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The main purpose of this research was preparation of the tannic acid-based copper nanoparticle (TAN–Cu–NP) and its use as a nanocatalyst in the synthesis of diverse polyhydroquinolines (PHQs) which are biologically important. Tannic acid was extracted from the fresh barks of the Pistacia Atlantica Desf tree which is found in the Ilam province in west of Iran. Then, the TAN–Cu–NP catalyst was prepared by a reduction reaction between tannic acid and Cu2+ ions from Cu(NO3)2 in water and characterized by FT-IR, UV–Vis, EDX, XRD, SEM and TEM. Then, the TAN–Cu–NP catalyst was applied for the green synthesis of diverse PHQs from the reaction of ethyl aceto-acetate, dimedone, ammonium acetate and benzaldehydes in ethanol under reflux conditions in high yields and low reaction times. Structures of PHQs were confirmed by spectroscopic data (IR and NMR). Since the TAN–Cu–NP catalyst is made of natural materials, it has a great advantage compared with the other catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Replacing irrigated with rainfed crops and sustainable production of major rainfed plants (i.e., wheat) can be an efficient strategy to restore water resources that are drying up. Identifying plant response to climate is essential to advancing this strategy and planning for precision agriculture. Wheat is the main plant of Saqqez in the Lake Urmia basin of Iran, whose yield is associated with severe fluctuations. This study was conducted to investigate the climate effect on wheat yield. For this purpose, the growing degree days (GDDs) method and the Zadoks scale were used to simulate the wheat growth period and to divide it into seven stages. Forty-seven climatic variables of the first six stages were used to perform factor analysis and develop the climate-yield model. Gene expression programming (GEP), artificial neural networks (ANNs), and multivariate linear regression (MLR) methods were applied to derive models. The results showed that 90.7% of the total variance of 47 variables can be explained by 10 factors. Eighty-two percent of yield variations were modeled by these factors. The mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) for the models developed by GEP and ANN methods was 26%, and its amount for the MLR model was 35%. The algorithm used here, to express the climate effect on yield and the relationship between them, made the interpretation of the results more accurate and simple and produced more detailed and practical information. Also, GEP method, used for the first time in deriving climate-yield model, showed its superiority over MLR and ANN methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Essential oil of Rosa × damascena Herrm. is one of the most valuable and important raw materials for the flavor and fragrance industry. The cultivation of this plant has ancient origins, and Kashan was one of the first mountainous regions of Iran dealing with the cultivation of R. × damascena. In this study, both chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of different rose essential oils obtained from five mountainous areas of Kashan region (Maragh, Qamsar, Sadeh, Javinan, and Kamoo) has been investigated along with the influence of the environmental conditions on these properties. Results: Results showed that yield and chemical composition of essential oils obtained from Rosa × damascena were significantly affected by the collection area. In particular, the yield of oils varied from ~0.08 to ~0.132% and citronellol (36.70-9.18%), geraniol (12.82-0.47%), nonadecane (22.73-10.36%), heneicosane (31.7-11.43%), and 1-nonadecene (6.03-3.93%) have been detected as main compounds in all the plants collected, but at different concentrations depending on the collection area. The best fragrance and the highest yield were found in the oil from Kamoo area. Similarly to the chemical composition, the antimicrobial activity of the essential oils was affected by their origin, and essential oil obtained from plants collected from Kamoo area disclosed the highest antibacterial and antifungal efficacy. Its inhibition halos were 17.33±0.58 mm against Aspergillus brasiliensis, 15.67±0.58 mm against Staphylococcus aureus, and 12.33±0. 58 mm against Streptococcus pyogenes. Essential oils of R. damascena were also effective against Gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa and they had a MIC value of 62.50 μg/mL irrespective of the collection area (except the oil from Javinan area). On the contrary, the highest antifungal power against Candida albicans yeast was reached using the essential oil obtained from plants collected in Javinan region (MIC and MBC ~62.50 μg/mL). Conclusions: Overall results underline the influence of environmental conditions of the different areas of Kashan region, on the chemical composition of and antimicrobial activity of the essential oils of Rosa × damascena. In addition, results disclosed that Kamoo seemed to be the most suitable area for the competitive cultivation of R. × damascena to the intensive production of aromatic flower oil and natural antimicrobial essential oils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planning for precision agriculture requires a better understanding of the plant's response to climate. The economy of Qorveh, in Iran, is severely affected by