P48 protein of Mycoplasma agalactiae is used to diagnose infection and was identified as potential vaccine candidate. According to the genetic nature of mycoplasma and variable sensitivity in P48-based serological diagnosis tests, intra species variation of P48 nucleotide sequence investigated in 13 field isolates of difference province of Iran along with three vaccine strains. Samples were collected from sheep and goat and were cultured in modified PPLO broth. Two pair of primer employed to confirm genus and species of isolates and a pair of primer has developed to amplify the P48 gene. The sequencing results of PCR products were aligned and analyzed besides published sequences in GenBank. T-Cell and B-Cell epitopes and antigenicity of sequence were computationally predicted. The results have shown P48 nucleotide sequences are 99. 9% identical in field isolates and vaccine strain of Iran, but analysis of GenBank published sequences have shown divergence up to 5. 3% at the nucleotide level and up to 4. 9% divergence in protein level of P48 sequences of Iran isolates and other available sequences in GenBank. Single nucleotide polymorphism exists in 89 positions and variable amino acid was observed at 25 residues. Phylogenetic analyses have shown that Mycoplasma agalactiae isolates fall into three main groups based on P48 nucleotide sequences. Immunoinformatics analysis of all available P48 nucleotide sequences have revealed that gene variation lead to differences in immunological properties, but the gene in Iranian isolates are conservative and stable. The sequence variation in epitopes can be underlying source of antigen heterogeneity as a result, affect serological tests accuracy. Due to the high level of divergence in worldwide isolates and high degree of similarity in P48 protein of Iranian isolates, designing recombinant P48 protein based on local pattern can increase the sensitivity and consistency of serological test.

Effects of plant roots on increasing soil shear strength depend on root tensile strength. Thus, determination of root tensile strength can provide the necessary data for analyzing root-soil relations. Tensile strength of plant roots varied in a wide range and have been reported from thousands to millions of MPa. The main objective of this study was to assess inter-species variations of root tensile strength for three important species of Hyrcanian forests in a local scale. For this purpose, root samples of beech, hornbeam and Persian ironwood were collected from up and down slopes and tensile strength tests were carried out using a standard Instron apparatus. To evaluate the effects of tree species, diameter of roots, and root location on the profiles on tensile strength of the roots, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was employed. In this analysis, 369 successful tensile tests were conducted on up and down slopes roots of three species. Root diameters were between 0.3 to 5 mm and measured tensile strengths were between 10.51 to 70.33 MPa. The results of ANCOVA revealed significant differences among measured tensile strengths due to covariate and also trees except for upslope samples of ironwood. Therefore, it was shown that the inter-species variations of tensile strength are statistically significant. This is a major issue, as the present lack of knowledge on the biotechnical behavior of root systems of common tree species has been a limiting factor in using soil bioengineering techniques in Iran. The result, presented in this study verifies the inter-species variations of root tensile strength in beech, hornbeam and ironwood.

In the present study three populations of Baluchistan Gerbil (Gerbillus nanus) from different localities of Hormozgan Province (Geno Protected Area, Minab County and Qeshm Island) were compared according to morphometrical and ecological characters. 41 specimens of adult G. nanus were collected by live traps (Sherman traps, Havahart Traps and Locally made traps) from the above-mentioned regions. Although we conducted field studies from 0 height to 2300 meters in these regions, specimens of the G. nanus were caught only in height 700>. According to our field observations, this species is nocturnal. At first, five external, 15 cranial- dental characters were measured and then ratios of measured characters to head and body length were calculated.The normality of data was computed by Kolmogorov- Smironov test. Descriptive statistics were calculated for characters and ratios. The results showed that average of 12 characters from 20 characters in Geno specimens was greater than the other two. Also, the average of 18 ratios from 21 ratios in Qeshm specimens was greater than that the other two. But, the average of 14 characters in Qeshm specimens was lower than those two others. Significance was tested using one-way ANOVA followed by a Duncan test. The results showed that there were significant differences in six from 20 characters and 14 from 21 ratios in three regions.

The majority of breeding programs of edible mushrooms are carried out in the button mushroom due to its commercial importance and genetic difficulties. In this research, for the first time in Iran, it was possible to examine intra-hybridization and its effect on both productivity and mycelium morphology as a potential for commercialization. The strains comprised six heterokaryons and four homokaryons from different sources. Twenty five homokaryotic isolates were obtained from six heterokaryon and having 29 homokaryons, 406 diallele crosses were performed from which 145 crosses were compatible. Productivity of compatible crosses was examined in an industrial mushroom farm on a basis of randomized complete block design with two replications. From 145 crosses, nine hybrids which had significantly higher yield than the control, were used in yield trials performed in two industrial mushroom farms on a completely randomized design basis with three replications. The yield of three hybrids was significantly higher than the control. For these hybrids, a strain registration form was prepared. The resulting information showed some interesting points, particularly about the study of pedigree of offspring having high performance than the control, which will be useful in designing the future breeding programs.

