Biology

Valerenic acid (VA) is a pharmacologically-active sesquiterpene found in valerian (Valeriana officinalis L., Valerianaceae) roots and rhizomes. The plant produces only small amounts of this metabolite naturally. So, induction of hairy roots as well as elicitation can be useful to increase its commercial production. In this study, Wild-type strain 'A13' of Agrobacterium rhizogenes was used to induce hairy roots in valerian. The influence of three different elicitors including Fusarium graminearum extract (FE), methyl jasmonate (MJ) and salicylic acid (SA) on VA production in the selected hairy root line 'LeVa-C4' was also investigated. The 23-day-old cultures were treated with different concentrations of the elicitors at exposure time of 3 and 7 days. FE (1%) and MJ (100 µM L -1 ) highly promoted VA production at 7 days after elicitation, to a level of 12.31-and 6-fold higher than that of non-elicited controls, respectively, and FE did not exert any negative effects on biomass yield of hairy root. SA did not significantly increase the production of VA. This is the first time study to assess the elicitation of hairy root cultures to promote VA biosynthesis in valerian and the resulting experiments demonstrated that F. graminearum extract and MJ were indeed a potent inducer of VA biosynthesis. © Versita Sp. z o.o.

A laboratory experiment was carried out to investigate the effect of salinity on some morphological and physiological 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 content, 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 regular. 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 vulnerable than other cultivars under salinity stress.

Purpose: Soil salinity is a prevalent abiotic stress that adversely affects crop productivity worldwide. Salinity is an environmental stress that limits growth and development in fruits and vegetables due to increasing osmotic pressure, imbalancing of nutrients and toxicity of some special ions. Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) is one of the most important fruits and vegetables. Research method: In this study, effect of salt stress (NaCl) on eight cultivars of  tomato (king  stone, Caligen, Super Strain B, Primo Early, Early Urbana VF, Early Urbana 111, Cal-j-N3 and Peto Early CH) were investigated. Plants were cultured in hydroponic conditions with five treatments of NaCl including 0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 mM. Each test has repeated three times. The growth indices, Ions, chlorophyll, soluble sugar and proline contents, were measured in roots, stems, petioles and leaves. Main findings: The results showed that, sodium and chloride contents increased in all parts of the cultivars with in...

In order to study the effect of different aluminum (Al) concentrations on the enzyme activities of wheat seedlings and the effect of malate and citrate treatments as chelates for reducing the noxious effect of Al in medium culture, the seedlings of two wheat cultivars, Darab (Al-sensitive) and Maroon (Al-tolerant) were grown on hydroponic solution (non modified Hoagland solution) containing AlCl 3 (0-100-200-300 M). Factorial experiment was realized in a complete randomized design with three replications. The activity of different enzymes such as ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in root and shoot were measured. Analysis of variance revealed that, the activity of studied enzymes (APX, CAT, GR and SOD) in root and shoot were affected by the main effects of Al concentration. However, in the case of catalase activity in root, the main effect of genotypes as well as genotype× × × ×Al concentration was also significant. APX activity in root was not significantly differed between Maroon and Darab in all Al concentrations. But by increasing Al concentration in root medium APX activity was significantly decreased. In the case of SOD activity, we did not find any difference between the studied genotypes in all Al concentrations but its content in roots was affected by the amount of Al applied in medium. So that by increasing the amount of Al, SOD content increased in the genotypes similarly. The same trend was observed for catalase activity in root. In the case of GR activity, we did not find any difference between the genotypes in all Al concentrations but its content in root was affected by applying Al in medium compared with control medium, so that GR content increased in both genotypes similarly. The activity of investigated enzymes showed the same trend in the shoot. The effect of malate and citrate was also studied on reducing the noxious effect of Al in root. Analysis of variance revealed that, there were significant differences within the treatments on the enzymes activity in root (not in the shoot) except for catalase. However, some interaction effects were significant. This means that malate or citrate application was effective in some Al concentrations.