wheat yield fluctuations. In this study, multivariate statistical methods were used to identify important climatic factors affecting rainfed wheat yield and to simulate yield variations based on these impact factors. A new method was introduced to initiate seed germination. After determining the germination time, the wheat growth period was divided into seven stages based on the growing degree day (GDD). Forty-four climatic variables and indices related to the first six stages were used to perform factor analysis and to develop a model for predicting pre-harvest yield. The results showed that 91.5% of the total variance of 44 variables can be explained by 9 factors. Eighty-five percent of yield variations can be explained and modeled (R = 0.92) using five of these factors. This indicates that rainfed wheat yield is highly correlated with climate conditions, and this relationship is well simulated by statistical methods. According to the results, the significant trend of climatic variables was identified as the main reason for the yield growth trend in Qorveh. The yield showed a direct relationship with precipitation and relative humidity and an inverse relationship with air temperature and sunshine. The impact intensity of variables on yield included precipitation, relative humidity, sunshine, and air temperature, respectively. The results also showed that the yield was more affected by climatic variables of spring and May than other seasons and months, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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L-phenylalanine. The foliar spray of L-phenylalanine and the soil application of bio-fertilizers (inoculation of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and Pseudomonas fluorescens and their combined inoculations) on the essential oil from the sage (Salvia officinalis L.) leaves. • L-phenylalanine improved some growth and physiological parameters of sage. • L-phenylalanine along the inoculation of fungi and bacteria increased essential oil yield. • The main oxygenated monoterpenes were 1,8-cineole, camphor, α- and β-thujone. • The highest contents of oxygenated monoterpenes were obtained from L-phenylalanine (500 ppm) × P. fluorescens. • Applied biofertilizers and L-phenylalanine had synergistic effects on the amounts secondary metabolites of sage. Sage (Salvia officinalis L.) as the main herb in the world is cultivated in many countries. Essential oil from the sage leaf is used as raw material in pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries. To determine the effects of bio-fertilizers and foliar splay of L-phenylalanine on growth and morphophysiological characteristics and the main constituents and yield of essential oil from the sage leaves, a field experiment in a 2-year study (2016 and 2017) was done according to a combined design in southwestern Iran. Foliar spray levels of L-phenylalanine were 0, 250, and 500 ppm and various bio-fertilizers including control or without inoculation (i), inoculation of the roots of sage seedlings with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (ii), inoculation of the roots of seedlings with P. fluorescens bacterium as a plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (iii), inoculation of the roots with equal mixture of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and P. fluorescens bacterium in prepared suspension (iv). The main constituents of the essential oils from the sage leaves were oxygenated monoterpenes including 1,8-cineole, camphor, α-thujone, and β-thujone. Results indicated that the foliar spray of L-phenylalanine significantly influenced measured characteristics, especially quantity and quality of the essential oils from the sage leaves. The foliar spray of L-phenylalanine improved the concentration of chlorophylls, fresh and dry herbage weights, and essential oil yield under treatments of inoculation (fungi and bacteria). Generally, the highest contents of oxygenated monoterpenes in the essential oil of sage were obtained from the foliar spray of L-phenylalanine at 500 ppm under inoculation of the roots of sage seedlings with P. fluorescens bacterium. Indeed, the applied biofertilizers and L-phenylalanine had synergistic effects on the amounts secondary metabolites of sage especially oxygenated monoterpenes. In conclusion, we found that the foliar application of L-phenylalanine along the inoculation of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and P. fluorescens and as well as their equal mix can be improved the growth, quantity and quality yields of the essential oil of sage in organic and sustainable agriculture systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Cyanobacteria are regarded as good candidates for natural pruduct discovery, with applications in ‎pharmaceuticals industry. The majority of bioactive metabolites have either been polyketides, non-ribosomal ‎peptides, or a hybrid of the two. Despite of several worldwide studies on prevalence of NRPSs, none of them ‎included Iranian cyanobacteria of Lavasan Lake. Therefore, the aim of this study was to show that the presence of ‎these genes correlates with natural product synthesis. ‎ Materials and methods:‎‏ ‏In this study, ten cultured fresh water cyanobacteria strains of the Lavasan Lake were ‎identified based on the sequence of 16SrRNA gene. In order to phylogenetic analysis the genes responsible for the ‎production of secondary metabolites, a NRPS PCR was conducted. Bioinformatics software tools were used in ‎order to prediction of peptide compound, amino acid activated and the signature sequences by a specific unknown ‎NRPS A module. Antibiogram bioassays were conducted to detect the presence of antimicrobial effects. Lastly, ‎studied strains have been deposited at the Cyanobacteria Culture Collection (CCC) of herbarium ALBORZ at the ‎Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Teheran.