Rostaniha
Year:2018 | Volume:18 | Issue:2 (54) |Papers Count:11

Culturing, isolation, purification, and identification of cyanobacteria collected from wheat field soil, in five stations around the industrial areas in Yazd province (Iran) were conducted in this study. Identification of taxa was based on morphology and molecular methods. Cluster analysis and principal component analyses performed using SPSS software and rate of resemblance among the taxa were investigated. The phylogenetic analyses carried out according to 16S rRNA gene sequences data, and the phylogenetic relationships were assessed by Maximum Parsimony, Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference. The results of this study indicated presence of 32 species included in four orders of cyanobacteria. Among these orders, Oscillatoriales with three families, eight genera and 13 species showed the highest species diversity, whereas Chroococcales with two families, three genera and four species, exhibited the lowest diversity. Among isolated taxa, Oscillatoria ornata, O. engelmanniana, Jaaginema pallidum, Pseudanabaena minima, Stenomitos frigidus, Nostoc edaphicum, and Gloeothece tepidariorum, are reported as new records for algal flora in Iran. Distributions and descriptions of the new taxa were also presented.

The genus Septoria includes important plant pathogens with worldwide distribution, commonly associated with leaf spots and stem cankers of a broad range of plant hosts. In this study, eight isolates of Septoria were recovered from leaves with leaf spot on four herbaceous and woody plants from Gilan, Ardebil, East and West Azerbaijan provinces in north and northwest of Iran. The isolates were studied by applying a polyphasic approach including morphological and cultural data, and multi-gene phylogeny (LSU, ITS, ACT, TEF1-α , CAL, TUB, and RPB2). They were then identified as Septoria convolvuli on Sonchus sp., S. protearum on Solanum pseudocapsicum, S. polygonorum on Punica granatum, and S. urticae on Urtica dioica. Septoria protearum represents a new record for the mycobiota of Iran. Moreover, this research reports Sonchus sp. as new host of S. convolvuli, Punica granatum as new host of S. polygonorum, and Solanum pseudocapsicum as new host of S. protearum worldwide. Additionally, a comprehensive literature-based checklist for 102 septoria-like species known to occur on different plant species in Iran was also provided. The complete annotated list covers 78 Septoria species, eight Stagonospora, seven Sphaerulina, four Zymoseptoria, two Phloeospora, one Caryophylloseptoria, one Parastagonospora, and one Stromatoseptoria.

In the course of the study of collected specimens from West Azerbaijan province (NW Iran), Prometheum rechingeri (Crassulaceae) is reported for the first time from Iran. Based on recent phylogenetic and morphological studies in Crassulaceae family, genus Prometheum was considered as independent genus. So far, two species viz. P. pilosum (under Sedum pilosum), and P. sempervivoides (under S. sempervivoides) has been reported from Iran. These two species and the new report are specific to mountains regions and they mostly occur at elevation above 2000 m. s. l. in the northwest of Iran (West and East Azerbaijan provinces). A short discussion on the taxonomic history of the genus Prometheum and the relative species, description, distribution, illustration, ecology and a key for existing three Iranian species is provided.

The main purpose of this study was to identify species of Parastagonospora in association with poaceous plants in Iran. Some species of Parastagonospora like P. nodorum causes a major loss to wheat production in the world. In the present research, two species including P. nodorum, and P. avenae were identified from different poaceous species. Parastagonospora nodorum was identified on Phalaris arundinacea. However, P. avenae was divided into two formae specials i. e. P. avenae f. sp. avenaria (Paa) on Phalaris arundinacea and Avena sativa, and the identified P. avenae f. sp. tritici5 (Pat5) on Phalaris arundinacea, Bromus hordeaceus and Aegilops tauschii. Species identification was done according to morphology of anamorph and molecular confirmation was performed on the basis of ß-xylosidase gene sequence. Pat5 and Paa are reported from Iran for the first time and also all of the identified hosts are new to the world.

The aim of this study is to determine the effect of environmental conditions with emphasis on the main meteorological factors (air temperature variables, sunshine hour, and humidity), on phytoplankton communities. As important primary producers in aquatic ecosystems, phytoplankton communities could be affected by several factors. Environmental factors play the major role in occurrence and diversity of these photosynthetic microorganisms. In the present study, the relationship between phytoplankton occurrence and meteorological variables was assessed in several artificial ponds and lakes in the National Botanical Garden of Iran. For this purpose, surface water samples of the selected sites were monthly studied over a year. A total of 122 taxa of phytoplanktons were identified in the mentioned sites out of which, five taxa were new records for Iran. Among several taxa, six dominant genera, including Chroococcus (Cyanophyta), Nitzschia (Bacillariophyta), Glenodinium (Pyrrhophyta), Scenedesmus, Cosmarium, and Tetraedron (Chlorophyta), were selected for further investigation. The meteorological factors were considered with emphasis on air temperature variables (maximum and minimum temperatures, average air temperature, wet and dry temperatures, and dew point temperature), sunshine hour, and humidity. Results showed that, climatic conditions can be considered as effective factors on phytoplankton communities. The results of regression analysis between algal density and meteorological variables showed that, phytoplankton’ s density has a significant correlation with the sunshine hour and air temperature variables. It seems that, the regression equation and environmental sensitivity vary from one taxon to another.

