Improvement and breeding
Mostafa Sarani Mallak; Maryam Allahdou; Leila Mehravaran; Halimeh Piri
Abstract
Background and objectives: Drought stress is the most critical factor limiting agricultural and medicinal plants' performance in arid and semi-arid areas. Silybum Marianum L. is a medicinal plant with antioxidant properties. In addition to the plant's genetic nature, flavonolignan ...
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Background and objectives: Drought stress is the most critical factor limiting agricultural and medicinal plants' performance in arid and semi-arid areas. Silybum Marianum L. is a medicinal plant with antioxidant properties. In addition to the plant's genetic nature, flavonolignan production and accumulation are affected by various environmental conditions. The accumulation of secondary metabolites under drought stress was studied concerning the antioxidant defense system at the biochemical level. The purpose is to evaluate the secondary metabolites of milk thistle under non-stress conditions and different levels of drought stress and different growth conditions, as well as to identify the best level of moisture stress and the time of harvesting the plant to increase the effective compounds.Methodology: Milk thistle seeds were disinfected and transferred to a Petri dish containing filter paper and placed in a germinator at 25°C for germination. The germinated seeds were transferred to the pots and put under controlled temperature and humidity in the greenhouse of Hirmand city, Shandel village, located 25 km from Zabul city, Sistan, and Baluchistan province. Evaluation of the effect of drought stress at four different levels of irrigation (25, 50, 75, and 100% of water requirement respectively severe stress, moderate stress, mild stress, and non-stress) and in 3 growth stages (6, 13 and 20 weeks after planting) on biochemical traits including proline content (PC), carbohydrates content (CC), total phenol content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), antioxidant activity and activity of antioxidant enzymes such as catalase (CA), ascorbate peroxidase (AP), guaiacol peroxidase (GP), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and polyphenol oxidase (PO) was carried out. The experiment was done as a factorial based on a completely randomized design with three replications. Data and errors were examined for normality. After confirming the normality of the data and errors, analysis of the variance of the traits and comparing the mean of the traits (LSR) was done at the 5% level.Results: The variance analysis of traits showed that the effect of different levels of irrigation, harvest time, and their interaction on all traits was significant. Comparison of the average interaction effect of irrigation treatment and harvest time of traits: proline content, carbohydrates content, phenol and flavonoid content, and antioxidant activity increased in all growth stages and the lowest and highest values were respectively observed in the growth stage 6 weeks after planting in 100 Percentage of water requirement and growth stage 20 weeks after harvesting in the condition of 25% water requirement. Therefore, the drought stress factor can be used to improve the effective substances of this plant. In addition, the final growth stage is the most appropriate time to harvest this plant due to the accumulation of secondary metabolites at this stage. The interaction effect of irrigation treatment and harvest time was not significant for the activity of guaiacol peroxidase enzyme, and for other antioxidant enzymes it showed that the highest activity of catalase enzyme was at the growth stage 6 weeks after planting in conditions of 25 and 50% water requirement, for ascorbate peroxidase enzyme, it belonged to the growth stage 6 weeks after planting in the condition of 100% water requirement, and for polyphenol oxidase and superoxide dismutase enzymes, it belonged to the growth stage 20 weeks after planting in the condition of 25% water requirement. These results indicate that antioxidant enzymes act differently at different growth stages and under various moisture stress conditions.Conclusion: The evaluation results of milk thistle in 4 irrigation regimes and three growth stages showed that most biochemical traits increased under stress conditions. This indicates that the milk thistle plant responds to drought stress through an enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant defense system. Milk thistle plants had the highest total phenolic and flavonoid content at the final development stage (20 weeks after planting). Therefore, the best time to harvest is at the final stage of development, which has the most polyphenolic compounds.
Improvement and breeding
B. Asghari; S. Mafakheri; M. M. Zarrabi
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Hibiscus sabdariffa L., commonly known as Roselle, is a plant cultivated in many regions of the world regions. Roselle has been used as a medicinal herb in traditional medicine for controlling and treating different diseases and physical ailments. These therapeutic effects ...