In order to determine the effect of different aluminium (Al) concentrations on the seedling parameters of wheat and the effect of malate and citrate treatments as chelates for reducing the noxious effect of Al in medium culture and seedlings of two wheat cultivars, Darab (Al sensitive) and Maroon (Al tolerant) were grown on hydroponic solution (non modified Hoagland) containing AlCl 3 (0-100-200-300 M). Factorial experiment was realized in a complete randomized design with three replications. The root and shoot length as well as fresh and dry weight of roots and shoots were measured. Leaf area was measured by a special computer program named compuEyeLSA. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that, for fresh weight of root (FWR), fresh weight of shoot (FWS), dry weight of shoot (DWS) and length of root (LR), the main effect of genotype, Al concentration and their interaction was highly significant, whereas, in the case of dry weight of root (DWR) and leaf area (LA) traits, only the main effect of genotype and Al concentration were highly significant. LS trait only was affected by different Al concentrations. ANOVA indicated a significant interaction between genotype and Al concentration for DWS, FWR, FWS and LR traits. Therefore, a separate regression analysis was conducted for each genotype. We found difference in fitted model between two studied varieties. In the second experiment the effect of malate and citrate treatments was studied on reducing the noxious effect of Al in medium culture. ANOVA revealed that, there are significant differences among applied treatments on studied seedling growth parameters. This means that the application of malate or citrate is effective in some Al concentrations as compared to others.

The effects of salinity on growth, leaf area and water relations of two grape genotypes (Gharashani and Shirazi) were studied under 2-week salinity (25, 50 and 100 mM NaCl). Growth and fresh weights of all plant parts were significantly (p<0.05) decreased by increasing salinity in both genotypes. Shirazi showed a higher decrease in shoot and root lengths and fresh weights than Gharashani. It also had a higher decrease in water potential and relative water content and a lower increase in leaf area as compared with Gharashani. There was a significant positive correlation (p<0.05) between water potential and leaf area in two genotypes. Under salinity stress the expression of aquaporin PIP2.2 decreased significantly (p<0.05) in roots and leaves of Gharashani, but it was higher in roots than in leaves. In roots and leaves of Shirazi the expression of this gene was partly increased. Considering growth factors and water relations, it seems that Shirazi is a sensitive genotype, but Gharashani can partly tolerate salinity.

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Purpose: To investigate the effect of magnesium and calcium as abiotic elicitors on Valeriana officinalis hairy roots for scale-up production of valerenic acid. Methods: Hairy roots were established in different explants of Valeriana officinalis via a mikimopine type strain of Agrobacterium rhizogenes 'A13'. Transgenic status of hairy roots was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis of the rolB gene. Hairy roots of 28-day old cultures were exposed to magnesium and calcium (2 to 6-fold concentration of that present in normal Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium for 3 and 7 days. After elicitation, the cultures were grown in MS liquid medium without elicitors for 8 weeks. Valerenic acid content in hairy roots was analysed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to determine the best yield conditions. Results: Transformed cultures showed significant differences (p < 0.05) in valerenic acid content. The highest amount of valerenic acid (1.83 ± 0.06 mg/g dry weight (DW) was found in hairy root cultures exposed to 6-fold calcium for 7 days, which was 7.9 times higher than that of control culture (0.23 ± 0.01 mg/g DW). Conclusion: The results show that concentration and exposure time to elicitors are important factors that affect the production of valerenic acid.

Leaves of 10 Bene genotypes were collected from six provinces (West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Ilam, Hamedan and Lorestan) in Iran. This study was carried out to better characterise the total phenolic and flavonoid contents, antioxidant capacity and phenolic composition, as well as to evaluate the correlation between content of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity in 10 genotypes of Bene. The antioxidant activity of leaf extracts was measured using different assays: ferric reducing antioxidant power, nitric oxide radical scavenging and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl. The results indicated that the antioxidant capacity can be related to total phenolic and flavonoid content, so that among all the genotypes studied here, the highest and the lowest phenolic content and antioxidant activity were observed in B2 and B10 genotypes, respectively. Analysing the phenolic composition using high performance liquid chromatography, caffeic acid, vanillic acid, ferulic acid and sinapi...

In order to understand the response of tobacco to salt stress, antioxidant enzyme activities, plant biomass and ion content were analyzed in two oriental tobacco genotypes (Basma 31 and SPT 406). Tobacco plants were exposed to 0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 mM NaCl for 12 days. The fresh and dry weight as well as shoot and root length of Basma 31 were greater than those of SPT 406 under increasing salt stress. On exposure to NaCl, SPT 406 showed a higher Na/K ratio than that of Basma 31. Activity of catalase, ascorbate peroxidase and guaiacol peroxidase enzymes increased with increasing NaCl content in leaves of two genotypes, but activities of three enzymes in leaves of Basma 31 were higher than SPT 406. Activities of catalase and ascorbate peroxidase in roots of Basma 31 and SPT 406 increased with increasing external NaCl concentration up to 150 and 100 mM, respectively. The highest guaiacol peroxidase activity in roots of Basma 31 and SPT 406 was observed in 100 and 50 mM NaCl, respecti...

