, internode length, root fresh weight, dry weight of stem and root were affected significantly by light treatments. Minimum and maximum of plant height was related to white and red lights, respectively. Increasing plant height under the influence of red light was due to the variation in levels of growth regulators. Red and blue light by changing of the GA hormone level in the plant and affected elongation of plant stem. Minimum and maximum of leaf number was related to blue and white light respectively. Also, other morphological traits including internode length, fresh and dry weights of stem and root showed significant differences. Internode length for white light was less than red, green and blue light. Maximum of the fresh and dry weight of shoot and root of seedlings was observed under white light. Results suggest that photosynthetic compounds move in plant under the influence of light quality. Also the number of black nodules in three different parts of plant and hypericin content were compared in plantlets under the effect of light quality. Results analysis also confirmed that different lights had the significant impact on the number of black nodules in upper and middle leaves of H. Perforatum seedlings. Seedlings treated with the red light had the highest number of black nodules in the middle section of H. perforatum. In the top third of St. John’s wort seedlings, red, blue and green light was inducted the highest number of black nodules formation than white light. The highest level of hypericin was related to red, white, blue and green lights, respectively. The number of black nodules in the plant and the hypericin content have positive correlation. It seems that in the seedlings treated with the red light, carbohydrates made from photosynthesis most used in biosynthesis of secondary metabolites than plant growth. In fact, carbon allelochemical compounds such as terpenes and phenolics have such metabolism direction to explain the increasing in secondary metabolites.Conclusion: Different light spectra affects plant hormones levels and with alteration in the primary and secondary metabolites lead to a change in the morphological and biochemical traits of plant. In general, it can commented that the quantity and quality of light is able to affect the growth and the active metabolites of medicinal plants and using red and white mixture of light during seedling growth period have an effective role on generation of more strong seedlings with higher potential production of active ingredients.
Rahmatollah Gholami; Ali Asghar Zeinanloo; Fardin Ghanbari
Abstract
Introduction: Germplasm and reservation of genetical resources is the principal of plant breeding. Different techniques have been used to characterize olive diversity. Morphological criteria such as leaf, fruit, seed and growth behavior have been used to evaluate olive diversity, to determine the origin ...
Read More
Introduction: Germplasm and reservation of genetical resources is the principal of plant breeding. Different techniques have been used to characterize olive diversity. Morphological criteria such as leaf, fruit, seed and growth behavior have been used to evaluate olive diversity, to determine the origin of olive trees as well. An evaluation of phenotypic diversity was used to discriminate olive cultivars with distinct morphological and pomological characters. Iran is one of the origins of olive in the world and it has considerable variation across Iran. Recently olive cultivation and orchard development has been encouraged in Iran. In this developmental project of olive culture, it is necessary to provide agreeable genotypes for cultivation.
Materials and Methods: The present experiment was carried out to identify and evaluate local olive genotypes in Kermanshah province during 2004-2005. Those were located in six locations in Kermanshah province. Their morphological characters and oil content were investigated according to IOOC descriptor. Local genotype identification in this regions was based on morphological characters (Vegetative and reproductive) such as leaf, fruit, seed and growth behavior evaluated at four different growth phases, including onset of dormancy, flowering, fruit set and fruit growth in 39 local olive genotypes olive trees.
Results and Discussion: The results of this study showed that there was a great variation among genotypes in Kermanshah province. Those variations was observed within and between regions. Significant correlation was observed between the fruit weight, with leaf width, stone weight and percentage of flesh, also significant correlation were observed between oil percentage in fresh fruit weight, with internode length and leaf width. Factor analysis showed that five factors with eigen values greater than one, explains the 69.62 percent of diversity. Among these factors, two biggest factors justified a high degree of diversity and genotypes were better than the other factors that were superior in terms of oil content and fruit weight. Generally it can be concluded that genotypes of Kermanshah province wide variety and traits are also high correlated with fruit weight and oil content and can properly use these genotypes and traits in breeding programs. Olea europaea L. represents one of the most important trees in the Mediterranean basin and the oldest cultivated plant. Among cultivated plants, the olive is the sixth most important oil crop in the world, presently spreading from the Mediterranean region of origin to new production areas, due to the beneficial nutritional properties of olive oil and to its high economic value. The Mediterranean basin is the traditional area of olive cultivation and has 95% of the olive orchards of the world. From the Mediterranean basin, olive cultivation is presently expanding into other regions. wide range of distribution, it is becoming increasingly urgent to identify plants into different ranges of distribution in the world to avoid cases of homonymy, synonymy and mislabeling so that a reliable classification of all varieties can be achieved without unnecessary confusion. In this paper, along with morphological characteristics the acquisition of additional information on biochemical markers is essential. This aspect represents a fundamental and indispensable step to preserve the main olive varieties and also to safeguard minor genotypes, in order to avoid a loss of genetic diversity. This research has focused on using morphological markers to characterize and identify olive varieties. Identification of different varieties using morphological characters (vegetative and reproductive) is one of the aims of the modern horticulture, because such a technique would greatly facilitate breeding programs and germplasm collection management.
