University of Isfahan Taxonomy and Biosystematics 3115-9001 15 56 2023 11 22 Investigation of Plant Species along the Altitudinal Gradient in the Dalfard Region, Kerman Province (Iran) بررسی گونه‌های گیاهی در طول گرادیان ارتفاعی منطقۀ دلفارد، استان کرمان 1 28 27754 10.22108/tbj.2023.137877.1234 EN Batool Ghanbari Ph.D. Student, Department of Biology, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran Younes Asri Associate Professor, Department of Botany, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran 0000-0002-4566-1756 Gholamreza Bakhshi Khaniki Professor, Department of Biology, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran Mohsen Sharafatmandrad Associate Professor, Department of Ecological Engineering, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Jiroft, Kerman, Iran Journal Article 2023 06 02 Vegetation study is one of the pillars of land planning in any region, and the identification of plants is the basis of these studies. The purpose of the present study is to introduce the flora, life form, and chorotype of plants, and to investigate the effect of altitudinal gradient on the species diversity of the Dalfard region in the north of Jiroft city, Kerman. According to the altitude range of Dalfard, the flora of the region was collected and identified in three altitudinal zones during the spring and summer seasons of 2021 and 2022. A total of 303 plant species belonging to 217 genera and 71 families were identified. The most important plant families in the region in terms of species richness were Asteraceae (36), Fabaceae (25), Poaceae (25), Lamiaceae (20), and Apiaceae (16). Hemicryptophytes (30.7%) and therophytes (25.1%) were the dominant life forms in the region, respectively. A considerable number of species (40.9%) belonged to the Irano-Turanian region and other species to two, three, or more regions. The highest number of species (221) was observed in the altitudinal zone Z3 (2300-3100 m) and the lowest number of species (41) in the altitudinal zone Z1 (850-1400 m). The highest species similarity was determined between altitudinal zones Z2 and Z3 (37%) and the lowest similarity between three altitudinal zones (2.6%) based on the Jaccard index.

https://tbj.ui.ac.ir/article_27754_9fdde9843610da41f3e8c188311bdb3d.pdf

University of Isfahan Taxonomy and Biosystematics 3115-9001 15 56 2023 11 22 Phylogeny of the members of the genus Acanthobrama Heckel, 1843 (Leuciscidae) in the inland waters of Iran using osteological characteristics تبارزایی اعضای جنس مرواریدماهیAcanthobrama Heckel, 1843 (Leuciscidae) در آب‌های داخلی ایران براساس ویژگی‌های استخوان‌شناسی 29 40 28239 10.22108/tbj.2024.139834.1246 EN Soheil Eagderi Associate Professor, Department of Fisheries, College of Agriculture & Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran Fatemeh Nosrati MS. Graduated of Fisheries, College of Agriculture & Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran Paria Jalili Ph. D. Graduated of Fisheries, College of Agriculture & Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran Journal Article 2023 11 26 Abstract This study was conducted to reconstruct the phylogenetic tree of the members of the genus Acanthobrama using osteological traits. For this purpose, four species, including A. urmianus (from the Urmia basin, ShahrChay River), A. marmid (from the Tigris basin), A. persidis (from the Kor River basin), and A. microlepis (from the Caspian Sea basin, Bijar River) were collected using electrofishing device and then fixed into 10% buffered formalin after anesthesia. For osteological examination, five specimens of each species were cleared and stained. Out-group taxa for phylogenetic analyses was selected Abramis brama. After extracting osteological data of the studied taxa, the data matrix was prepared and was inserted into the TNT and PAUP software to reconstruct phylogenetic tree. Based on the results, a total of 10 osteological characteristics were identified for members of Acanthobrama genus. The studied taxa were divided into two clads, including A. microlepis + A. urmianus and A. marmid + A. persidis. The most important of characteristics was related to the neurocranium, which accounted more than half of the diversity. The important characteristics of this part were related to the diversity in the ethmoid region, including the supra and lateral ethmoid and vomer, as well as basioccipital segment located in the occipital portion. The other features were related to the different parts of the jaw, opercular series and fins. Keyword: Taxonomy, Systematic, Osteology, Cladogram, Outgroup Introduction The members the genus Acanthobrama, belongs to the family of Leuciscidae, have four species of A. urmianus, A. marmid, A. persidis and A. microlepis in the inland waters of Iran (Eagderi et al., 2022). This genus is characteristised by having two