Multivariate analysis of morpho-physiological traits in Amaranthus tricolor as affected by nitric oxide and cadmium stress.

Edible amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor L.) is used as a food-medicine or ornamental plant, and despite its importance, there are few reports associated with cadmium (Cd) stress. This study aimed to appraise the crosstalk between sodium nitroprusside (SNP), as a source of nitric oxide (NO), and cadmium toxicity on growth and physiological traits in edible amaranth by using different multivariate statistical methods. The results showed that growth-related traits of A. tricolor were significantly reduced under Cd stress. Contrarily, Cd treatments increased lipid peroxidation and reduced total protein content. Delving on the results of SNP application showed the suitability of its medium level (100 µM) on increasing the growth-related traits and also plant tolerance to Cd stress via lowering the lipid peroxidation and radical molecules production due to the higher activities of superoxide dismutase and catalase. Increasing the amount of Cd in roots and shoots, as the result of Cd treatment, reduced the growth and production of A. tricolor plants by high rates (over 50% in 60 mg kg-1 Cd level), indicating its susceptibility to high Cd toxicity. Contrarily, treating plants with SNP showed no effect on shoot Cd content, while it significantly increased Cd allocation in the root, which might be attributable to the protective effect of NO on Cd toxicity by trapping Cd in the root. Subsequently, the application of a medium level of SNP (around 100 µM) is recommendable for A. tricolor plant to overcome the negative impacts of Cd toxicity. Moreover, according to the results of heatmap and biplot, under no application of Cd, the application of 100 µM SNP showed a great association with growth-related traits indicating the effectiveness of SNP on the productivity of this species even under no stress situations.

Superoxide dismutase (SOD) as a selection criterion for triticale grain yield under drought stress: a comprehensive study on genomics and expression profiling, bioinformatics, heritability, and phenotypic variability.

BACKGROUND: The main objectives of this study were to find the possible structural association between the activity of enzymatic antioxidants and the grain yield of triticale plants as well as identifying the genotypic variability which might be effective on this association. Accordingly, expression levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) isozymes (Mn-SOD, Cu/Zn-SOD, and Fe-SOD) were appraised to distinguish any possible relationship between SOD expression and drought resistance of triticale. A novel analytical method for distinguishing elite genotypes based on measured features was proposed. Additionally, a new programing based on SAS-language (IML) was introduced to estimate the genetic parameters rooted from combined ANOVA model (linear mixed model), which is capable of being used in any field study other than the current one. METHODS: Thirty genotypes of triticale were studied under normal and drought stress conditions during 6 years (three different locations). Accordingly, based on the results of genetic variability, heatmap analysis, biplot graph, and clustering technique, two genotypes with the highest genetic distance were selected to appraise the differential expression profiling of three SOD isozyme in shoot and root organs. RESULTS: Field experiments and bioinformatics results showed that superoxide dismutase (SOD) was the most influential antioxidant in resistance of triticale to drought stress; therefore, it could be used as an indirect selection index in early stages to distinguish resistant genotypes to drought stress. Additionally, Mn-SOD and Fe-SOD showed roughly similar expression levels for both genotypes under drought stress. However, Cu/Zn-SOD expression level was higher in root and shoot of the tolerant genotype than the susceptible genotype. CONCLUSION: Heatmap analysis that is applied for the first time to screen suitable genotypes, showed to be highly capable of distinguishing elite genotypes and pointing out the proper features for selection criteria. Bioinformatics results indicated that SOD is more important than other enzymatic antioxidant for being considered as selection criteria or candidate gene for transgenic purposes. Based on expressional results, Mn-SOD announced as a general isozyme that is probably highly expressed in most of the species, while, Cu/Zn-SOD was introduced as a genotype specific isozyme that is likely more expressed in tolerant genotypes.

Effect of a Couples' Relationship Enrichment Program on the Quality of Marital Relationships from the Perspective of Spouses of Patients with Multiple Sclerosis.

A relationship enrichment program involves family therapy with psychosocial training to improve relationship skills. This study was conducted to determine the effect of a couples' relationship enrichment program on marital relationship quality. This quasi-experimental study was conducted in 2016 with 80 spouses of patients, all members of the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Center in Zahedan, Iran. The participants were randomly assigned to two groups: an intervention and a control group, each of which comprised 40 participants. The Perceived Relationship Quality Components questionnaire was used to collect the required data. After five-session couples' relationship enrichment program, the mean total marital relationship quality score and all the subscale scores except the love subscale score in the intervention group were significantly greater than those in the control group. Application of the program is recommended to increase the quality of marital relationships for spouses of patients with MS, as they are the most important sources of support for patients with MS.