Conclusion: According to the results of this research, it can be concluded that there is a great variation among different genotypes. Variation was observed within and between regions. High correlation between the fruit weight and leaf width, stone weight and percentage of flesh was observed, also high correlation between oil percentage in fresh fruit weight, with internode length and leaf width were observed. Factor analysis showed that five factors with eigen values greater than one, explains the 69.62 percent of diversity. Among these factors, two biggest factors justified a high degree of diversity and genotypes were better than others of the factors that were superior in terms of oil content and fruit weight. Generally it can be concluded that olive genotypes of Kermanshah province can properly use in breeding programs
Esmaeil Khaleghi; Norollah Moallemi
Abstract
Introduction: Iran is located in arid and semi-arid regions, so limitation of precipitation and poor distribution of rainfall with prolonged periods of heat and drought have caused harsh conditions for establishing plants. In general, previous researches have shown that water deficit or drought stress ...
Read More
Introduction: Iran is located in arid and semi-arid regions, so limitation of precipitation and poor distribution of rainfall with prolonged periods of heat and drought have caused harsh conditions for establishing plants. In general, previous researches have shown that water deficit or drought stress had destructive effects on morphological, physiological and biochemical parameters of plants. So that, researchers stated that the first reaction of plants to water stress was decline in growth. Growth parameters such as height, fresh and dry weight of root and stem and leaf area could decrease with increasing water stress. Therefore, use of methods for reducing water evaporation from soil, decreasing run-off and improving transport nutrients were considered in recent years. Superabsorbant polymers are one of the most important compounds in reducing negative effects of drought on plants.
Materials and Methods: This study was conducted to investigate the effect of five different levels of super AB A200 polymer (0, 1, 2, 3, 4 g/Kg of soil) and three levels of irrigation [100 as control, 65 and 30 percentage of plant evapotranspiration potential (ETcrop)] on morphological characteristics of two olive cultivars ‘Baghmaleki’ and ‘Dezphol’ as a factorial experiment based on randomized complete block design with three replications. In this experiment, ninety 18-month-old olive trees of ‘Baghmaleki’ and ‘Dezphol’ were kept for adaptation in greenhouse for one month.The plants were planted in ninety pots including 1/3 sand, 1/3 manure and 1/3 soil with superabsorbent polymer. Superabsorbent polymers (super AB A200) were prepared from Company Rahab Resin (Licensed by Iran Polymer and Petrochemical Institute). Then, the plants were irrigated with 100%, 65% and 30% ETcrop, every three days. Finally, morphological parameters such as root fresh weight, root dry weight, shoot fresh weight, shoot dry weight, height, leaf number, leaf Area and leaf area ratio were measured. Data analysis was performed using MSTATC software and mean comparison was done by Duncan's multiple range tests at 5 and 1% probability.
Results and Discussion: The results showed that interaction effect between irrigation and polymer affected shoot fresh weight, leaf fresh weight, shoot dry weight, leaf dry weight, height and leaf area ratio at p
Ghahraman Bagheri; Bahman Zahedi; Reza Darvishzadeh; Ahmad Hajiali
Abstract
Introduction: Pepper is one of the most important vegetables in the world that belongs to the family of Solanaceae. It is used as a food flavoring, coloring agent and a pharmaceutical ingredient in different innovative ways. Capsicum annuum is one of the five cultivated species in the genus and the ...
