Genetic engineering & plant breeding
Mohammadali Malboobi
Abstract
World population has already exceeded 6.5 billion, out of which about 850 million (13 percent) are undernourished. With the current growth rate, the world community faces even a greater challenge of hunger and food security as the estimated the population will catch 9 billion by the year 2050 with doubled ...
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World population has already exceeded 6.5 billion, out of which about 850 million (13 percent) are undernourished. With the current growth rate, the world community faces even a greater challenge of hunger and food security as the estimated the population will catch 9 billion by the year 2050 with doubled needs for food. At the same time, preservation of biodiversity, stopping deforestation and reduced environmental footprint caused by agricultural practice are the main concerns towards sustainable agriculture. The progressive adoption of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) including GM crops and trees can make a decisive contribution to improve harvest and alleviate hunger and poverty. In addition to the environmental benefits, the introduced GMOs can improve water use efficiency and reduce the need for fossil based fuels and pesticide application and reduce thousands of tons of emissions of green house gases. In this respect, several social issues are still of concern. On one hand, many beneficial advantages of GMOs have encouraged a wide spectrum of large or small farmers to cultivate transgenic plants which is translated to food security and job opportunities. On the other hand, while ideological debates have hindered, or even ceased, technology provisions in developing and underdeveloped countries, GMO seed and food productions are monopolized by a quite small number of transnational companies. For instance, seeds that were previously available at low or no cost, mainly through public institutes, international entities or seed exchange among farmers, would be offered at higher prices due to exclusive right of producers and additional cost of patent royalties. Cartagena protocol is going to regulate the relationship among countries aiming at preservation of world biodiversity. Although the developing countries outnumbered developed nations that cultivate transgenic plants in recent years, current statistic shows that around 84 percent of GMO crops are cultivated by only four countries, USA, Brazil, Argentina and Canada. Scientist and scholars, particularly in Islamic states, as well as decision makers are the major responsible bodies that must take roles for the current and future situations. Despite the fact that most of scientists or scholars are not in navigation positions, however, they can discuss socio-economic issues and raise public awareness in order to harmonize their efforts towards proper utilization of biotech products in their society and towards a reliable point for food security and safety.
Molecular markers & plant breeding
Nesa Jafari; Reza Behroozi; Abdolreza Bagheri; Nasrin Moshtaghi
Abstract
Expressed sequence tags simple sequence repeats (EST-SSRs) are important sources for investigation of genetic diversity and molecular marker development. Similar to genomic SSRs, the EST-SSRs are useful markers for many applications in genetics and plant breeding such as genetic diversity analysis, molecular ...
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Expressed sequence tags simple sequence repeats (EST-SSRs) are important sources for investigation of genetic diversity and molecular marker development. Similar to genomic SSRs, the EST-SSRs are useful markers for many applications in genetics and plant breeding such as genetic diversity analysis, molecular mapping and cross-transferability across related species and genera. In spite of low polymorphism, these markers show variation in the expressed part of the genome. In this study, Medicago truncatula EST-SSRs were used for investigation of transferability between M. truncatula and some chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) genotypes, also genetic diversity between used chickpea genotypes was determined. In this research, 650 M. truncatula ESTs were searched to find simple sequence repeats (SSRs). A total of 131 EST-SSRs were contained di-and trinucleotide motif SSRs. In this study, thirty pairs of primers were designed to amplify over 10 chickpea genotypes. Thirteen primer pairs (43%) generated reproducible bands in at least one chickpea genotype that eight bands (61.5%) were polymorphic in the chickpea genotypes. A total of 24 alleles were amplified with an average of 3 alleles per primer. The average of polymorphism information content (PIC) was 78.75% and transferability across M. truncatula and C. arietinum was 43.32%. The results indicate that the developed EST-SSR markers from M. truncatula as a model plant are valuable genetic markers for legume species such as chickpea. In addition to suitability of EST-SSR markers for genetic diversity analysis, their broad range of transferability also proved their potential for comparative genomics studies.
Molecular biology and (trans) gene expression technology in plant breeding
Behnaz Dolatabadi; Gholamali Ranjbar; Masoud Tohidfar; Ali Dehestani
Abstract
Fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. Lycopersici is one of the major obstacles to the production of tomato which causes huge losses in tomato products worldwide. In order to increase the tolerance to this disease, a triple structure containing PR1, chitinase and glucanase genes controlled ...