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Background and Objectives: Hibiscus sabdariffa L., commonly known as Roselle, is a plant cultivated in many regions of the world regions. Roselle has been used as a medicinal herb in traditional medicine for controlling and treating different diseases and physical ailments. These therapeutic effects are attributed to active compounds such as carotenoids, fatty acids, and phenolic compounds, including phenolic acids and flavonoids. One common method to stimulate plants for increased production of active compounds is subjecting them to various types of stresses, such as drought or salinity, along with plant growth regulators. This study investigated salicylic acid's effect on the phytochemical content and various biological properties of Roselle plants under water scarcity conditions.Methodology: The experiment was conducted as a factorial experiment in a completely randomized design, including irrigation intervals at three levels: three days (D1), five days (D2), and seven days (D3), and foliar application of salicylic acid at three levels: 0 (SA0), 0.75 mM (SA1), and 1.25 mM (SA2), with three replicates in a research greenhouse at the International Imam Khomeini University. The required seeds for cultivation were obtained from Pakanbazr Company in Isfahan. The imposition of drought stress through irrigation intervals of 3, 5, and 7 days started at the 4-leaf stage of the plants, and the plant spraying with salicylic acid was performed at the 6-leaf stage, three days before the start of irrigation treatments. The measurement of electrolyte leakage and malondialdehyde content was carried out to determine membrane stability and lipid peroxidation level. Additionally, the measurement of proline content and the activity of three antioxidant enzymes, including peroxidase, catalase, and ascorbate peroxidase, was performed in different samples. Furthermore, the total phenolic, flavonoid, and anthocyanin contents, as the main secondary metabolites of Roselle plants, were measured. The biological and medicinal properties, including the free radical scavenging activity (DPPH) and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity, were also evaluated. The obtained data were analyzed using SAS statistical software version 9.4. Mean comparisons were conducted using Duncan's multiple range test at a significance level of 5%.Results: The results showed both electrolyte leakage and malondialdehyde content increased significantly with increasing levels of applied drought stress on Roselle plants. However, overall, applying salicylic acid treatments led to a decrease in both indicators. The measurement of proline content in Roselle samples showed that the highest amount of proline was observed in plants subjected to the highest drought stress and treated with the 1.5 mM salicylic acid solution. The activity of all three antioxidant enzymes increased with the intensity of the applied drought stress and the concentration of salicylic acid solutions. Roselle's highest levels of phenolic and anthocyanin content were observed in samples sprayed with 1.5 mM salicylic acid solution. The change in anthocyanin content of Roselle plants also demonstrated that increasing the severity of water scarcity resulted in higher levels of this compound. The highest DPPH free radical scavenging activity was observed in Roselle samples grown under the highest drought severity and sprayed with the highest concentration of salicylic acid (61.93%). The highest antioxidant activity was also observed in samples treated with the highest concentration of salicylic acid solution in all irrigation regimes. The highest α-glucosidase inhibitory activity (69.2% and 67.7%) was associated with Roselle samples grown under the highest applied drought severity, sprayed with 1.5 mM and 0.75 mM salicylic acid solutions, respectively.Conclusion: It can be concluded that the use of salicylic acid as a growth regulator can contribute to the enhancement of phytochemical content, especially secondary metabolites such as phenolic and flavonoid compounds, anthocyanins, and the elevation of defensive parameters such as the activation of antioxidant enzymes, as well as an increase in osmolyte content like proline in Roselle plants. These effects assist the plants in exhibiting greater resistance to drought stress and mitigating the negative impacts of this type of stress on the plant.
Agriculture and horticulture
H. Kiani; Sh. Khalesro; A. Mokhatssi-Bidgoli; Z. Sharifi
Abstract
Nigella sativa L. is a valuable medicinal plant that is widely used in different industries. Accumulation of compatible osmolytes is one of the common responses of plants under drought stress. To investigate the effects of irrigation regimes and biochar (resulting from the heating of cattle manure) on ...
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Nigella sativa L. is a valuable medicinal plant that is widely used in different industries. Accumulation of compatible osmolytes is one of the common responses of plants under drought stress. To investigate the effects of irrigation regimes and biochar (resulting from the heating of cattle manure) on N. sativa, a factorial experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with three replications in the greenhouse of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Kurdistan in 2018. The experimental factors consisted of three drought stress levels (40, 70, and 100% of FC) and two biochar use levels (0 and 15 tons.ha-1). The ANOVA results showed that the interaction effects of drought stress and biochar were significant on hydrogen peroxide, malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, proline, soluble carbohydrates (water and ethanol soluble), and osmotic potential. Increasing the intensity of drought stress enhanced the amount of hydrogen peroxide, malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, proline, and soluble carbohydrates (water and ethanol soluble) and caused the osmotic potential to become more negative. Biochar application decreased the negative effects of drought stress so that hydrogen peroxide, malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, proline, and soluble carbohydrates (water and ethanol soluble) amounts were lower than the treatments without biochar. Overall, the present research results proved the useful and effective role of biochar in improving the physiological traits and protective osmolytes of N. sativa under drought stress.