Recent studies have shown that application of salt stress induced massive changes in grapevine gene expression (Vincent et al., 2007; Jellouli et al., 2008). Comparative gene expression analysis could be a useful approach for understanding the mechanisms of tolerance and susceptibility (Kozian and Kirschbaum, 1999).

In order to study the effect of different aluminum (Al) concentrations on the enzyme activities of wheat seedlings and the effect of malate and citrate treatments as chelates for reducing the noxious effect of Al in medium culture, the seedlings of two wheat cultivars, Darab (Al-sensitive) and Maroon (Al-tolerant) were grown on hydroponic solution (non modified Hoagland solution) containing AlCl 3 (0-100-200-300 M). Factorial experiment was realized in a complete randomized design with three replications. The activity of different enzymes such as ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in root and shoot were measured. Analysis of variance revealed that, the activity of studied enzymes (APX, CAT, GR and SOD) in root and shoot were affected by the main effects of Al concentration. However, in the case of catalase activity in root, the main effect of genotypes as well as genotype× × × ×Al concentration was also significant. APX activity in root was not significantly differed between Maroon and Darab in all Al concentrations. But by increasing Al concentration in root medium APX activity was significantly decreased. In the case of SOD activity, we did not find any difference between the studied genotypes in all Al concentrations but its content in roots was affected by the amount of Al applied in medium. So that by increasing the amount of Al, SOD content increased in the genotypes similarly. The same trend was observed for catalase activity in root. In the case of GR activity, we did not find any difference between the genotypes in all Al concentrations but its content in root was affected by applying Al in medium compared with control medium, so that GR content increased in both genotypes similarly. The activity of investigated enzymes showed the same trend in the shoot. The effect of malate and citrate was also studied on reducing the noxious effect of Al in root. Analysis of variance revealed that, there were significant differences within the treatments on the enzymes activity in root (not in the shoot) except for catalase. However, some interaction effects were significant. This means that malate or citrate application was effective in some Al concentrations.

Mycorrhizal association in seven plants grown in Arasbaran forest located in the north west of Iran was investigated. The soil samples were collected from the plants rhizosphere. Physico-chemical properties of rhizosphere soils like soil texture, pH, EC and some extractable nutrients such as N, P and K were recorded. The number of spores in rhizosphere and percentage of root mycorrhizal colonization were found. Soil physico-chemical analyses were done on August while spore number and root colonization were studied in May and August. All the data collected in this research were analyzed by the statistical software, SPSS. Results showed that different plant species colonized differently by VAM fungi, and spore number and root mycorrhizal colonization increased through the time from May to August. Among the physicochemical factors, soil N content had high correlation with root colonization and soil extractable P had high correlation with soil spore number. pH had a high negative correlation with spore number. Among the plant species, Stachys pubescens showed the most VAM fungi root colonization and Cruciata laevipes rhizosphere soil showed the highest spore number.

To study the salinity tolerance of own rooted grape cuttings taken from nine table grape (Vitis vinifera L.) genotypes growing in the Urmia Salt Lake region (Iran): LaaleBidaneh, Gharashani, Sachagh, Shahroodi, LaaleSefid, Khalili, Chawga, GhezelUzum and Gharagandomeh. Methods and results: Plants were treated with nutrient solutions containing 0, 25, 50 and 100 mM NaCl for two weeks. Shoot and root growth and dry weights (DW) were significantly (P<0.05) reduced in all treatments. Chloride (Cl-) and sodium (Na +) ions highly accumulated in the various parts of the vines with increasing external NaCl concentration. Na + accumulation exceeded that of Clin all treatments and all genotypes. However, Gharashani showed a higher ability to restrict Cland Na + accumulation in lamina (1.08% of DW and 2.56% of DW, respectively) in comparison to the other genotypes, particularly to GhezelUzum (4.1% of DW and 9.10% of DW, respectively), which showed intensive leaf burn symptoms. Lamina soluble sugar, proline and glycine betaine contents increased with increasing salinity. Correlation analysis (P<0.01) indicated that there was a high positive correlation between Cland Na + contents and osmolyte accumulation in lamina. Conclusion: Taken together, it seems that Gharashani and GhezelUzum, respectively, had a higher and a lower capacity to alleviate salt stress symptoms when compared to the other genotypes. Significance and impact of the study: Salinity is a serious environmental stress in the regions around Urmia Salt Lake and grapevine is one of the most economically important fruit crops in Urmia. Therefore, screening the native grape genotypes for salt tolerance and using the tolerant genotypes directly as rootstocks or producing hybrids with desirable traits could be one of the improvement programs for viticulture in this area.