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Fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. Lycopersici is one of the major obstacles to the production of tomato which causes huge losses in tomato products worldwide. In order to increase the tolerance to this disease, a triple structure containing PR1, chitinase and glucanase genes controlled by 35S promoter was transferred to tomato. Eight days after planting on pre-culture medium, explants were inoculated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA4404 containing the aforementioned plasmid. When the regenerated shoots grew to 2-3 cm, they were cut and transferred to rooting medium.The plantlets were then transferred to pots filled with a soil mixture of peat moss and perlite for further acclimatization. The putative transgenic plant lines were analyzed by multiplex PCR and the transcription of the transgenes was confirmed by RT-PCR method using the specific primers. The estimated value for the frequency of the simultaneous transfer of chitinase, glucanase and PR1 genes to tomato was 2.7%. Protein extracts of transgenic plants expressing chitinase, glucanase and PR1 genes inhibited in vitro hyphal growth of F. oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici. Compared with non-transgenic control plants, despite some alterations in chlorophyll content no other morphological changes were observed in transgenic plants. The total content of chlorophyll “a” and “b” in transgenic plants were 31.8 and 36.2 % higher than that of control plants, respectively, which may be attributed to metabolic changes due to simultaneous expression of three transgenes.
Genetic engineering & plant breeding
Milad Alizadeh; Hoseein Askari
Abstract
The plant-pathogen interaction is a multifactor process that may lead to resistance or susceptible responses of plant to pathogens. During the arms race between plant and pathogens, various biochemical, molecular and physiological events are triggered in plant cells such as ROS signaling, hormone activation ...
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The plant-pathogen interaction is a multifactor process that may lead to resistance or susceptible responses of plant to pathogens. During the arms race between plant and pathogens, various biochemical, molecular and physiological events are triggered in plant cells such as ROS signaling, hormone activation and gene expression reprogramming. In plants, microRNAs (miRNAs) are key post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression and are involved in several cellular processes including response to environmental stress. In recent years, plant pathologists have presented a logical approach of plant immune system as zigzag based model that includes two phases of immunity, PTI and ETI in which miRNA molecules are determinant regulators. Here, we present an overview of miRNA biology, a brief explanation of plant immune systems in zigzag model, the role of phytohormones and miRNAs in plant immunity with a main focus on Arabidopsis-Pseudomonas interactions and finally we discuss our results on miRNA expression in lemon-Xanthomonas interactions.
Molecular markers & plant breeding
Zeinab Mohammadi; Atefeh Sabouri; Sedigheh Mousanejad
Abstract
Association analysis is a useful method for evaluation of significant association between molecular marker and phenotype of trait. This study was performed to evaluate association between traits related with powdery mildew resistance and molecular markers. This investigation was performed using 77 barley ...
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Association analysis is a useful method for evaluation of significant association between molecular marker and phenotype of trait. This study was performed to evaluate association between traits related with powdery mildew resistance and molecular markers. This investigation was performed using 77 barley genotypes and AFLP markers. In phenotypic evaluation, reaction of seedlings to powdery mildew was evaluated and the infection type and intensity were assessed based on 0-9 scale as the most important traits associated with resistance. Also in this study, the genetic diversity of genotypes was evaluated using seven combination primers EcoRI/MseI. The average percentages of polymorphism and polymorphic information content were 92.37% and 0.43, respectively. General evaluation of the statistics of genetic diversity showed that among seven primer combinations, three combinations of E90-M160, E100-M160, and E100-M150 were higher value than others and had a more obvious effect in the detection and separation of barley genotypes. Association analysis was performed using four statistical models of GLM and MLM applying TASSEL software. In the complete MLM model, 33 markers showed significant association in the 5 percent probability level with traits and the highest coefficient of determination was related to marker E80-M150-3 that explained 14% of variations of infection intensity. E80-M510-3 and E80-M160-22 markers were showed significant association (pr<0.05) with both characteristic the severity and type of infection that can represent the effective role of this genomic region in resistance to powdery mildew. If the results are confirmed, it can be a suitable candidate for conversion to SCAR specific marker.
Plant breeding for abiotic & biotic stresses
Masoud Fakhrfeshani; Farajollah Shahriari-Ahmadi; Ali Niazi; Nasrin Moshtaghi; Mohammad Zare-Mehrjerdi
Abstract
Among abiotic stresses, salinity has been increasing over the time for many reasons like using chemical fertilizers, global warming and rising sea levels. Under salinity stress, the loss of water availability, toxicity of Na+ and ion imbalance directly reduces carbon fixation and biomass production in ...
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Among abiotic stresses, salinity has been increasing over the time for many reasons like using chemical fertilizers, global warming and rising sea levels. Under salinity stress, the loss of water availability, toxicity of Na+ and ion imbalance directly reduces carbon fixation and biomass production in plants. K+ is a major agent that can counteract Na+ stresses, thus the potential of plants to tolerate salinity is strongly dependent on their potassium nutrition. HKTs (High-affinity K+ Transporters) are a family of transporters that mediate Na+-specific or Na+-K+ transport and play a key role in the regulation of ion homeostasis. In this study, we intended to focus on Electrolyte Leakage, ratio of K+/Na+, transcriptomic responses of a subclass two HKT in the roots of Aeluropus littoralis under salt stress. We investigated a noticeably different expression pattern over studied time points and found a snappy increase of AlHKT and rebalance of K+ concentration. It can be suggested that the early and high response of a Na+-K+ coupled transporter acted as a part of A. littoralis salt tolerance.