Read More
Introduction: Pepper is one of the most important vegetables in the world that belongs to the family of Solanaceae. It is used as a food flavoring, coloring agent and a pharmaceutical ingredient in different innovative ways. Capsicum annuum is one of the five cultivated species in the genus and the others are C. baccatum L., C. chinense, C. frutescens and C. pubescens. While C. pubescens and C. baccatum are morphologically quite distinct, C. annuum, C. chinense and C. frutescens show evidence of parallel evolution for a variety of plant and fruit morphological characteristics as a result of similar regimens of human selection. The near continuous overlapping in morphological traits among these three species led various authors to recognize them as a complicated species. Within complex, taxa are differentiated from one another based primarily on differences in corolla color, the presence or absence of a calyx constriction and the occurrence of multiple pedicels/node.
Materials and Methods: This research was conducted to evaluate genetic diversity in pepper genotypes. Morphological traits of 42 genotypes were investigated in rectangular lattice 6×7 with three replications in two separate experiments at West Azerbaijan research institute. Analysis of variance was conducted by using SAS, SPSS and MINITAB softwares. 14 traits including length and width of fruits, thickness of fruit wall, width of plant canopy, length of shoots, length of corolla, fruits fresh and dry weight, SPAD, photosynthesis, yield, vitamin C, TSS and pH were assessed according to the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR) descriptor. Solid contents (TSS) were assessed by using refractometer, pH by using pH meter, and fruits fresh and dry weight by using a digital scale. For measuring vitamin C content, 3-10 g of the fruit tissue (pericarp and pulp) was homogenized and 100 mL of distilled water were added. Then 10 mL of sulfuric acid 20%, 1 mL of 0.01 N potassium iodide, 1 mL of 1% starch were added to the solution and then for titrating, 0.01 N potassium iodide was used.
Results and Discussion: Analysis of variance showed significant differences (at 1% level) among pepper genotypes, in terms of width of fruits, fruit wall thickness, yield, plant height, shoots diameter, length of shoots, and dry weight of fruit, TSS and vitamin C. But there were no significant difference between pH, SPAD and photosynthesis. The highest heritability was observed in length and width of fruits, fruit wall thickness, fruit pedicel length, yield, dry and fresh weight of fruits, and the lowest heritability obtained in SPAD and pH. Phenotypic variation coefficient was higher than genotypic variation coefficient for all traits, indicating the significant effects of environmental conditions. The maximum phenotypic correlation obtained between fruit fresh and dry weight (r=0.95) and also observed between fruit fresh weight and fruit wall thickness. Cluster analysis with Ward method classified studied landraces into six different groups. The highest distance was observed between groups four and five. This result showed that the maximum expected heterosis could achieve from crosses between genotypes from groups four and five.
Conclusions: High genetic variation was observed among pepper genotypes that could be helpful for morphological traits studies and to improve superior genotypes in next breeding programs.
Ahmad Hajiali; Bahman Zahedi; Reza Darvishzadeh; Jahangir Kohpalekani Abbasi
Abstract
Introduction: Watermelon (CitrulluslanatusThunb)belongs to Cucurbita genus and Cucurbitaceaefamily. Some people know Watermelon native to India and othersthought of it as native to African countries. The greatest diversity can be seen in West Africa, China and parts of India. Near East and Mediterranean ...
Read More
Introduction: Watermelon (CitrulluslanatusThunb)belongs to Cucurbita genus and Cucurbitaceaefamily. Some people know Watermelon native to India and othersthought of it as native to African countries. The greatest diversity can be seen in West Africa, China and parts of India. Near East and Mediterranean countries are also good places to find relatives and ancestors of watermelon. Like all Cucurbita genuscrops,, Watermelon has a variety of flowers including base, male and female separately located on one slip. In terms of production atglobal level, China is located in the first place followed by America, Iran and the Republic of Korea, respectively.
Materials and Methods: In order to evaluate genetic diversity among Iranian watermelon landraces by morphological traits, 16 landraces alongwith two commercial watermelon cultivars were planted in completely randomized block design with three replications inAgricultural Research Center of Urmia in 2013.