rows of pharyngeal teeth, a large number of vertebrae and no barbels (Pourshabanan et al., 2021). There are many disagreements in taxonomic status of the members of this genus in Iran due to their morphological similarities (Coad, 2016). Several features are used in the taxonomy of fish e.g. morphometric and meristic characters, color pattern and molecular traits. Considering the lack of reliable morphological features to distinguish the members of the genus Acanthobrama, this work aimed to investigate the phylogenetic relationship of this genus in the inland waters of Iran based on osteological characteristics. The results of this study can help to provide valuable taxonomic characteristics to identify the members of this taxa. Materials and Methods For this research, Acanthobrama species including A. marmid from Dinevar River, A. persidis from Kor River, A. microlepis from Bijar River and A. urmianus from Shahr Chai River as in-group, and Abramis brama as an out-group were collected. After sampling, the specimens were anesthetized using 1% clove solution and fixed into 10% buffered formalin. For osteological examination, five specimens of each species were cleared and stained using modified method of Taylor and Van Dyke (1985) using alizarin red and alcian blue for bone and cartilage staining, respectively. The skeletal segments were scanned with a Scanner (Epson v700) and examined under a stereomicroscope. The data matrix was prepared using ten extracted characters. Phylogenetic reconstruction was performed based on maximum parsimony criterion and Neighbor Joining respectively using PAUP (Swofford, 1998) and TNT (Goloboff Pablo et al., 2008) and cluster analysis using PAST (Hammer et al., 2001) softwares. Research Findings The data matrix for four in-groups and one out-groups is presented in Table 1. Character states: 1- the pre-ethmoid is (0) cartilaginous, (1) semi-ossified, and (2) ossified; 2 - the posterior part of vomer is (0) long and passes the middle part of the both lateral-ethmoid, and (1) short and extends to the middle part of the both lateral ethmoids; 3- masticatory plate of the basioccipital (0) has an oval shape with two laterally developed processes, and (1) is circular with two undeveloped processes; 4- the two anterior processes of basioccipital are (0) developed, and (1) undeveloped; 5- anterior margin of the lateral-ethmoid has (0) three depressions, and (1) one median depression; 6- operculum (0) has two developed projections, and (1) has two undeveloped projection or without projections; 7- palatine (0) with a pointed middle process, and (1) without process; 8- the number of branched rays of the anal fin are (0) 26, (1)14-15, and (2) 9-10; 9- the third unbranched ray is (0) thin, and (1) thick; 10- The pharyngeal teeth counts in the outer row is (0) 5, and (1) 4. The results of the parsimony analysis based on data matrix had most parsimony trees with a length of 12, consistency index (CI) of 1 and retention index (RI) of 1. The consensus majority tree was selected based on values obtained from 1000 replicates (Fig. 1). Table 1: Data matrix for five studied taxa including four in-group and one out-group (0=Plesimorphic, 1,2=Apomorph) کاراکتر/ آرایه A. brama A. microlepis A. urmianus A. marmid Figure 1: Phylogenetic tree resulting from NJ (A) and Parsimony (B) analysis for studied taxa of Acanthobrama using osteological characteristics. Discussion of Results and Conclusions The classification of Acanthobrama species based on skeletal characters confirms previous studies on the classification of these taxa based on molecular data (Teimori et al., 2015). The parsimony analysis divided the Iranian member of this genus into two main clades of A. microlepis + (A. marmid + A. persidis) and A. urmianus. Acanthobrama persidis and A. marmid were clustered in the same clade by having two synapomorphy traits, including semi-ossified pre-ethmoid and 4 pharyngeal teeth, which overlapped with the results of Neighbor Joining analysis. Timuri et al. (2015) based on the mitochondrial gene of Cytb reported A. microlepis as a group from the clade of A. persidis + A. marmid. Based on neighbor joining and cluster analysis, the members of this genus were categorized into two subclades, including A. marmid + A. persidis and A. microlepis + A. urmianus. The two species A. urmianus and A. microlepis were clusterd in the same group by having five pharyngeal teeth in the outer row, the thickness of the third unbranched ray in the dorsal fin and the number of branched rays of the anal fin. Based on the results, the most differences between in-groups were related to the skeletal elements of the neurocranium. Acknowledgement This research is part of a MSc thesis and the authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to the University of Tehran for financial support of the project.

