Identification of Botrytis spp. on Plants Grown in Iran

A total of 363 isolates were collected from all over Iran. They were isolated from apple, arum lily, briar rose, bride wort, broad bean, camellia, canola, carnation, cucumber, egg plant, feijoa, geranium, gerbera, gladiolus, grape, guilder rose, hibiscus, iris, kiwifruit, oleander, onion, orange, pear, pomegranate, primrose, quince, redbud, robinia, rose, rubber plant, sow thiste, spathe flower, strawberry, tomato, violet, wall flower and wheat. To identify the species, morphological characters such as conidiophore length, conidial and sclerotial dimensions were measured. According to morphological and cultural characters, eight Botrytis species were identified: B. aclada sensu lato, B. cinerea, B. fabae, B. convoluta, B. gladiolorum, B. paeoniae, B. pelargonii and B. porri. As far as we are aware, this is the first report of the last five species from Iran. These species were examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using necrosis and ethylene‐inducing protein (NEP2) and C729 primers. A 835 bp band was amplified in B. cinerea, B. fabae and B. pelargonii, using NEP2, but not in others. However, C729 primers amplified a 700 bp band in B. cinerea and B. pelargonii and a 600 bp in B. fabae.     

Assessing wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genetic diversity using quality traits, amplified fragment length polymorphisms, simple sequence repeats and proteome analysis

The genetic diversity among 10 Iranian bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) genotypes was analysed using 12 quality traits, 320 amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP) polymorphic fragments, 491 simple sequence repeats (SSR) alleles and 294 proteome markers. The results revealed that the genotypes differed for quality traits, AFLP, SSR and proteome markers. The average genetic diversity based on quality traits (0.684 with a range of 0.266–0.997) was higher than AFLP (0.502 with a range of 0.328–0.717), SSR (0.503 with a range of 0.409–0.595) and proteome (0.464 with a range of 0.264–0.870) markers. Although there were apparent similarities between the groupings of particular genotypes, the overall correspondence between the distance matrices appeared to be rather low. In this study, the cluster analysis based on AFLP data showed the closest agreement with genotypes’ regions of origin or pedigree information. In addition to the genetic diversity assessment, specific proteins with known function were detected uniquely for the studied genotypes. Our results suggest that the classification based on quality traits and genotypic markers of these wheat genotypes will be useful for wheat breeders to plan crosses for positive traits.     

Doubled haploid plants following colchicine treatment of microspore-derived embryos of oilseed rape (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Brassica napus L.</Emphasis>)

An efficient method for producing doubled haploid plants of oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) was established using in vitro colchicine treatment of haploid embryos. Haploid embryos in the cotyledonary stage were treated with one of four colchicine concentrations (125, 250, 500 and 1,000 mg/L); for one of three treatment durations (12, 24 and 36 h) at one of the two temperatures (8 and 25°C) and were compared to control embryos (without colchicine treatment). The number of chromosomes, seed recovery, size and density of leaf stomata, and pollen grain size from regenerated plants were determined. No doubled haploid plants were regenerated from control embryos; however, the doubled haploid plants were regenerated from colchicine-treated embryos. A high doubling efficiency, 64.29 and 66.66% of regenerated plants, was obtained from 250 mg/L colchicine treatment for 24 h and 500 mg/L colchicine treatment for 36 h, respectively, at 8°C. Following 500 mg/L colchicine treatment for 36 h, a few plants regenerated (9 plants). At the higher colchicine concentration (1,000 mg/L), no plant regenerated. These results indicate that the colchicine treatment of embryos derived from microspores can induce efficient chromosome doubling for the production of doubled haploid lines of oilseed rape.     

Cultivation of newly isolated microalgae Coelastrum sp. in wastewater for simultaneous CO2 fixation,lipid production and wastewater treatment

Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering - Cultivation of microalgae in wastewater is a promising and cost-effective approach for both CO2 biofixation and wastewater remediation. In this study, a new...     

Experimental and analytical study of anisotropic strength properties of bovine cortical bone

Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology - This paper is focused on specification of conditions at failure in bovine cortical bone. Both experimental and analytical studies are conducted. The...     

Effect of fungicidal essential oils against Botrytis cinerea and Rhizopus stolonifer rot fungus in vitro conditions

The development of natural crop protection products as alternatives to the use of synthetic fungicides is currently popular. The aim of this study is to evaluate the antifungal effects of several essential oils against the fungal pathogens, Botrytis cinerea and Rhizopus stolonifer, under in vitro condition. Four essential oils (fennel, black caraway, peppermint and thyme) were each tested at five concentrations (0, 200, 400, 600 or 800 μl l^?1). In vitro results showed that the essential oil of black caraway and fennel had the highest fungicidal effect against B. cinerea and R. stolonifer, respectively. The growth of B. cinerea was completely inhibited by the essential oil of black caraway at 400 μl l^?1. Fennel oil perfectly inhibited growth of R. stolonifer fungus colonies at concentration higher than 600 μl L^?1 in potato dextrose agar medium. Percentage of spores germination was the lowest in medium of Fennel and black caraway essential oils, and was the highest in Thyme ones. These results show that plant essential oils can have a strong effect on reducing post-harvest decay. These plant essential oils could provide an alternative to synthetic chemicals to control post-harvest phytopathogenic fungi on fruit.     

Design,synthesis and biological evaluation of benzofuran appended benzothiazepine derivatives as inhibitors of butyrylcholinesterase and antimicrobial agents

A series of bezofuran appended 1,5-benzothiazepine compounds 7a–v was designed, synthesized and evaluated as cholinesterase inhibitors. The biological assay experiments showed that most of the compounds displayed a clearly selective inhibition for butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), while a weak or no effect towards acetylcholinesterase (AChE) was detected. All analogs exhibited varied BChE inhibitory activity with IC₅₀ value ranging between 1.0?±?0.01 and 72?±?2.8?μM when compared with the standard donepezil (IC₅₀, 2.63?±?0.28?μM). Among the synthesized derivatives, compounds 7l, 7m and 7k exhibited the highest BChE inhibition with IC₅₀ values of 1.0, 1.0 and 1.8?μM, respectively. The results from a Lineweaver-Burk plot indicated a mixed-type inhibition for compound 7l with BChE. In addition, docking studies confirmed the results obtained through in vitro experiments and showed that most potent compounds bind to both the catalytic anionic site (CAS) and peripheral anionic site (PAS) of BChE active site. The synthesized compounds were also evaluated for their in vitro antibacterial and antifungal activities. The results indicated that the compounds possessed a broad spectrum of activity against the tested microorganisms and showed high activity against both gram positive and gram negative bacteria and fungi.