Improvement and breeding
M. Moghadami Rad; R.A. Khavari-Nejad; S. Saadatmand; F. Najafi
Abstract
Madder (Rubia tinctorum L.) is a herbaceous and perennial plant, which has bioactive compounds with high medicinal and pigment potency. Local farmers believe that increasing soil lime increases the color composition of this plant. To investigate the effects of calcium carbonate and phosphorus fertilizer ...
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Madder (Rubia tinctorum L.) is a herbaceous and perennial plant, which has bioactive compounds with high medicinal and pigment potency. Local farmers believe that increasing soil lime increases the color composition of this plant. To investigate the effects of calcium carbonate and phosphorus fertilizer on some physiological parameters and root alizarin content in madder, a field factorial experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Experimental treatments included calcium carbonate at five levels (0, 20, 50, 100, and 150 kg.ha-1) and triple superphosphate at four levels (0, 50, 100, and 150 kg.ha-1). Means comparison showed that the highest root dry weight (an increase of 75% compared to control), total plant dry weight (an increase of 58% compared to control), root alizarin content (an increase of 78% compared to control), and root catalase activity were obtained with calcium carbonate increase up to 20 kg.ha-1 and triple superphosphate increase up to 100 kg.ha-1. The highest root length (an increase of 54% compared to control) and leaf catalase activity were observed in the 50 kg.ha-1 calcium carbonate and 100 kg.ha-1 triple superphosphate treatment. The highest leaf and root peroxidase activity was obtained in the treatment of 150 kg.ha-1 calcium carbonate and 150 kg.ha-1 triple superphosphate. Simultaneous application of these two fertilizers had a complementary effect on each other, so that the 20 and 50 kg.ha-1 calcium carbonate application along with the 100 kg.ha-1 triple superphosphate had an increasing effect on the alizarin content of madder root. This method can be used for the future development of a non-destructive tolerance test that shows madder increased response to calcium carbonate and phosphorus fertilizer, to further produce madder root medicinal compounds as a targeted drug for cancer treatment.
Agriculture and horticulture
F. Salarpour Qhoraba; H. Farahbakhsh
Abstract
To investigate the effects of chitosan foliar application on the various physiological and biochemical (proline, protein, antioxidant enzymes, and percentage and essential oil yield) characteristics and dry matter yield of thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) under drought stress conditions, a split-plot experiment ...
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To investigate the effects of chitosan foliar application on the various physiological and biochemical (proline, protein, antioxidant enzymes, and percentage and essential oil yield) characteristics and dry matter yield of thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) under drought stress conditions, a split-plot experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications in Lalehzar city, Bardsir county, Kerman province in 2019. The drought stress at four levels (35, 50, 65, and 80% of available moisture discharge) and the chitosan concentration at five levels (0, 0.2, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 gram chitosan per liter of acetic acid) were considered as the main and sub plots, respectively. The results showed that the drought stress increased proline, antioxidant enzymes, and percentage and essential oil yield and decreased the dry matter yield significantly. The proline, antioxidant enzymes, dry matter yield, and essential oil percentage increased significantly with increasing the chitosan concentration, which resulted in a significant increase in the essential oil yield as the most important quality index in thyme. The protein and gayacol peroxidase enzyme were not affected by chitosan foliar application. In general, the results of this research showed that the higher chitosan concentrations (1.5 gram chitosan per liter of acetic acid) were more effective in ameliorating the damages induced by the drought stress and achieving the higher yield.
Gh. Salimi; M. Feizian; N. Aliasgharzad
Abstract
Drought stress causes reduction in growth and changes in biochemical indices of plants. In order to investigate the effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and selenium on reduction the detrimental effects of drought stress in Moldavian balm (Dracocephalum moldavica L.), a split plot-factorial experiment ...
