In recent years, spelt (Triticum aestivum (L. ) ssp. Spelta) has become an added-value alternative crop to modern wheat. Spanish spelt constitutes a unique separate gene pool from central European germplasm. The availability of spelt Doubled Haploid (DH) production protocol is a great advantage to speed up breeding programs. This is the first study evaluating the ability of DH plant production, by anther culture, of five Spanish spelt landraces and three F5 lines derived from Spanish spelt x bread wheat crosses. Two central European commercial varieties were also included in the analysis. DH plants were obtained from all material with the exception of one F5 line. The Spanish spelt landraces produced more embryos/100 anthers (73-166. 3) than the two European varieties (8. 6-22. 2). The main bottleneck in the Spanish germplasm was the high number of albino plants regenerated, with percentage of green plants lower than 13% in three of the landraces. Nevertheless, up to 15. 6 and 1. 8 green plants/100 anthers were obtained from the Spanish and the central European germplasm, respectively. A great variation in the percentage of spontaneous chromosome doubling was obtained, with 4 lines producing around 80% and 2 lines less than 15%. The ovary genotype used for anther co-culture is a critical factor to increase the efficiency of the system. Bread wheat ‘ Caramba’ ovaries increased almost 6 times the number of green plants as compared to spelt landrace ‘ BG-1987’ ovaries. This study shows that DH plants can be produced efficiently from Spanish spelt to be used in breeding programs.

Relationship of nitrogen (N) supply to nitrogen remobilization and leaf and grain P, K, and N status of wheat lacks clarity. The present pot experiment was conducted to evaluate nitrogen remobilization and leaf and grain P, K, and N status of ancient wheats of different ploidy levels in response to nitrogen. The experiment was carried out in Fall 2017-Spring 2018 at the Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran. The experiment was designed as a 3-replicate factorial completely random design with N fertilization treatment (at four levels of 0, 18. 66, 37. 33, and 56 mg N kg-1 soil) and genotype (consisting of 12 genotypes) as experimental factors. Nitrogen remobilization of the ancient and hulled wheats were increased when exposed to the low and medium N supplies. However, the Nitrogen remobilization of the standard durum and bread wheats were increased with increases in the N supply. Leaf and grain P, leaf N, and grain K concentrations responded positively to the N supply and ancient and hulled wheats equaled or exceeded those of the improved wheats particularly when grown in the absence of high N supplies. The presented data indicates that in conditions of nitrogen deficiency, the ancient wheats outperform improved wheats in terms of absorption and utilization of macronutrients.

One of the goals of organic crop production is to grow species which combine traditional pro-healthy properties, innovative cultivation practices and harmony with the environment. Among the ancient species the spring spelt is especially predisposed for organic farming. In comparison with common wheat spring spelt has a relatively short research history on physiological analysis of growth and development. The objective of this study has been to compare the agronomic performance and growth characteristics of spring varieties of Triticum spelta L. and Triticum aestivum L. cultivated in the organic farming system and sown on different dates. The basis for the research were data from field plot experiments arranged in completely randomized blocks carried out in 2010 and 2011. The factors were cultivars: two cultivars of T. aestivum (Trappe, Waluta) and two cultivars of T. spelta (Roter Sommerkolben, Speltz aus Tzaribrod) and sowing terms: optimal and postponed by two weeks. During the seasons there were assessed: weed infestation and disease resistance, leaf chlorophyll index, biometric measurements associated with plant morphology and yielding and nutritional value of grains. It was stated that cultivars of T. spelta are more tolerant to unfavorable environmental conditions than cultivars of T. aestivum, showing better adaptability to habitat conditions, when-due to the worse weather-the uptake of nutrients from soil can be limited, stronger competitiveness against weeds and higher tolerance to diseases of leaves and stems. The content of chlorophyll in spelt wheat grown inorganic cultivation as well as yields are very stable across years. Under unfavourable weather conditions during the season, spelt wheat can give yields which compare to yields of common wheat, but when in the favorable weather conditions common wheat varieties generate yields higher by 42% (cv. Trappe) up to 47% (cv. Waluta).