https://tbj.ui.ac.ir/article_28239_6dba122d5f62d44a1807b4aed78f2580.pdf

University of Isfahan Taxonomy and Biosystematics 3115-9001 15 56 2023 11 22 Biodiversity of Diatoms and Their Relationship with Environmental Factors in the Ahar-Chai River, Northwest Iran تنوع زیستی دیاتومه‌ها و ارتباط آنها با عوامل محیطی در رودخانه اهرچای، شمال‌غرب ایران 41 64 28151 10.22108/tbj.2024.137841.1233 EN Zahra Yadollahi MSc Graduate, Department of Plant, Cell and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran Ehsan Atazadeh Associate Professor, Department of Plant, Cell and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran Journal Article 2023 06 26 Diatoms are one of the biological indicators suitable for evaluating river water quality. Diatoms reflect the ecological conditions of aquatic ecosystems so that some diatoms choose a polluted environment for growth. Thus, diatoms can be used as an indicator of pollution. In this regard, the present study was conducted in order to determine the diatom flora of the Ahar-Chai River and to investigate the effect of environmental factors on diatom communities. In this study, 6 sampling stations were determined in the Ahar-Chai River. Sampling was done seasonally in 2019. In general, the number of 40 genera and 123 species were observed in this river, the most species diversity are Cymbella, Nitzschia, Navicula, and Gomphonema, all four genera belong to the Bacillariphyceae. A high biodiversity of diatoms was observed in spring and summer. The statistical analysis of this research showed that parameters such as temperature, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), turbidity, light, and amount of nutrients have a significant effect on the distribution of diatoms along the Ahar-Chai River. Key words: Diatoms, Biological Indicators, Ecology and Systematics of Diatoms, Ahar Chai River, Northwestern Iran. Introduction Rivers are the vessels of the earth, and without them, the earth is not able to carry on its own life. Currently, Iran is facing serious problems in water resources. Excessive harvesting of surface water, release of all kinds of sewage into fresh water rivers and destruction of its quality, and failure to respect the biological rights of the river have brought the country's water situation to a critical level. Soil erosion, land subsidence, successive storms of dust and salt, and frequent drying of rivers prove these issues. Iran is one of the countries that has faced a severe shortage of water supply resources for the past several years. This is quite noticeable with the drying up of Urmia Lake, Zayandeh Rood, Gavkhoni Wetland, and Parishan Wetland. For this reason, water resources must be under proper management so that they can apply restoration operations well in case of changes in water volume and quality (Gordon et al., 2004). The study of Iranian diatoms has a history of about 40 years (Compère, 1981), but the number of studies conducted and the published data are not very high compared to this time period. Most of the studies have focused on the shores of the Caspian Sea (Zarei Darki, 2009), the Persian Gulf (Attaran-Fariman & Asefi, 2022), the catchments of the central Alborz (Kheiri et al., 2018;Naseri et al., 2022), and the west and northwest of Iran (Atazadeh et al., 2007, Panahi-Mirzahasanlou, 2018). In this research, an attempt was made to investigate the species diversity of diatoms in the Ahar-Chai River in different seasons of the year, measure the physicochemical parameters and environmental changes affecting them throughout the year, and express the role of each in biodiversity. Materials and Methods The Ahar-Chai River, with a length of about 240 km, is one of the most important rivers of the Aras River Basin in the north of East Azarbaijan province and originates from Pirsaqqa. After passing through Varzeghan and Ahar cities, this river joins the Qarasu River in Ardabil province, and after joining the Qarasu River, it joins the Aras River on