Nova Biologica Reperta

Anxiolytic and antidepressant effects of tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus L.) hydro-alcoholic extract in male rats exposed to chronic restraint stress

Mehdi Rahnema

Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus L.) has antioxidant, anti-diabetic, anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory proper-ties. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of tarragon hydro-alcoholic extract on anxiety and depression in male rats exposed to chronic restraint stress. Forty eight male rats were randomly divided into six groups including 1) control, 2) stress, 3) tarragon 100, 4) tarragon 500, 5) stress-tarragon 100 and 6) stress-tarragon 500. Groups 2, 5, and 6 were placed in restrainer for 21 consecutive days, 6 hours a day. Groups 3, 4, 5, and 6 were gavaged with tarragon extract of different do-ses (100 and 500mg/kg). At the end of this 21-day period, anxiety and depression were evaluated by elevated plus maze and forced swimming test. Data analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA, p<0.05 being considered significant. The pe-rcentages of open arm entry and time spent in open arm increased significantly in tarragon-stress groups compared with st-ress group (p<0.05). Tarragon extract decreased significantly the immobility time in rats exposed to stress in forced swim-ming test (p<0.01). The results suggested that hydro-alcoholic extract of Artemisia dracunculus L. reduced the anxiety and depression in rats exposed to chronic immobilization stress, probably due to its anti-oxidant compounds

Pollen morphology of the genus Rubus L. subgenus Rubus (Rosaceae) in Iran

Razieh Kasalkheh

Pollen grains of 7 species of the genus Rubus L. were investigated using light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). 14 different pollen characters were described, illustrated and compared in the present st-udy. All pollen grains were monad, tricolporate, radially symmetrical, isopolar, and medium in size. As for pollen sh-ape, 3 forms were recognized in the same specimens: prolate, perprolate and prolate-spheroidal. Endopore was located in the middle of colpi. The sculpture of the grains was confirmed to have striate pattern. The size of perforation and the orientation of the muri were compared and appeared to indicate the differences between the species. R.caesius, R. disc-olor, R. dolichocarpus and R. hirtus appear to have steriate-scabrate sculpture; in contrast, R. hyrcanus Juz., R. persicus Boiss. and R. sanctus Schreber. appear to have meandrical and fingerprint-like sculpture. Perforations are of two types. They are either large or often extending to tectal ridges or minute holes. Characters of pollen grains were proved their usefulness for separating taxa at the specific level. It seems that there is a link between the diversity of pollens and the vegetation habitats.

Morphological and palynological studies in Ranunculus (L.) sect. Batrachium (DC.) Gray in Iran

Maneeezheh Pakravan

In this study the morphological and micromorphologcal characters of Ranunculus Sect. Batrachium species in Iran have been investigated. The characters describe leaf, petal and fruit, in addition to pollen grains in four species of the genus including, R. sphaerospermus Boiss. & Blanche, R. trichophyllum Chaix ex. Vill., R. rionii Lagger and R. peltatus Schrank. Pollen grains were tricolpate and had species-specific shapes. The sculpture of the exine was echinnate in all of the species studied. Seven morphological characters have been studied using statistical methods and SPSS software has been used in order to group the species. These analyses indicated that R. sphaerospermus was a valid species and very similar to R. peltatus. Also, intraspecific diversity in R. trichophyllum was confirmed by statistical methods

The increase of salinity tolerance in three turf grass species using trinexapac-ethyl

Habibollah Samizadeh Lahiji

In most parts of Iran, the presence of water and soil salinity in urban area results in problems for grass growth. One way to solve this problem is the use of plant growth retardant, such as trinexapac-ethyl (TE), which is common and routine in turf management. This study was performed to investigate the response of Agrostis stolonifera L., Agropyron desertorum L. and Festuca ovina L., grown in sandy loam soil, to TE and irrigation water salinity. Resu-lts showed that spraying turf grass with TE increased most of the vegetative growth characteristics and content of chlo-rophylls, carotenoids and proline in clipping leaves, whereas increasing the NaCl concentration in irrigation water resu-lted in steady reduction in the values of these parameters, except carotenoids and proline content, compared with the co-ntrol group. Both TE and salinity treatments decreased the plant heights, as well as the fresh and dry weight of clip-pings. In the species which were studied, Agrostis stolonifera turned out to be the most tolerant turfgrass. Results also indicated that the application of TE enhances salinity resistance by improving the percentage of green leaf, chlorophyll concentration and proline content and reduce clipping in the species studied

Isolation and identification of cutinase enzyme producing bacteria

Mojtaba Mortazavi

Cutinase belongs to the family of serine hydrolases which are capable of hydrolysis of esters and small polyester such as cutin. The cutin of plants is composed of hydroxy and epoxy fatty acids and is substantially imperm-eable to water and only the plant pathogenic bacteria are capable of degrading it. Initially, in order to identify the extent of cutin in cucumber (Cucumis sativus' C. sativus'), golden apples (Golden Delicious apple 'Malus domestica'), red ap-ples (Red Delicious apple 'Malus domestica'') and tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum Mill. Commun ' S. lycopersicum'), their fruits were obtained. Cutin was extracted from the fruit skin of each studied specimen and compared by chloro-form-methanol method. Then, isolation of enzyme-producing strains was performed by the use of the specific medium containing cutin and enzyme activity assay. DNA of the specimens was extracted, and PCR were performed with univ-ersal primers for 16s DNA. The remainder was devoted to bioinformatic analysis, identification and registration of samples in the gene bank. The results showed that the percentage of extracted cutin in red apple was more than other samples and as a result, red apple are expected to be more resistant against diseases and pests. Also, six cutinase-prod-ucer strains of Klebsiella and Enterobacter were isolated with the help of enzyme activity and special culture medium containing cutin, and their 16s DNA region coding sequences were recorded in the GenBank.