Morphological markers can be an effective means to determine genetic relationsamong cultivars and among selections used in watermelon breeding programs. 18 traits including cotyledon length, fruit length, fruit weight, fruit mass, fruit skin, rind thickness, flesh thickness, yield, seed length, seed width, weight of 100 seeds, vitamin C, pH, TSS, EC, chlorophyll content and plant length were assessed in the studied genotypes. During the fruit ripening,four fruits were selected randomly from each plot and according to the International Institute germplasms (IBPGR / IBGRI),solidscontent (TSS)was measured by using refractometer, pH by using pH meter, and fruit and seed weight by using digital scale. The amount of vitamin C (milligram per 100 grams) was measured using iodometry.
Results and Discussion: Results of variance analysis showed that there were significant differencesamong watermelon cultivars in terms of cotyledon length, fruit length, fruit weight, flesh weight, yield, seed length, seed width, seed weight, vitamin C, soluble solids and EC at the 1% level, while the level of significance with respect toskin weight, chlorophyll content and photosynthetic rate was5%.The results also showed that there were not significant differences among the cultivars in terms of pH, skin and flesh thickness, and plant length, suggesting that there is no diversity among the masses. Based on the means comparisontable,the highestfruit length (39 cm), fruit weight (8.03 kg), fleshweight(4.3 kg), skin weight (3.36 kg) and performance rate (24926 kg in hectare) were observed in Charleston Gray.Isfahan 808 mass showed the minimum fruit length (23.66 cm);Khorasan 806 mass had the least fruit weight (3.33 kg) andskin weight (1.8 kg); and East Azerbaijan 800 and Hamedan 817masses showed the lowest fruit flesh weight (1.5 kg) and performance (13444 kg per hectare), respectively.The highest positive phenotypic correlation (0.968) was observed between fruit mass and fruit weight,whilethe highest negative correlation (-0.815) existedbetween TSS and seed length. The highest positive (0.987) and negative (-0.990) genetic correlation was foundbetween fruit weight and fruit length, and between flesh thickness and photosynthesis, respectively. The greatestheritability was related to 100-seed weight, whereas minimum heritability was due to ph. The studied accessions were classified into three different groupsby using Cluster analysis based on Ward method. Based on the intervaltable,the highest space rate was observed between groups one and three (8.985).The resultsalso showed that the maximum expected heterosis obtained in crosses between genotypes one and three.
Conclusion: Based on the results of this research, improved varieties (Charleston Gray and Crimson Sweet) had the highest level of performance, TSS, fruit weight and flesh weight compared to the native masses.
Parvaneh Yousefvand; Asghar Mosleh Arani; Afagh Tabandeh Saravi
Abstract
Introduction: Climate change has great impact on global production of several major plants. Negative effects of increasing carbon dioxide concentration in the world, on the one hand, and positive effects of the gas on plants, on the other hand, are the most important reasons for investigating the gas ...
Read More
Introduction: Climate change has great impact on global production of several major plants. Negative effects of increasing carbon dioxide concentration in the world, on the one hand, and positive effects of the gas on plants, on the other hand, are the most important reasons for investigating the gas effects on different plants. Many studies have been conducted to examine the effects of elevated CO2on plants during the past several decades. Carbon dioxide enrichment in greenhouses can be used as a mechanism for reducing production time, improving quality and increasing plant vigor. The world is facing an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the coming years. The physiological responses of plant are affected by CO2concentration,among which changes in nitrogen, chlorophyll content, proline and soluble sugar have been observed in many studies. The significant changes in the levels of these characteristics are likely to cause marked effects on the entire metabolism of plant. Since the proteins of the Calvin cycle and thylakoid represent the majority of leaf nitrogen, chlorophyll content is the central part of the energy manifestation and can directly determine photosynthetic response and primary production. This study was aimed to investigate the effects of elevated concentration ofCO2 on some morphological and physiological traits of Melia azedarachunder greenhouse conditions. .
Materials and Methods: The experiment was conducted in a CO2 – controlled glasshouse in a completely randomized design with three replications in Yazd University. The glasshouse consisted of three separate chambers with threeCO2levels of control (450 ppm), 750ppm, and 1100ppm.The concentration of CO2within each chamber was monitored constantly three times a week. After two months, morphological characteristics such as diameter of the collar, height of stem, number of leaves, wet weight of shoots, root wet weight, wet matter biomass, dry weight of shoots, root dry weight, dry matter biomass, and physiological characteristics including proline content of leaves, soluble sugar of leaves, a andb chlorophyll content, total chlorophyll content, carotenoid, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and water content of leaves were measured. To analyze the data, normality was assessed using Kolmogorov–Smirnov test. Analysis of variance was performed to detect the difference between the different levels of treatment for all traits. Difference among treatments means were compared by using Duncan test. All the analyses were performed using SAS statistical software.