the border of Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan and finally reaches the Caspian Sea . To study this river, 6 stations were determined based on environmental observations. The first station was in the village of Sowmaeh Del due to the discharge of village waste and the investigation of their impact on the river, the second station was in the Sattarkhan dam due to the impact of the Sattarkhan dam, the third station was at the entrance of the city of Ahar and the fourth and fifth stations were inside the city of Ahar, and finally, the sixth station was Shahverdi village. During the four seasons of this study, the change of water volume in the stations was observed, the lowest water volume was in the summer season. So, in this season, the water flow was low in stations 3 and 5. At each sampling station, multiple samples were collected for analysis of algal biomass standing crop and species composition. In all cases, samples were taken from areas with low hydraulic stress. Shading and depth of the water body were also considered in taking samples; samples were collected in shallow water where there was no shading. Algal periphyton communities can have great diversity, yet their structure and composition may vary depending on the nature of the substrate. Diatoms and soft algae colonize natural substrates such as cobbles, stones, mud, rock, woody debris, emergent and submerged plants. Small boulders and pebbles were used for taking samples if cobbles were not available. For diatom species identification and enumeration, the samples were prepared following the standard methods. Samples were digested with 35% hydrogen peroxide in a beaker at 90 °C on a hotplate for 2 hours, after which two drops of 35% hydrochloric acid were added. The beakers were filled with distilled water and left to settle overnight after which the supernatant was discarded. This process was repeated four times. Subsamples of 800 µl were air-dried on coverslips and mounted using Naphrax. Research Findings In this study, the biological diversity and seasonal distribution of diatom species, as well as the relationship between the species and the amount of pollutants, were investigated. Taxonomic studies have shown 123 species from 40 genera in the Ahar-Chai River. Among 123 species, 4 genera Nitzschia (40 Sp), Navicula (28 Sp), Gomphonema (22 Sp), Cymbella (22 Sp) have the most species diversity. Among the 40 genera, only Stephanodiscus and Cyclotella genera are centric diatoms and the rest are pennate diatoms. In this research, physical and chemical factors (silica, phosphate, sulfate, nitrate, pH, EC, and TDS) were measured for each station during four seasons. In terms of pH, all stations are alkaline during four seasons (the pH of all stations is between 7 and 8.1), except Station 1, which had a relatively acidic pH (6.8) in all seasons except spring. The lowest electrical conductivity (EC) corresponds to spring (Station 2) and the highest EC corresponds to summer (Station 6). Discussion of Results and Conclusions In general, the amount of EC varies between 240 (spring season of Station 2) and 3540 (summer season of Station 6) microsiemens during four seasons, and stations 1 to 3 have lower EC than the other three stations. In all seasons, Station 2 has the lowest amount of EC. In the three seasons of summer, spring, and winter, Station 6 and Station 3 have the highest amount of EC. The amount of total dissolved solids (TDS) was observed during four seasons from 0.29 to 0.97 g/L, the lowest amount of TDS is related to the spring season of Station 2 (0.29 g/L) and the highest amount is related to the summer season of Station 6 (0.197 g/L). In all seasons, Station 6 has the highest amount and Station 2 has the lowest amount of TDS. The amount of silica was 0.139 mg/L during 4 seasons, the highest amount of silica was observed in the spring season (in all stations) and the lowest amount of silica was observed in the summer season (Station 5).

