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IRANIAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (03601307) 27(1)pp. 185-190
The effect of pH (ranging from 3 to 10), salinity (0.5, 2 and 4M NaCl) and light intensity (20, 60 and 300μmol quanta. m-2. s-1) on the growth curve of three species of D. salina, D.parva and D.psuedosalina were studied. Also, the effect of high temperature ranging from 35 to 60 °C on the motility and integrity of these three species at different salinity of 0.1, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 3 and 4M NaCl in the medium, were studied. The results show that D.salina and D.parva could grow at pH ranges of 6 to 9 with optimum of 7 to 8 and D.psuedosalina at pH of 5 to 10 with optimum of 7 to 8. All three species had optimum growth rate at about 0.5 to 2.0M NaCl. The results also show that, in all three species cell motility and resistance to high temperature increased with increasing NaCl concentration in the medium.
Epilepsy Research (09201211) 57(2-3)pp. 175-180
Seizures are common sequel to brain insults in cases such as stroke, trauma and infection where there is a certain neuroinflammation. Intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induces an inflammatory state in brain that is used as a model of neuroinflammation. We studied the effect of LPS (0.25 and 2.5μg/rat, i.c.v.) on development of electrical kindling of the amygdala and on fully-kindled seizures. LPS, at the doses used, had no effect on fully-kindled seizures and afterdischarge (AD) duration at 0.5, 2 or 4h after administration. However, daily injection of LPS (2.5μg/rat) retarded acquisition of kindled behavioral seizures. This antiepileptogenic effect could be due to the release of inflammatory mediators from microglia and the related morphological and functional changes in synaptic neurotransmission. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Sahraei h., ,
Pirzadeh-jahromi g., ,
Noorbakhshnia, M. ,
Asgari a., ,
Haeri rohani a., A. ,
Khoshbaten a., ,
Poorheidari gh.r., ,
Sepehri, H. ,
Ghoshooni h., ,
Zarrindast, M. Behavioural Pharmacology (14735849) 15(7)pp. 473-480
In the present study, the effects of intraperitoneal, intra-accumbal and intra-ventral tegmental area administration of L-arginine and N G-nitro-L-arginine methyl-ester (L-NAME) on conditioned place preference behavior were studied. Intraperitoneal (i.p.; 0.5, 1 and 5 mg/kg) and intra-accumbal (intra-NAc; 0.3, 1 and 3 μg/rat), but not intra-ventral tegmental area (intra-VTA; 0.3, 1 and 3 μg/rat) administrations of L-arginine produced a significant place conditioning. Similar injections of L-NAME did not produce any response. However, intraperitoneal pretreatment of the animals with L-NAME (5, 10 and 20mg/kg), 30 min before L-arginine administration, significantly abolished the acquisition of place conditioning induced by either intraperitoneal or intra-accumbal injection of L-arginine. Moreover, injection of L-NAME (5, 10 and 20 mg/kg) on the test day did not alter the L-arginine response. The results may indicate that L-arginine induces conditioned place preference via an increase in nitric oxide (NO) in the nucleus accumbens. © 2004 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Sayyah, M. ,
Beheshti, S. ,
Shokrgozar m.a., M.A. ,
Eslami-far a., ,
Deljoo z., ,
Khabiri a.r., ,
Haeri rohani a., A. Experimental Neurology (00144886) 191(1)pp. 145-153
Ischaemic, excitotoxic and traumatic brain injuries have been associated with the occurrence of epileptic seizures. Microglia, the principal immune cells in the brain, produce a variety of proinflammatory and cytotoxic factors especially interleukin-1 (IL-1) early after an acute insult. We studied the effect of intracerebroventricularly administered IL-1β on seizure acquisition and on fully kindled seizures in amygdala kindling model of epilepsy. IL-1β (0.01 ng/rat) retarded acquisition of kindled behavioral seizures and growth of afterdischarges (AD). IL-1β (0.01-10 ng/rat) also exhibited significant anticonvulsant effect on established kindled seizures and AD duration. This effect began 0.5 h after administration and was continued up to 72 h. Pretreatment of the kindled animals with nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, N G-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester, or cyclooxygenase inhibitor, piroxicam, reversed the anticonvulsant effect of IL-1β at early time points. Although most of the previous studies indicate a proconvulsant or convulsant property of IL-1, our results support a protective and antiepileptogenic role of IL-1β. © 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution (09259864) 53(7)pp. 1477-1484
Microsatellite markers were used to analyse the biodiversity of 57 accessions of different subspecies and varieties of wild Aegilops tauschii (2n = 2x = 14; D genome) collected across the major areas where it grows in Iran. Levels of diversity were high, with numbers of alleles averaging 7.3 (ranging up to 12) and polymorphism information contents averaging 0.6591. One accession was notably more similar to two of the D genome in hexaploid wheats (Triticum aestivum) used as outgroups. Within the Ae. tauschii accessions, no markers were characteristic for taxa or geographical origin, suggesting high gene flow between the subspecies and varieties, although some groupings, which could be related to geographical origin, were evident. This survey demonstrates the high diversity present in wild goatgrass in Iran, and indicates that there is value in sampling for useful genes for wheat breeding. © 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.