Plant breeding for abiotic & biotic stresses
Nayer Mohammadkhani; Reza Heidari; Nasser Abbaspour; Fatemeh Rahmani
Abstract
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 ...
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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
Micropropagation & plant breeding
Soheila Moradi; Mohammadreza Azimi; Fariborz Habibi; Saied Saeed Pourdad
Abstract
The present study demonstrates the potential of nutrient-alginate encapsulation of shoot tips of sunflower, Helianthus annuus (hyb. Azargol) for synthetic seed technology, which could be useful in germplasm distribution and exchange. Shoot tips from in vitro shoot cultures derived from mature seed explants ...
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The present study demonstrates the potential of nutrient-alginate encapsulation of shoot tips of sunflower, Helianthus annuus (hyb. Azargol) for synthetic seed technology, which could be useful in germplasm distribution and exchange. Shoot tips from in vitro shoot cultures derived from mature seed explants were encapsulated in 3% sodium alginate and 100 mM CaCl2. 2H2O are supplemented with three different matrices (include distilled water, liquid MS medium and plant growth regulators) and they are stored for several periods (15, 30, 45 and 60 days) at 4°C. After each storage period for regeneration and regrowth evaluation, encapsulated and non-encapsulated shoot tips were cultured on hormone-free MS medium. The regrowth ability of encapsulated shoot tips affected by the storage duration and the presence or absence of MS nutrients in calcium alginate beads. Percentage response for the conversion of encapsulated and non-encapsulated shoot tips decreased gradually after storage at 4°C by increasing storage durations. Indeed, encapsulated vegetative propagules showed a higher resistance to storage at 4°C than non-encapsulated. Addition of MS nutrients in calcium alginate beads significantly improved encapsulated explants regrowth after storage periods.
Germplasm genetic diversity & plant breeding
Shahrbanoo Abbasi; amin Baghizadeh; Ghasem Mohammadi-nejad
Abstract
In order to study the genetic conditions of some agronomic traits in wheat, a cross was made between Gaspard and Kharchia varieties. F2, F3 and F4 progenies with parents were evaluated under drought conditions. Three-parameter model [m d h] considered as the best fit for number of fertile tiller and ...
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In order to study the genetic conditions of some agronomic traits in wheat, a cross was made between Gaspard and Kharchia varieties. F2, F3 and F4 progenies with parents were evaluated under drought conditions. Three-parameter model [m d h] considered as the best fit for number of fertile tiller and flag leaf length using generations mean analysis method. For number of grain per spike and main spike grain weight three-parameter model [m d i] was used. For number of spikelet per spike, grain yield and plant height four-parameter model [m d h i] was used. The heritability values ranged from 56% for flag leaf length to 81% for grain yield. The F3 generation with 100 individuals was used to construct a genetic linkage map. Using the method of composite interval mapping 3, 1, 5, 2, 2 and 1 QTLs were detected for plant height, grain yield, number of spikelet per spike, flag leaf length, main spike grain weight and number of fertile tiller respectively.
Plant molecular physiology & breeding
Fatemeh Khosravi; Shahrokh Gharanjik; Ali Dehestani
Abstract
Phytophthora species are considered as the major cause of several plant diseases resulting in huge yield losses in agricultural crops. Despite years of effort to develop Phytophthora resistance varieties, there is no reports of a resistant cucumber variety. In this study, the effect of concomitant application ...
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Phytophthora species are considered as the major cause of several plant diseases resulting in huge yield losses in agricultural crops. Despite years of effort to develop Phytophthora resistance varieties, there is no reports of a resistant cucumber variety. In this study, the effect of concomitant application of potassium phosphite (KPhi) and chitosan on some physiological and molecular responses of Phytophthora capsici-challenged cucumber plants were investigated. Cucumber plants were treated with KPhi and/or Chitosan at different concentrations and were then inoculated with zoospores of P. capsici and leaf samples were collected at different time courses. Results showed that Guaiacol peroxidase (GPOD) enzymatic activity surged immediately at first and second days after pathogen inoculation with a peak in plants treated with 4 gL-1 KPhi 2 days after inoculation. Compared to GPOD, the highest superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was observed in the same treatment but later at 5 days after inoculation. It was indicated that the activity of antioxidant enzymes was greatly influenced by application of either KPhi or chitosan while their activity was not remarkably enhanced in control plants. qPCR analysis revealed that the highest increase in glutathione peroxidase (gpx) gene expression was achieved in plants concomitantly treated with 4 gL-1 KPhi and 200 mgL-1 chitosan 5 days after inoculation. The findings of this study provide novel information regarding inducing mechanisms of KPhi and chitosan which may be effective in mitigating disease severity.