https://tbj.ui.ac.ir/article_28151_d3e6a43cc6d43e96c5c24b54f5684bd5.pdf

University of Isfahan Taxonomy and Biosystematics 3115-9001 15 56 2023 11 22 Thrips associated with Judas trees (Cercis siliquastrum L.) and population fluctuation of Judas thrips, Thrips vulgatissimus Haliday in the Arghavan Strait of Ilam county تریپس‌های مرتبط با درختان ارغوان (Cercis siliquastrum L.) و تغییرات جمعیت تریپس ارغوان، Thrips vulgatissimus Haliday در تنگه ارغوان شهرستان ایلام 65 78 28401 10.22108/tbj.2024.140674.1253 EN Diba Moheby M. A Student in Entomology, Department of Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Engineering, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran Abbas Ali Zamani Associate Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Engineering, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran Majid Mirab-balou Associate Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agriculture, Ilam University, Ilam, Iran Behzad Miri PhD student, Department of Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agriculture, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Engineering, Kermanshah, Iran Journal Article 2024 02 09 In this research, the fauna of thrips associated with Judas trees (Cercis siliquastrum L.), and the population fluctuation and spatial distribution of Judas thrips (Thrips vulgatissimus Haliday) were studied in the Arghavan Strait located in Ilam city (west of Iran) during the years 2022-2023. In each sampling, 20 trees and four branches of 20 cm on each tree in different geographical directions were selected as the sampling unit. Sampling was done every three days; the branches of Judas trees were shaken on a white plastic tray, and then the thrips were transferred into an Eppendorf tube containing 75% ethyl alcohol. A total of 10 thrips species were collected and identified. The results showed that the Judas thrips have two population peaks. The first population peak was observed on the first day of April 2023. The highest population density was obtained in the first peak with an average of 30.60 ± 6.23 thrips per sampling unit, and the highest density in the second peak with an average of 73.75 ± 7.64 thrips per sampling unit. The results of the spatial distribution based on Taylor’s power law methods showed that the spatial distribution was aggregated. In addition, geographical directions had no significant effect on the density of Judas thrips. Based on the goodness of fit, the Taylor’s power law method was more suitable than Iwao’s patchiness method for estimating the spatial distribution of this species. Key words: Thysanoptera, Judas thrips, flower stage, spring, western Iran. Introduction The Judas tree, Cercis siliquastrum L. (Fabaceae), is a small deciduous tree from Southern Europe and Western Asia, which is noted for its prolific display of deep pink flowers in spring. In Iran, this plant grows in the provinces of Ilam, Kerman, Mazandaran, Guilan, Hamedan, Lorestan, Fars, Kermanshah, and Khorasan-e Razavi. More than 6,400 thrips species belong to the Thysanoptera order, which have been described and recorded. Thrips are widely distributed insects, of which 1% are considered harmful for crops, with the most harmful thrips belonging to the Thripidae family. Up to the present, 12 thrips species have been collected on Judas trees, but all of them also live on other plants. Nine of these thrips were reported from Southern France in three different families: Aeolothripidae (Aeolothrips ericae Bagnall, A. gloriosus Bagnall, A. melaleucus (Haliday)), Melanthripidae (Melanthrips rivnayi Priesner), and Thripidae (Thrips flavus Schrank, T. major Uzel, T. meridionalis Priesner, T. minutissimus L., and T. tabaci Lindeman). Three of these were reported from Iran, all belonging to the Phlaeothripidae family: Haplothrips flavicinctus Karny (from North Khorasan province), H. reueri (Karny), and Neoheegeria persica Priesner (from Fars province). Here, the fauna of thrips associated