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Garlic is an important bulb vegetable which is used for both culinary and medical purposes worldwide. In vitro propagation is considered a promising technic for production and conservation of disease-free garlic seed. The efficiency of in vitro culture was studied for micropropagation of native Iranian garlic genotypes. A factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design with three replications was conducted to optimize the in vitro culture media components for establishment, regeneration and conservation of four Iranian garlic genotypes. The highest number of bulblets were obtained and established on MS medium supplemented with 1.5 mgL -1 BA (benzyl adenine) + 0.5 mgL -1 IBA (indole-3-butyric acid) and 0.5 mgL -1 2-iP (2-isopentenyl adenine) + 0.25 mgL -1 NAA (naphthalene acetic acid), respectively. In the regeneration phase, however, the highest number of bulblets regenerated from in vitro grown plants on MS medium supplemented with 0.5 mgL -1 2-iP + 0.1 mgL -1 NAA. A drastic increase in bulblet formation was also observed on this culture medium during conservation phase. At least 20 bulblets were formed per each explant in all genotypes in the first subculture. Interestingly, the bulblet formation in the second subculture was 4–5 times more than the first subculture, indicating a very efficient regeneration rate in micropropagation of Iranian garlic genotypes. Moreover, RAPD (Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA) markers were used to evaluate the genetic stability in regenerated garlic plantlets. All fragments amplified by five RAPDs were the same in regenerated plantlets and their mother plants showing no somaclonal variation in micropropagated Iranian garlics. Our results indicated that in vitro protocols used in this study can provide an efficient system for regeneration and conservation of garlic germplasm in an in vitro gene-bank.

Salinity is one of the main abiotic stresses limiting crop productivity. In the current study, the transcriptome of wheat leaves in an Iranian salt-tolerant cultivar (Arg) was investigated in response to salinity stress to identify salinity stress-responsive genes and mechanisms. More than 114 million reads were generated from leaf tissues by the Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform. An amount of 81.9% to 85.7% of reads could be mapped to the wheat reference genome for different samples. The data analysis led to the identification of 98819 genes, including 26700 novel transcripts. A total of 4290 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were recognized, comprising 2346 up-regulated genes and 1944 down-regulated genes. Clustering of the DEGs utilizing Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) indicated that transcripts associated with phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, transporters, transcription factors, hormone signal transduction, glycosyltransferases, exosome, and MAPK signaling might be involved in salt tolerance. The expression patterns of nine DEGs were investigated by quantitative real-time PCR in Arg and Moghan3 as the salt-tolerant and susceptible cultivars, respectively. The obtained results were consistent with changes in transcript abundance found by RNA-sequencing in the tolerant cultivar. The results presented here could be utilized for salt tolerance enhancement in wheat through genetic engineering or molecular breeding.

Understanding how plant traits evolve in response to environmental gradients is critical for elucidating mechanisms of local adaptation. This study investigated trait variation in Achillea wilhelmsii accessions from eight climatically diverse Iranian locations after cultivation under uniform conditions. Key traits—plant size, biomass, and phosphorus content—reflect adaptive divergence along an integrated environmental gradient (PCA1) derived from temperature, precipitation, and altitude. Warmer/drier, lower-altitude conditions corresponded with reduced phosphorus uptake and smaller plant size, while cooler/wetter, higher-altitude conditions favored increased phosphorus absorption and larger plant size. Principal component analyses revealed that 62.85% of observed trait variation arises from evolutionary responses via genetic divergence, driven by natural selection across environmental gradients. Populations from colder, high-altitude sites (positive PCA1 scores) evolved enhanced phosphorus uptake, likely due to selection on pre-existing genetic variation for cold tolerance, facilitating larger plant sizes. These patterns highlight how adaptation, as an inherent capacity of plants to respond to selection pressures, shapes trait divergence under environmental heterogeneity. Future studies should dissect the genetic architecture linking phosphorus metabolism, environmental gradients, and plant size evolution.

Key messageSbNAC genes (131) encoding 183 proteins were identified from the sorghum genome and characterized. The expression patterns of SbSNACs were evaluated at three sampling time points under post-flowering drought stress.NAC proteins are specific transcription factors in plants, playing vital roles in development and response to various environmental stresses. Despite the fact that Sorghum bicolor is well-known for its drought-tolerance, it suffers from grain yield loss due to pre and post-flowering drought stress. In the present study, 131 SbNAC genes encoding 183 proteins were identified from the sorghum genome. The phylogenetic trees were constructed based on the NAC domains of sorghum, and also based on sorghum with Arabidopsis and 8 known NAC domains of other plants, which classified the family into 15 and 19 subfamilies, respectively. Based on the obtained results, 13 SbNAC proteins joined the SNAC subfamily, and these proteins are expected to be involved in response to abiotic stresses. Promoter analysis revealed that all SbNAC genes comprise different stress-associated cis-elements in their promoters. UTRs analysis indicated that 101 SbNAC transcripts had upstream open reading frames, while 39 of the transcripts had internal ribosome entry sites in their 5′UTR. Moreover, 298 miRNA target sites were predicted to exist in the UTRs of SbNAC transcripts. The expression patterns of SbSNACs were evaluated in three genotypes at three sampling time points under post-flowering drought stress. Based on the results, it could be suggested that some gene members are involved in response to drought stress at the post-flowering stage since they act as positive or negative transcriptional regulators. Following further functional analyses, some of these genes might be perceived to be promising candidates for breeding programs to enhance drought tolerance in crops.

