Effect of pancreatic extract on insulin secreting cell differentiation from mouse bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells

زمینه و هدف: با دیابت نوع یک در نتیجه ی تخریب خود ایمنی سلول های بتای جزایر پانکراس ایجاد می شود. مطالعات اخیر نشان می‌دهد بسیاری از انواع سلول های بنیادی می توانند به عنوان منابع احتمالی برای به دست آوردن سلول های قابل پیوند تولید کننده انسولین (IPCs) در نظر گرفته شوند. در این مطالعه تمایز سلول های بنیادی مزانشیمی مغز استخوان به سلول های مولد انسولین با استفاده از عصاره پانکراس موش مورد بررسی قرار گرفت. روش بررسی: در این مطالعه تجربی آزمایشگاهی از سلول های بنیادی مزانشیمی مغز استخوان موش کوچک آزمایشگاهی برای تمایز به سلول های انسولین ساز استفاده شد. سلول های تمایز یافته با استفاده از رنگ اختصاصی دیتیزون و آنتی بادی های ضد انسولین- پروانسولین و ضد رسپتور بتای انسولین مورد ارزیابی قرار گرفتند. همچنین بیان ژن اختصاصی سلول های پانکراسی یعنی pdx-I در این سلول ها با روش RT-PCR بررسی شد. یافته ها: سلول های تمایز یافته مشتق از روش مستقیم مورفولوژی مشابه با سلول های بتای پانکراس نشان دادند. سلول های دیتیزون مثبت به صورت دستجات قرمز ارغوانی دیده شدند. نتایج بررسی RT-PCR بیان ژن اختصاصی سلول های بتا (pdx-I) را در سلول های تمایز مستقیم نشان داد. ایمنوفلورسنس وجود نشانگرهای اختصاصی سلول های بتا را دراین سلول ها به اثبات رساند. نتیجه گیری: نتایج این مطالعه نشان داد که سلول های بنیادی مزانشیمی مغز استخوان می توانند در حضور عصاره پانکراس به سلول های مولد انسولین تمایز یابند؛ لذا استفاده از این نتایج تولید سلول های بتا از سلول های بنیادی در شرایط آزمایشگاهی را تسهیل می کند

The Effect of Melatonin on Some Physiological and Morphological Characteristics of Coriandrum sativum L. and Anethum graveolens L. under Salt Stress

Introduction      Salinity is the most important environmental parameter limiting plant growth and productivity. The detrimental effects of high salinity on plants can be observed at the whole-plant level as the death of plants and/or decreases in productivity. Increasing salinity is accompanied by significant reductions in number of leaves per plant, shoot weight, root weight, shoot length, and root length. With an increase in salinity, water potential and osmotic potential of plants become more negative. Two medicinal species of Coriandrum sativum L. and Anethum graveolens L. are herbaceous and annual plants of the Apiaceae family, which have many uses in the pharmaceutical and food industries. Considering the importance of these two medicinal species and the increase of environmental stresses including salinity stress in recent years, this research aims to investigate the effect of external application of melatonin on resistance to salinity stress in Coriandrum sativum L. and Anethum graveolens L. species and its effect on some morphological and physiological characteristics of these two species under salt stress.   Materials and Methods      This research was conducted in a factorial experimental format based on a randomized complete block design with three replications. Experimental treatments include five levels of salinity (0, 40, 80, 120 and 160 mM) and two levels of melatonin foliar spraying (0 and 100 μM). After the end of the treatment period, the morphological and physiological characteristics of the plant were measured by the different methods. Data analyses were performed using SPSS software version 20. Results were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Tukey’s multiple comparison test. The results were expressed as mean values and standard error (SE) of the means.   Results and Discussion      The results of variance analysis indicated that species, melatonin and salinity stress have a significant effect on all morphological factors at the p < 0.05. The results of compare means showed that the number of leaves in both plants has a significant decrease at the probability level of 5% with the increase in salinity. However, the amount of this decrease in the samples that have been affected by melatonin is lower than the samples without melatonin. The use of melatonin has reduced the negative effects of salinity stress in two plants, so that at the salinity level of 160 mM sodium chloride, the use of melatonin has increased the fresh and dry weight of coriandrum sativum L. shoots by 7 and 3.61 times, respectively. The results of variance analysis showed that melatonin and salinity stress have a significant effect on all pigments. The results shown that with the increase in the level of salinity stress, a significant decrease (p < 0.05) was observed in the amount of chlorophyll and anthocyanin pigments of two species. The results of variance analysis showed that species and melatonin have a significant effect at the p < 0.01 on all physiological parameters, and salt stress has a significant effect at the p < 0.01 on all the physiological parameters except of relative water content. Also, the interaction effects of species with salinity, species with melatonin, melatonin with salinity and the interaction of all three factors have a significant effect at the 1% probability level on the parameters of proline and total phenol.With the increase in salinity, the amount of total protein in both species decreased, but the amount of this decrease was lower in the plants that were treated with melatonin. In coriandrum sativum L. plant, the amount of total protein reduction at 160 mM salinity level is 42.31% compared to the control, but this reduction was 28.9% in the plants that were treated with melatonin. Also, in the Anethum graveolens L., the amount of total protein reduction at the salinity level of 160 mM was 29.78% and 21.06% respectively, in the samples without melatonin treatment and under melatonin treatment.   Conclusions      The results of variance analysis of the data showed that melatonin has a significant effect at the probability level of 1 and 5% on all morphological and physiological parameters measured in both plants. Also, the compare means showed that with the increase in the level of salinity stress, a significant decrease in the probability level of 5% was observed in the parameters measured in two plants. In general, the external application of melatonin moderates the negative effects of salinity stress, and therefore melatonin can be used to improve the growth of plants under stress

