No abstract

In vitro selection of Foeniculum vulgare for salt tolerance was undertaken by the use of somaclonal variation. In this idea, explants of root, hypocotyl and cotyledon of sterilized seedling were transferred to callus and regeneration media with concentrations of 0, 50, 100 and 150 mM of NaCl. After 4 weeks, calli induction, regeneration frequency and calli fresh and dry weights, in both control and stress conditions, were measured. The results showed that salinity caused a significant decrease in the callus induction and shoot regeneration of fennel. However, in the presence of 100 and 150 mM NaCl, the highest frequency of callus induction in hypocotyl and cotyledon explants was recorded on the media supplemented with 1 mg l-1 IAA (Indol-3-Acetic Acid) plus 1 mg l-1 2,4-D (2, 4- dichlorophenoxyacetic acid) and 2 mg l-1 kinetin. Among different growth regulator treatments, the combination of 2 mg l-1 NAA (Naphtaleneacetic acid) and 0.5 mg l-1 kinetin was found to be the most effective for shoot regeneration under stress condition. The highest dose of NaCl (150 mM) inhibited callus induction and shoot regeneration compared to control with 41% and 96% respectively. The calli fresh and dry weights of all explants were decreased with the increas of NaCl concentration. The highest and the lowest of dry and fresh weight of calli were observed in 0 and 150 mM respectively.

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L .) is a valuable forage crop which is grown in areas of limited rainfall, high temperature and where the land is often salt affected . Seedlings of the commercial variety CUF 101 and the more salt tolerant breeding line CUF101-1S were used as explant material to produce tissue cultures for an in vitro screen for salt tolerance. Callus cultures were placed on a regeneration medium containing 0-350 mol m-3 NaCl to establish the highest possible salt concentration that would allow buds to regenerate and survive as plantlets . Buds were regenerated in 250 mol m-3 NaCl then isolated, grown to maturity and set seed . The response to salt tolerance in the short term was investigated by exposing 14-day-old seedlings to 200 mol m-3 NaCl . Measurement of growth, survival, proline concentration and the activity of antioxidant enzymes were made after 14 days exposure to NaCl .

In the present study, genetic diversity in seven cultivars of cultivated barley (Hordeum vulgare) populations was evaluated using 10 microsatellite markers. Genomic DNA was extracted from fresh leaves and amplification reactions were done by PCR. The amplification products were separated on 6% denaturing polyacrylamide gels containing 7M urea and visualized via silver staining method. High level of polymorphism was observed among populations. Polymorphic bands ranged from 100 to 300 bp. Altogether 65 alleles were observed among all genotypes, with an average of 9.2 alleles per locus for all loci. Polymorphic information content (PIC) ranged from 0.80 to 0.88 with an average of 0.84. 'Sahand' populations showed the lowest mean of gene diversity whereas the highest mean of heterozygosity observed in Rayhan populations that can prepare a powerful resource of genetic diversity for breeding programs. The genotypes were clustered using unweight pair-group method on arithmetic average by POPGEN32 software. The dendrogram discriminated all the genotypes in several groups. The results showed that SSR markers have a high ability to reveal most of the information in a single locus and can be used for genetic analysis in molecular levels determination of genetic similarity and clustering barley cultivars.

Medicinal plants are the most important source of medicine. Cuminum setifolium ( Boiss.) Kos.-Pol. with common name of white cumin, a member of the Apiaceae family, growing wild on mountains was investigated as a species having capability for cultivation and crop breeding. Generally, there is not information about Cuminum setifolium species. The aim of this study was to found plant identification and distribution in Iran, phenology, best treatment for seeds germination, farm cultivation and anatomical description. Cuminum setifolium plant is a annual herb which is distributed in Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tien-Shan and central Asia. In our studied region, the plant is generally grown on calcareous marl soils with climatic conditions of desert cold, semi-arid to arid having hot summer and cold winter. The effects of different treatment on seed germination showed significant highest germination percentage (54.4%), germination rate (6.4%) were obtained from seeds that had exposed for 3 weeks at 4°C after omit of seeds hairs. The experiment of cultivation showed the best time for sowing in Mashhad was autumn and growing time was from middle of March until end of June and ripening seeds were end of June at 2005. Microscopic observation of the root structure showed lacking secondary structures and having epidermis tissue with only a row of cells along with relatively thick cuticle and for stem and leaf structure with stomata without any hairs. Parenchyma cells contained 2-3 rows of irregular oblong cells. Stomata type of epidermis was diacytic and distance between stomata was measured 5 μm in average.