Plant breeding for abiotic & biotic stresses
Nafise Taghizadeh; Gholam Ali Ranjbar; Ghorban Ali Nematzadeh; Mohammad Reza Ramazani Moghaddam
Abstract
Salinity is one of the most important limitation factors in development of agricultural products. Cotton has a relative tolerance to salinity; however, salinity reduces its growth during germination and seedling stages. In this research, split-factorial design of time based on randomized complete block ...
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Salinity is one of the most important limitation factors in development of agricultural products. Cotton has a relative tolerance to salinity; however, salinity reduces its growth during germination and seedling stages. In this research, split-factorial design of time based on randomized complete block design with 3 replications was used. The real-time PCR results for, root, stem, and leaves of 14-day cotton seedlings of tolerant (Sepid) and sensitive (Thermus14) cotton cultivars with salinity levels from 0 to 16 ds.m-1 were analyzed at three time points, namely 0, 7 and 14 days after salinity stress. Selected genes for Real Time PCR reaction in current study were selected using Cytoscape 3.3.0 software. Results showed that the selected genes GhERF2, GhMPK2, GhCIPK6, GbRLK, GhNHX1, GhGST, GhTPS1 and Gh14-3-3 have positively responded to salinity stress and their expression in the root was higher than in stem and leaf. Moreover, the expression of tolerant genotype (Sepid) was higher than the sensitive cultivar (Thermus 14) one, however, a slight increase in sensitive genotypes was observed in a number of genes (GhERF2 and GhGST) 14 days after starting the stress treatment.
Germplasm genetic diversity & plant breeding
Aliakbar Babajanpour; SeyedHamidreza Hashemipetroudi; Mostafa Haghpanah
Abstract
Assessment of genetic diversity and individual relationships in rice (Oryza sativa) germplasm collections seems to be necessary for future rice breeding program. In order to understand genetic relationships of 30 rice genotypes, nine morphological traits, seven physicochemical properties and twelve RAPD ...
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Assessment of genetic diversity and individual relationships in rice (Oryza sativa) germplasm collections seems to be necessary for future rice breeding program. In order to understand genetic relationships of 30 rice genotypes, nine morphological traits, seven physicochemical properties and twelve RAPD primers were used for study of 30 rice genotypes. Among morphological traits, number of unfilled grain, number of tiller, number of filled grain and plant height had the highest CV value that indicated the high range of genetic diversity for studied genotypes. Pairwise correlation of morphological traits and physicochemical properties showed plant height had a strong positive correlation with panicle length (r = 0.721, P< 0.0001). Also, ratio of white rice to paddy rice and milling ratio had a negative correlation with plant height and 1000-grain weight, respectively. Cluster analysis of physicochemical properties and morphological traits grouped all genotypes into three main clusters. A total of 105 obtained RAPD bands, a number of 35 bands were polymorphs which range 7 to 19 bands per primer. OPB-14 and OPH-12 primers shown that lowest and the highest number of bands per primers, respectively. Cluster analysis of molecular data based on UPGMA algorithm and Jaccard's similarity coefficient grouped 30 rice genotypes into three clusters. The findings of this study might provide valuable information about local rice cultivar relationships in terms of their genetic distance, and can be useful in rice breeding program.
Maziar Habibi; Saeid Malekzadeh; hasan marashi; Afsaneh Mohkami
Abstract
Regarding high potential of green plants for development of recombinant vaccines, this research was conducted to evaluate expression of a novel recombinant vaccines against Foot and Mouth Disease (FMDV) in tobacco plant. For this purpose, a synthetic gene encoding 129-169 amino acids of foot and mouth ...
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Regarding high potential of green plants for development of recombinant vaccines, this research was conducted to evaluate expression of a novel recombinant vaccines against Foot and Mouth Disease (FMDV) in tobacco plant. For this purpose, a synthetic gene encoding 129-169 amino acids of foot and mouth disease virus capsid protein VP1 was transferred to tobacco plant via Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation. Considering codon usage optimized for tobacco, ribosome binding site and endoplasmic reticulum signal peptide were included in the synthetic gene to enhance expression level. Expression of the synthetic gene in tobacco seedlings was analyzed at transcription and translation levels and production of recombinant protein was quantified. Moreover, an in vivo immunization assay was carried out to verify immunogenicity of the expressed peptide in model animals. Results showed that expression of the recombinant protein in two lines of transgenic plants was a high as 0.65% and 0.72% of total soluble protein. The recombinant protein was able to induce immunogenic response when parenterally administered in rabbit.
