---

Two barley (Hordeun vulgare L.) genotypes, Radical and Cwb, with good to moderate levels of resistance to powdery mildew were crossed with a highly susceptible cultivar (Afzal) to determine the genetics of resistance. The parents, Fl, F2 and F3 generations of each of the two crosses, were evaluated for powdery mildew resistance in the glasshouse and field at the College of Agriculture in Karaj during 2000. The x2 analysis of the segre-gating ratios in the F3 generations indicated that the resistance was controlled by one gene at seedling stage and by two or three genes at adult plant stage in Cwb and Radical, respectively. Radical showed a higher level of resistance than the Cwb, therefore, it is a better source of resistance to powdery mildew.

---

Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV; genus Cucumovirus, family: Bromoviridae) has the widest host range of any known plant viruses. Seven virus isolates, originated from different ornamental plant species and greenhouses, were biologically purified, mechanically inoculated onto test plants and their serological differences were assayed based on reactivity with 11 CMV-specific monoclonal antibodies. Following total RNA extraction, coat protein (CP) coding region of CMV isolates was amplified. Based on biological, serological and phylogenetic analysis, only one isolate belonged to CMV subgroup II and other six isolates were equally distributed among the two IA and IB subgroups. Aphid transmission assay showed that no significant difference was observed between transmission efficiency of CMV subgroups IA, IB and II members by Aphis gossypii. The genetic variation and evolution of CMV in Iran was studied by sequence analysis of the CP gene and comparison with equivalent sequences of isolates from other continents that exhibited low genetic diversity and close evolutionary relationships among isolates in subpopulations. Analysis of various population genetics parameters and distribution of synonymous and nonsynonymous mutations revealed that most of the amino acid sites were under negative selection and only one site was under positive selection.
 

---

Backgrounds: Plasmodium vivax is one of the leading causes of malaria as a severe and death disease. Malaria has always been a major challenge for human health. The study of the genetic diversity of genes in malaria-causing agents has always been a concern for researchers. One of these genes is SERA, which plays a key role in parasite escape from the immune system.
Materials & Methods: DNA was extracted from 40 blood samples taken from symptomatic malaria patients infected with P. vivax in southern and southwestern Iran using a DNA extraction kit. Then PCR was performed with specific primers, and the data were analyzed by sequencing and recording genes.
Findings: In this study, 14 different isolates were identified among all samples, which were recorded in the World Gene Bank. The number of haplotypes among the 14 samples was 12. Also, there were 25 polymorphic nucleotide positions out of about 400 nucleotide sites. The ratio of non-synonymous to synonymous mutations (1.87094) and the amount of Tajima’s D (-0.57671) indicated the positive effect of natural selection on the genetic diversity of C-terminal region in the SERA5 gene.
Conclusions: Considering the safety and relative immunogenicity of vaccines, in addition to performing clinical trials, a regional vaccine should be developed to overcome genetic variation and antigenic changes in proteins.
 

---

To assess the variability of Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) Goid, the causal agent of charcoal rot of Sesame, sixty isolates recovered from ten geographic regions, were analyzed using inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) and universal rice primer (URP) markers. Isolates were grouped into eight clusters at 78% genetic similarity level. Our results showed that the five ISSR primers produced 105 bands of which 77.11% were polymorphic and eight URP-PCR primers generated 135 bands of which 66.84% were polymorphic. These methods showed a considerable genetic diversity among Iranian isolates, but no correlation was found between genetic diversity and geographical origins of the isolates. Analysis of molecular variance revealed that a large proportion of genetic variability resulted from the differences among isolates within regions. The findings of this study demonstrated that the low-genetic differentiation (G_ST) and high gene flow (N_m) among populations had a significant effect on the emergence and evolutionary development of M. phaseolina.
 
 

---

Building design is a quite complex activity where a team of designers working on diverse and contradictory parameters to make the balance between them. Because of this complexity, building performance simulation tools were developed and subsequently, the use of optimization methods, generally, as a decision-making tool is started.
The current study is a review of the optimization methods and algorithms which are used in the design of the building and trying to discover the cause of their choice, practical issues, and demonstrate their capabilities and introduce key attributes. The lack of knowledge of architects about these issues and their backwardness compared to other disciplines related to design and maintain buildings double its importance.
The most important basic rules to choose optimization strategy are classification algorithms and find suitable one for a specific problem. Several research papers in this area are investigated and according to them, optimization algorithms are divided into three categories including evolutionary algorithms, direct search (derivatives free), and the hybrid. The findings show that evolutionary algorithms and especially genetic algorithm application are more popular than other algorithms. The most study objectives to optimize are the environmental impact, the cost of initial investment, operating costs, and comfort criteria. In these studies, the design variables are construction materials, form and orientation of the building, cast shadows, and HVAC. In addition, the number of research papers that have used this algorithm to optimize the design of the building, than the number of articles on optimizing building control, is very low.

