Towards a global perspective for Salvia L.: Phylogeny, diversification and floral evolution.

Salvia is the most species-rich genus in Lamiaceae, encompassing approximately 1000 species distributed all over the world. We sought a new evolutionary perspective for Salvia by employing macroevolutionary analyses to address the tempo and mode of diversification. To study the association of floral traits with speciation and extinction, we modelled and explored the evolution of corolla length and the lever-mechanism pollination system across our Salvia phylogeny. We reconstructed a multigene phylogeny for 366 species of Salvia in the broad sense including all major recognized lineages and 50 species from Iran, a region previously overlooked in studies of the genus. Our comprehensive sampling of Iranian species of Salvia provides higher phylogenetic resolution for southwestern Asian species than obtained in previous studies. Our phylogenetic data in combination with divergence time estimates were used to examine the evolution of corolla length, woody versus herbaceous habit, and presence versus absence of a lever mechanism. We investigated the timing and dependence of Salvia diversification related to corolla length evolution through a disparity test and BAMM analysis. A HiSSE model was used to evaluate the dependency of diversification on the lever-mechanism pollination system in Salvia. A medium corolla length (15-18 mm) was reconstructed as the ancestral state for Salvia with multiple shifts to shorter and longer corollas. Macroevolutionary model analyses indicate that corolla length disparity is high throughout Salvia evolution, significantly different from expectations under a Brownian motion model during the last 28 million years of evolution. Our analyses show evidence of a higher diversification rate of corolla length for some Andean species of Salvia compared to other members of the genus. Based on our tests of diversification models, we reject the hypothesis of a direct effect of the lever mechanism on Salvia diversification. Therefore, we suggest caution in considering the lever-mechanism pollination system as one of the main drivers of speciation in Salvia.

Phylogeny and Historical Biogeography of Veronica Subgenus Pentasepalae (Plantaginaceae): Evidence for Its Origin and Subsequent Dispersal.

Veronica subgenus Pentasepalae is the largest subgenus of Veronica in the Northern Hemisphere with approximately 80 species mainly from Southwest Asia. In order to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships among the members of V. subgenus Pentasepalae and to test the "out of the Iranian plateau" hypothesis, we applied thorough taxonomic sampling, employing nuclear DNA (ITS) sequence data complimented with morphological studies and chromosome number counts. Several high or moderately supported clades are reconstructed, but the backbone of the phylogenetic tree is generally unresolved, and many Southwest Asian species are scattered along a large polytomy. It is proposed that rapid diversification of the Irano-Turanian species in allopatric glacial refugia and a relatively high rate of extinction during interglacial periods resulted in such phylogenetic topology. The highly variable Asian V. orientalis-V. multifida complex formed a highly polyphyletic assemblage, emphasizing the idea of cryptic speciation within this group. The phylogenetic results allow the re-assignment of two species into this subgenus. In addition, V. bombycina subsp. bolkardaghensis, V. macrostachya subsp. schizostegia and V. fuhsii var. linearis are raised to species rank and the new name V. parsana is proposed for the latter. Molecular dating and ancestral area reconstructions indicate a divergence age of about 9 million years ago and a place of origin on the Iranian Plateau. Migration to the Western Mediterranean region has likely taken place through a North African route during early quaternary glacial times. This study supports the assumption of the Irano-Turanian region as a source of taxa for neighboring regions, particularly in the alpine flora.

Ameliorating Effect of Standardized Extract From Textured Soy Protein (Glycine max L.) on Memory Deficit and Learning Insufficiency in Scopolamine-induced Amnesia.

