Safflower (Carthamus tinctorious L.) is an oilseed crop that is valued as a source of high quality vegetable oil. The genetic diversity of 16 safflower genotypes originated from different geographical regions of Iran and some with exotic origin were evaluated. Eight different seed quality-related traits including fatty acid composition of seed oil (stearic acid, palmitic acid, oleic acid and linoleic acid), the contents of, oil, protein, fiber and ash in its seeds, as well as 20 inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) polymorphic primers were used in this study. Analysis of variance showed significant variation in genotypes for the seed quality-related traits. Based on ISSR markers, a total of 204 bands were amplified and 149 bands (about 70%) of these were polymorphic. Cluster analysis based on either biochemical or molecular markers classified the genotypes into four groups, showing some similarities between molecular and biochemical markers for evaluated genotypes. A logical similarity between the genotype clusters based on molecular data with their geographical origins was observed.

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Electrospinning is a well‐known technique for producing nanofibers using synthetic and natural polymers like mucilage. In this study, Plantago major Mucilage (PMM) was blended with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as a nontoxic adding agent, in order to produce electrospun nanofiber. Electrospinning parameters (voltage, tip‐to‐collector distance, feed rate, and PMM/PVA ratio) were optimized and solution properties were analyzed. The morphology of nanofibers was investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET). Mechanical strength of nanofibers was determined, and cell viability on nanofibers was discussed by MTT assay. The results of SEM indicated that the PMM/PVA (50/50) nanofibers obtained with average diameter of 250 nm. Viscosity, electrical conductivity, and surface tension of PMM/PVA solution were 550 Cp, 575 μS/cm, and 47.044 mN/m, respectively. FTIR and XRD results verified the exiting PMM in produced nanofibers and no chemical reaction between PMM and PVA. Improvement in mechanical strength and cell viability of nanofibers by adding PMM to PVA nanofibers indicated the potential application of PMM‐based nanofibers for medical and food industries. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47852.

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Genetics of agronomic traits in safflower was determined using 6×6 full diallel population. Data were recorded on days to flowering, days to maturity, plant height, primary branches per plant, head diameter, number of heads per plant, number of seeds per head, 1000-seed weight and seed yield per plant. Variance components showed that days to maturity and heads per plant were largely controlled by dominance gene effects, whereas 1000-seed weight, plant height and seeds per head were governed by additive type of gene action. The results also revealed both additive and non-additive types of gene actions for remaining traits. The significant mean squares of reciprocal crosses for days to flowering, head diameter, number of seeds per head, 1000-seed weight and seed yield per plant suggested that maternal inheritance also played an important role in the inheritance of these traits. Significant general combining ability for yield revealed that genetic improvement through accumulation of desirable alleles from parents in the target genotype using appropriate selection methods would be desirable in safflower.

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Thymus species are aromatic plants with diverse applications in food industries and medicine. This study was conducted to evaluate the potential effect of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) on callus proliferation and thymol and carvacrol production in three Thymus species, that is, T. vulgaris, T. daenensis, and T. kotschyanus, and Zataria multiflora. For this purpose, callus induction was performed on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing different plant growth regulators (PGRs). After optimization of callus growth, the effects of different concentrations of ZnO NPs (100 and 150 mg L −1 ) were investigated. MS containing 2 mg L −1 of 2, 4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D) and 1 mg L −1 of kinetin (Kin) revealed significantly highest fresh weight (0.18 g) of callus in T.kotschyanus. Callus growth rate (0.079 mm day −1 ) was found highest in T. vulgaris under similar conditions. Moreover, highest callus induction (92.50%) was achieved by T. kotschyanus in MS containing 2.5 mg L −1 of 2,4-D. Regarding the highest content of thymol (22.8 mg L −1 ) and carvacrol (0.68 mg L −1 ) evaluated by high-performance liquid chromatography, best results were achieved under 150 mg L −1 of ZnO NPs in T. kotschyanus and T. daenesis, respectively. This is simple and cost-effective method to be applied on industrial level for production of enhanced secondary metabolites content. potent chemical elicitors as signaling agents that effect a great diversity of physiological and biochemical processes in plant metabolism and plant secondary metabolites production [1,2]. NPs are capable of increasing cell membrane permeability, stimulating defensive mechanisms in plant cells, and subsequent increase in secondary metabolites content [2,3]. Zinc oxide (ZnO) NPs as an inorganic micronutrient have a beneficial effect on plant growth, cell division, and structure and function of membrane because of their high electron mobility, large surface area, and catalytic activity [4]. Most of the recent studies are focused on the effects of NPs on seed germination [5], plant growth rate [6] physiological responses [3][4][5][6], and secondary metabolites production [2][3][4][5]. Recent studies have shown that plant growth, development, and physiology are significantly affected by NPs; however, their role on plant secondary metabolism, especially regarding callus culture, is still obscure [2]. The inclusion of NPs to tissue culture media could enhance

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is considered as an oil crop that is rich in medicinal and industrial properties. In this study, the genetic diversity of safflower was assessed using 12 polymorphic sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAPs) and 11 polymorphic start codon targeted (SCoT) markers in 100 genotypes of safflower gathered from different geographical regions of the world. The 23 primers generated a total of 227 polymorphism fragments with a mean of 68.2% within the range of 3 (SCoT 31 and SCoT 35) to 13 (SCoT 35) bands per primer. Polymorphism per primer ranged between 100% (in Me4-Em1) and 18.1% (in SCoT19), with an average of 36.76%. The polymorphism information contents of the SRAP and SCoT markers were 0.35 and 0.30, respectively, indicating that SRAP markers were more effective than SCoT markers for assessing the degree of genetic diversity of the safflower. The results of the analysis of molecular variance showed a significant difference across cultivated safflower genotypes possessing a high intra-population variation. The examined accessions were categorized into five clusters based on similarity centers: the Middle East containing Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Tajikistan; the Far East, including India, Pakistan, and Korea; Europe; the American continent; and Africa, including Egypt, Sudan and Libya. The present study shows the effectiveness of employing the mixture of SRAP and SCoT markers in the identification of safflower genetic diversity that would be useful for conservation and population genetics of safflower improvement in further studies.