Pharmacology (00317012) 76(2)pp. 93-100
In the present study, the effects of intraperitoneal injections of GABAA receptor agonist and antagonist on memory formation and morphine state-dependent learning were investigated in rats. Pre-training administration of morphine (1-15 mg/kg) in a step-down passive avoidance task induced state-dependent learning with impaired memory retrieval on the test day. The impairment of memory was restored after the pre-test administration of the same dose of morphine. The pre-test administration of the GABAA receptor agonist, muscimol (0.01, 0.05 and 0.1 mg/kg), significantly decreased state-dependent retrieval induced by pre-test morphine (5 mg/kg). The state-dependency effect of morphine (1 mg/kg) was significantly potentiated by the pre-test administration of the GABAA receptor antagonist, bicuculline (0.125, 0.25 and 0.5 mg/kg). Furthermore, the pre-training injection of muscimol (0.01 mg/kg) impaired memory retrieval which was restored by pre-test morphine (1,3 and 5 mg/ kg) administration. However, the pre-training administration of bicuculline did not affect retention by itself. In addition, amnesia induced by pre-training morphine (5 mg/kg) was significantly reversed in rats which had received pre-test injections of muscimol (0.01, 0.05 and 0.1 mg/kg). Pre-test injections of bicuculline (0.125, 0.25 and 0.5 mg/kg) significantly decreased morphine-induced amnesia. It is concluded that the GABAA receptor mechanisms may be involved in the memory formation and it is postulated that these receptors may play an important role in morphine state-dependent learning. Copyright © 2006 S. Karger AG.
World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology (09593993) 22(9)pp. 1003-1006
Three strains of Dunaliella salina (I, G and A) were cultivated under the climatic conditions of Iran, in open ponds to compare the β-carotene production and the specific rate of growth. The experiments were accomplished in two separate stages. In the first stage, the cells were grown in ponds on nutrient-rich medium containing 2 M NaCl to obtain the necessary biomass. In the second stage, cells were stressed on nutrient-poor medium containing 2.5 M NaCl for β-carotene induction. The results showed that the specific growth rate of strain I was the highest during the first stage, whereas during the second stage, the growth rates of three strains were approximately the same. The overall results indicated that strain G had the highest potential for β-carotene accumulation of the strains tested and hence it was concluded that this strain is more suitable for outdoor cultivation under the climatic conditions of Iran than the other two. © Springer 2006.
Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences (18125735) 9(8)pp. 1492-1496
Four strains of Dunaliella salina (I, G1, A and MUR8) were cultivated under the three salinity regimes (1, 2 and 3 M NaCl) to examine the effect of salinity on the β-carotene synthesis per cell and to compare the β-carotene production per culture volume and the rate of growth. During the 30 days of the experiments the batch cultures maintained in the 300 flasks containing 100 of Johnson's medium under the low irradiance (100 μmol photon m-2 s-1) with a 12/8 h light/dark regime and a continuous shaking. The results showed that the inductive effect of salinity on β-carotene accumulation per cell was strain dependent and when the values for the strains IR-1 and Gh-U were slightly higher at 3 M NaCl compare to lower salinities, there were no direct relationships between the concentrations of salt and the β-carotene contents per cell in other two strains (MUR-8 and Au-W). On the other hand, increase the salinity result in serious decreasing in the cell number and the β-carotene content per culture volume of all strains during the experiment. The highest β-carotene content per (14.2 mg L-1) was obtained at 1 M NaCl in the suspension culture of the strain Au-W. © 2006 Asian Network for Scientific Information.
Esmaeili, F. ,
Tiraihi, Taki ,
Movahedin, Mansoureh ,
Mowla j., S.J. Rejuvenation Research (15491684) (4)
The antiaging effect of selegiline was reported by several investigators; therefore, there is a growing interest in the potential use of stern cell therapy in aging. In this investigation, selegiline was used to induce neuronal differentiation in undifferentiated pluripotent embryonic stem cells (ESCs). The results show that selegiline can induce neuronal phenotype associated with neurotrophic factor expression. Morphologic and immunohistochemical techniques were used to evaluate the differentiation of the CCE cells, Cresyl violet for the morphologic study, anti-synaptophysin and antityrosine hydroxylase antibodies for characterizing the neuronal phenotype of ESCs, and RT-PCR to study the neurotrophins. The results showed that selegiline can induce dose-dependent ESC differentiation into neurons. Moreover, selegiline can induce neurotrophin expression. This study suggests the potential use of combined selegiline and stem cell therapy to improve deficits in neurodegenerative diseases in aging. © Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences (18125735) 9(11)pp. 2048-2054
Under circumstances where electron transport is restricted, such under low temperature condition, oxidative stress may occur even at optimal or low-light intensities. Short-term-effects of light intensities (20 or 100 μmol m -2 sec-1), on the levels of 6 enzymatic, two nonenzymatic antioxidants, chl a, chl b, total carotenoid and β-carotene, on the antioxidant response of Dunaliella salina under cold temperature (13°C) were quantified after 24 h stress treatments. The activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) increased, under 13°C/100 μmol m-2 sec-1, whereas ascorbate peroxidase (APX), dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR), superoxide dismutase and pyrogallol peroxidase activities were induced under 13°C/20 μmol m-2 sec-1. The cells exhibited an increase in reduced ascorbate and reduced glutathione (GSH) coincident with a marked increase in oxidized glutathione (GSSG), at 13°C/100 μmol m -2 sec-1. There were no marked changes in ascorbate or glutathione pools at 13°C/20 μmol m-2 sec-1, which are similar to those at 28°C/100 μmol m-2 sec-1. Chlorophylls and carotenoids reduction were also observed under chilling treatments, which were more reduced by the higher light intensity (13°C/100 μmol m-2 sec-1). The results of present study indicated various antioxidants responds to different combinations of chilling and low light intensities, in D. salina. These responses are very sensitive to small increase in the light intensity. © 2006 Asian Network for Scientific Information.
Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transaction A: Science (10286276) 30(1)pp. 57
The individual effects of cadmium concentrations (0, 0.005, 0.05and 0.5 mg. L-1) on the growth (cell number and chlorophyll content) and beta-carotene synthesis of two strains (Iranian and Australian) of green algae D.salina have been studied for a duration of 36 days. The effects of these cadmium concentrations on the amount of cell magnesium and calcium have also been evaluated. An increase in cadmium concentration resulted in a significant reduction in the cell number and chlorophyll content of D. salina. In comparison with control, in both strains, the increase of beta-carotene content of cells was observed in the first few days of the experiment, moreover, the amount of magnesium and calcium in cells decreased. The results indicated that the addition of 0.5 mg. L-1 of cadmium in the medium results in a 50 percent reduction in cell number after 96h. The decrease in growth rate and the increase in beta-carotene content of cells is probably due to the formation of free radicals and deficiency of essential elements such as magnesium and calcium, which is caused by high concentrations of cadmium in the medium. © Shiraz University.
Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences (18125735) 9(5)pp. 893-897
In the seed industry, seed pelleting is a method used for better crop establishment. Due to problems with the cultivation of Trifolium repens seeds in cold regions, seed pelleting was used. In the first stage of experiment, the effect of some allelopathic compounds including Ephedrine, Vanillin, Caffeine, ABA, extracts of Eucalyptus camadulensis leaf, Onobryichis sativa seed and Juglans regia leaf on germination indicators (percentage germination, germination start, coefficient of velocity and coefficient of allometry) of Trifolium repens seeds were tested. Results showed that among tested allelochemicals Vanillin, ABA and Eucalyptus camadulensis leaf extract were suitable allelochemicals for seed pelleting. In the second stage, seeds were coated with those allelochemicals using seed pelleting method, with no negative effect on seedling growth or on percentage germination. Germination of seeds coated with these allelochemicals was delayed with respect to control but seeds pelleted with Eucalyptus camadulensis leaf extract exhibited delayed germination for longer time than the other treatments. © 2006 Asian Network for Scientific Information.
Zoology in the Middle East (09397140) 39(1)pp. 117-119
Zoology in the Middle East (09397140) 42(1)pp. 112-114
Abbasi, R. ,
Mashhadikhan, M. ,
Abbasi, M. ,
Kiabi, B. Chinese Journal of Ecology (10004890) 27(5)pp. 797-802
Vespidae is one of the major families of Hymenoptera with more than 115000 described species. In the present paper, Simpson and Shannon-Wiener diversity indices, Simpson, Camargo, Smith and Wilson, and modified Nee evenness indices, and richness index based on rarefaction method were adopted to study the biodiversity of vespid wasps in spatial and temporal dimensions in northern Zanjan Province of Tran. In spatial dimension, Zanjan and Gilvan showed the highest and the lowest species diversity, evenness, and richness, respectively; while in temporal dimension, 16 July - 6 August showed the highest species diversity and richness, and 18 May - 27 May and 23 August - 2 September showed the highest and the lowest species evenness, respectively. Significant differences in species abundance between localities of study area were observed by Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric test.
Saeidi, H. ,
Tabatabaei, B.E.S. ,
Rahimmalek, M. ,
Talebi-badaf, M. ,
Rahiminejad, M.R. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution (09259864) 55(8)pp. 1231-1238
The diploid goatgrass Aegilops tauschii is considered the D-genome donor of bread wheat and has probably a centre of diversity in north of Iran. In order to measure the genetic diversity of and the relationships among different populations, varieties and subspecies belonging to Ae. tauschii in Iran, DNA was extracted from 48 accessions of Ae. tauschii collected across the geographic range of the species in the Country and the genetic diversity was assessed using AFLPs based on eight PstI/MseI +3 primer pairs resulted in 277 bands, 198 of which were polymorphic. High level polymorphism was detected, with an average of polymorphism rate of 0.715; relatively low genetic similarity (0.455) between accessions and significant difference between the lowest (0.179) and the highest genetic similarity (0.817). The Iranian Ae. tauschii populations showed high level of genetic diversity. The populations studied were divided into two groups: one group was mainly representing Northern populations collected from Southern Caspian Sea shore and the other group was mainly representing Northeast and Northwest populations. Based on the results of this study, it can be suggested that Ae. tauschii possesses two separate gene-pools in Iran: Northern and Northeastern-Northwestern. Considering the needs for introducing new characteristics and alleles for wheat improvement purposes, Ae. tauschii Iranian gene-pool is assumed to be of high importance for more investigation in the future. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering (12268372) 13(5)pp. 540-544
In this study, carotenoid and glycerol production in two unicellular green algae (Dunaliella salina and D. viridis) isolated from the Gave-Khooni salt marsh grown in media containing five different salt concentrations (0.17, 1, 2, 3, and 4 M NaCl) were evaluated under sterile conditions. Algae growth decreased as the medium salinity increased. Optimum growth of D. salina and D. viridis were obtained at 2 and 1 M NaCl, respectively. As salinity increased, glycerol and carotenoid production were increased in D. salina, whereas lower values for these products were produced in D. viridis under the same conditions. Furthermore, the cell color of D. salina changed from green to orange-red following accumulation of carotenoid, but the color of D. viridis was not changed. Thereby, it seems that the Iranian D. salina may be suitable for carotenoid production (betacarotene) on a large scale. In addition, since carotenoid compounds enhance the efficiency of photosynthesis and glycerol synthesis, it appears that the pathway for glycerol production and mechanisms of salt tolerance in D. viridis are unique from those of D. salina. © The Korean Society for Biotechnology and Bioengineering and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg GmbH 2008.
