---

Kasf forest, with an area of over 12 ha, running in the east-west direction and located at a distance of 20 kilometers in the north of the city of Bardaskan in a mountainous arid region. The minimum and maximum temperature of the area ranges between -10° C and +45° C. The average annual precipitation of the region is 155 mm.  The altitude of the forest is about 1600 m above sea level with a 15% slope. The vegetation of this forest was studied using floristic methods 2 years after a devastative fire and life forms and geographical distributions of plant species were determined. Sixty nine plant species belonged to 29 families (25 Dicots, 3 monocots and one gymnosperm). The largest families were the Lamiaceae with 11, Asteraceae with 9 and Caryophyllaceae with 5 species. The percentages of life forms were determined as follows: Therophytes with 36% (25 species), Hemicryptophytes with 29% (20 species), Chamaephytes with 16% (11 species), Phanerophytes with 13% (9 species) and Cryptophytes with 6% (4 species) of total investigated species. The high percentage of Hemicryptophytes indicated the dominance of cold mountainous climate and the presence of Asteraceae species such as harmala (Peganum harmala) showed that a severe disturbance had taken place in the region, which indicated a poor ecological administration in the studied region.

---

Fish oil in the diet of fish is constantly at the risk of oxidation. In this study, the effects of feeding sturgeon hybrid (Huso huso ♂ ×Acipenser ruthenus ♀) with different levels of oxidized fish oil (OFO) on thyroid hormones were investigated. Three experimental diets were made by replacing 0 (control), 50 and 100% OFO were made. Ninety hybrid sturgeon, with the initial weights of 212.6 ± 07g were distributed in 9 fiberglass tanks (2 m³) randomly after 2 weeks of adaptation with experimental conditions. Feeding was performed three times daily (08:00, 14:00 and 20:00) for 6 weeks for satisfaction. At the end of the period, blood samples were taken and their serum was separated. Serum thyroxine and triiodotyronine were measured by radioimmunoassay in blood samples. Serum thyroxine, triiodotyronine and thyroxine/triiodotyronine level showed no significant change related to dietary OFO. Our findings showed that dietary-oxidized oil had no effect on blood thyroid hormones levels.

---

To understand the Eco physiological adaptation mechanisms of Fagus orientalis Lipesk to altitude changes, the activities of Peroxidase (POD), Catalase (CAT), and Ascorbate peroxidase (APX) in leaves of Fagus orientalis in different altitudes (A1: 700 m, A2: 1200 m, A3: 1700 m above sea level)  Was studied in the forests of Guilan. The sampling of leaves was collected from southern and northern parts of the crown of healthy and mature trees. The results of analysis variance showed that there was a significant difference between and within the population for the activity of catalase and peroxidase enzymes at the probability level of 0.05 and with increasing altitude, the activity of catalase and peroxidase were increased but the activity of Ascorbate peroxidase enzyme was initially increased and its level of activity decreased from the middle altitude with increasing altitude. Also, the results showed that the enzymatic activity of peroxidase and catalase in the northern leaves was more than the southern leaves that collected in crown of the trees.

---

Charcoal rot caused by Macrophomina phaseolina is one of the most important soil borne diseases with a broad host range including bean, which annually brings a significant damage to this plant. Biological control of charcoal rot is very important because its chemical control harms the environment, microflora and soil fertility. Chemical control of charcoal rot is also difficult and sometimes ineffective. Fluorescent Pseudomonads are able to increase plant growth and inhibit the development of plant pathogens by producing and secreting antibiotics, enzymes, siderophores, and plant hormones. In this study, infected bean plants by M. phaseolina were collected from infected bean fields of Khorramabad (Lorestan Province, Iran) in the summer of 2015. Virulence of fungal isolates was evaluated in a greenhouse and one isolate with the highest pathogenicity was chosen for further experiments. The biocontrol potential of eight Pseudomonas fluorescens strains, whose biocontrol abilities were proved in previous studies, was examined against M. phaseolina in vitro. The growth inhibition of M. phaseolina was examined by dual culture test and the antifungal activity of bacterial volatile and nonvolatile metabolites. P. fluorescens UTPf125, which showed the highest inhibitory effect on the mycelial growth, was selected for greenhouse tests. UTPf125 strain led to a significant reduction (%50) of disease severity and increased fresh and dry weight significantly. Phenol compounds were evaluated 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 days after inoculation by pathogen. The results showed that the highest value of total phenol content was obtained on the third and fifth days after inoculation, decreasing on the seventh and ninth days.
 
 

---

Stachys sect. Satureoides includes four species characterized by being annual herbs having oblanceolate leaves, urceolate calyx in fruit and dense hairs at mouth and are distributed from Eastern and Southern Turkey, Syria, Northern Iraq to Western Iran. The main aim of present study is to determine the phylogenetic placement of S. sect. Satureoides based on Stachys melampyroides, as the only representative of this section in Iran. The present molecular study was conducted based on nuclear ribosomal ITS marker, using Maximum Parsimony and Bayesian Inference analyses. In total, 86 accessions (including nine outgroups and 77 ingroups) were included. Our results demonstrated that sect. Satureoides was placed in Olisia clade which is one of the most heterogenous and taxonomically challenging clades of Stachys as a paraphyletic genus. Moreover, not only sect. Satureoides was not found to be phylogenetically close to sect. Neurocalyx, as had been suggested by previous morphological studies, but also it was placed as a sister group of sect Fragilicaulis which was characterized by chasmophilus species with fragile stems and yellow flowers. Our results revealed that sect. Neurocalyx could be the closest group to the Satureoides+Fragilicaulis clade. In addition, based on the nrITS phylogenetic tree, annual species of Stachys showed affinity to perennial Stachys species. Hence, it seems that “Annual habit” have been evolved among their perennial ancestors, independently.
 

---

Texture quality is an important factor in evaluating of fruits. The cut surfaces of the apple fruit turn brown because of the oxidation of phenolic compounds, triggered by polyphenol oxidase enzyme. Preventing the oxidation of phenolic substances and changing color of fruit are very important in the food industry. Due to the adverse effects of chemical additives on human health and increasing consumer preference for natural alternative compounds makes an interesting market for natural plant ingredients. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of some chemical and natural compounds including sodium metabisulfite, and citric acid, aromatic waters (sweats) of chicory, licorice and lemongrass on polyphenol oxidase enzyme activity of apple fruits. The activity of polyphenol oxidase was evaluated spectrophotometrically using pyrogallol as substrate. The optimum temperature and pH values were 32 °C and 7, respectively. It was found that the enzyme activity decreased due to use of natural compounds, sodium metabisulfite and citric acid. In conclusion, polyphenol oxidase activity can be reduced to prevent of fruits browning by using suitable natural compounds instead of chemicals.