In recent years, the use of soil microbial potential including arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi is widely considered to enhance the better growth and nutrition of plants. This research was conducted in order to study the impact of mycorrhizal fungi on the increase of yarrow production and the plant establishment affected by the symbiotic relationships between fungi and yarrow plant, based on factorial experiment as a randomized complete block (RCB) design with 4 treatments. Inoculated treatments included non-inoculated condition as control mode, inoculated with G. fasciculatum, G. mosseae and G. intraradice fungi. At the end of growth season, some growth parameters such as colonization, plant establishment, essential oil percentage and also morphological properties including fresh and dry weight of shoot and root and the root volume were measured. Results showed that the inoculation of Achillea millefolium L. with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi have a significant effect on the measured parameters. This means that the inoculation with mycorrhizal fungi leads to increasing the plant establishment and essential oil percentage, fresh and dry weight of shoots and roots, and also the root volume compared to the control mode. It is noteworthy that among the three treatments done with fungi, the treatment of G. fasciculatum showed the most increase in the above parameters. Manuscript profile

Salinity stresses act as inhibitor factors of plant growth. They can change the physiological characteristics and limit the production of crops. Sodium nitroprusside (SNP) is a stable free radical which use as a signalling molecule in plants and participates in various plant’s physiological, biochemical and molecular processes and also in plant’s responses to environmental stresses. We investigated the effect of SNP on physiological parameters such as photosynthetic and non-enzymatic pigments, biochemical like APX and SOD enzymes and HKT1.2 and SLWRKY 8 genes expression as a molecular section on tomato under salt stress. In this study, SNP was used as nitric oxide (NO) donor. Tomato seedlings roots were subjected to various levels of salinity including 0, 40, 80 and 120 mM and SNP (0, 50 and 100 mM) for 20 days. The SNP had protective effects on photosynthetic parameters by increase in non-enzymatic and enzymatic antioxidants. It had also decrease and additive effect in HKT1.2 and SLWRKY 8 genes expression respectively. Manuscript profile

Lead is a toxic heavy-metal pollutant which is hazardous to human health and the environment. Sodium nitroprusside is commonly used as a nitric oxide donor in plants. Nitric oxide is a bioactive molecule playing an important role in response to stress in plants. Weight, chlorophyll content, and the activity of catalase (EC 1.11.1. 6) and peroxidase (EC 1.11.1. 7) antioxidant enzymes of canola (Brassica napus L.) Hyola 401 in lead stress were investigated. This study tested the hypothesis that sodium nitroprusside plays an ameliorating role under lead-toxicity in canola. For seven days, thirteen-day plants were exposed to two levels of sodium nitroprusside (0 and 100 µM) and three levels of lead (0, 100, and 200 µM). Dry and fresh weight and chlorophyll content were decreased in lead stress, while sodium nitroprusside treatment increased weight and chlorophyll b in the same conditions. Lead stress increased the activity of antioxidant enzymes, and sodium nitroprusside treatment reduced their activity. The results showed that the use of sodium nitroprusside reduces lead toxicity. Manuscript profile

The present research aimed to investigate the effects of altitude on some physiological characteristics of Artemisia aucheri Boiss. Plant samples were taken from 15 areas in the Lakh Kuhik mountains. After determining the maps of work units, samples were taken systematically in each unit. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics in SPSS. The highest and the lowest chlorophyll content were recorded at an altitude below 1200 m and above 1256 m, respectively. Dry and fresh weights were measured with a precision balance. The results indicated a direct relationship between the increase in plant Ca2+, Mg2+, and K+ contents and altitude. However, there was no significant relationship between altitude and plant P3-. Extraction was performed using a rotary evaporator (rotovap). Physiological and antioxidant traits and chlorophyll content of the samples were determined using the standard method (i.e., by a spectrophotometer). Results indicated that altitude had significant effects on physiological traits as the highest antioxidant activity was observed in regions with mid-latitude regions (i.e., 1228 m). Overall, it can be concluded that antioxidant content was lower at higher altitudes, and the best quality could be obtained from higher altitude plants (i.e., 1256 m). Similarly, fresh and dry weights were higher at higher altitudes because cytokinin levels in plants increased with reductions in auxin levels. In the next step, chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b were assayed separately. The results revealed that the chlorophyll content declined at high altitudes due to the presence of shortwave radiation. Manuscript profile