The success of invasive plants may reflect environmental differences in their native and introduced ranges including both abiotic and biotic conditions, such as release from aboveground herbivory. However, in response to these novel conditions, plants from invasive populations may have higher growth rates and lower defense levels compared to those in the native range. This may contribute to the...

In the production of flowers and ornamental plants, especially in the advanced greenhouse conditions, it is important to have a good light source and its accurate management. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of light quality on morphological and biochemical traits of two Marigold genotypes (Iranian-native and Gitana). This experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with t...

The criteria that local people use for selecting medicinal plants have been a recurrent topic in pharmacology and ethnobotany. Two of the current hypotheses regarding this phenomenon, ecological apparency and diversification, attempt to explain the inclusion of "apparent" and "non-apparent" and native and exotic taxa, respectively, in local pharmacopoeia. This study addresses the following ques...

An efficient system has been developed for the reproducible regeneration of plants from cell suspension-derived protoplasts of the two commercial Iranian Japonica rice cultivars Tarom and Khazer. Friable embryogenic calli were used for cell suspension initiation and protoplasts were isolated from both varieties. When embedded in agarose, protoplasts failed to divide. However, sustained division...

Methanolic extract of 15 Iranian medicinal plants were prepared and tested for their cytotoxic activities against three cancer cell lines (MCF7, HepG2, WEHI164) and one normal cell line (MDBK). Some plants showed cytotoxic activities. The extract of Ferula szowitsiana root, which proved to be the most active, was chosen for further phytochemical studies. The major compounds of the most potent a...

In this paper, the bootstrapping Malmquist index is used to derive the productivity levels of Iranian steam power plants for the period of 2007e2012. The research shows that the average level of productivity has significantly decreased. It was also indicated that technological changes have had more effects on productivity than efficiency changes. To study the influence of various explanatory fa...

Bioactive compounds of medicinal herbs have possible health benefits with antioxidative, anticarcinogenic, antihypertensive, antimutagenic and antimicrobial activities. Iranian folk medicine is rich of various herbs which have been employed as drug for treatment of various diseases and disorders since ancient times. The present paper provides a brief overview of the medicinal benefits of some i...