Molecular information of K+ accumulation in grapes is strongly required. Under salinity condition potassium transporters are inhibited by Na+. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of salinity on the expression of K+ transporter genes in grape. Based on the previous screening study on 18 grape genotypes, ‘H6’ and ‘Gharashani’ (tolerant) and ‘Shirazi’ and ‘GhezelUzum’ (sensitive) were selected. Plants were treated with 50 mM NaCl as a critical concentration that was not lethal for grapevine plants. Interestingly, the expression of VvKUP1, VvKUP2 and VvK1.1 genes highly increased in leaves of sensitive genotypes compared to tolerant ones. Also the expression of VvKUP1 and VvKUP2 genes were similar in the leaves of sensitive genotypes. There was a significant positive correlation (P&lt;0.05) between the expression of K+ transporters –VvKUP1 and VvKUP2- and the accumulation of Na+ in the leaves of sensitive genotypes. Roots of all genotypes showed increase in expression o...

In order to understand the response of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) to salt stress, the comparative analysis of leaf proteome of Basma S. 31 genotype were performed. Plants were treated with or without 200 mM NaCl for 12 days. The proteins were extracted from leaves, and then separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis. The fresh weight and length of shoot of studied genotype showed greater decrease with increasing salinity. The number of 19 protein spots (out of 468 protein spots) was differentially expressed in leaves under NaCl treatment. Although the levels of some proteins were reduced by salt-treatments, an increase of accumulations in some proteins was observed under salt stress. The number of protein spots with increased expression, were higher than the number of protein spots with decreased expression (10 and 9 protein spots, respectively). Results revealed that, spots of 16 and 7 were highly and lowly up-regulated with 6.1-fold and 1.48-fold, respectively. Also, the spot of 18 with 4.4-fold was highly down-regulated among all spots. Salinity is a complex phenomenon that causes not just osmotic and toxic ion effects, but also nutritional and metabolism imbalance. According to the results, it seems that salinity can change the expression levels of some special proteins in leaves of tobacco that may in turn play a role in the tolerance to saline conditions. So, it is believed that increased expression of proteins with low molecular weight that regulate cellular activity, can be effective in tobacco salt tolerance.

Counts per minute CW Cell water DW Dry weight E Cl Nernst potential of Cl-EDTA Ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid FW Fresh weight HKT High affinity potassium transporter iHATS Substrate induced high affinity transport system cHATS Constitutively active high affinity transport system IBA Indole-3-butyric acid J BF Bypass flow of water Lp r Root hydraulic conductivity MBq Megabecquerel MIFE Microelectrode ion-flux estimation MIPs Major intrinsic proteins NAXT Nitrate excretion transporter NRT Nitrate transporter µCi Microcuri PD Potential difference PP Pressure probe PTR Peptide transporter PTS 8-hydroxy-1,3,6-pyrenetrisulfonic acid S o Specific activity S Selectivity SDS Sodium dodecyl sulphate SEM Scanning electron microscope SE Standard error S.P.Q 6-methoxy-N-(3-sulfopropyl) quinolinum xvi TEA Tetraethyl ammonium chloride, K + channel blocker TTX Tetrodotoxin, Na + channel blocker USL Unstirred layer σ

The response of hydroponically grown four ownrooted table grape (Vitis vinifera L.) cultivars (&#39;Red Rishbaba&#39;, &#39;Red Sahebi&#39;, &#39;Dastarchin&#39; and &#39;Red Sultana&#39;) to different salt concentrations (0, 25, 50 and 100 mM NaCl) was studied under greenhouse condition. Growth parameters, total chlorophyll (a+b) and proline contents were determined in leaves and roots. Cl - , Na + , K + and NO 3 - concentrations were measured in lamina, petiole, stem and root. Shoot growth, total dry weight, total leaf chlorophyll (a+b), NO 3 - -N and K + contents were significantly reduced (P≤0.05) under NaCl stress, whereas proline, Cl - and Na + accumulation increased significantly with increasing salinity. &#39;Red Rishbaba&#39; and &#39;Red Sahebi&#39; showed a less decrease in total leaf chlorophyll, K + and NO 3 - contents, while proline accumulation in these cultivars was higher than that of &#39;Dastarchin&#39; and &#39;Red Sultana&#39;. Also, shoots of &#39;Red Sahebi&#3...