---

The short arm of rye (Secale cereale L.) chromosome 1 (1RS), besides being part of the rye genome, is present in many hundred wheat cultivars as either 1RS.1BL or 1RS.1DL wheat-rye translocation. In this study, the distribution of the wheat–rye translocation was examined in 33 Iranian winter and spring wheat cultivars, nine of which had a known donor of 1RS.1BL translocation and the other 24 were randomly selected cultivars without a known source of 1RS.1BL in their pedigree. The presence of the translocation was verified in 4 cultivars, using genomic in situ hybridization analysis. We also compared the Na+ exclusion and K+/Na+ ratios in leaf and root of the identified 1RS.1BL translocations and in eight randomly selected non-translocated (NT) control cultivars grown in hydroponic solutions, containing 0 and 200 mM NaCl. Mean comparisons showed that the 1RS.1BL cultivars (Atrak, Dez, Falat, Rasul) had significantly lower rates of whole plant dry weight and root dry weight in the presence of 200 mM NaCl compared with NT control cultivars. No significant difference was observed between translocated and NT cultivars for Na+ concentrations and K+/Na+ ratios in their leaves or roots. Although, there are many useful genes in 1RS arm, it has no substantial contribution to Na+ exclusion in comparison with NT controls at seedling stage.

---

Karyotype of river loach Turcinoemacheilus kosswigi from the Euphrates River, Turkey was investigated using conventional Giemsa-staining and C-banding. Two females and two males were analyzed. Diploid chromosome number was 2n= 50 in all specimens. The karyotype consisted of four pairs of metacentric (m), seven pairs of submeta (sm)-subtelocentric (st) and 14 pairs of acrocentric (a) chromosomes, the number of chromosome was NF= 72. No heteromorphic sex chromosomes were found. C-banded positive constitutive heterochromatin was found in the entire short arms of a pair of large m-sm chromosomes and in the centromeres of several chromosome pairs though to a lesser extent. Karyotype and C-banding patterns of T. kosswigi were compared with those of other loaches.

---

The echoes obtained from ultrasonic testing of materials contain valuable information about the geometry and grain structure of the test specimen. These echoes can be modeled by Gaussian pulses in a model-based estimation process. For precise modeling of an echo, the parameters of the Gaussian pulse should be estimated as accurately as possible. There are a number of algorithms that can be used for this purpose. In this study, three different algorithms are used: Gauss-Newton (GN), particle swarm optimization (PSO), and genetic algorithm (GA). The pros and cons of each of these three algorithms are reviewed and by combining them, the benefits of each algorithm are used while its shortcomings are avoided. For signals containing multiple echoes, the minimum description length (MDL) principle is used to estimate the numbers of required Gaussian echoes followed by space alternating generalized expectation maximization (SAGE) technique to translate it to separate echoes and to estimate the parameters of each echo. The performance of the proposed algorithms for simulated and experimental signals with overlapping and non-overlapping echoes is evaluated and shows to be quite effective.

---

This study pursued the molecular identification of fish species from processed products for human consumption which, a priori, belonged to nine species. DNA barcoding using direct sequencing of about 650 bp of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) revealed incorrect labeling in the three Alaska Pollack samples (11% of all samples). Substitution of fish species constitutes serious economic fraud, and our results increase concern regarding the trading of processed fish products in Iran from both health and conservation points of view.

---

This paper presents a model for constrained multiobjective optimization of mixed-cropping planning. The decision challenges that are normally faced by farmers include what to plant, when to plant, where to plant and how much to plant in order to yield maximum output. Consequently, the central objective of this work is to concurrently maximize net profit, maximize crop production and minimize planting area. For this purpose, the generalized differential evolution 3 algorithm was explored to implement the mixed-cropping planning model, which was tested with data from the South African grain information service and the South African abstract of agricultural statistics. Simulation experiments were conducted using the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II to validate the performance of the generalized differential evolution 3 algorithm. The empirical findings of this study indicated that generalized differential evolution 3 algorithm is a feasible optimization tool for solving optimal mixed-cropping planning problems. 