Role of educational and extension strategies in the sustainable exploitation and reducing rangelands destruction (Case study: Ilam Province, west of Iran)

Rangelands renewable resources play a very important role in ecosystem regulating, preserving plant genetic reservoirs, water cycle as well as providing large parts of forage requirements. These resources were considered to be a basis for sustainable development and also a basic platform for various economic activities. During the recent years in Iran, these valuable sources were subjected to strong destruction due to the excessive exploitation and unethical of ranchers. Nowadays, it seems necessary to suggest appropriate grazing management programs, organizing systematic exploitation and preventing the destruction of rangelands. The aim of present study was to evaluate the role of educational and extension strategies in reducing rangelands destruction, grazing management and principally organization of its exploitation. Statistical community of the present study was Ilam Province, Iran. Sample size was calculated using Cochran formula as 255 ranchers and individuals were selected using Simple Randomized Sampling Method. Data were analyzed through Spearman correlation co-efficient and Mann Whitney U test using SPSS software. Results showed that there was no significant relationship between age, number of livestock and the use of educational and extension strategies related to reducing rangeland’s degradation but there was direct and significant relation of gender, education, participation of exploiters in educational and extension training courses and also adoption of educational and extension strategies relate d to reducing rangelands degradation

Leaf Microstructure and Adaptation Relationships in Ten Woody Species from the Semi-Arid Forests

Micro-morphological characteristics of leaves such as stomata and trichomes are reliable indicators of plant response to environmental conditions. The aim of this study was to determine the adaptation strategies of 10 woody species growing in semi-arid Zagros forests in western Iran based on leaf microstructures, focusing on trichomes and stomata using light and scanning electron microscopy. Different types of trichomes and stomata were recognized. Stomata were generally more visible on the abaxial sides of leaves, a feature that helps reduce water loss from leaf surfaces exposed to direct airflow and radiation. Trichomes were classified into two different types: glandular trichomes and non-glandular trichomes with subgroups such as solitary, two-armed T-shaped unicellular, crypt, hooked hairs with cystoliths, fasciculate, stellate, long coiled, tufted stellate, long multiradiate, short bristles with cystoliths, peltate scales, and dendritic hairs. The abundance of trichomes on the leaves indicates their role as biological control parameters. Eucalyptus camaldulensis was the only introduced species studied that lacked trichomes on both sides of the leaf. The most frequently observed types of stomata were "Anomocytic" and "Paracytic". The striking differences between the micro-morphological characteristics of the leaves of different species are an expression of the plants adaptations to the environmental ecological conditions

Antioxidant capacity and phenolic composition of leaves from 10 Bene (<i>Pistacia atlantica</i> subsp. <i>kurdica</i>) genotypes

<div><p>Leaves of 10 Bene genotypes were collected from six provinces (West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Ilam, Hamedan and Lorestan) in Iran. This study was carried out to better characterise the total phenolic and flavonoid contents, antioxidant capacity and phenolic composition, as well as to evaluate the correlation between content of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity in 10 genotypes of Bene. The antioxidant activity of leaf extracts was measured using different assays: ferric reducing antioxidant power, nitric oxide radical scavenging and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl. The results indicated that the antioxidant capacity can be related to total phenolic and flavonoid content, so that among all the genotypes studied here, the highest and the lowest phenolic content and antioxidant activity were observed in B2 and B10 genotypes, respectively. Analysing the phenolic composition using high performance liquid chromatography, caffeic acid, vanillic acid, ferulic acid and sinapic acid were found in all investigated genotypes.</p></div