Molecular markers & plant breeding
Seyedeh Sepideh Seyed Mousavi; Arman Mahmoudi Otaghvari; Tahereh A. Aghajanzadeh; Hbib Zare
Abstract
The Hyrcanian forests have a remarkable variety of moss species which research on their taxonomy is of great importance. Since Forsstroemia remotifolia, Homalia besseri and Pseudoleskeella catenulata are exclusive and native mosses species of Hyrcanian forests, so in the current study, fourteen populations ...
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The Hyrcanian forests have a remarkable variety of moss species which research on their taxonomy is of great importance. Since Forsstroemia remotifolia, Homalia besseri and Pseudoleskeella catenulata are exclusive and native mosses species of Hyrcanian forests, so in the current study, fourteen populations from three provinces in the north of Iran including Golestan, Mazandaran and Guilan were collected at the same altitudes in autumn 2017. In order to reveal the relationships among these species and populations, a cluster analysis based on numerical taxonomy and zymogram patterns of peroxidases and superoxide dismutase with Euclidean distances was performed. Numerical taxonomy analysis showed plant length, marginal laminal cell length and middle laminal cell length are appropriate traits to distinguish the species of F. remotifolia, H. besseri and P. catenulata from each other as well as their populations. The zymogram analysis showed genetic variability among species and also within populations of F. remotifolia, H. besseri and P. catenulata. Accordingly, the isozyme banding pattern of peroxidases showed a total of 6, 7 and 5 bands for F. remotifolia, H. besseri and P. catenulata, respectively. However, 4 isozyme bands were detected for superoxide dismutase for all three species. Furthermore, the morphological analyses in some populations was not matched with the isoenzyme banding pattern of enzymes in the current study. In conclusion, the biosystematics studies (morphometry and zymogram patterns of peroxidase and superoxide dismutase) indicate the close relationship between F. remotifolia and P. catenulata.
Plant breeding for abiotic & biotic stresses
Peiman Mohit Rabary; Zahra Movahedi; Mehdi Ghabooli; Majid Rostami
Abstract
Salicylic acid (SA) is a phenolic phytohormone that acts as a key regulator of the signaling network in plants under biotic and abiotic stresses. SA exerts stimulatory effects on various physiological processes to plant growth and development. In this research, valerian, chicory, withania, and purple ...
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Salicylic acid (SA) is a phenolic phytohormone that acts as a key regulator of the signaling network in plants under biotic and abiotic stresses. SA exerts stimulatory effects on various physiological processes to plant growth and development. In this research, valerian, chicory, withania, and purple coneflower plants were transferred into an aeroponic system where the effects of SA were investigated on some plant characteristics under greenhouse conditions. The plants were foliar sprayed with SA (0, 50, 100, and 150 mg l-1) at 20, 40, and 60 days after transplanting (DAT). Results showed that the highest chlorophyll a+b, carotenoid, plant height, root length, root volume, number of leaves per plant, root fresh weight, root dry weight, shoot fresh weight, and shoot dry weight were obtained from 150 mg l-1 SA in all the studied medicinal plants. The results revealed that the exogenous application of SA in the aeroponic system increased the root fresh weight, root dry weight, shoot fresh weight and shoot dry weight of chicory, withania, valerian, and purple coneflower plants. Also, the studied medicinal herbs grew well in the aeroponic system.
Plant breeding for abiotic & biotic stresses
Mehdi Safaeizadeh
Abstract
In plant innate immunity, the first line of defense against microbial pathogens is triggered by the perception of molecular signatures of the pathogens, by a highly sensitive membrane resident immune receptors. These pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) are perceived by pattern-recognition ...
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In plant innate immunity, the first line of defense against microbial pathogens is triggered by the perception of molecular signatures of the pathogens, by a highly sensitive membrane resident immune receptors. These pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) are perceived by pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) of the host to initiate pattern-triggered immunity (PTI). The endogenous plant signals, which are called damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), are generated under different circumstances such as wounding, biotic and abiotic stresses. The DAMPs can activate the PTI and subsequently trigger the immune system in plants. These peptide signals called plant elicitor peptides (Peps) first discovered in Arabidopsis thaliana and later their orthologues were identified in different plant species. Peps are involved in immunity against diverse biotic and abiotic stresses and can fine-tune immune signaling pathways. So far, eight endogenous signals (AtPep1 to AtPep8) are discovered in the model plant A. thaliana. Recent studies revealed that the Pep members are not redundant and each of them has a specific function. AtPeps-triggered immunity is emerging as a highly complex, dynamic and a coordinated process involved in immune signaling cascades and consequently induces adequate defense responses. Therefore, it is possible to apply synthetic Peps to induce the immune system against microbial infections in plants. Here, the recent researches and progresses on Pep-triggered signaling are presented from their first discovery until now. Furthermore, the finding of their corresponding receptors AtPEPR1 and AtPEPR2 is explained in detail. Moreover, the subsequent events in the cells as the consequence of AtPeps perception are highlighted.
