NOVA BIOLOGICA REPERTA
Year:2018 | Volume:5 | Issue:1 |Papers Count:9

Lallemantia(Lamiaceae; Nepetoideae), a small genus with a wide distribution area in Iran, is traditionally used in folk medicine. In this study, we comparatively investigated Lallemantia species in terms of vegetative anatomy in order to evaluate its characteristics usefulness for taxonomic perpuses. For anatomical examination, cross sections of stems and leaves were prepared using hand cutting method and bismark brown, carmin and metylen blue dyes were used to stain the sections. In addition, the anatomical characters were numerically analyzed by cluster analysis and principal component analysis (PCA). Although general stem and leaf anatomical charactristics were very similar in the studied species, the multivariate analysis indicated that some anatomical quantitative characters such as the thickness of lamina, palisade and spongy parenchyma provided valuable characters that would be taxonomically useful in this genus. Morphological similarity between L. baldshuanica and L. royleana was supported by stem and leaf anatomical data.

Special properties and various applications of Spirulina species have led to the growing focus of biotechnology to the cost effective cultivation. Open ponds used in the most commercial cultivation have many deficiencies such as risk of contamination, lack of light penetration, inefficient mixing and low productivity. In this study, an innovative reactor was designed and manufactured. By adding a control area, it was possible to control some environmental conditions for a limited amount of open pond volume. The conventional pumping system was replaced by a new elevator system to reduce the damage of to the fragile cells. The baffles structure and aeration from bottom, contributed to better mixing system. The effect of tree factors (Circulation Cycle (Cir. Cyc.), Control Volume (Con. Vol.) and Irradiance Intensity (Irr. Int.) in units of hours, percentage and Lux respectively) on the quantity of biomass (Specific Growth Rate (SGR, day-1) and fifth and seventh day dry weight (g/L)) were evaluated using RSM-CCD. The maximum biomass dry weight (0.915 g/L) was achieved in longest circulation cycle (12 hours), 30% Con. Vol. and 7000 Lux light intensity. The optimal irradiance intensity to achieve the highest biomass was 8700 Lux. According to the results, due to the great influence of Con. Vol. and Cir. Cyc., it is possible to increase the productivity and enhance the culture dry weight by controlling a limited amount of ponds volume (20%), subject to economic considerations. These successful results can provide the context using a control zone for several open ponds to improve the overall efficiency.

In order to investigate different treatment effects on germination inGundelia tournefortii, three factorial experiments were carried out in the completely randomized design with three replications. The first factor was stratification at 4oC in three levels including 0, 3 and 6 weeks, the second factor was mechanical scarification in two levels including seeds with/without scarification and the third factor was chemical treatments of seed dormancy breaking in three levels including distilled water and gibberellic acid at concentrations of 1000 and 1500 mg/l and Thiourea 0.1%. The results showed that the effects of stratification, scarification and chemical treatments of dormancy breaking and their interactions were significant on all studied parameters (p<0.01). Mean comparison values were significant for the effects of spate treatments together with mechanical scarification for the improvement of all traits. The results also revealed that treatment of mechanical scarification treatment together with gibberellic acid 1000 mg/l in six weeks stratification, due to maximum germination speed, seedling dry weight, seedling length, large-scale germination percentage and seedling vigor index and modest average germination period, was the most influential treatment for seed dormancy breaking of this plant. Correlation between germination percentage with germination rate, dry weight and seedling length was significant. It seems that seed dormancy type in Gundelia tournefortii is physiological and physical, as eliminating physiological and physical factors leads to its germination improvement.

1, 25 dihydroxy vitamin D3, an active metabolite of vitaminD3 has been reported to inhibit the growth of number neoplasms such as prostate, breast, colorectal, leukemia and skin cancers. Valproic acid, as a potent histone deacetylase inhibitor, also plays an important role in inhibition of proliferation of tumor cells. However, there are no reports so far on the cooperation between valproic acid and vitamin D3 for anti-leukemic effect. The goal of the present research was to evaluate whether low doses of vitamin D3 potentiate the toxicity of valproic acid and whether this toxic action is mediated via apoptotic mechanisms. In this study HL-60 cells were treated either with different concentrations of valproic acid and vitamin D3 alone and in combination with each other for 24 hours. Cell survival was determined by MTT assay and then Hoechst staining was used to determine the type of death cell. This present study indicates that vitamin D3 potentiates the antitumor effects of valproic acid. Also, the results of staining cells showed that valproic acid and vitamin D3 induced apoptosis in HL-60 cells. In total, the new combination of valproic acid and vitamin D3 showed synergistic anti-proliferative effect and induced apoptosis on HL-60 cancer cells.

