---

---

Effects of yeast extract (YE) (0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5 and 1%) were investigated on rosmarinic acid (RA) accumulation and tyrosine aminotransferase (TAT) gene expression in Melissa officinalis seedlings at different time intervals (4 and 17 hours). Based on the results, only YE concentrations of 0.05%, 0.1%, and 0.2%, for the 17-hour treatment, significantly stimulated RA biosynthesis pathway. At this elicitation time, flavonoid content and TAT gene expression significantly increased by the increase in YE concentration up to 0.2% as compared to the control. The maximum amount for both of them was seen at 0.1% YE treatment, where the RA accumulation was drastically elevated. Furthermore, the aerial parts were improved when root lengths were decreased; this was observed in seedlings that were treated by YE for 30 days. Overall, these observations can be attributed to the oxidative stress induced by YE, as a consequence of its uptake by the plant, as revealed by increasing activities in superoxide dismutase and catalase.

---

Objective: Organophosphorus (OPs) compounds are widely used in many pesticides, insecticides and chemical nerve agents. These compounds are hazardous for humans and the environment. Organophosphate hydrolase (OPH) is a homodimeric protein initially isolated from Pseudomonas diminuta MG and Flavobacterium species. This enzyme is able to degrade a broad spectrum of toxic OPs compounds. Using immobilized OPH commonly presents a variety of advantages versus the free form of the enzyme. Advantages include an increase in stability, cost reduction by simple recovery and reutilization of the enzyme, quick and easy separation of the reactant and product in the reaction medium. Methods: Plasmid pET-26b (+) was used to generate the OPH protein under the control of the T7lac promoter. E. coli BL21 (DE3) pLysS was used as the host for expression of the OPH enzyme. Recombinant OPH was secreted into the extracellular medium and the purified enzyme was immobilized on the surface of Bacillus subtilis spores by the adsorption method, for the first time. Results: Approximately 42% to 45% enzymatic activity was determined to be associated with spores. Optimal pH and temperature of the enzyme were not altered by the presence of the spores. Thermo and pH stabilities of the immobilized enzyme was higher than the free form of the enzyme. Conclusion: Bacillus subtilis spores are safe for humans and the environment. Therefore this system can be considered an environmentally friendly biocatalyst for degradation of OPs. 

---

Spirulina platensis found enormous applications in agriculture, food industry, pharmacy, cosmetics, medicine, mainly because of its high nutritional content and health-promoting properties. Therefore, the extraction of bioactive compounds from it remains a challenge. The objective of this work was to investigate comparison ultrasound and maceration techniques for the extraction of phenolic compounds from microalgae Spirulina platensis. Individual food-grade solvents (water (0% ethanol), ethanol (96% ethanol)) and their mixture (50% water +50% ethanol), were used for the extraction procedures. The optimal extraction condition for phenolic compounds was found at maceration when 96% ethanol was used as the solvent. Moreover, the highest yield of carotenoids and flavonoid extraction was found by sonication when 96% ethanol was used as the solvent. The use of ultrasound-assisted food-grade solvent extraction increased the extraction of the high-value added compounds and therefore resulted in higher antioxidant activities.
 

---

Rapeseed is cultivated as a valuable oilseed plant throughout the world. The rapeseed oil contains significant amounts of unsaturated fatty acids. A total number of twenty-five cultivars of (winter/spring) rapeseed were grown in greenhouse conditions. In order to investigate genetic diversity, genomic DNA was extracted from the leaves and polymerase chain reaction was performed using 12 pairs of SRAP primers. Based on the results, 96 polymorphic bands were detected, in which the EM10-ME10 primer pairs with 14 bands and the EM1-ME14 and EM10-Me1 primer pairs with 4 bands had produced the maximum and minimum number of polymorphic bands, respectively. The Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) index varied from 0.25 to 0.499 and the genetic diversity based on Nei's index was 0.18 to 0.33. The cluster analysis using UPGMA method, with 95% accuracy of the grouping, was introduced as more appropriate than the other clustering methods. This method divided the studied cultivars into five distinct groups. The most genetic distance was recorded between Hydromel and Elvis, Zarfam, Artist and Okapi cultivars, and the lowest was shown between Artist and Okapi cultivars. Based on the results of principal coordinate analysis, the first and second components explained 83.66% of the variation, which represents the improper distribution of the SRAP markers on the whole genome. Overall, this study demonstrated high genetic diversity among cultivated rapeseed cultivars, which may be attributed to their high genetic background and environmental effects.