Molecular markers & plant breeding
Zeinab Nazemi; Mehrshad Zeinolabedini; Mohammad Taher Hallajian; Naser Bouzari; Parastoo Majidian; Mohammad Ali Ebrahimi
Abstract
Apricot is grown in a wide range of climatic conditions in Iran, however, it is frequently damaged by late spring frost. In this case, identification of new genotypes tolerant to cold stress is indispensably needed. The objective of this study was to evaluate the genetic population and relationships ...
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Apricot is grown in a wide range of climatic conditions in Iran, however, it is frequently damaged by late spring frost. In this case, identification of new genotypes tolerant to cold stress is indispensably needed. The objective of this study was to evaluate the genetic population and relationships among 27 apricot accessions (Prunus armeniaca) by 30 microsatellite markers and 11 morphological traits. Based on the PIC values, the SSR loci (UDP96001, UDP96003, UDP98412 and UDP98411) were the most informative markers. The morphological traits were categorized into three components which explained 91.23% of total variation. The two-dimensional PCA plot exhibited that the highest degree of fruit quality and quantity belonged to the susceptible cultivar of Shahrood 48 which showed to be the favorable parent for the production of resistant mutants with high value of fruit traits to late spring frost. Moreover, the close relatedness of Shahrood 48 and its mutants according to the molecular analyses (including a Bayesian clustering approach and a Partial repeated bisection) confirmed the results of fruit traits analysis. The findings suggest that the wide diversity present in Iranian apricot genotypes could be used as a genetic resource for conservation and development of new cultivars resistant to late spring frost and for designing further apricot breeding programs. The promising new mutant genotypes tolerant to cold stress will be evaluated based on morphological markers in further breeding studies.
Metabolomics & metabolites engineering in plant breeding
Mehdi Arefrad; Ghorbanali Nematzadeh; Nadali Babaian Jelodar; Seyyed Kamal Kazemitabar
Abstract
Gamma irradiation was used at different doses (80, 160 and 240 Gy) on Glycine Max (L.) Merrill cv. Hill homogenous seeds. A single suitable M2 plant was selected and evaluated at M3 and M4 along with its parent and three other varieties as control in RCBD experiment in Sari Agricultural Sciences and ...
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Gamma irradiation was used at different doses (80, 160 and 240 Gy) on Glycine Max (L.) Merrill cv. Hill homogenous seeds. A single suitable M2 plant was selected and evaluated at M3 and M4 along with its parent and three other varieties as control in RCBD experiment in Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University’s experimental field. M-80-709 and M-160-3429 mutant lines were significantly shorter (55.05 and 72.04 cm respectively). Their branch numbers were however significantly more (8.70 and 11.53 respectively) compared to the parent cultivar (80.82 cm and 6.10 respectively) and other genotypes (p≤0.05), when calculated on per plant basis. Besides, the M-160-3429 was characterized by highest grain yield and oil content (38.25 g and 19.22% respectively), in compare with its parent (12.73 g and 19.09% respectively) and all others control cultivars (p≤0.05). The M-160-3429 mutant line with high grain yield and oil content accompanied with some other favorite morphological traits can be considered as a new promising line of soybean for future studies. Results from this study suggested that mutation breeding procedures at the ranges of 80 to 160 Gy is a capable method for breeding higher grain yield including increasing the oil content as well.
Molecular markers & plant breeding
Mostafa Haghpanah; Seyed Kamal Kazemitabar; Seyed Hamidreza Hashemi; Seyed Mohammad Alavi
Abstract
Urtica dioica is an important medicinal plant which is widely distributed in Mazandaran province (North of Iran). In this study for the first time Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) and Inter-simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) markers were used for detection of genetic polymorphism in Mazandaran ...
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Urtica dioica is an important medicinal plant which is widely distributed in Mazandaran province (North of Iran). In this study for the first time Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) and Inter-simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) markers were used for detection of genetic polymorphism in Mazandaran nettle. Ten AFLP primer combinations and seventeen ISSR markers were utilized. AFLP produced 830 scorable bands out of which 90.21% were polymorphic. ISSR primers amplified 234 bands, 181 being polymorphic (77.3%). Average heterozygosity for AFLP and ISSR markers were 0.25, 0.23 respectively. Marker Index obtains 22.25 for AFLP and 15.57 for ISSR. The number of cluster computed was same for both molecular makers but location of samples in branch were different. The total compare of these two marker systems shown AFLP marker was a useful tool for detection of U. dioica’sgenetic diversity. This plant is very variable and is genetically distinct in east, west and north of Mazandaran.
