First report of leaf spot caused by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Alternaria alternata</Emphasis> on <Emphasis Type="Italic">Drimia maritima</Emphasis>

Drimia maritima (squill) is a historically important medicinal plant. During the spring of 2016, small, yellow leaf spots, which became brown and finally necrotic, were observed on squill plants in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Provinces in Iran. A fungus was consistently isolated from infected leaves and identified as Alternaria alternata based on morphological and phylogenetic analyses. Pathogenicity tests confirmed A. alternata to be the causal agent of the newly observed leaf spot disease. This is the first report of leaf spot on D. maritima caused by A. alternata in the world.     

Effects of forest harvesting on runoff and sediment characteristics in the Hyrcanian forests,northern Iran

Loss of canopy cover by forest harvesting generally increases the average surface runoff volume and sediment. Selective cutting (single and group selection method) is the most usual forest harvesting method in the Hyrcanian forests in the north of Iran. The purpose of this study is to find the effect of selective logging technique on the hydrological behavior of runoff and sediment in the Kheyrud forests located in northern Iran over 1 year. Four treatments were implemented: natural forest without harvesting (C), forest with selective harvesting (H) and area without canopy cover (WC) and skid trail (S). Three types of data were measured in each plot including soil chemical and physical properties, runoff and sediment load after each rainfall. The results indicate significant differences (P ≤ 0.05) in runoff generation and sediment production with respect to the treatments cover. The runoff in all treatments showed relatively similar response to rainfall, while the highest runoff and sediment were observed in skid trails, and the area without canopy cover (1.13 and 0.62 mm, and 1.2 and 0.51 g m^?2), averagely. In contrast, the natural forest without harvesting and the forest with selective harvesting treatments exhibited the lowest amounts of runoff (0.2 and 0.44 mm) and sediment (0.1 and 0.17 g m^?2), averagely. Implementation of low logging technique was useful to control the effects of logging on the runoff and sediment yield.     

Drought tolerance in four-day-old seedlings of a drought-sensitive cultivar of wheat

Four-day-old seedlings of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Marvdasht) can tolerate severe dehydration and recover after re-watering. In order to clarify tolerance mechanism, in a completely randomized design, the seedlings were exposed to drought by complete water cessation for 10 and 20 days, followed by re-watering for 3 and 7 days. Upon dehydration, the activity of α-amylase increased whereas growth parameters; photosynthetic pigments; and the activities of lipoxygenase, indole acetic acid (IAA) oxidase, and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) decreased. The activity of APX and the expression of its gene, however, increased after re-watering. Prolonged dehydration was also accompanied by increase in sucrose, soluble proteins, fructans, and certain amino acids, e.g. proline, glutamine, and valine. The results indicated that during dehydration, 4-day-old wheat seedlings shifted their energy expenditure from basal metabolism to withstand water deficiency via lowering the activity of membrane-damaging enzymes and enhancing the production of osmoprotectants.     

Outcomes of percutaneous pinning in treatment of distal radius fractures

Distal radius fractures are among the most common bone fractures all over the world. Close reduction and fixation by percutaneous pinning is a less invasive method comparing with other open surgeries. This study aims at evaluating the functional outcome of this treatment in distal radius fractures. In this prospective study, 50 patients with distal radius fractures underwent percutaneous pinning during a 16 month period in Tabriz Shohada Hospital. Follow-up for 3 months was possible in 48 (96%) patients. Possible complications (such as infection, nonunion, pin loosening and pain), functional outcomes (including range of motion, grip and pinch strengths) and radiological outcome were documented in intervals during follow-up. Forty eight patient, 22 males and 27 females with a mean age of 47.1 +/- 13.7 (19-80) years were enrolled. Local pain, infection and pin loosening were documented in 14.6, 16.7 and 2.1% of cases, respectively. Based on radiological reports, unacceptable palmar tilt, articular step, radial inclination and radial shortening were present in 6.3, 0, 2.1 and 6.3% of cases, respectively three months post-operation. The clinical outcomes according to Cooney's modification of the Green and O'Brien scheme were as excellent, good, fair and poor in 52.1, 31.3, 10.4 and 6.3% of cases, respectively. According to these results, closed reduction and percutaneous pinning of distal radius fractures is a rather successful method with minor complications.     

Improvement of trivalent leptospira vaccine by removal of anaphylactic agents

The anaphylactic reactions in cattle following leptospira vaccination mostly booster dose in different parts of Iran have been reported. The serum proteins as allergic substances are components of liquid phase of the vaccine. Therefore, the vaccine was modified by washing the whole cultures by centrifugations. The modified vaccine was safe in laboratory animals and cattle as well as under field conditions. Microagglutination test revealed a similar pattern of antibody response to the three Leptospira interrogans serovars (Canicola, Grippotyphosa, and Sejro hardjo) in all vaccinated cattle groups while was higher than the response of control animals. The results of the present investigation revealed that we can minimize postvaccination shock in vaccinated cattle populations with removing the shock proteins.     