---

Phylogenetic analysis of Triticum L. and Aegilops L. species was performed using the nuclear ribosomal Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) sequences. The full length of PCR products for ITS1 and ITS2 ranged from 650 bp to 700 bp, respectively. Sequence divergences between species were estimated following aligning. The average G+C contents of the ITS regions was 60.8% for ITS2 and 61.5% for ITS1. The phylogenetic analyses were constructed using the Neighbor-Joining (NJ) method based on pairwise genetic distances. The resulting NJ tree successfully separated Triticum and Aegilops species and displayed three clusters, einkorn wheats, polyploid wheats, and Aegilops. Our results confirmed that the A genome of bread wheat is more related to T. urartu than T. boeticum. In the case of the D genome, the affinity between Ae. tauschii and bread wheat was greater than other D genome-bearing species of Aegilops (Ae. crassa and Ae. cylindrica). Obtained results also revealed that Ae. speltoides was separated from Aegilops cluster and grouped with polyploid wheats. The close relationship between Ae. speltoides and polyploid wheats indicates that the former is the most likely donor of the B genomes to wheats. The present study verified the potential of ITS regions in phylogenetic studies and strongly supported the evolution of cultivated wheats, which occurred through hybridization and polyploidization between Triticum and Aegilops species.
 

---

The taxonomic classification of subfamily Ornithogaloideae has been a subject of considerable controversy in recent decades. Ornithogalum is a relatively large genus in Ornithogaloideae including valuable ornamental and medicinal plants. These wild ornamentals, which are introduced into agriculture recently, are becoming increasingly popular as cut flowers, pot plants, and for gardening. This is the first molecular phylogenetic study that includes 10 of the 13 Ornithogalum species native to Iran. The aims of the present study were to use ITS and trnL-F sequences to explore phylogenetic relationships and to evaluate genetic resources of Ornithogaloideae naturally occurring in Iran, with an increased sampling of species to be compared to previous phylogenetic studies. In the present study, the combined tree resulted in the best-resolved phylogenetic relationships at the generic level. The results of Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian analysis of molecular data were compared to those from hierarchical cluster analysis of morphological characters. Based on the results, all specimens collected in Iran across all previously recognized taxonomic genera in Ornithogaloideae were placed in Ornithogalum sensu stricto and Loncomelos, which is in line with the morphological analysis. Divergent placements of multiple specimens of a single species in L. brachystachys, O. orthophyllum, and O. sintenisii are attributed to the possibility of past hybridization events, although incomplete lineage sorting and ITS paralogy cannot be overlooked. Increased understanding of naturally occurring variation among wild Ornithogalum populations of Iran and the phylogenetic relationships of wild and cultivated species of Ornithogaloideae could contribute to important opportunities to introduce new ornamentals and improve the agricultural performance of ornamental varieties.
 

---

Differential induction of genes in wheat (cv. Chamran) in response to Mycosphaerella graminicola was studied using cDNA-AFLP analysis. The three weeks old wheat seedlings were inoculated by the fungal pathogen, then the samples were collected at six time points (0, 12, 24, 48, 72, 96 hours) after inoculation with pathogen. By comparing the expression patterns of induced (infected) with non-induced (uninfected) plants, 276 differentially expressed fragments were identified and sequenced. Blast search of wheat genes assigned these sequences to different functional categories including defense, metabolism, energy, transcription, transport, signal transduction, stress response, secondary metabolism, and unknown sequences. Eight defense-related genes including lipoxygenase, peroxidase (PR 9), chitinase (PR 2, 4, 8) , PR-1, thaumatin-like protein (PR5), Phenylalanine Ammonia Lyase (PAL), β-1-3 glucanase (PR3), disulfide isomerase, and methionine sulfoxide reductase were induced 12 to 24 hours after inoculation in this cultivar of wheat. Induction of glucosyltransferase, Catalase, and putative xylanase inhibitor genes were observed around 48 h after inoculation with pathogen. Expression patterns of the other three genes, i.e., chalcone synthase, EXECUTER 1 protein, and nonspecific lipid transfer protein showed that these genes were induced later after inoculation (72-96 hours). Our data showed that expression of the PR- proteins were enhanced 24 h after inoculation, suggesting that they may play a role in the defense against M. graminicola. Expression of lipoxygenase, glycosyltransferase, thaumatin like protein, putative xylanase inhibitor, EXECUTER 1 protein and Nonspecific lipid transfer protein are reported for the first time in this interaction.

---

Measles virus, negative-strand RNA viruses, has been known as an ideal candidate in oncolytic virotherapy.  Recombinant measles virus can encode genes of interests for reaching several aims. Replication efficiency of oncolytic virus in tumoral cells is a key parameter in efficient tumor eradication. Products of P gene (P/V/C) support measle virus to circumvent IFN 1 as the main response of innate immune system against viruses. But vaccine strains used in oncolytic therapy studies comprise several mutations in their P gene sequences. These mutations affect replication efficacy which cause attenuation of measles strains applicable in vaccination. So, arming vaccine strains with the wild type P gene is helpful to reach high virus titer. Here at this study, we have expanded a protocol with details for engineering and efficient recovery of measles virus for different aims.