Plant breeding for abiotic & biotic stresses
Ehsan Mohsenifard; Mehdi Ghabooli; Nastaran Mehri; Behnam Bakhshi
Abstract
Drought stress is one of the most determinative factors of agriculture and plays a major role in limiting crop productivity. This limitation is going to rising through climate changes. However, plants have their own defense systems to moderate the adverse effects of climatic conditions. MicroRNA-mediated ...
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Drought stress is one of the most determinative factors of agriculture and plays a major role in limiting crop productivity. This limitation is going to rising through climate changes. However, plants have their own defense systems to moderate the adverse effects of climatic conditions. MicroRNA-mediated post-transcriptional gene regulation is one of these defense mechanisms. The root endophytic fungus Piriformospora indica enhances plant tolerance to environmental stress based on general and non-specific plant species mechanisms. In this work, we investigated the effects of drought and P. indica inoculation on the expression of two important miRNAs, miR159 and miR396, in rice plants. To this end, leaf samples were harvested at control (F.C.) and severe drought stress (25% F.C.) in P. indica-colonized and non-inoculated rice plants 4 weeks after fungal inoculation. We have observed contrary expression patterns of miR396 (down-regulated) and miR159 (up-regulated) under drought stress condition. However, both miRNAs showed up-regulation by P. indica inoculation. We have observed significant up-regulation of miR396 and miR159 by treatment of P. indica under drought stress condition. Regulation of growth, hyposensitivity response and bio-water saving pathways directly affected by MYB and GRF transcriptional factor. So, remarkable change of miR156 and miR396 could lead plant to be tolerable under drought stress by the fine regulation of MYB and GRF, respectively.
Shahla Amani; Mehdi Mohebodini; Shahram Khademvatan; Morad Jafari
Abstract
One of the most effective biotechnological techniques for producing plant metabolites is the hairy roots (HRs) culture system. HRs are genetically and biologically stable and able to produce secondary metabolites in a short time. Ficus carica L. is one of the most important plant sources of valuable ...
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One of the most effective biotechnological techniques for producing plant metabolites is the hairy roots (HRs) culture system. HRs are genetically and biologically stable and able to produce secondary metabolites in a short time. Ficus carica L. is one of the most important plant sources of valuable medicinal compounds, especially polyphenolic compounds. The aim of this study was to investigate the growth and morphological features of HRs, methyl jasmonate (MeJA) elicitation and plant regeneration potential of HRs induced by different strains of Agrobacterium rhizogenes on Ficus carica cv. Siah. Four bacterial strains (A4, A7, A13 and ATCC 15834) were used for HR induction in leaf and shoot samples. The MS medium containing 2 mg/l of 2,4-D in combination with 1 mg/l of TDZ or BAP was used to induce callus from HRs, and then the callus regeneration ability was evaluated in MS medium containing TDZ and NAA. Depending on explant type and bacterial strain, the roots were induced directly or indirectly (via callus formation) from the wound sites, and exhibited different morphology. The HRs showed high levels of phenolic compounds. A 4-day elicitation with MeJA, in dependence on the concentration, enhanced the phenolic capacity and antioxidant capacity of HRs. The calli obtained from HRs showed root (70-80%) and bud (23.33%) regeneration potential. The current study described that the HR culture systems, in addition to providing the possibility of plant regeneration from transgenic roots, could be a promising in vitro technique for high production of secondary metabolites through elicitation.
Plant molecular physiology & breeding
Saeid Navabpour
Abstract
Barley is an important feed grain in many areas such as Canada, Europe and in the U.S. It has also so important for animal feed and has several other usages such as alcohol industry, malt productive and biomass-fuels. The characteristics of physiological and biochemical events during leaf senescence ...
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Barley is an important feed grain in many areas such as Canada, Europe and in the U.S. It has also so important for animal feed and has several other usages such as alcohol industry, malt productive and biomass-fuels. The characteristics of physiological and biochemical events during leaf senescence either flag leaf or other leaves have been investigated in field-grown barley (Hordeum vulgare cv. Hordea). The traits included grain yield, chlorophyll and protein levels, CO2 assimilation rate, fluorescence, α-tocopherol and carotenoid levels, cellular oxidative level and chloroplast-encoded gene expression. The result showed significant role of flag leaf in grain yield. The chlorophyll and protein levels decline dramatically during senescence particularly in other levels. This result was quite similar for net CO2 assimilation rate and maximal efficiency of PSII photochemistry (Fv/Fm). This suggests that PSII apparatus remains functional in senescent flag leaf. Two main lipid-soluble antioxidant agents (α-tocopherol and carotenoid) showed significant increase particularly in flag leaf at late senescence stage around 25 days after anthesis, the level of lipid and other macromolecular-derived peroxidation has been measured by TBARM assay. The TBARM levels increased gradually during flag leaf and particularly other leaves senescence. The transcript levels of the chloroplast-encoded psbA decrease during senescence especially in other leaves. However, the transcript level was significantly higher in flag leaf leading to high level of photosynthesis capacity at the molecular level.