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Drought stress causes reduction in growth and changes in biochemical indices of plants. In order to investigate the effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and selenium on reduction the detrimental effects of drought stress in Moldavian balm (Dracocephalum moldavica L.), a split plot-factorial experiment based on complete randomized block design with four replications was carried out under greenhouse condition. The main factor was three levels of drought [control, 0.75 Maximum Allowable Depletion (MAD) and 0.5 MAD] and sub factors included selenium at three levels (0, 100 μg per plant and 200 μg per plant) and inoculation with mycorrhizal fungi in two levels (non-inoculated as control and Glomus.verciforme). The results indicated that drought stress reduced height, dry weight and leaf area of plants. The lowest and highest value for all of these characteristics was obtained at 0.75 MAD and without drought stress, respectively. In non-stress condition, height, dry weight and leaf area of plants obtained from inoculation with mycorrhizal fungus and selenium were significantly higher than those of control. In all levels of drought stress, the content of catalase and peroxidase enzymes in plants inoculated with mycorrhizal fungus and selenium was significantly higher than that of control. The lowest content of catalase enzyme (25.06) was obtained in control and lowest content of peroxidase (14.81) was in the treatment with mycorrhizal fungus and selenium under 0.75 MAD drought stress. The highest content of catalase enzyme (53.62) was in inoculation with mycorrhizal fungus and 200μg selenium without stress, and the highest content of peroxidase (31.59) was obtained in 0.5 MAD stress and inoculation with mycorrhizal fungus and 200 μg selenium. Also, in condition of inoculation with fungus and selenium, the content of proline and MDA increased about 1 to 1.5 folds and about 1.3 to 1.5 folds, respectively, more than the control. Results showed that the presence of mycorrhiza and selenium in drought stress condition had a positive effect on growth and biochemical indices studied.
F. Moharrami; B. Hosseini; M. Farjaminezhad; A. Sharafi
Abstract
Hyoscyamus species such as Hyoscyamus reticulatus L. are rich sources of tropane alkaloids, mainly hyoscyamine and scopolamine, which are used for their mydriatic, antispasmodic, anticholinergic, analgesic and sedative properties. Due to complex chemical structures, these alkaloids are obtained from ...
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Hyoscyamus species such as Hyoscyamus reticulatus L. are rich sources of tropane alkaloids, mainly hyoscyamine and scopolamine, which are used for their mydriatic, antispasmodic, anticholinergic, analgesic and sedative properties. Due to complex chemical structures, these alkaloids are obtained from natural sources, mainly Solanaceae plants. Elicitation of secondary metabolites biosynthetic pathways by different kind of elicitors is an effective strategy to increase secondary metabolites productivity. In the present study, in order to increase production of tropane alkaloids, cotyledon-derived hairy root cultures transformed with Agrobacterium rhizogenes strain A7, were elicited with yeast extract (YE) as biotic elicitor. Effect of different concentrations (0, 125, 250, 500 and 1000mg/l) of YE elicitor at different exposure times (24, 48 and 72 h) were investigated. According to the results, YE at the concentration of 500 and 250 mg/l after 48 h treatment, significantly increased hyoscyamine (2-fold) and scopolamine (2.5-fold) production in comparison with control, respectively. The results showed that treatment with different concentrations of YE and also increasing the exposure time led to significant decrease in growth of hairy roots in comparison with control. The activity of antioxidant enzymes including catalase, guaiacol peroxidase, and ascorbate peroxidase was also elevated in treated hairy roots rather than of the control. Based on the results, it can be concluded that elicitation with YE leads to induce an oxidative stress. These results suggest that YE could be used as an effective elicitor in plant biotechnology for the production of plant secondary metabolites such as tropane alkaloids.
S. Asadi Sanam; M. Zavareh; H. Pirdashti; F. Sefidkon; Gh.A. Nematzadeh; A. Hashempour
Abstract
This research was aimed to investigate the effect of planting date and soil flooding duration on some biochemical characteristics of purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench) in Sari region. The study was conducted in a RCBD based split plot with three replications in the Research Farm of the ...