Saeidi, H. ,
Rahiminejad, M.R. ,
Heslop-harrison j.s., Annals of Botany (03057364) 101(6)pp. 855-861
• Background and Aims: The diploid goat grass Aegilops tauschii (2n = 2x = 14) is native to the Middle East and is the D-genome donor to hexaploid bread wheat. The aim of this study was to measure the diversity of different subspecies and varieties of wild Ae. tauschii collected across the major areas where it grows in Iran and to examine patterns of diversity related to the taxa and geography. • Methods: Inter-retroelement amplified polymorphism (IRAP) markers were used to analyse the biodiversity of DNA from 57 accessions of Ae. tauschii from northern and central Iran, and two hexaploid wheats. • Key Results: Eight IRAP primer combinations amplified a total of 171 distinct DNA fragments between 180 and 3200 bp long from the accessions, of which 169 were polymorphic. On average, about eight fragments were amplified with each primer combination, with more bands being amplified from accessions from the north-west of the country than from other accessions. • Conclusions: The IRAP markers showed high levels of genetic diversity. Analysis of all accessions together did not allow the allocation of individuals to taxa based on morphology, but showed a tendency to put accessions from the north-west apart from others regions. It is speculated that this could be due to different activity of retroelements in the different regions. Within the two taxa with most accessions, there was a range of IRAP genotypes that could be correlated closely with geographical origin. This supports suggestions that the centre of origin of the species is towards the south-east of the Caspian Sea. IRAP is an appropriate marker system to evaluate genetic diversity and evolutionary relationships within the taxa, but it is too variable to define the taxa themselves, where more slowly evolving morphological, DNA sequence or chromosomal makers may be more appropriate. © The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved.
Behavioural Brain Research (18727549) 187(1)pp. 172-177
The hippocampal formation plays an essential role in associative learning like passive avoidance (PA) learning. It has been shown; orexin-containing terminals and orexin receptors densely are distributed in the hippocampal formation. We have previously demonstrated that antagonization of orexin 1 receptor (OX1R) in CA1 region of hippocampus and dentate gyrus (DG) impaired spatial memory processing. Although, there are few studies concerning function of orexinergic system on memory processing in PA task, but there is no study about physiological function of OX1R on this process. To address this, the OX1R antagonist, SB-334867-A, was injected into DG or CA1 regions of hippocampus and evaluated the influence of OX1R antagonization on acquisition, consolidation and retrieval in PA task. Our results show that, SB-334867-A administration into CA1 region impaired memory retrieval but not PA acquisition and consolidation. However, SB-334867-A administration into DG region impaired acquisition and consolidation but not PA memory retrieval. Therefore, it seems that endogenous orexins play an important role in learning and memory in the rat through OX1Rs. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Iranian Biomedical Journal (1028852X) (1)
Background: RNA interference (RNAi) is a phenomenon uses double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) to specifically inhibit gene expression. The non-specific silencing caused by interferon response to dsRNA in mammalian cells limits the potential of utilizing RNAi to study gene function. Duplexes of 21-nucleotide short interfering dsRNA (siRNA) inhibit gene expression by RNAi. In some organisms, siRNA can also function as a primer converting mRNA into dsRNA that are further cleaved to produce more siRNA. This activity involves the enzyme RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP). There are no known RdRP involved in RNAi in mammals. By using an RdRP from Caenorhabditis elegance named ego-1, investigators intend to enhance RNAi effect in mammalian cells. The aims of this project were: 1) to investigate the efficiency of siRNA to enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) gene silencing and 2) to enhance the RNAi effect. Methods: We used a vector-based siRNA to target eGFP. Also we used a vector expressing ego-1 to test for a possible amplification effect of RNAi. The expression of eGFP in the cells was detected by using fluorescent microscopy, flowcytometry and Western-blotting. Results: Transfection of the plasmid into P19 cells significantly decreased eGFP fluorescence. In addition, eGFP protein was reduced. Preliminary data suggested that the presence of ego-1 enhanced the RNAi effect. Conclusion: The results indicated that use of hairpin siRNA expression vectors for RNAi is a promising method to inhibition of gene expression in mammalian cells. Also, introducing RdRP enzyme to mammalian cells might amplify the RNAi effect in the cells.