Plant breeding for abiotic & biotic stresses
Abbas Hajipour; Mohammad-Mehdi Sohani; Valiollah Babaeizad; Hasan Hasani-Kumleh
Abstract
The root endophytic fungus, Piriformospora indica, colonizes roots of a large number of plant species including Cereals and Brasicaceae. There are several reports indicating that P. indica protects roots from different path- ogens. In the present study, rice plants were pre-inoculated with P. indica ...
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The root endophytic fungus, Piriformospora indica, colonizes roots of a large number of plant species including Cereals and Brasicaceae. There are several reports indicating that P. indica protects roots from different path- ogens. In the present study, rice plants were pre-inoculated with P. indica and were subsequently infected with Fusarium proliferatum, as the causal agent of root rot and crown rot (Bakanae) disease. The effects of P. indica on the protection of rice plants against F. proliferatum were evaluated. Transcription levels of some pathogenesis-related genes such as NPR1, PR1, PR4 and PR5, as well as two transcriptional factor genes namely WRKY62 and WRKY85 were quantified via quantitative real time PCR in rice roots. Pre-inoculated and challenged rice plants showed mild disease symptoms with two weeks delay compared to non P. indica colonized plants. Quantification of Fusarium in roots via q-PCR con- firmed the higher quantity of the fungi in non pre-inoculated plants. Expression analysis revealed a faster induction of pathogenesis related genes following F. proliferatum inoculation of pre-inoculated plants i.e. priming of these genes is a part of mechanism of P. indica induced systemic resistance.
Micropropagation & plant breeding
Shiva Shahi; Ali Izadi-Darbandi; Hossein Ramshini; Mehdi Younessi-hamzekhanlu
Abstract
Callus induction and regeneration of fennel from embryo explants were stabilized in the presence of cefotaxime antibiotic and different plant growth regulators (PGRs). The experiments were conducted under a factorial experiment, based on a completely randomized design (CRD). Genotypes; Fasa, Meshkinshar ...
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Callus induction and regeneration of fennel from embryo explants were stabilized in the presence of cefotaxime antibiotic and different plant growth regulators (PGRs). The experiments were conducted under a factorial experiment, based on a completely randomized design (CRD). Genotypes; Fasa, Meshkinshar and Hajiabad were applied under different concentration of cefotaxime (0 and 100 mg l-1), NAA (0 and 0.2 mg l-1), IAA (0 and 0.4 mg l-1) and BAP (0, 0.5 and 1mg l-1). Regeneration, proliferations and root induction were taken placed on studied media, after 35 days without sub-culturing. The highest rate of proliferation with 200 shoots per explant was observed on B5 medium, containing100 mg l-1 cefotaxime and 1.0 mg l-1 BAP. Callus induction and proliferations were observed in all media containing 100 mg l-1 cefotaxime that can be related to auxin like activity of cefotaxime in fennel tissue culture.
Advanced breeding technologies
Elham Younesi-Melerdi; Ghorbanali Nematzadeh; Ehsan Shokri
Abstract
Codon bias refers to the differences in the frequency of occurrence of synonymous codons in coding DNA. Pattern of codon and optimum codon utilization is significantly different between the lives. This difference is due to the long term function of natural selection and evolution process. Genetics drift, ...
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Codon bias refers to the differences in the frequency of occurrence of synonymous codons in coding DNA. Pattern of codon and optimum codon utilization is significantly different between the lives. This difference is due to the long term function of natural selection and evolution process. Genetics drift, mutation and regulation of gene expression are the main reasons for codon bias. In this study, the codon bias analysis was done on photosynthesis and respiratory related genes of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC), NADP-malic enzyme (NADP-ME), pyruvate orthophosphate dikinase (PPDK), glycerate kinase (GK) (nuclear genes), rubisco, NADH-dehydrogenase subunit F and cytochrome-C (chloroplast genes) from Aeluropus littoralis plant. Nuclear gene sequences were obtained after partial isolation and for chloroplast genes obtained from nucleotide database. Calculation of codon adaptation index (CAI) showed that studied genes with direct or indirect association with photosynthesis, had high level of gene expression and had also a tendency to optimum codon utilization. The results also showed the difference in codon bias between genes encoded in nucleus and chloroplast for some amino acids.