Feeding frequency and stocking density are important factors affecting growth and maturation of cultured fishes. The aims of this investigation were to determine the effects of stocking density (10, 20, 30 and 40 fish per aquarium) and feeding frequency (2, 3 and 4 times per day) on growth parameters and hematocrit of theRutilus rutilus caspicus. The experiment was continued for 45 days in two replicates. The results of this study showed that growth parameters, including weigh gain (WG), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and specific growth rate (SGR) were affected significantly by stocking density (P<0.05), but not significantly affected by feeding frequency (P>0.05). The highest WG and SGR were recorded with the lowest stocking density (10 fish / aquarium). The least FCR was obtained in density of 10 fish/aquarium, FCR value was significantly higher with high stocking density (P<0.05). Also, interactions between stocking density and feeding frequency were no significant on growth parameters (P>0.05). Density and feeding frequency hand no significant effect of hematocrit concentration (P>0.05). On the other hand, interactions between stocking density and feeding frequency significantly affected hematocrit levels (P<0.05). The lowest level of hematocrit was observed in density of 10 fish/aquarium at two times / day feeding frequency. The results of this study indicated that density is significantly affected the growth, but increasing of feeding frequency there is not effect on growth in the Rutilus rutilus caspicus.

The Basolateral Amygdala (BLA) has modulatory effects on working and reference memory. The aim of this study was the evaluation of effects of dopaminergic system in the BLA of rats on working and reference memory behaviors. The number of working and reference errors and time spent in the arms by rats were measured in the radial arm maze according to DSWS protocol. The animals were cannulated in the BLA bilaterally. The microinjection of low dose (0.005 mg/rat) and high dose (0.5 mg/rat) of apomorphine have indicated a significant decrease in number of working memory error. But, there was not any change in the numberof reference memory error that showing the improvement of working memory. While the injection of moderate dose apomorphine (0.05 mg/rat) increased these parameters and also enhanced the spent time in working arm that presenting both memories damage. The chlorpromazine injection (2 mg/rat) decreased the number of working and reference memory errors representing the improvement of these memories. Microinjection of chlorpromazine (2 mg/rat) with different doses of apomorphine had no significant change on the both number of errors and the time spent in comparison with control groups. These findings show that BLA dopaminergic system modulates the working and reference memory through that both of (D1/D2) receptors. Also, the effect of this system in BLA is the resultant function of the both receptor families.

Sex steroid hormones play important roles in many physiological processes, particularly in the reproduction of teleostei. Therefore, study of steroid hormones in fish is one of the important indicators of reproductive biology. Inthe present research, serum steroid hormones such as testosterone (T), 17 b-estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P) in Esox lucius brood stocks, during one year, from autumn 2010 to summer 2011, in five periods (autumn, first half of winter, second half of winter, spring and summer) with three longitudinal classes: 300-360, 360-420 and 420-480 millimeters were studied. The results showed significant difference between levels of steroid hormones in three longitudinal classes and showed an increasing trend by increased length (P<0.05). In addition, there was significant different between levels of gonadal steroid hormones and different seasons (P<0.05). The highest level of 17-b estradiol was observed in autumn season. In the case of testosterone and progesterone hormones, higher levels were recorded in first and second half of winter, respectively.

Aloe barbadensisis perennial, monocotyledonous, fleshy plant belongs to Aloaceae family. In this study, somoclonal variations of regenerated A. barbadensis plants were investigated. The plantlets of forth subculture transferred to the soil for further study. The genomic DNAs of 40 regenerated plantlets were extracted and genetic variations were studied using SPAR markers including RAPD and ISSR primers. The amounts of Aloe gel also were extracted from regenerated A. vera plants. Average percentage of polymorphism, Shannon index, Nei's genetic diversity and number of effective alleles based on RAPD data were higher than genetic parameters obtained from ISSR data. NJ cluster and STRUCTURE plot based on molecular markers grouped regenerated plants to distinct clusters. AMOVA analysis also showed a significant (P=0.01) genetic distinction between studied groups. This result also confirmed differentiation of regenerated plants. The amount of Aloe gel in the four groups (based on clustering method) was compared by using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results showed no significant (P=0.746) differences between the amount of gel in four group. In total, our findings showed somaclonal variations on genomic level while no significant differences were observed in amount of gel among regenerated Aloe plantlets.

Nutlets of 20 taxa of Phlomoides, representing most of the currently recognized sections were examined by scanning electron microscopy. The basic shape of nutlets in most taxa studied is broadly ovate, but ovate, triangular and oblong ones can also be found in few species. Regarding the sculpturing pattern of nutlet surface, four basic types can be distinguished: reticulate, scalariform, ruminate and rugose. The reticulate type is the most common among the studied species, but the variation in alignment, size and shape of its composing cells provide further evidence that are useful as diagnostic characteristics. However, the type of sculpturing is more useful for separating species within the sections, rather than correlating them to each other. For example, sect. Filipendula show four different types of sculpturing. Therefore, nutlet microsculpturing is not useful in separating large natural groups like sections in this genus. It seems also that contrary to other genera of Lamiaceae, nutlet characters are of low phylogenetic value in this genus.