IntroductionCutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is among the top 10 infectious disease priorities in the world, and the leading cause of morbidity in Iran. The present study was conducted to assess the risk of CL, and to determine some epidemiological features of the disease in endemic areas of Qom Province in Central Iran during 2009 to 2013.MethodsData regarding human cases of the disease were obtained from the Qom Province Health Center, prepared and stored in a spatial database created in ArcGIS10.3. A total of 9 out of 212 Leishmania spp. positive slides taken in 2013 from patients residing in Qom city were examined using molecular methods and the species of Leishmania was identified by PCR-RFLP. Those 9 patients had no history of travel outside the city. Spatial analysis and clustering methods were applied to find major hot spots and susceptible areas for the establishment of novel foci of the disease. Transmission patterns were examined for spatial autocorrelation using the Moran's I statistical application, and for the clustering of high or low values using the Getis-Ord Gi* statistics.ResultsDuring the period of study, a total of 1767 CL cases were passively reported in the area, out of which were 65% males and 35% females. The highest and lowest numbers of cases were reported in 2010 and 2013, respectively. Importantly, 979 cases were reported from urban areas, while the remainder came from rural areas. Leishmania major was detected as the causative agent of CL in the city of Qom. Remarkably, most patients recorded in Qom city were associated with a history of travel to the endemic areas of CL within the province, or to other endemic areas of the disease in Iran. Spatial distribution of CL cases revealed northeastern and southwestern quarters of the city were the major hot spots of the disease (P<0.05). Hot spot and CL transmission risk analysis across the province indicated that more than 40 villages were located in high and very high risk areas of CL transmission.ConclusionsDue to the existence of hot spots (P<0.05) of CL in successive years in some quarters of Qom city, along with detection of L. major from the patients without a history of travel, there may be potential of local transmission of the disease within the city. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive study concerning the hot spots of CL in Qom city for curtailing the incidence of the disease in the city. The methodology and the results of this study is essential in serving as a yardstick for subsequent similar studies that will be carried out in other endemic areas of CL in Iran and providing an adequate tool for the establishment of a national database of cutaneous leishmaniasis.

The use of biocontrol strains recently has become a popular alternative to conventional chemical treatments. A set of bacteria isolated from sugar beet rhizosphere and from roots and shoots of apple and walnut were evaluated for their potential to control sugar beet seedling damping-off caused by R. solani AG-4 and AG2-2.The results of in vitro assays concluded that three isolates, SB6, SB14, SB15, obtained from rhizosphere of sugar beet and five isolates, AP2, AP4, AP6, AP7, AP8, obtained from shoots and roots of apple were the most effective antagonists that inhibited the mycelial growth of both R. solani isolates. Combination of several biochemical tests and partial sequencing of 16S rRNA and gyrBgenes revealed that eight efficient bacterial isolates could be assigned to the genus Bacillus and all could tolerate high temperatures and salt concentrations in their vegetative growth. The potential biocontrol activity of the eight bacterial antagonists were tested in greenhouse condition. The results indicated that four strains,B. amyloliquefaciens SB14, B. pumilus SB6,B. siamensis AP2 and B. siamensisAP8 exerted a significant influence on controlling of seedling damping-off and performed significantly better than others.However, the treatment of the seeds with bacteria was most effective when the isolate SB14 was used, which significantly controlled damping-off disease by 58% caused by R. solani AG-4 and by 52.5% caused by R. solani AG-2-2. This indicates that the use of beneficial bacterial native to the host plant may increase the success rate in screening biocontrols, because these microbes are likely to be better adapted to their host and its associated environmental conditions than are strains isolated from other plant species grown in different environmental conditions. We can infer from the results reported here that sugar beet plantsmay recruitbeneficial microbes to the rhizosphere to help them solve context-specific challenges.

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This study was investigated to identify compositions of Hypericum perforatum L. population from Urmia-Iran. The extract was obtained from the aerial parts of Hypericum perforatum L. and plant extract were analyzed by GC-MASS spectrometry. Seventy-eight compositions were identified in the extract of H. perforatum with Ethane (31.37%), Acetic acid (9.64%), 2-Propanone (7.37%), Cyclopropyl carbinol (4.13%), 1-Octadecanamine (3.32%), Acet Aldehyde (2.22%), 2-Cyclopenten-1-one (2.12%), Ethene (1.92%), Glycerin (1.84%), Para Methoxy Cinnamic Aldehyde (1.55%), Cyclohexanamine (1.47%), 2-Propenal (1.45%), Azulene (1.32%) as the most abundant components. 68 M. Saadatian et al.