Journal of Plant Process and Function

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Ephedra intermedia (Schrenket) is a medicinal plant belong to family Ephedraceae from Gnetales, order of gymnosperms. Shoot explants of E. intermedia were cultured in MS medium with some treatments of auxin (indole acetic acid=IAA) include 2.5, 5, 10 and 15mgl^-1 supplemented with Kinetin (Kin) include 2.5, 5, 10 and 20 mgl^-1. The powder of E. intermedia dry organs and in vitro auxin and Kinetin treatmented explants were used for alkaloid and phenol extraction and antioxidant activity tests. The explants of in vitro culture formed callus and shoots after 3 month. Both hormones induced callus formatin, but they hadn’t interaction effects. Kinetin was better than IAA for shoots formation. High concentration of IAA increased alkaloid content of explants and Kin stimulated increasing that’s. . Phenol content and antioxidant activity of the explants were treated by 2.5 mgl^-1 IAA with all concentrations of kinetin were higher than others treatments but in red callus of  5 mgl^-1 IAA with 20 mgl^-1 Kin treatment was highest from all. Alkaloid in root and seeds, phenols and antioxidant activity in fruits and shoots were highest. Results of present study showed organs of E. intermedia are contain much alkaloid, phenol and antioxidant activity. IAA and Kin affected on callus induction, shoots formation, alkaloid and phenol content and antioxidant activity of E. intermedia explants were similar to other species of Ephedra genus.

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In vitro organogenesis of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) was evaluated using the cotyledonary explants of “Beth Alpha” and “Dastgerdi” cultivars. Organogenesis was examined on the MS medium containing 2 mgl^-1 Benzylaminopurine (BAP) along with eight combinations of abscisic acid (ABA) (0 and 1 mgl^-1), silver nitrate (0 and 5 mgl^-1), and cefotaxime (0 and 200 mgl^-1). The results indicated the significant effect of ABA on increasing the percent of shoot induction and number of regenerated shoots. In the absence of ABA, silver nitrate had a significant effect on shoot induction and number of shoots. Not only the negative effects of cefotaxime was not observed, but also the number of shoots increased in one case. Root induction in the regenerated shoots was also studied using 5 different media including PGR-free MS medium and the media containing indolebutyric acid (IBA) (0.1 and 1 mgl^-1) or naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) (0.1 and 1 mgl^-1). The highest number of roots per shoot in “Beth Alpha” (9.4) and “Dastgerdi” (8.6) were observed in the MS medium supplemented with 0.1 mgl^-1 IBA. The genetic stability among 10 randomly selected clones of “Beth Alpha” cultivar was evaluated using AFLP markers. Besides that, cytogenetic assessment of 10 clones from each cultivar was implemented. In total 293 monomorphic bands were amplified using 9 primer combinations of AFLP marker, indicating the absence of somaclonal variation. The chromosome counting of root meristematic cells revealed the stability of ploidy level among regenerated clones.

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This research was conducted to optimize in vitro micropropagation of Begonia rex as an important ornamental pot plant. In vitro callogenesis and regeneration of three cultivars of B. rex (Jurassic, Silver dollar and Silver king) were carried out starting from leaf segments as explants. Eight Murashige and Skoog′s media consisted of four plant growth regulators, including α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA), 6-benzyladenine (BA), 3-Indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), and Thidiazuron (TDZ). After four weeks, callogenesis and regeneration started. After eight weeks of proliferation, the explants were transferred to MS culture medium supplemented with 0.05 mg/l gibberellic acid. The highest direct regeneration percent occurred in the medium containing 0.5 mg/L BA + 0.2 mg/L TDZ. Callogenesis, regeneration and root formation occurred in all treatments. The highest number of leaves was observed in the culture medium supplemented with 1 mg/L IBA + 1 mg/L BA in the Jurassic cultivar. Medium fortified with 0.2 mg/L NAA + 0.2 mg/L BA and 1 mg/L IBA + 1 mg/L BA was selected as the best medium for increasing the fresh weight and proliferation of cv. Jurassic. The highest amounts of chlorophyll a and b were obtained in 0.5 mg/l BA + 0.2 mg/l TDZ and 1 mg/l of IBA + 1 mg/l of BA treatments in ‘Jurassic’ and ‘Silver dollar’ cultivars. The survival rate of transplanted plant lets was about 100%. Generally, the combination of 1 mg/l IBA with 1 mg/l BA could be introduced as an effective and useful treatment in the micropropagation of studied three cultivars of Begonia rex.

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In this study, peanut explants of (Arachis hypogaea L.) were cultured with hormones to obtain regenerated organs. Oil and protein from organs were extracted with organic solution and buffer. Polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase activities were measured at 510 and 420 nm respectively. Fatty acids (FAs) were analyzed by GC-MS. Regenerated organs contained 10.5–41% of oil and 0.96- 16.9% of protein. The shoots and seeds contained 15 and 57% of oil and 18.1 and 26.1% of protein. Peroxidase activity of the seeds and shoots was 11 and 27.4 mg (gp.min)^-1. Peroxidase activity of regenerated organs was 73.6- 397.5 mg (gp.min)^-1. Polyphenol oxidase activity of seeds and shoots was between 3.4 and 8.7 mg (gp.min)^-1. Polyphenol oxidase activity of regenerated organs were 9.6- 72.6 4 mg (gp.min)^-1. In the all samples were found 2- 13 FAs. Oleic was main FA of seeds and some regenerated organs. In the shoots, roots and regenerated shoots, main FA was linoleic acid. The hormones have shown positive effects on enhancing the production of certain fatty acids. The results showed that hormones including cytokinin (BAP) along with some auxins (IAA, NAA and 2, 4-D) at concentrations of 0.25–0.5 mg/L affect the organogenesis and the phytochemical composition of peanut.