Silymarin is a flavonoid compound derived from milk thistle ( Silybum marianum ) seeds which has several pharmacological applications. Chalcone synthase (CHS) is a key enzyme in the biosynthesis of flavonoids; thereby, the identification of CHS encoding genes in milk thistle plant can be of great importance. In the current research, fragments of CHS genes were amplified using degenerate primers based on the conserved parts of Asteraceae CHS genes, and then cloned and sequenced. Analysis of the resultant nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences led to the identification of two different members of CHS gene family, SmCHS1 and SmCHS2 . Third member, full-length cDNA ( SmCHS3 ) was isolated by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE), whose open reading frame contained 1239 bp including exon 1 (190 bp) and exon 2 (1049 bp), encoding 63 and 349 amino acids, respectively. In silico analysis of SmCHS3 sequence contains all the conserved CHS sites and shares high homology with CHS proteins from other plants. Real-time PCR analysis indicated that SmCHS1 and SmCHS3 had the highest transcript level in petals in the early flowering stage and in the stem of five upper leaves, followed by five upper leaves in the mid-flowering stage which are most probably involved in anthocyanin and silymarin biosynthesis.

Adequate dietary consumption of calcium is crucial in the preservation of bone health and the prevention of osteoporosis. This study investigated the prevalence of insufficient dietary calcium intake among individuals aged ≥50 years in Iran. We analyzed data from the Iranian Multicenter Osteoporosis Study (IMOS-2021). Participants aged 50 years and older completed a 168-item food frequency questionnaire. Insufficient dietary calcium intake was characterized as a daily calcium intake of <1000 mg for men aged 50-70 years, and <1200 mg for men over 70 years and women over 50 years and older. Stata v17 statistical software facilitated a survey set analysis to estimate the population's mean and median dietary calcium intake and the prevalence of insufficient dietary calcium intake. The study included 1450 participants with a mean age of 60.7±7.9 years. The estimated mean dietary calcium intake in Iran was 1062.7 mg/day (95% CI: 1029.6-1095.8), with a median intake of 943.5 mg/d (95% CI: 910.5-976.4). The prevalence of insufficient dietary calcium intake in Iran was estimated to be 62.9% (95% CI: 60.0%-65.7%). Notably, the prevalence was higher among women at 75.5% (95% CI: 71.9%-78.8%), compared to men at 47.8% (95% CI: 43.4%-52.3%) with a significant difference (P<0.001). In age-related findings, individuals aged 65 years and older had a higher prevalence of insufficient intake, at 69.0% (95% CI: 63.9%-74.0%), versus those under 65 years, at 60.3% (95% CI: 56.9%-63.8%), with this difference being statistically significant (P = 0.007). Furthermore, a significant inverse relationship was identified between both educational years and socioeconomic status and the prevalence of insufficient dietary calcium intake (Ps for trends<0.001). Our findings revealed a significant prevalence of insufficient dietary calcium intake in women and those aged 65 and older. We advocate for targeted public health strategies to ensure sufficient dietary calcium intake across these populations.

Purpose The prevalence of osteoporosis increases as the population ages. The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the prevalence of osteoporosis among the general population ≥ 50 years old in Iran. Methods Multiple databases including Scopus, WOS, Medline, Embase, and Persian databases (SID and Magiran) were systematically searched to identify relevant research papers. All population-based studies estimating the prevalence of osteoporosis in the Iranian population were included and imported into Endnote software. Two authors independently reviewed the articles. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to assess the risk of bias. Statistical analysis was performed using Stata software, and a significance level of 0.05 was applied to the analyses. Results Totally 2117 documents were retrieved from the databases up until October 11, 2022. After reading the full texts, 10 documents were included in the study. Our results indicated that the pooled prevalence of osteoporosis in the femoral neck region was 0.19 (95%CI: 0.12–0.26) and 0.19 (95%CI: 0.13–0.25) for women and men, respectively. Pooled prevalence of spinal osteoporosis was 0.29 (95%CI: 0.21–0.38) among women and 0.16 (95%CI: 0.12–0.19) among men. The total pooled prevalence of osteoporosis was 0.38 (95%CI: 0.29–0.48) for women and 0.25 (95%CI: 0.22–0.29) for men. Conclusion Our study highlights the elevated prevalence of osteoporosis among individuals aged 50 years and older, with females exhibiting higher rates. Notably, osteoporosis in the femoral neck region demonstrated the lowest prevalence in both sexes. The implementation of comprehensive strategies is imperative to address osteoporosis problems effectively.

Purpose Trabecular bone score (TBS), as a texture indicator of bone microarchitecture, predicts the risk of fracture. This study aims to explore the knowledge map of TBS. Methods We searched Scopus for “trabecular bone score” or “trabecular score” from the beginning to 2021. Our inclusion criteria were original articles and reviews that were related to TBS and our exclusion criteria were non-English articles, non-related to TBS, and document type other than original articles and reviews. and related documents were included for bibliometric analysis. Excel, VOS viewer, and Science of Science (Sci2) software were used for data synthesis. Results From 749 retrieved articles, 652 articles were included for analysis. These documents were cited 12,153 times and had an H-index of 56. The most productivity belonged to the USA (n = 130 documents), Switzerland (n = 101), and Italy (n = 67). “Osteoporosis International” (n = 80) had the highest participation in publishing. The research topics of interest were mainly related to the applicability of TBS for fracture risk assessment in chronic endocrine disorders such as osteoporosis and diabetes mellitus. Bursting analysis of the title and abstract revealed the initial focus of the discriminative power of TBS for osteoporotic fracture and the more recent focus on comparing bone mineral density (BMD) and TBS in a variety of chronic diseases. Conclusion The number of annual publications on TBS has increased, especially after 2016. These publications highlight the importance of in-depth knowledge of TBS in predicting fracture risk and also its strengths and limitations of treatment monitoring in different health conditions.