Abbasi, R. ,
Mashhadikhan, M. ,
Abbasi, M. ,
Kiabi, B. New Zealand Journal of Zoology (03014223) 36(1)pp. 41-46
We analysed morphological variation among 17 forewing characters within five populations of the paper wasp, Polistes dominulus, in Iran. The raw planar coordinate data were aligned using geometric and mathematical calculations in Kendall's shape space. After transfer of the data to a linear Euclidean space, i.e., tangent space, multi‐variate analysis of 135 images of forewings were made using their geometric morphometric characters (30 in the forewings). We observed a direct correlation between morphological characters and the geographically easiest travel distance along river valleys and mountain ranges. © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2009.
Zoology in the Middle East (09397140) 47(1)pp. 83-92
The variation between the forewings of males and females of three species in the genus Polistes (Hymenoptera) was studied with the help of geometric morphometrics, to determine the extent of sexual dimporphism. Mantel statistics revealed a weak correlation between male and female data sets; however, Goodall’s F-test and canonical variates analyses (using the Integrated Morphometric Package) indicated that there are indeed significant differences between the two sexes. Although visual analysis of the relative warp analysis plots of the two sexes and also CVA analysis plot indicated correlations between sexes of the same species, differences in the position of the clusters (or species) on the plots suggests that sexual dimorphism in wings is present. Results from the thin-plate spline analysis of the mean shape of the male and female data sets revealed which landmarks are responsible for the differences. © 2009 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
Bagheri, A. ,
Erkul, S.K. ,
Maassoumi, A.A. ,
Rahiminejad, M.R. ,
Blattner, F.R. Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transaction A: Science (10286276) 33(4)pp. 309-315
This recent study documents the phenolic constituents of the Triticum L. species in Iran using thin layer chromatography. Species studied are related to 55 wild and cultivated accessions of four diploid and four tetraploid species, namely Triticum boeoticum subsp. boeoticum Boiss., T. boeoticum subsp. Thaoudar Reut. ex Boiss., T. monococcum L., T. urartu Tum. ex Gand., T. turgidum L., T. dicoccoides (Korn. Ex Ascher. et Graebn.) Thell., T. dicoccum (Schrank.) Schubl. and T. durum Desf. collected from natural habitats and analyzed for their flavonoid compounds. The current study found that of a total of 20 flavonoid compounds, most of the derivatives were flavones, chalcones, and the others were mainly pseudobaptisin, sciadopitysin, baptigenin and fustin-3-O-glucoside. The basis of variation in these compounds was shown to be usable as an appropriate marker for chemotaxonomic studies. © Shiraz University.