Results and Discussion: The results showed that CO2at the concentrations of 750 and 1100 ppm affected significantly all the measured morphological properties except for plant height, root dry weight and physiological traits such as proline, N, and leaves relative water content. However, CO2concentration of 750 ppm had the highest effect on the studied parameters, so that mean dry weight of shoot, dry matter biomass and proline increased up to more than three times, and shoots and roots wet weight and wet matter biomass increased up to more than two times compared to control. The greatest diameter of the collar and the amount of nitrogen were observed at 750 ppm concentration. Concentrations of 750 and 1100 ppm caused a significant increasein the number of leaves (up to two times) and the height of stem compared to control. The increase observed inmorphological characteristics may be owing to photosynthesis stimulation during the experiment in CO2-elevated chamber. Soluble sugar as an important product of photosynthesis increased but the differences were not significant. Soluble sugar may be used for synthesis of morphological characteristics.
Conclusion: Growth of Melia azedarach in elevated-CO2 chamber strongly reacted to theincrease in photosynthesis. Therefore, based on the results of this study,CO2 elevation in glasshouse can be proposed for increasing the growth of plant. Consideringthe continued increaseinCO2 concentrations as a result ofcontinued use of fossil fuels in the word, cultivation of Melia azedarach in urban areas seems an appropriate option. The results of the present study also showed that there is not generally a significant difference between CO2concentrations of 750 and 1100 ppm in Melia azedarach. Therefore, it can be concluded that CO2 up to 750 ppm can cause a significant increase in the growth of this species, because no significant effect was observe between the two concentrations (750 and 1100 ppm) on growth factors.
Monireh Marsafari; Ali Ashraf Mehrabi; Zahra Tahmasebi; Abdolamir Rahnama
Abstract
This study was performed for assessment of correlation of 11 morphological traits with RAPD molecular markers in 15 cultivars of date palm collected from the South and South West of Iran as population analysis by stepwise regression method. The results of simple and multiple regressions showed that in ...
Read More
This study was performed for assessment of correlation of 11 morphological traits with RAPD molecular markers in 15 cultivars of date palm collected from the South and South West of Iran as population analysis by stepwise regression method. The results of simple and multiple regressions showed that in sum 84 RAPD markers had significant association with at least one of the traits. The coefficient of determination of all informative marker ranged from 32.0 (for stone diameter) to 75.6 (for fruit shape).The highest coefficient belonged to Oligo 215 primer in stone diameter traits (26%) and then Oligo 211 primer in fruit shape trait (24.1) as captain markers. Considerable number of morphological changes was justified by Oligo 42 that polymorphic information was content 0.23. These results showed that with regards to good distribution of random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) in date genome and the markers with high association with agronomic characters, they can be used in identification of informative markers linked to important agronomic characters.
Moazzam Hassanpour Asil; Mehdi Dehestani Ardakani; Mohammad Rabiee
Abstract
To study the effect of seed density and plant distance on yield and growth parameters of radish, an experiment was conducted in Research of Station Rice at office Rasht in 2008-2009. This study was set in secondary culture after rice by factorial experiment with randomized complete block design with ...
Read More
To study the effect of seed density and plant distance on yield and growth parameters of radish, an experiment was conducted in Research of Station Rice at office Rasht in 2008-2009. This study was set in secondary culture after rice by factorial experiment with randomized complete block design with 3 replications. Treatments consisted of factorial arrangement of three seed density levels (5, 10 and 15 Kg/ha) and plant spacing (20 and 30 cm). Measurements comprising of total production in hectare, weight of one shrub, weight of tuber, weight of foliage, shrub height, leaf number, length of leaf, length and diameter of tuber. Results showed that seed density of 5 Kg in hectare in plant distance of 20 cm with yield of 45.38 ton in hectare was most performance and recommendable for this region.