with Judas trees, and the population fluctuation and spatial distribution of Judas thrips (Thrips vulgatissimus Haliday) were studied in the Arghavan Strait located in Ilam city (west of Iran) during the years 2022-2023. Materials & Methods Thrips specimens were collected every week from flowers of Judas trees in the Arghavan Strait located in Ilam city (west of Iran) from April to the end of May 2023. Flowering branches from different trees were shaken onto a white tray. The fallen thrips were transferred to Eppendorf tubes containing 70% ethyl alcohol. Samples were brought to the laboratory, examined under a stereoscopic microscope, and prepared onto microscopic slides using the method of Mirab-balou and Chen (2010) for further diagnosis. In addition, flowers were randomly collected and checked individually. For population fluctuation, on each Judas tree, four branches were selected and 20 cm of the ends of these branches were shaken on a white plastic tray to separate the thrips. Research finding Faunistic study: A total of 10 thrips species belonging to six genera from four different families were collected and identified from the flowers of the Judas trees located in the Arghavan Strait: Aeolothripidae (Aeolothrips intermedius Bagnall), Melanthripidae (Melanthrips fuscus (Sulzer)), Thripidae (Frankliniella intonsa (Trybom), F. occidentalis (Pergande), Tenothrips frici (Uzel), Thrips meridionalis (Priesner), T. tabaci Lindeman, T. vulgatissimus Haliday), and Phlaeothripidae (Haplothrips leucanthemi (Schrank) and H. reuteri Karny). All the specimens were collected and identified on the flowers of Judas trees. Except for Judas thrips, T. vulgatissimus, which had a very high population on the flowers, the rest of the species were only collected randomly during sampling. Population fluctuation: The results showed that the Judas thrips population has two population peaks. The first population peak was observed on the first day of April 2023. The highest population density of Judas thrips was obtained in the first peak with an average of 30.60 ± 6.23 thrips per sampling unit, and the highest density in the second peak with an average of 73.75 ± 7.64 thrips per sampling unit. The results of the spatial distribution based on Taylor’s power law methods showed that the spatial distribution was aggregated. In addition, geographical directions had no significant effect on the density of Judas thrips. In general, the results of this study showed that the population density of Judas thrips in the first peak was higher than in the second peak. Based on the goodness of fit, the Taylor’s power law method was more suitable than Iwao’s patchiness method for estimating the spatial distribution of this species. Discussion of Results & Conclusion In this study, despite many samplings, a small number of thrips species were collected and identified from Judas trees, so that on most trees (only in the flowering stage), only one species, namely Thrips vulgatissimus Haliday, was dominant. In addition, there were no thrips species on the Judas leaves. Therefore, based on the results of this research, thrips were active only in the flowering stage of Judas trees, and after the flowers fell, their very high population suddenly disappeared. The present study showed that the activity of the Judas thrips in the Arghavan Strait began in the first decade of April. Considering that the Arghavan Strait is also a part of the Zagros forests in Ilam province and a combination of different trees can be seen in Zagros, therefore, based on other studies conducted in the Zagros forests, it indicates the beginning of the activity of different species of thrips is from the beginning of April. Acknowledgment We are grateful to anonymous reviewers for their useful comments. This paper is extracted from part of the MSc thesis of the senior author, who was financially supported by research vice-chancellor of Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran.