Luffa (Luffa cylindrica) is a plant from the Cucurbitaceae family that grows mostly in tropical and subtropical regions, as well as in most regions of Iran. In this research, the genetic diversity of nine native and non-native genotypes of L. cylindrica was investigated through the evaluation of the chloroplast trnH-psbA intergenic region (IGS). After sampling the young leaves, DNA extraction was performed by using the Dellaporta method, and PCR was conducted by using IGS intergenic region primers. After sequencing of the amplified products, their quality was determined using Chromas software and then aligned using ClustalW method by BioEdit and MEGA7 softwares. Next, the dendrogram of phylogenic relationships was drawn and the matrix of the difference and similarity of the sequences were determined. In the present research, by analyzing the relationships between studied samples, based on the trnH-psbA (IGS) marker, a strong INTRASPECIES variation was observed in native and non-native L. cylindrical genotypes. The genetic distance matrix between the samples examined in this research ranged from 0 to 6. 865 with an overall average distance of 2. 53. The average value of synonymous and non-synonymous substitutions (dN/dS) for the IGS sequence was ds/dn = 0. 68, which indicates positive and pure line selections in the process of natural selection of studied genotypes. The results of this research showed that trnH-psbA is a suitable marker for evaluation of the intraspecific diversity of luffa species.

The charcoal root disease caused by Macrophomina phaseolina is necrotroph pathogen with wide host range and showed various phenotipic INTRASPECIES variabiity. Considering the difficult identification of INTRASPECIES heterogeneity on the basis of phenotypic factors, compatible mycelium groups were introduced as an appropriate tool for classification and INTRASPECIES heterogeneity distinction. In the present study, mycelial compatibility groups (MCGs) were investigated among a total of 112 isolates of M. phaseolina from different hosts in different regions of Iran. A total of 33 different MCGs were identified, showing the existence of high genetic diversity among the fungal isolates. There was no relationship between mycelial compatibility grouping, geographic distributions and host origins of the isolates. This is the first report on the compatible mycelium groups of M. phaseolina isolats in Iran.

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is the causal necrotroph pathogen with wide host range and showed various phenotipic INTRASPECIES variability. Considering to difficult identification of INTRASPECIES heterogeneity on the basis of phenotypic factors, compatible mycelium groups introduced as an appropriate tool for classification and INTRASPECIES heterogeneity distinction. In this research, 19 fungal isolates purified from canola and paired on modified Patterson’s medium (MPM) with red food colour. Pairings were scored as compatible when isolates merged to form one colony but mycelia incompatibility pairings resulted in an interaction zone in which a distinct reaction line and abundant aerial mycelia or thin mycelial were observed. But, incompatible mycelial with occurrence of interaction zone by red food colour in reaction zone on medium showed there is no potential of heterokaryon to be stable when two isolates were paired. All pairings of self isolates were compatible and five mycelial incompatible groups in isolates observed. Microscopically, mycelial interactions in pairings of isolates were complex. Anastomosis between paired isolates was not always observed. Incompatible pairings were followed by hyphal deterioration that was not observed in compatible interaction. The result showed that a high level of mycelial incompatibility exists among isolates of S. sclerotiorum, comparable to level of vegetative incompatibility reported in other ascomycetes. The extent of mycelial incompatibility indicates that the genetic heterogeneity exists within the species and the mycelial compatibility- incompatibility reactions may be an effective way of categorizing intraspecific heterogeneity. 

A total of 160 sputum samples were obtained from pneumonia patients (1 – 30 years) attending the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City. The microorganisms encountered included Streptococcus viridians, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Moraxella catarrhalis and Staphylococcus species. S. viridans was highest in occurrence (51.5%) and Staphylococcus spp. was the least (2.9%). Their antibiotic resistance pattern revealed that streptomycin had the highest activity (94.1%) and gentamycin the least (23.8%). Amoxicillin resistance gene (amxr) was detected in 89 (88.1%) out of the total isolates. When these resistant isolates were subjected to curing using 10% sodium dodecyl sulfate, 73 (82.0%) lost their resistance genes. An average transfer rate of 53.88% and 33.59% were obtained for INTRASPECIES and intergeneric transfer of amxr gene respectively. INTRASPECIES gene transfer rate was significantly higher than intergeneric at p<0.001, using the chi – square goodness of fit test for statistical analysis.

Hard Structures such as otolith and urohyal have high taxonomical value in intraspecific and interspecific studies of teleostei. In this study the INTRASPECIES variations in morphology and morphometry of the otolith and urohyal bone were investigated in Capoeta fusca (Nikolskii, 1897). Fish specimens were collected from five populations located in Loot Basin in Southern Khorasan province and preserved in 75% ethanol. The otolith and urohyal bones were extracted by standard method, and their morphology described and morphometric characters were analyzed. Results showed the astriscus is the biggest otolith and was gyro-type with major and minor lobus. Astriscus was circle or rectangular between different populations with the inner part concave and the outer part convex. The morphometric analyses showed that populations have significant differences in L. H., RRL and RRH (P<0. 05). The anterior part of the urohyal bones was without appendage, and posterior part with deep groove, dorsal plate is more front of ventral edges and its height is equal to ventral edges. End of lateral edges are with dentin structures. The urohyal morphometric analyses indicated that the most relative characters were showed significant differences between all populations. In conclusion, morphologic variations of the asteriscus and urohyal are important in INTRASPECIES and interspecies differentiation.