Assessing priorities is the most important action in conservation programs. Rudimentary, mapping of diversity, and distribution patterns have been used to set priorities on diverse scales. The distribution patterns of plant taxa, largely reflect an actual ecological niche. Convolvulaceae s. str exhibits cosmopolitan dispersal of diverse life forms and includes 50– 60 genera comprising 1600– 1700 species including valuable ornamental, medicinal and food crops as well as weedy taxa. Little attention has been paid to the patterns and diversity centers of this family in scale of Iran and Asia. The present study, explains in as much detail as possible distribution patterns and the priorities for conservation of Convolvulaceae in the context of species and habitats in Iran. Threatened species of Iranian Convolvulaceae include 20. 4% distributed in the Irano-Turanian phytochorion as a priority region for conservation planning. Moreover, this family represents the highest richness in the Alborz and central Zagros mountains of Iran. A meaningful proportion of priority taxa and habitats are located in protected areas of Iran. Regardless, some face several threatening factors (e. g. land use change, deforestation, and overgrazing) outside protected areas; therefore, emergent conservation actions (in situ and ex situ methods) appear necessary to protect these taxa.

The current study, devoted to leaf micromorphology of tribe Agrimonieae in Iran including three genera (Agrimonia, Aremonia, and Sanguisorba), four species (Agrimonia eupatoria, Aremonia agrimonioides, S. minor, and S. officinalis), and six subspecies (A. eupatoria subsp. eupatoria, A. eupatoria subsp. grandis, A. eupatoria subsp. asiatica, S. minor subsp. minor, S. minor subsp. lasiocarpa, and S. minor subsp. muricata). At first, plant materials were collected and identified and then leaf segments were washed and prepared for Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The result of micromorphological analysis revealed three types of trichomes (curved, flexuous and straight), four types of hair surface ornamentations (echinate, transversely elongated papilla, verucate and granulate), and two types of glandular hairs (round to cylindrical head cell with pisilate to echinate surfaces). In all the examined species, epicuticulare wax types were either of film (smooth layers and crust), and crystalloids (granule and platelets), and wax sculpturing which comprises four types of syntupism. In addition, stomata traits were identified especially three types of outer stomatal rim/peristomatal rim, four types of inner stomata rim, and three types of wax distribution on the stomata rim/pore/epidermal cell. Based on author’ s achievements, micromorphological characters of studied species of tribe Agrimonieae, possess diagnostic value and were capable of separating different taxonomic ranks (subtribes, genera, species, and subspecies). Based on these characters, an identification key is also prepared and presented herewith.

The taxonomy of cyanobacteria has been substantially modified in the last few decades, particularly after application of modern ultra structural and molecular methods. The present research, therefore, aimed to investigate, through a polyphasic approach, the differences in morphological and genotypic features of two cyanobacteria strains isolated from different agricultural and freshwaters areas in Kermanshah province (W Iran). In fact, identification and taxonomy of both Calothrix sp. N42 and Scytonema sp. N11 was problematic and confusing. Challenges arose when the two strains seemed to be Calothrix, because of early unbranched filaments, narrow cells and ending by heterocysts. Along with the progression of growth, branching arise. Therefore, molecular analysis was made and morphometric and genetic (16S rRNA) data were used to characterize the strains in liquid suspension cultures and solid media under photoautotrophic conditions. The results of sequencing the 16S rRNA fragment and phylogenetic comparison strongly indicated that, two strains fall into different phylogenetic clusters. They were named as Calothrix sp. N42 and Scytonema sp. N11 and have been registered under DDBJ, accession number KY548062 and KY548065, respectively.

The genus Ambrosia consisting at least 40 species, with numerous intraspecific taxa (Essl et al. 2015). The first observation of Ambrosia from Iran was reported by Mozaffarian (1991). He reported distribution of A. artemisiifolia L. in Bandar-e Anzali (Gilan province, N Iran). Expanding new colonies of Ambrosia species were increasingly observed from road-sides and coastal areas of Bandar-e Anzali in 2014. In 2017, precise inspections using the authenticated identification keys (Vermeire et al. 2005, Karrer et al. 2017, Bassett & Crompton 1975) indicated that, this is A. psilostachya DC. ...

Truffles are the most delicious, rare and most expensive edible fungi in the world. Interest on truffles has continuously grown in Iran during the past two decades. The oldest data on Iranian truffles were reported by Chatin who proposed the names Terfezia aphroditis Chatin and T. hanotauxii Chatin for samples collected in Iran (Chatin 1897, Esfandiari & Petrak 1950). During the last 70 years, several species have been added to the checklist of Iran’ s desert truffles (Daneshpajuh 1991, Ammarellou et al. 2014, Jamali 2016). ...