Physiologia Plantarum (00319317) 135(3)pp. 272-280
Dunaliella species accumulate carotenoids and their role in protection against photooxidative stress has been investigated extensively. By contrast, the role of other antioxidants in this alga, has received less attention. Therefore, the components of the ascorbate-glutathione cycle, along with superoxide dismutase (E.C. 1.15.1.1) and peroxidase (E.C. 1.11.1.11) activity were compared in two strains of Dunaliella salina. Strain IR-1 had two-fold higher chlorophyll and β-carotene concentration than Gh-U. IR-1 had around four-fold higher superoxide dismutase, ascorbate peroxidase and pyrogallol peroxidase activities than Gh-U on a protein basis. Ascorbate and glutathione concentrations and redox state did not differ between strains and there was little difference in the activity of ascorbate-glutathione cycle enzymes (monodehydroascorbate reductase [E.C. 1.6.5.4], dehydroascorbate reductase [E.C. 1.8.5.1] and glutathione reductase [E.C. 1.8.1.7]). The response of these antioxidants to high light and low temperature was assessed by transferring cells from normal growth conditions (28°C, photon flux density of 100 μmol m-2 s-1)to 28°C/1200 μmol m-2 s-1; 13°C/100 μmol m-2 s-1; 13°C/1200 μmol m-2 s-1 and 28°C/100 μmol m-2 s-1 for 24 h. Low temperature and combined high light-low temperature decreased chlorophyll and β-carotene in both strains indicating that these treatments cause photooxidative stress. High light, low temperature and combined high light-low temperature treatments increased the total ascorbate pool by 10-50% and the total glutathione pool by 20-100% with no consistent effect on their redox state. Activities of ascorbate-glutathione cycle enzymes were not greatly affected but all the treatments increased superoxide dismutase activity. It is concluded that D. salina can partially adjust to photooxidative conditions by increasing superoxide dismutase activity, ascorbate and glutathione. © 2009 Physiologia Plantarum.
Beheshti, S. ,
Sayyah, M. ,
Golkar, M. ,
Sepehri, H. ,
Babaie, J. ,
Vaziri, B. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry (18784216) 34(3)pp. 510-515
Objective: Identification of key molecular changes occurring during epileptogenesis provides better understanding of epilepsy and helps to develop strategies to modify those changes and thus, block the epileptogenic process. Gap junctional communication is thought to be involved in epileptogenesis. This communication can be affected by changes in expression of gap junctional protein subunits called connexins (Cxs). One of the main brain regions involved in epileptogenesis is the hippocampus in which there is a network of gap junctional communication between different cell types. Method: Cx36 and Cx43 expressions at both mRNA and protein level were measured in rat hippocampus during epileptogenesis in the kindling model of epilepsy. Results: Cx36 expression at both mRNA and protein level was upregulated during acquisition of focal seizures but returned to basal level after acquisition of secondarily-generalized seizures. No change in Cx43 gene and protein expression was found during kindling epileptogenesis. Conclusion: These results further point out the significance of Cx36 as a target to modify epileptogenic process and to develop antiepileptogenic treatments. © 2010 Elsevier Inc.
Perestenko, P.V. ,
Pooler, A.M. ,
Noorbakhshnia, M. ,
Gray, A. ,
Bauccio, C. ,
Jeffrey mcilhinney, R.A. FEBS Journal (1742464X) 277(24)pp. 5174-5189
The copines are a family of C2- and von Willebrand factor A-domain-containing proteins that have been proposed to respond to increases in intracellular calcium by translocating to the plasma membrane. The copines have been reported to interact with a range of cell signalling and cytoskeletal proteins, which may therefore be targeted to the membrane following increases in cellular calcium. However, neither the function of the copines, nor their actual movement to the plasma membrane, has been fully established in mammalian cells. Here, we show that copines-1, -2, -3, -6 and -7 respond differently to a methacholine-evoked intracellular increase in calcium in human embryonic kidney cell line-293 cells, and that their membrane association requires different levels of intracellular calcium. We demonstrate that two of these copines associate with different intracellular vesicles following calcium entry into cells, and identify a novel conserved amino acid sequence that is required for their membrane translocation in living cells. Our data show that the von Willebrand factor A-domain of the copines modulates their calcium sensitivity and intracellular targeting. Together, these findings suggest a different set of roles for the members of this protein family in mediating calcium-dependent processes in mammalian cells. © 2010 FEBS.
Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution (09259864) 57(3)pp. 415-422
Microsatellite markers were used to analyse the genetic diversity of 120 individuals of 20 weedy/wild populations of Secale cereale collected all around Iran. High levels of diversity, with an average number of seven alleles per locus (ranging up to 11) and high level polymorphism with polymorphism rate averaging 0.645 (between populations) and 0.364 (within populations) were observed. The Northwestern populations showed the highest and the Northern populations showed the lowest polymorphism and diversity. One population was notably more similar to five of the S. strictum used as outgroups. No taxon or geographic specific marker was detected, suggesting high gene flow between the populations, however some groupings which can be related to the subspecies, were evident. This survey showed the high genetic diversity within the Iranian rye genepool as an important source for crop breeders, and indicated that there is value in sampling for useful genes for crops improvement. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009.
In Vitro Cellular and Developmental Biology - Animal (10712690) (1)
In healthy individuals, skin integrity is maintained by epidermal stem cells which self-renew and generate daughter cells that undergo terminal differentiation. Epidermal stem cells represent a promising source of stem cells, and their culture has great potential in scientific research and clinical application. However, no single method has been universally adopted for identifying and isolating epidermal stem cells. Here, we reported the isolation and characterization of putative epidermal stem cells from newborn mouse skin. The keratinocytes were separated enzymatically. Putative epidermal stem cells were selected by rapid adherence on a composite matrix made of type I collagen and fibronectin. Unattached cells were discarded after 10 min, and the attached cells were cultured in a defined culture medium. The isolated cells showed the typical epidermal stem cell morphology. Immunofluorescence indicated that the cells were strongly stained for β1 integrin family of extracellular matrix receptors. In conclusion, mouse putative epidermal stem cells were successfully isolated from newborn mouse epidermis on the basis of high rapid adhesion to extracellular matrix proteins and cultured in vitro. © 2009 The Society for In Vitro Biology.
Zoology in the Middle East (09397140) 50(1)pp. 95-100
Based on our data and the published literature, Euodynerus dantici dantici (Rossi, 1790), Euodynerus disconotatus sulfuripes (Morawitz, 1885), Euodynerus fastidiosus (de Saussure, 1853), Rhynchium acromum Giordani Soika, 1952, Tachyancistrocerus komarowi komarowi (Morawitz, 1885), and Polistes nimpha irakensis (Gusenleitner, 1976) are new records for the fauna of vespid wasps of Iran. New localities were found for some species and subspecies previously known in Iran. © 2010 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
Ehtemam, M.H. ,
Rahiminejad, M.R. ,
Saeidi, H. ,
Tabatabaei, B.E.S. ,
Krattinger, S.G. ,
Keller, B. International Journal Of Molecular Sciences (14220067) 11(11)pp. 4309-4325
The relationships among 55 wheat accessions (47 accessions collected from Iran and eight accessions provided by the Institute of Plant Biology of the University of Zurich, Switzerland) belonging to eight species carrying A genome (Triticum monococcum L., T. boeoticum Boiss., T. urartu Tumanian ex Gandilyan, T. durum Desf., T. turgidum L., T. dicoccum Schrank ex Schübler, T. dicoccoides (Körn. ex Asch. & Graebner) Schweinf. And T. aestivum L.) were evaluated using 31 A genome specific microsatellite markers. A high level of polymorphism was observed among the accessions studied (PIC = 0.77). The highest gene diversity was revealed among T. durum genotypes, while the lowest genetic variation was found in T. dicoccoides accessions. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed a significant genetic variance (75.56%) among these accessions, representing a high intra-specific genetic diversity within Triticum taxa in Iran. However, such a variance was not observed among their ploidy levels. Based on the genetic similarity analysis, the accessions collected from Iran were divided into two main groups: diploids and polyploids. The genetic similarity among the diploid and polyploid species was 0.85 and 0.89 respectively. There were no significant differences in A genome diversity from different geographic regions. Based on the genetic diversity analyses, we consider there is value in a greater sampling of each species in Iran to discover useful genes for breeding purposes. © 2010 by the authors.
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