‎ Results: the results showed that NRPS genes are presence in all strains. Morover bioinformatics analysis confirmed ‎the type of natural compound, signature sequences and predicted amino acid. In clusterimg of NRPS protein ‎sequences, there was no clear phylogenetic correlation between adenylation domains and activated amino acid and ‎this result emphasize the variety of adenylation domains. Morover the results of antibiogram bioassays showed ‎that there are positive correlation between the presents of those genes and antimicrobial activity.‎ Discussion and conclusion: Sequence analysis indicates the enzymes encoded by these genes may be responsible ‎for the production of different secondary metabolites, such as antibiotics. The presented results prove that fresh ‎water cyanobacterial of Iran are a promising source to yield chemical and pharmaceutical interesting compounds.‎ [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This experiment was conducted to study the effect of pluramin and iron and zinc nanofertilizers on rainfed chickpea in autumn sowing at farmer conditions. The field located next to synoptic weathering station-Varmahang in Kamyaran-Iran during 2015-2016 growing season. The experiment layout was split plots in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The main factor were three levels of pluramin amino acid application (0, 150 g/ha and 250 g/ha) and subplot were four levels of nano fertilizers application (control: distilled water, nano-iron, nano-zinc, and nanoiron + zinc). The results showed that characters as: number of secondary branches, number of pods, number of seeds per pod, 100 seed weight, grain yield, biomass, protein percent and protein yield were significantly affected by the application of pluramin. An application of pluramin significantly increased all traits with exception of protein percent. In this experiment, the application of micronutrients nano-fertilizers also showed significant differences on the number of primary and secondary branches, number of pods, 100 seed weight, grain yield, biomass and protein yield, as this characters were enhanced by nano-fertilizer. Finally, mutual effect of pluramin and nanofertilizers indicated that the most pod numbers, grain yield and biomass were achieved by 250 g pluramin and iron+zinc nano-fertilizers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic fertilizers and intercropping with legumes can be used as alternatives for chemical fertilizers in sustainable production. In order to evaluate the effects of chemical fertilizer (CF), bio-fertilizer (BF) and vermicompost (VC) on essential oil content, yield and chemical compositions of Moldavian balm (MB) in sole crop and intercropping with faba bean (FB) a field study was carried out in Iran in two growth seasons. Results indicated that the interaction effect of cropping pattern × fertilizer was significant on dry herbage yield of Moldavian balm (P ≤ 0.05) and among the intercropping patterns the highest values were obtained in FB:MB 2:2 intercropping. Essential oil content affected by fertilizer treatment and the highest value (0.57%) was observed in CF treatment. The effects of year, cropping pattern and fertilizer were significant (P ≤ 0.01) on essential oil yield and among the intercropping patterns the F:M 2:2 had the greatest value (19.26 kg ha−1). The major chemical components of Moldavian balm essential oil were geraniol, geranyl acetate, geranial and neral. The contents of major components were affected differently by cropping pattern and fertilizer. In intercropping patterns the contents of geraniol increased in BF and VC treatments but the content of geranyl acetate increased in CF treatment compared with sole crop. In both years and all treatments the land equivalent ratios (LER) were greater than one and the greatest LER (1.38) was obtained in FB:MB 2:2 under BF treatment. Generally we can conclude that intercropping and application of bio-fertilizer and vermicompost increased the yield of Moldavian balm and faba bean and also enhanced the contents of major components of essential oil. Therefore these strategies could be considered as alternatives for chemical fertilizer in order to recommend in sustainable production of Moldavian balm. • The highest essential oil yield of Moldavian balm was obtained in FB:MB 2:2 intercropping pattern. • The chemical fertilizer had the highest Moldavian balm essential oil content and yield. • Geraniol, geranyl acetate and geranial were the major components of Moldavian balm essential oil. • The highest geraniol content (42.13%) was obtained in FB:MB 1:1 intercropping and vermicompost treatment. • At all intercropping and fertilizer treatments the land equivalent ratios (LER) were greater than one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]