Ali Izadi-Darbandi

Allelic variations in Glu-1 and Glu-3 loci of historical and modern Iranian bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars

Proline and glutamine-rich wheat seed endosperm proteins are collectively referred to as prolamins. They are comprised of HMW-GSs, LMW-GSs and gliadins. HMW-GSs are major determinants of gluten elasticity and LMW-GSs considerably affect dough extensibility and maximum dough resistance. The inheritance of glutenin subunits follows Mendelian genetics with multiple alleles in each locus. Identification of the banding patterns of glutenin subunits could be used as an estimate for screening high quality wheat germplasm. Here, by means of a two-step 1D-SDS-PAGE procedure, we identified the allelic variations in high and low-molecular-weight glutenin subunits in 65 hexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars representing a historical trend in the cultivars introduced or released in Iran from the years 1940 to 1990. Distinct alleles 17 and 19 were detected for Glu-1 and Glu-3 loci, respectively. The allelic frequencies at the Glu-1 loci demonstrated unimodal distributions. At Glu-A1, Glu-B1 and Glu-D1, we found that the most frequent alleles were the null, 7 + 8, 2 + 12 alleles, respectively, in Iranian wheat cultivars. In contrast, Glu-3 loci showed bimodal or trimodal distributions. At Glu-A3, themost frequent alleles were c and e. At Glu-B3 the most frequent alleles were a, b and c. At Glu-D3 locus, the alleles b and a, were the most and the second most frequent alleles in Iranian wheat cultivars. This led to a significantly higher Nei coefficient of genetic variations in Glu-3 loci (0.756) as compared to Glu-1 loci (0.547). At Glu-3 loci, we observed relatively high quality alleles in Glu-A3 and Glu-D3 loci and low quality alleles at Glu-B3 locus.

Microstructural and antibacterial properties of silver nanoparticle-decorated porous polyurethane surface for water purification

AbstractFourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy, and optical micrograph studies on silver nanoparticle-decorated polyurethane confirmed that silver nanoparticles were not washed away by repeated washing or immersion in an ultrasonic bath and keeping the treated foams for several weeks at the room temperature. Morphology of the foam did not change after coating with silver colloidal solution. According to the FTIR spectra, the nanoparticle binding is due to the interaction of silver atoms on the surface of the nanoparticles with the nitrogen atom at polyurethane foam. Highly antibacterial effects of polyurethane foams coated with silver nanoparticles were characterized through growth curve studies and colony counting of Escherichia coli on the LB (Luria Bertani) broth and LB-Agar media, consequently. Considering the low cost and effectiveness in prohibiting the growth of E. coli, this technology may have large implications for decontamination of liquid or solid environm...

Genotype Diversity of Puroindoline Genes (Pina-D1 and Pinb-D1) in Bread Wheat Cultivars Developed in Iran and CIMMYT

Grain hardness has a considerable effect on milling yield, particle size, and water absorption of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) flour and is considered an integral trait in wheat end-use classification. Kernel hardness in wheat is controlled by the Hardness locus on chromosome 5D. In this study, we investigated genotypic variation of genes involved in grain hardness in wheat cultivars developed in Iran or CIMMYT. We have used two allele-specific PCR marker methodologies to identify allelic variation of Pina-D1 and Pinb-D1 genes. We also determined the force required for seed rupture by compression testing (CT) in selected number of cultivars. Two alleles (Pina-D1a and Pina-D1b) for Pina-D1 and three alleles (Pinb-D1a, Pinb-D1b, and Pinb-D1d) for Pinb-D1 were detected. The most common genotype observed was Pina-D1a/Pinb-D1a. The second most frequent genotype was Pina-D1b/Pinb-D1a. Genotypes Pina-D1a/Pinb-D1d and Pina-D1b/Pinb-D1d were also observed but at very low frequencies. In general, compression testing data were in agreement with the grain hardness expected from each genotypic class. Most Pina-D1b-carrying germplasm were those from the CIMMYT global wheat program. The allele Pinb-D1d was found in combination with Pina-D1a and with Pina-D1b. The allele Pinb-D1d did not increase grain hardness as expected.