Are aleph and hamzeh considered two different letters or two figures of the same letter in Arabic? In this respect, there are two different views: Some scholars believe that Arabic alphabet consists of 28 letters, while some maintain that it consists of 29 letters. The other issue is concerned with the spelling of aleph. It is spelled in three different shapes in Arabic: “ا”, as in ‘دعا’, "ی" as in ‘رمی’, and “و” as in ‘صلوه’. It should be mentioned that aleph in some words is spelt but not pronounced, and, conversely, in some cases is pronounced without being spelt. Such variations in the form and function of aleph have caused problems for those who write in both Arabic and Persian. This paper has intended to achieve the following objectives:1. Identification of aleph and its place among the Arabic alphabet;2. Clarification of the right spelling of aleph in Arabic and Persian by relying on valid books on grammar and syntax, sticking to Arabic and Persian spelling regulations, and following the mainstream authors and literary figures.3. Compilation of spelling regulations concerning aleph in a comprehensive manner and easy to learn; and explaining about the similarities and differences among Arabic and Persian spelling of aleph for those who write in both languages.

Xylan the major portion of the hemicellulose of plant cell walls are heterogeneous polysaccharides. Xylanases (EC:3.2.1.8) are enzymes obtained from different species of microorganisms that degrade the xylosidic linkages of xylan's backbone producing xylose with other monoresidues. In this study xylanase enzyme was purified from culture supernatant of Bacillus stearothermophilus (ATCC 12980) by ammonium sulfate precipitation, gel filtration on sephadex G-100 followed by ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose. In DEAE- cellulose column chromatography, three protein peaks F-1a, F-1b and F-1c were appeared. Among these peaks, only F-1b showed xylanase activity and the degree of purification attained 63.09 fold. The specific activity and purification fold of the purified xylanase was 87.7 U/mg of protein and 17.45, respectively. The enzyme gave maximum activity against xylan as substrate at pH 7.0 and temperature at 60oC. In paper chromatography xylose was detected as the hydrolysis products of oat-spelt xylan by the xylanase at 16 h. These results indicate that xylanase of Bacillus stearothermophilus (ATCC 12980) was endoxylanase. In conclusion, these data suggested that purified xylanase can be suitable for industrial applications.

Background and Objectives: Research on Xylanase has markedly increased due to its potential applications in pulping and bleaching processes using cellulose free preparations, textile processes, the enzymatic saccharification of lignocellulosic materials and waste treatment. The present study was aimed at isolation and characterization of xylan degrading strain of Bacillus cereus from soil for production of xylanase. Materials and Methods: Twelve isolates were obtained from soil samples of different areas in the Rajshahi University campus and studied for detection of xylanase activity. One of the strains was identified as Bacillus cereus on the basis of the nucleotide sequence of the 16S rRNA gene which produces xylanase extracellularly. We purified xylanase to homogeneity by a combination of ammonium-sulphate precipitation, DEAE-sepharose, Phenyl-5PW and Hydroxyapatite column chromatography using culture supernatant.Results: The SDS-PAGE gave a single band at 32 kDa. The optimum temperature and pH of the purified enzyme was 40°C and 6.0, respectively. The xylanase hydrolyzed oat spelt xylan, birch wood xylan and beech wood xylan efficiently but showed no activity towards cellulose, CM-cellulose and Avicell pH 101.Conclusion: Thus it was a true and neutral xylanase. The isolation of xylanase from Bacillus cereus is rare.