The effect of salinity stress on survival, biochemical and blood parameters in fingerling Cyprinus carpio fingerling fed with herbal supplement of Carum carvi

Zahra Roohi

This study was conducted in order to measure glucose, cholesterol and hematocrit as indicators to evaluate the effect of caraway seeds meal (CSM) on the health and resistance of common carp to salinity stress. To attain this goal, fish (2.457±0.057 g) were divided into four groups fed on diets containing different levels of CSM; 0 (control), 0.5, 1 and 1.5%. After 56 days of feeding, blood samples of the fish were obtained in five stages (once before and four times after stress) to evaluate glucose, cholesterol and hematocrit levels. The experiments indicated that salinity sign-ificantly affected glucose, cholesterol and hematocrit. On the first day after stress, the hematocrit and glucose levels were considerably increased in all groups compared with their levels before stress. After stress, cholesterol level signif-icantly decreased in all groups compared to before stress. The level of hematocrit indicated no significant difference among the groups before and after stress. On the first day after stress, the glucose levels significantly increased in trea-ted groups with CSM compared with the control group. The glucose and hematocrit levels were decreased gradually in all groups from the third day on. After stress, no differences were observed for survival rates among the experimental diets. However, the highest survival rate belonged to treated groups with CSM. The overall result indicated that the suplement of CSM has a positive influence on the glucose, hematocrit and resistance of common carp to salinity stress.

Skeletal structure of Kura bleak, Alburnus filippii (Kessler, 1877), in South Caspian Sea basin

Soheil Eagderi

Kura bleak, Alburnus filippii, a member of the family Cyprinidae, is found in the rivers of Aras and Sefidrud, and the Anzali lagoon of Iran. The current study was conducted to provide a detailed osteological description of this sp-ecies since there was not adequate information in this regard. In order to attain this goal, 20 specimens were collected from the Ahar Chay River by electrofishing device, and fixed in 10% buffered formalin. The specimens were cleared, stained with alizarin red S and alcian blue for osteological examination and a detailed description of its skeletal structure was provided. The results showed that this species can be distinguished from other members of this genus in Iran by a combination of osteological characters, including having pointed process of the maxillae, dorsal tilting of the coronoid process, protruding of the anterior margin of the hyomandibular, fan-shaped anterior part of the basihyal, pointed end of the pre-vomer posteriorly, small fourth infraorbital and 11 pterygiophors in the dorsal fin.

Revision of the genus Lappula Moench based on morphological characters in Khorassan Provinces (Iran)

Yasamin Nasseh

A revision was carried out on the genus Lappula Moench (Boraginaceae) in Khorassan provinces. A total of herbarium specimens collected from different parts of the studied area, including the three provinces of North, Razavi and South Khorassan, were studied. All specimens are deposited in Ferdowsi University of Mashhad Herbarium, (FUMH). According to the results of the study, there are 6 Lappula species in the region: L. barbata, L. microcarpa, L. semiglabra, L. sessiliflora, L. sinaica and L. spinocarpos. In addition, by revising the annual specimens that had been previously misidentified as L. drobovii, a perennial species, these specimens were identified as L. sessiliflora. Identification key, distribution map and species pictures in this article have been presented.

Comparison of angiosperm flora of Afghanistan and Iran in accordance with APG IV system

Farrokh Ghahremaninejad

Considering fundamental changes in the classification of angiosperms, based on phylogenetic studies, makes revising and updating Floras inevitable. Hence, in this paper, changes in the flora of Afghanistan have been listed and compared with the flora of Iran. As the latest studies indicate, according to APG IV system, the flora of Afghanistan comp-rises 40 orders, 130 families, about 1030 genera and 5065 species of angiosperms. In comparison the flora of Iran comprises 42 orders, 139 families, nearly 1252 genera and 8090 species of angiosperms. Moreover, the two countries share 39 orders, 124 families, 844 genera and about 1800 species. In Afghanistan the largest number of families belongs to Lamiales and in Iran to Caryophyllales. Asteraceae contains the largest number of genera in both countries. As far as the number of species in concerned, the largest angiosperms family in Afghanistan is Asteraceae, but in Iran it is Fabaceae. The most diverse ge-nera of both countries are Astragalus and Cousinia respectively. Gymnosperms have two orders, four families, seven genera and 22 species in Afghanistan, while in Iran they have two orders, three families, five genera and 17 species. By adding 58 species of pteridophytes and 311 species of bryophytes to Afghanistan’s flora and 60 species of pteridophytes and 534 spec-ies of bryophytes to Iran’s flora, in total, Embryophyta have approximately 5460 species in Afghanistan and 8700 species in Iran.