Agrobacterium rhizogenes transformed soybeans with AtPAP18 gene show enhanced phosphorus uptake and biomass production

ABSTRACT Low-phosphorus stress is a challenging factor in limiting plant development. Soybean is cultivated in soils often low in phosphorus. However, on average 65% of total P is in the form of organic phosphates, which are unavailable to plants unless hydrolyzed to release inorganic phosphate. One approach for enhancing crop P acquisition from organic P sources is boosting the activity of acid phosphatases (APases). This study seeks to understand the role of an Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) purple APase gene (AtPAP18) in soybean. Thus, the gene was isolated and a final vector (AtPAP18/pK7GWG2D) was built. Composite soybean plants were created using Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation. A. rhizogenes K599 carrying the AtPAP18/pK7GWG2D vector with egfp as a reporter gene was used for soybean hairy root transformation. Analysis of Egfp expression detected fluorescence signals in transgenic roots, whereas there was no detectable fluorescence in control hairy roots. The enzyme assay showed that the APase activity increased by 2-fold in transgenic hairy roots. The transformed hairy roots displayed an increase in plant soluble P and total P contents, as compared with the control plants, leading to improved biomass production. RT-PCR analysis revealed high expression levels of AtPAP18 in transformed hairy roots. It is noteworthy that these primers amplified no PAP18 transcript in control hairy roots. Taken together, the findings demonstrated that overexpression of the AtPAP18 gene offers an operative tactic to reduce the utilization of inorganic phosphorus (Pi) fertilizer through increased acquisition of soil Pi, especially improving the crop yield on soils low in available P.

Erratum to: Bioinformatics study of the 3-hydroxy-3-methylglotaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMGR) gene in Gramineae

Isoprenoids or terpenoids are synthesized by two important units’ including dimethylallyl diphosphate and isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP). Plants use two different methods for formation of IPP, which is a cytosolic and a plastidial method. The 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGR, EC 1.1.1.34) catalyzes the conversion of HMG-CoA to mevalonate, which is the first stage in the cytosolic pathway for biosynthesis of isoprenoid in plants. In this study, a total of fifty HMGR protein sequences from Gramineae and three animal samples including human, mouse and fruit fly were aligned and analyzed by computational tools to predict the protein properties, such as molecular mass, pI, signal peptide, transmembrane and conserved domains, secondary and spatial structures. Sequence comparison analysis revealed that there is high identity between plants and animals. Three catalytic regions including L domain, N domain and S domain were detected by structural modeling of HMGR. The tertiary structure model of Oryza sativa HMGR (Accession Number: NP_001063541) was further checked by PROCHECK algorithm, and showed that 90.3 % of the amino acid residues were located in the most favored regions in Ramachandran plot, indicating that the simulated three-dimensional structure was reliable. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that there is a relationship among species of Gramineae and other organisms. According to these results, HMGRs should be derived from a common ancestor.

High Loading of SiO2 Nanoparticles to Investigate Optical and Mechanical Properties of Polyurethane Open Cell

In this research the composition of polyurethane open cell (PUOC) with two concentrations of SiO2 nanoparticles (1 and 2wt. %) have been prepared. Optical microscopy imaging, watering uptake, FTIR and Raman spectroscopy of the synthesized samples were measured. The optical microscopy imaging of samples showed differences in the appearance of matrix by applying of different amount of SiO2 nanoparticles. Variations of the water uptake of specimens were related to the function of SiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) and their concentrations. The degree of phase separation and the hydrogen bonding index in samples were evaluated in terms of their FTIR spectroscopy data. The apparent and real densities of foams were measured and then total porosity, open porosity and close porosity of samples were calculated. According to creating voids in polyurethane, the apparent and real density has different behavior by adding of SiO2 nanoparticles (NPs). The open porosity of samples is increased by adding the amount of nanoparticles but the close and total porosity are decreased.