https://tbj.ui.ac.ir/article_28401_4aad854e45ff2b4ac47267cd0f7a03e4.pdf

University of Isfahan Taxonomy and Biosystematics 3115-9001 15 56 2023 11 22 Assessment of morphological traits variation of Mentha piperita L. genotypes of different origins of Iran ارزیابی تنوع صفات ریخت‌شناسی ژنوتیپ‌های نعناع‌فلفلی ایران با منشأهای مختلف 79 94 28538 10.22108/tbj.2024.141658.1268 EN Zahra Bashir Zadeh MSc, Department of Horticultural Science, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran. Mehdi Mohebbadini Professor, Department of Horticultural Science, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran. Roghayeh Fathi Assistant Professor, Department of Horticultural Science, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Lorestan, Khorramabad, Lorestan, Iran. Seyed Yaghob Seyed Masoumi Assistant Professor, Department of Crop and Horticulture, Research and Education Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources of Ardabil Province, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization, Ardabil, Iran. Journal Article 2024 05 29 Peppermint (Mentha piperita L.) from the Lamiaceae family is one of the most widely used medicinal plants. Due to the importance of morphological trait variation in the management of plant germplasm for plant breeding, as well as the preservation of valuable genetic reserves in breeding programs, further morphological studies are needed. In this research, different accessions of this plant were collected from various regions of Iran (Ardabil, Hamedan, Kordestan, Golestan, Meshginshahr, Firoozabad, Noorabad, Zanjan, Tabriz, Orumieh, and Shiraz). An experiment was conducted in 2021 based on a randomized complete block design to evaluate the morphology of these accessions in the Meshginshahr climatic condition. Analysis of variance showed significant differences between the populations in traits. Comparison of mean traits in total showed that important traits such as leaf width (1.22-1.67 cm), petal length (0.20-0.35 cm), stem diameter (0.20-0.27 cm), leaf length (2.48-3.34 cm), leaf petiole (0.53-2.16 cm), leaflet width (0.31-0.50 cm), and number of leaves (22.83-92) varied among accessions. The maximum correlation was observed between leaf petiole and pedicel length (0.98), while the minimum correlation was observed between the number of inflorescences and petal length (0.01). Cluster analysis classified the accessions into two major groups. The results suggested that Mentha piperita L. accessions from Iran have high genetic diversity, which can be utilized in breeding programs.

https://tbj.ui.ac.ir/article_28538_ab502d5c96715936d21d1961297ea266.pdf

University of Isfahan Taxonomy and Biosystematics 3115-9001 15 56 2023 11 22 Morphological evaluation of different local ecotypes of Iranian garlic (Allium sativum L.) under non-irrigated conditions in Asadabad region (Hamadan province) ارزیابی مورفولوژیکی اکوتیپ‌های مختلف بومی سیر (Allium sativum L.) ایرانی در شرایط کشت بدون آبیاری منطقه اسدآباد (استان همدان) 95 112 28581 10.22108/tbj.2024.141167.1255 EN Mehdi Kakaei Associate Professor of Plant Breeding, Department of Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Engineering, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran Journal Article 2024 04 13 The garlic plant (Allium sativum L.) has many medicinal and industrial properties. Due to the great importance of garlic, various aspects of it have been researched. An experimental design with the arrangement of a randomized complete block design with three replications in the crop year 2023-2024 was investigated with the aim of evaluating the biodiversity of garlic ecotypes. Variance analysis of different morphological traits studied showed high and acceptable diversity for preliminary study in multi-racial programs. Based on the analysis and comparison of means, in this study, the ecotypes of Bahar 2, Soolan, and Asadabad had favorable yield indicators. According to the correlation relations that existed between the traits, it seems that most of the studied traits are suitable selection traits for garlic plant breeding to achieve high yield and these relationships can be used to modify the complex yield trait and increase it. Based on the cluster analysis of different garlic ecotypes using Ward's method, Bahar 2, Soolan, and Asadabad ecotypes were in the first group, Maryanj and Bahar 1 ecotypes were in the second group, and Imamzadeh Kuh ecotype (Toeejin) was in the third group, and the detection function analysis also confirmed this grouping. Based on the general results, the weight of a garlic bulb, the weight of a garlic clove, and the length of a garlic bulb are the most suitable traits for indirect selection to increase economic yield. Ecotypes of Bahar 2, Soolan, and Asadabad are the most suitable ecotypes in terms of having the highest amount of traits: weight of one garlic bulb, weight of one garlic clove, and weight of five garlic cloves, while the ecotype of emam zadeh Kuh is an unfavorable ecotype in the growth conditions of Asadabad. The results of this study can be used to select desirable traits with the greatest effect on yield.

https://tbj.ui.ac.ir/article_28581_058099b16f69418027e30aa47fd35c08.pdf