Introduction: Textured soy protein (TSP) and nuts are two processed forms of soybean (Glycine max L.) that are widely consumed for nutritional purposes in Iran. Recently, we have reported the antioxidant and anticholinesterase effects of raw soybean (RS) attributed to isoflavones, such as genistein. In this work, we aimed to compare in vitro antioxidant and anticholinesterase effects of TSP, nuts, and RS to select the most effective one for learning capacity and spatial memory studies. Methods: Genistein content was determined using high-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC), while diphenylpicrylhydrazil (DPPH) radical scavenging and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) were used to study antioxidant evaluation and Ellman's colorimetric method was used to measure anticholinesterase. TSP extract (TSPE) was administered to male rats (100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg, intraperitoneally [i.p] for 7 days) before scopolamine injection (1 mg/kg). Learning capacity and spatial memory were evaluated using passive avoidance test (PAT) and Morris water maze (MWM) methods compared to physostigmine and piracetam. Results: The greatest antioxidant and anticholinesterase effect was observed for TSPE, which significantly prolonged initially latency in PTA (P<0.05) and improved all indicators in the MWM test at 200 mg/kg. Conclusion: The memory-improving effect of TSPE may be due to its antioxidant and anticholinesterase effect as well as neuroprotective effects of its isoflavones. Highlights: Different samples (nuts-raw soybeans-TSP) prepared from soybeans.All samples exhibited antioxidant and anti-cholinesterase effects in vitro studies.TSP showed the most biological activity and the greatest genistein content.TSP significantly improved memory and learning indicators at 200 mg/kg.These effects are attributed to its antioxidant and anticholinesterase activity.Plant isoflavones have neuroprotective effects. Plain Language Summary: Alzheimer's disease (AD), is one of the problems of the elderly society, which has a lot of emotional and financial costs. AD is a type of progressive brain disease in which neurons are destroyed and memory is lost. This disease currently has no definitive treatment and the only way is to prevent the disease from spreading. Much research has been devoted to finding suitable and effective treatments for AD. Many food and herbal medicines have shown to be effective in controlling this disease. Soybean is a plant that is widely used as food and snacks in Iran in different ways. In this study, we prepared three preparation from soya beans which have been widely used by Iranian people including raw soya, nut (roasted form) and textured soy protein (TSP). The effect of these preparations have been studied on memory and learning in amnestic rats through different pharmacological studies. The results indicated that TSP due to antioxidant and anticholinesterase activity significantly can augment memory enhancing and learning ability Alzheimer's disease (AD), is one of the problems of the elderly society, which has a lot of emotional and financial costs. AD is a type of progressive brain disease in which neurons are destroyed and memory is lost. This disease currently has no definitive treatment and the only way is to prevent the disease from spreading. Much research has been devoted to finding suitable and effective treatments for AD. Many food and herbal medicines have shown to be effective in controlling this disease. Soybean is a plant that is widely used as food and snacks in Iran in different ways. In this study, we prepared three preparation from soya beans which have been widely used by Iranian people including raw soya, nut (roasted form) and textured soy protein (TSP). The effect of these preparations have been studied on memory and learning in amnestic rats through different pharmacological studies. The results indicated that TSP due to antioxidant and anticholinesterase activity significantly can augment memory enhancing and learning ability. TSP also contains some phytochemicals such as phytoestrogens which have shown neuroprotective activity in different studies.

Evaluation of anticancer, antioxidant and antibacterial properties of methanol extract of three Acantholimon Boiss. species.

OBJECTIVE: Acantholimon is a genus of perennial plant within the Plumbaginaceae family. Here, we aimed to investigate anticancer, antioxidant, and antibacterial potential of methanol extract of three Iranian endemic species of Acantholimon including A. austro-iranicum, A. serotinum and A. chlorostegium. MATERIALS AND METHODS: MTT assay was used to evaluate the in vitro cytotoxicity and apoptosis induction was examined by annexin V-PE apoptosis detection kit. Antioxidant activity was reported based on the DPPH-scavenging and DCF-DA assay. Antibacterial activity was measured by disc diffusion and micro-well dilution assay. RESULTS: MTT assay showed less cytotoxicity of methanol extracts against the HUVEC normal cell line (IC50 values: 817-900 µg/ml) compared to cancer cell lines MCF-7, HT29, SH-SY5Y, NCCIT and A549 (IC50 values: 213 to 600 µg/ml) that show the specificity of extracts toward cancer cells. Plant extract showed apoptosis induction and cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phases documented by annexin V staining and flow cytometry. According to antioxidant tests, extracts exhibited significant DPPH scavenging potential (IC50 values: 30-37 µg/ml) and could protect against H2O2-induced oxidative stress. Antibacterial activities showed a stronger inhibitory effect on Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa as Gram- negative bacteria (diameter of inhibition zone: 11-13 mm and minimal inhibition concentration (MIC): 3.175 to 12.5 mg/ml) compared to Gram-positive bacteria including Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus (diameter of inhibition zone: 3-7 mm and MIC: 25 to 50 mg/ml). CONCLUSION: Our results suggested moderate cytotoxic and antibacterial potential and noteworthy antioxidant activity for the examined Acantholimon species.

Foliar and stem epidermal anatomy of the tribe Cynoglosseae (Boraginaceae) and their taxonomic significance.

Foliar and stem epidermal anatomical features of the tribe Cynoglosseae have been studied in detail for the taxonomic identification using light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopic (SEM) techniques. A comparative study was conducted on different plant parts (leaf and stem epidermal anatomy) of 25 species belonging to eight genera of the tribe Cynoglosseae (Boraginaceae) collected from different phytogeographical regions of Iran for the first time. Different qualitative and quantitative characteristics were observed in detail using LM and SEM. Results showed that although generally the stem and leaf anatomical traits were similar, but some diagnostic features were examined for distinguishing the closely related genera in the tribe. The ratio of cortex/diameter of stem and phloem/xylem, the average row number of collenchyma, palisade and spongy cells, structure of trichomes, type of indumentum and palisade arrangement were found taxonomically important. The anatomical characters were statistically analyzed using cluster analysis and principal component analysis. The study found that stem and leaf eccentrics are variable in the genus but constant within species of the same genus. Most species had typical isobilateral leaves, but some showed an incipient dorsoventrally symmetry with a layer of abaxial palisade tissue. Eglandular trichomes were observed found in all the studied species, which were recognized based on structure and function. In present study some novel characters have been observed which are of great interest to the taxonomist for the correct identification some genera delimitations. The characters studied here are of less taxonomic value and delimitating at species level.