Gorgan Branch 2 Assistant professor in Plant Physiology -Islamic Azad University of Iran -Gorgan Branch 3 Full Professor in Plant Physiology -Islamic

ABSTRACT The present study aimed at evaluation of putrescine treatment on growth factors of soybean (Glycine max L.) under drought stress induced by polyethylene glycol (PEG). Soybean seeds were planted and irrigated with five solutions (control, drought, PEG, Put, and PEG-Put). Then, growth factors (length and weight) of seedlings, root, shoot, stem, hypocotyl, first internode, and plant were measured. Statistical analyses were performed by one-way ANOVA through Duncan Test at p≤0.05 in SPSS (Version 21) in three iterations. Graphs were drawn in Excel Software (Microsoft Office, 2010). The results obtained from the present study showed that putrescine could not have considerable effect to alleviate adverse effect of drought stress caused by PEG in soybean

Air pollution effects on the activity of antioxidant enzymes in Nerium oleander and Robinia pseudo acacia plants in Tehran

The air pollution effects on the activity of antioxidant enzymes were investigated on Nerium oleander and Robinla pseudo acacia in Tehran. Considering the information obtained from the Department of the Environment of Iran, Sorkh Hesar Park as well as South Azadi were selected as two sampling sites representing the unpolluted and polluted area respectively. A number of plant leave samples were collected from both sampling sites simultaneously. The activity of plant enzymes including peroxidase, catalase and ascorbate peroxidase was investigated using spectrophotometric methods. A higher level of peroxidase and catalase enzymes were measured in both plant samples collected from polluted area. However, this higher level was only statistically significant for the activity of peroxidase enzyme in Robinia pseudo acacia plants compare of to the control group (p < 0.05). The lower level of ascorbate peroxidase was observed in Nerium oleander plant leaves collected from the contaminated sampling site (p < 0.05), but though, the activity of this enzyme in Robinia pseudo acacia did not change significantly. The overall plant injury symptoms found in this study demonstrated that both Nerium oleander and Robinia pseudo acacia have a potential to be considered as effective bioindicators to reflect the environmental air quality in polluted areas

IN- VITRO CULTURE OF ARTEMISIA AUCHERI BOISS. ON FOUR DIFFERENT TISSUE CULTURE MEDIA FOR COMPARATIVE CYTOTOXIC EFFRCTS AND GROWTH

Objective: Artemisia   genus is   an important medicinal plant in Iran.  The effect of four different culture media was investigated on growth and cytotoxic production of Artemisia aucheri in callus culture after 20th subculture. Methods: Callus induction was initiated from seedling on a Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal medium containing different concentrations of vitamins and combinations of growth regulators. Cytotoxicity of methanolic extract of callus culture grown on different culture media was assessed using the brine shrimp assay. Result: Different concentrations and combinations of phytohormones had no significant influence on callus fresh weight, callus dry weight and percentage of callus dry matter. However, cytotoxic production seems depend on the lowest level of growth index (1.94 ± 0.12) because from among the four methanolic extracts of the four isolated cultures of A. aucheri tested on MS medium supplemented with high level of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP), naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and thiamine-HCl was found to have the cytotoxicity (LC50 &lt; 1000µg/ml) using brine shrimp lethality assay. Methanolic extracts of callus culture on MS medium containing kinetin (Kin), indole-3-acetic (IAA) and 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4,D) had the highest level of growth index (4.31 ± 0.56) and  no cytotoxic effect was observed. Conclusion: In the establishment of cell culture, high level of BAP, NAA and thiamine-HCl were the best plant growth regulators in supporting the cytotoxic production. This is the first report on the use of phytohormones on the establishment of cell cultures in cytotoxic production of A. aucheri.KEYWORDS: Artemisia aucheri, Artemia franciscana, cytotoxic, tissue culture, methanol extract, growth inde

AIR POLLUTION EFFECTS ON THE ACTIVITY OF ANTIOXIDANT ENZYMES IN NERIUM OLEANDER AND ROBINIA PSEUDO ACACIA PLANTS IN TEHRAN

The air pollution effects on the activity of antioxidant enzymes were investigated on Nerium oleander and Robinia pseudo acacia in Tehran. Considering the information obtained from the Department of the Environment of Iran, Sorkh Hesar Park as well as South Azadi were selected as two sampling sites representing the unpolluted and polluted area respectively. A number of plant leave samples were collected from both sampling sites simultaneously. The activity of plant enzymes including peroxidase, catalase and ascorbate peroxidase was investigated using spectrophotometric methods. A higher level of peroxidase and catalase enzymes were measured in both plant samples collected from polluted area. However, this higher level was only statistically significant for the activity of peroxidase enzyme in Robinia pseudo acacia plants compare of to the control group (p < 0.05). The lower level of ascorbate peroxidase was observed in Nerium oleander plant leaves collected from the contaminated sampling site (p < 0.05), but though, the activity of this enzyme in Robinia pseudo acacia did not change significantly. The overall plant injury symptoms found in this study demonstrated that both Nerium oleander and Robinia pseudo acacia have a potential to be considered as effective bioindicators to reflect the environmental air quality in polluted areas