In the third millennium B. C., the inhabitable zones in the southern part of Sistan Plain were confined to the deltaic lands around the Rud-i Biyaban River. One of the main climatological characteristics of that time was the abundance of water resources in the Hilmand basin. The formation and dynamism of human settlements in this region have always been related to the water fluctuations of the Hilmand River, so that a shift in the water courses has always led to changes in human agglomerations. The main purposes of this research are first of all, to find out more about the vegetation around Tepe Taleb Khan and second, to provide more information on the use of these vegetal resources by the local inhabitants in that era. Two phases of archaeobotanical analysis are included in this research: namely field operation (sampling and extracting techniques of plant remains), and laboratory studies on the data coming from the sixth season of archaeological excavations at Tepe Taleb Khan. These studies have been done on the plant remains obtained from 25 samples related to various archaeological contexts such as soil deposit, ashy layer, burnt soil, fireplaces and their contents, plaster and soil deposit, msoil and debris deposit, soil and ash deposit, mudbrick debris and floor (dated back to the third millennium BCE/2500-2300 BCE). By flotation of 316 liter of sediments, collected from these contexts, approximately 1900 mL plant remains including seeds, rachis segments, fruits and charcoals were extracted. The carpological studies on 2045 seeds, rachis segments and fruits, led to the identification of various vegetal groups with different relative frequencies in the archaeological contexts including cultivated plants (such as cereals, oil seeds, fruits, cucurbits, cultivated pulses) and non-cultivated plants (like wild fruits, wild pulses, wild grasses and wild plants). The results indicated the presence of different crops such as emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum), free threshing wheat (T. durum/aestivum), bread wheat (T. aestivum), club wheat (T. compactum), spelt (T. spelt), free threshing barley (Hordeum vulgare var. nudum), lentil (Lens culinaris), vetches (Vicia), vetchlings (Lathyrus), pea (Pisum sativum), flax (Linum usitatissimum), grape (Vitis vinifera) and cucurbits (cucurbitaceae), testifying a subsistence economy based on agriculture. At the same time, anthracological studies done on 948 charcoal fragments led to the identification of diffrent trees and shrubs like goosefoots (Chenopodiaceae), tamaris (Tamarix sp. ), palm (Phoenix dactylifera) and poplar (Populus sp. ). According to the previous archaeobotanical evidence at Shahr-i Sokhta, these taxa are present in the anthracological spectra of the Bronze Age vegetation of the southern Sistan Plain. Based on the archaeobotanical data, Tepe Taleb Khan inhabitants used goosefoots and tamaris wood to meet their fuel needs due to the soft texture and rapid flammability of these species. Nowadays, due to the unfavorable environmental conditions of Sistan, tamaris and goosefoots (as xeric and halophytic plants) are the dominant species in the region. The continued presence of these plants from the third millennium B. C., up to now indicates more or less the durability of ecological conditions in the region. The poorness of current vegetation in Sistan has undoubtedly been influenced by environmental and human factors over the time.

Background and Objective: Xylan the major portion of the hemicellulose of plant cell walls are heterogeneous polysaccharides. Xylanases (EC:3.2.1.8) are enzymes obtained from different species of microorganisms that degrade the xylosidic linkages of xylan’s backbone producing xylose with other monoresidues. In recent years, xylanases have many application in industry such as paper biobleaching and oil clearing.Materials and methods: In this study xylanase enzyme was purified from culture supernatant of Bacillus stearothermophilus (ATCC 12980) by ammonium sulfate precipitation, gel filtration on sephadex G- 100 followed by ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose. Also, the effect of pH and temperature on purified xylanase activity was studied.Results: In DEAE- cellulose column chromatography, three protein peaks F-1a, F-1b and F-1c were appeared. Among these peaks, only F-1b showed xylanase activity and the degree of purification attained 63.09 fold. The specific activity and purification fold of the purified xylanase was 87.7U/mg of protein and 17.45, respectively. The enzyme gave maximum activity against xylan as substrate at pH 7.0 and temperature at 60°C. In paper chromatography xylose was detected as the hydrolysis products of oat- spelt xylan by the xylanase at 16 h. These results indicate that xylanase of Bacillus stearothermophilus (ATCC 12980) was endoxylanase.Conclusion: These data includes, optimal pH and temprature suggested that purified xylanase can be suitable for industrial applications.