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This research was aimed to investigate the effect of planting date and soil flooding duration on some biochemical characteristics of purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench) in Sari region. The study was conducted in a RCBD based split plot with three replications in the Research Farm of the Genetics and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute of Tabarestan, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, in 2012. Experimental treatments included three planting dates (June 30, July 30 and August 29) and three soil flooding durations (without flooding as control, three and five-day flooding) which were considered as main and sub-plots, respectively. Malondialdehyde (MDA), total phenols and flavonoids contents, protein oxidation of the leaves, enzyme activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT), as well as percentage of DPPH free radical inhibition were determined. Results of this experiment showed a significant increment of malondialdehyde (MDA) content in purple coneflower leaf with the highest level in five-day flooding duration and in August 29 planting date. The highest decrease in total protein was found in the same planting data and flooding duration with 90 % decline than control.The highest activity of antioxidant enzymes of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) was recorded in the purple coneflowers leaves, cultivated in June 30, and flooded for three days, while the highest activity of peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT) were observed in plants cultivated in July 30. Five-day soil flooding markedly increased the total phenols and flavonoids content just in plants transplanted in June 30. In addition, the highest percentage of DPPH free radical inhibition was measured in plants subjected to continues five-day soil flooding and cultivated in August 29. In conclusion, it seems that the coneflower plant relatively showed a good tolerance to flooding stress.
M. Ghorbanli; A. Sateyi; H. Kaboli Qarehtapeh
Abstract
Mistletoe is an evergreen, perennial and epiphytic plant of Loranthaceae which obtains all of its required water and nutrients such as Nitrogen and a small part of the food from the host plant by a root-like organ called "Haustorium". This plant is very important in terms of medical and pharmaceutical ...
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Mistletoe is an evergreen, perennial and epiphytic plant of Loranthaceae which obtains all of its required water and nutrients such as Nitrogen and a small part of the food from the host plant by a root-like organ called "Haustorium". This plant is very important in terms of medical and pharmaceutical and some of its effects in the treatment of many diseases have been proved. Two species of "Viscum album L." and "Arceuthobium oxycedri (D.C.) M. Bieb." both from the family Viscaceae are epiphytic plants. The dominant hosts of Viscum album L. in Gorgan forest are Parrotia persica (D.C.) C.A.Mey and Carpinus betulus L. respectively in altitude of 700 m and 1800m (above sea level). The host of Arceuthobium oxycedri (D.C.) M. Bieb is Juniperus polycarpus L in 2200m (above sea level). In this study, leaves and twigs of mistletoe and the host were collected. Three infected hosts from each species and three uninfected trees as control with similar conditions of diagonal and height were randomly selected, and the effects of these epiphytes on activity of antioxidant enzymes of the host plants, including Catalase, Peroxidase and Ascorbate peroxidase, were studied. The results showed that the infection of epiphyte caused drought stress in host plant and the activity of these enzymes was increased. The activity of Catalase in infected and uninfected hosts of V.album (P. persica and C. betulus) did not show significant differences, but in host of A. oxycedri (J. polycarpus) in male and female trees significant differences were observed. Activity of Ascorbate peroxidase and Peroxidase was significantly increased in all of infected hosts. But in none of the samples, activity of these enzymes was not dependent on the genus.
M. Ghorbanli; F. Ahmadi; A. Monfared; Gh. Bakhshi Khaniki
Abstract
Ascorbate as a strong antioxidant has a considerable bio effect on growth of plants, such as increase in their tolerance against environment stresses. In this investigation, the effect of salt stress and its interaction with ascorbate on amount of proline, catalase and ascorbate peroxidase enzymes and ...
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Ascorbate as a strong antioxidant has a considerable bio effect on growth of plants, such as increase in their tolerance against environment stresses. In this investigation, the effect of salt stress and its interaction with ascorbate on amount of proline, catalase and ascorbate peroxidase enzymes and MDA in a medicinal plant of Cuminum cyminum L. was randomly studied in the green house conditions with three replications. Plants were treated by different concentrations of NaCl (0, 25, 50, 75, 100, 125 mmolar) and ascorbate (9 mmolar). In the plants treated with salt, the amount of proline, antioxidant enzymes activity and MDA were increased with increasing NaCl concentrations. The plants treated with NaCl and ascorbate at the same time in a same NaCl concentration, the amount of proline, catalase activity, ascorbate peroxidase and MDA were increased. The results indicated that the ascorbate was one of the antioxidants that caused an increase in resistance of Cuminum cyminum L. to salt stress.
