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This paper explores flora of Rudbar Alamut region in NE of Ghazvin province situated in the south slope of central Alborz Chain Mountains. Alamut is divided into two parts, upper Alamut and lower Alamut. The minimum height in the region is 1265 m, located in Shahrak village, while the maximum height is 4175 m, located in Siahlan Mountain. Average of annual precipitation is 368.3 mm and annual average temperature is 14ºC. This reveals that 642 species and subspecies belong to 373 genera and 76 plant families growing in the region. The largest families are Asteraceae with 88 species, Paoilionaceae with 64, Poaceae with 56, Lamiaceae with 48, Brassicaceae with‌ 46, Apiaceae with 41, Charyophyllaceae with 34 and Rosaceae with 30, respectively. Nearly 190 species are medicinal plants, of which 51 are used traditionally by local inhabitatants, 59 species are endemic, 37 species are poisonous for animal and rarely for man, 75 species are weeds, 119 species are forage, and 17 species are cultivated.

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There is no report on the antimicrobial effects of evening primrose (Oenothera biennis L.) and borage (Echium amoenum Fisch. & C.A.Mey.). In this research, the seeds of these plants were milled and extracted by chloroform:methanol (2:1). Then, the solvents were evaporated under reduced pressure and temperature to extract the oils. Antimicrobial effects of various concentrations of the oils (10- 1000 mg/l) were assessed against Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger. Minimum inhibition concentration of the oils for each strain was measured using Mueller Hinton Broth and Sabouraud Dextrose Broth. The results showed that evening primrose oil increased the growth of C. albicans and A. niger, while it suppressed the growth of S. aureus, S. epidermidis and P. aeruginosa even at the minimum concentration level (1mg/l). Borage oil was found to promote the growth of A. niger and S. epidermidis, but at concentration levels equal to or higher than 1mg/l it inhibited the growth of P. aeruginosa and C. albicans. However, at no concentration level, was it observed to leave any effect on S. aureus. It was also shown that some medical properties of evening primrose and borage could be attributed to antimicrobial effects of their oils. 

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Considering fundamental changes in the classification of angiosperms, based on phylogenetic studies, makes revising and updating Floras inevitable. Hence, in this paper, changes in the flora of Afghanistan have been listed and compared with the flora of Iran. As the latest studies indicate, according to APG IV system, the flora of Afghanistan comp-rises 40 orders, 130 families, about 1030 genera and 5065 species of angiosperms. In comparison the flora of Iran comprises 42 orders, 139 families, nearly 1252 genera and 8090 species of angiosperms. Moreover, the two countries share 39 orders, 124 families, 844 genera and about 1800 species. In Afghanistan the largest number of families belongs to Lamiales and in Iran to Caryophyllales. Asteraceae contains the largest number of genera in both countries. As far as the number of species in concerned, the largest angiosperms family in Afghanistan is Asteraceae, but in Iran it is Fabaceae. The most diverse ge-nera of both countries are Astragalus and Cousinia respectively. Gymnosperms have two orders, four families, seven genera and 22 species in Afghanistan, while in Iran they have two orders, three families, five genera and 17 species. By adding 58 species of pteridophytes and 311 species of bryophytes to Afghanistan’s flora and 60 species of pteridophytes and 534 spec-ies of bryophytes to Iran’s flora, in total, Embryophyta have approximately 5460 species in Afghanistan and 8700 species in Iran.

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Vegetation is one of the most important parts of natural ecosystems that in addition to express of the growth conditions, it also shows the influence of ecological factors on the environmental condition. Investigations of plant diversity of a country are necessary for studyingthe ecosystem, pasture, plant gene bank, agriculture and medicine. On the one hand, identification of plant species of different regions provide feasibility of doing of next studies in the different fields of biological science. In this research the flora of Tang sorkh region in the Kohgiloyeh county from Kohgiloyeh-va boyerahmad province has been investigated. The area of mentioned region is 5000 hectares and it is located in 30 kilometers from the east of Yasuj. Maximum altitude of the area was between 1800-2800 m. Our research has started by collecting the essential information of the region. The plants of region have been collected and prepared for studying. several floras were used for identification the specimens and they are preserved in Alzahra University herbarium (ALUH). This investigation showed that in the Tang sorkh region, there are 46 families, 145genera, 172 species that include 6/97% of phanerophytes, 5/23% chamephyts, 43/60%hemicryptophytes, 13/95% geophytes, 28/48% therophytes. Analyses shows that most of species of region belongs to the Iran-o-Turanian region which contanins 5/69% of region’s flora. 23 species are endemic to Iran, 20 of which are rare species, 30 species are medicinal plant, 22 of which are poison. Totaly about 172 species has identified. 20 species are recorded for the first time from this province.


 

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In this study, the cytotoxic effects of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Sedum album L. on human stomach cancer cell line (AGS) and breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) were evaluated by MTT, BrdU and TUNEL assays. The results demonstrated that both extracts had antiproliferative and apoptotic effects in a dose-dependent manner. The MTT assay data revealed that the AGS cell underwent more cytotoxicity in comparison with the MCF-7 cell. It also revealed that ethanolic extract was more potent than aqueous extract. The BrdU assay results showed that the proliferation of AGS and MCF-7 cells was reduced to 50% and 43%, respectively, at the highest concentration of the aqueous extract. In addition, the ethanolic extract reduced the proliferation of AGS and MCF-7 cells to 75% and 60%, respectively. The AGS and MCF-7 cells underwent 52% and 12% apoptotic death upon treatment by the ethanolic extract as TUNEL assay showed. The aqueous extract induced 28% and 25% apoptosis in the AGS and MCF-7 cells, respectively. Both inhibition of proliferation and induction of apoptosis are desirable strategies for cancer treatment among researchers. Identification of S. album compounds and analyzing their effects in animal model of cancer can help us with understanding its anti-cancer properties.
 

 

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The identification of the characteristics of native halophytic species is very important for their practical application. The present study was carried out to identify the halophytic species of a desert and highly saline region around the city of Khosf, southern Khorasan Province, and to detect their general tolerance mechanisms (i.e. salt exclusion or inclusion). Sodium accumulation in the roots and shoots of seven species, including Launaea arborescens, Peganum harmala, Pteropyrum olivieri, Artemisia santolina, Zygophyllum eurypterum Boiss, Aerva javanica, Pulicaria gnaphalode, and their rhizosphere soil were determined. The bioconcentration of sodium from soil to roots (BCF), its translocation from roots to shoots (TF), and its accumulation in the shoots (AF) were then calculated. Results showed that the soil of the studied area was clay loam with a high EC of 65 ds/m, indicating its high salinity level. According to the values of sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) and the exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) and regarding EC, the soil of studied region can be regarded as a saline-sodic soil. The value of TF in some species was higher than 1. However, none of the species had BCF and AF greater than 1, thus, none of them could be considered to be salt accumulator. Instead, it could be assumed that all of the studied species were salt, or at least, sodium excluders.

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