Metabolomic analysis of Ranunculus spp. as potential agents involved in the etiology of equine grass sickness

Identification of toxic or harmful agents continues to be a key goal in agricultural chemistry. This paper reports a metabolomic analysis of Ranunculus repens and related species, which were recently postulated to be cocausative agents in the etiology of equine grass sickness (EGS). Specifically, samples collected at EGS sites were compared with those from non-EGS sites. Furthermore, interspecific and seasonal variations and the species' response to edaphic and climatic factors were investigated. (1)H NMR spectroscopy in combination with multivariate data analysis was applied to the crude methanol extracts of the Ranunculus samples, as well as their chloroform fractions. Samples from EGS sites were significantly different from control samples. The metabolite composition varied greatly between different Ranunculus species. No significant changes could be observed between samples collected in different seasons. This work provides strong evidence that Ranunculus is involved in the etiology of EGS and has implications for agricultural management of pastures.     

Screening drought-tolerant genotypes in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) using different multivariate methods

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most widely cultivated crops in rainfed areas of Iran, where drought is the main limiting factor on yield. The object of this study was the identification of drought-tolerant genotypes in bread wheat. Forty bread wheat genotypes were tested in separate experiments under drought stress and normal conditions in two years (2009–2010 and 2010–2011). Nine drought-tolerance/susceptibility indices including stress susceptibility index (SSI), mean productivity (MP), tolerance (TOL), stress tolerance index (STI), geometric mean productivity (GMP), yield index (YI), yield stability index (YSI), linear regression coefficient (β) and drought response index (DRI) were determined. Simultanously applied factor analysis used two factors instead of nine indices in this study. Mahdavi was recognized as the most drought-tolerant genotype in both years based on factor analysis. In this study an equation was developed for estimating the Stress Tolerance Score (STS). The results of the equation were identical to those of factor analysis in both years. The equation was much easier to use than factor analysis and is suggested as a screening tool for the identification of drought-tolerant genotypes. In this study, Mahdavi was the most drought-tolerant genotype also corresponding to this equation.     

Improvement of Antioxidant System and Decrease of Lignin by Nickel Treatment in Tea Plant

The effect of nickel (Ni) on the activities of antioxidant enzymes was evaluated in suspension-cultured cells of tea (Camellia sinensis L. cv. ‘Yabukita’) and two-year-old rooted cuttings of tea (Camellia sinensis L. assamica × sinensis). Suspension-cultured cells were grown in B5 medium and treated with 40 μM of Ni for 24 h. Tea plants were grown in a modified Hoagland solution and treated for one week with 40 μM of Ni. The activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, and ionically wall-bound peroxidase of both Ni-treated tea cells and Ni-treated tea plants increased compared with those of control groups. The activities of soluble peroxidase and covalently wall-bound peroxidase, as well as the lignin content of both tea cells and tea plants, decreased under Ni treatment. Thus it seems that Ni may have beneficial effects on tea plants via elevation of antioxidant activity and decrease of lignification of the walls.     

Effects of Coenzyme Q10 on the ratio of TH1/TH2 in Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis Model of Multiple Sclerosis in C57BL/6

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is known as a progressive central nervous system inflammatory disease. Certain factors, such as interleukins, inflammatory cells, and oxidative stress are supposed to involve in MS etiology. Because of the important role of oxidative stress, antioxidant therapy for MS has received more attention. Although coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) acts as an antioxidant, there is a lack of enough research on its effects on MS. Therefore, the present research was designed. Methods: C57BL/6 female adult mice (n = 30) were used in this study. The animals were randomly divided into trial and control groups. To induce MS, routine procedure for experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) was used, and scoring was performed based on clinical signs. By detecting score one, CoQ10 administration was started (10 mg/kg/three weeks). By using ELISA and real-time PCR, the brain levels of TNF-, IL-10, IL-4, and IL-12 were studied. Statistical tests were used to analyze the data and the P value less than 0.05 was considered to be significant. Results: Clinical symptoms in EAE animals were significantly decreased (P<0.05) as compared to control ones. In addition, the level of the TNF- was significantly decreased following CoQ10 administration versus IL-10. The ratio of TH1/TH2 interleukins in treated animals was significantly less than that in non-treated animals (P<0.01). Conclusion: Our findings showed that CoQ10 is capable of suppressing the inflammatory pathway of MS. Key Words: Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10)     

Erratum to: Topsoil Carbon Stock and Soil Physicochemical Properties in Riparian Forests and Agricultural Lands of Southwestern Iran

Eurasian Soil Science - An Erratum to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229321300013