Due to their simplicity of synthesis, stability, and functionalization, low toxicity, and ease of detection, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are a natural choice for biomedical applications. AuNPs’ unique optoelectronic features have subsequently been investigated and used in high-tech applications such as organic photovoltaics, sensory probes, therapeutic agents, the administration of drugs in biological and medical applications, electronic devices, catalysis, etc. Researchers have demonstrated the biosynthesis of AuNPs using plants. The present study evaluates 109 plant species used in the traditional medicine of Middle East countries as new sources of AuNPs in a wide variety of laboratory environments. In this study, dried samples of bark, bulb, flower, fruit, gum, leaf, petiole, rhizome, root, seed, stamen, and above-ground parts were evaluated in water extracts. About 117 plant parts were screened from 109 species in 54 plant families, with 102 extracts demonstrating a bioreduction of Au3+ to Au0, revealing 37 new plant species in this regard. The color change of biosynthesized AuNPs to gray, violet, or red was confirmed by UV-Visible spectroscopy, TEM, FSEM, DLS, and EDAX of six plants. In this study, AuNPs of various sizes were measured from 27 to 107 nm. This study also includes an evaluation of the potency of traditional East Asian medicinal plants used in this biosynthesis of AuNPs. An environmentally safe procedure such as this could act as a foundation for cosmetic industries whose quality assessment systems give a high priority to non-chemically synthesized products. It is crucial that future optimizations are adequately documented to scale up the described process.

Six hundred and one symptomatic potato samples were collected from nine provinces in Iran. Screening by double-antibody sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay using a potato virus X (PVX) together with a few potyviruses polyclonal antibodies, produced positive reactions in 4.3 % of samples against PVX. Based on symptoms on different test plant, the isolates were divided into two groups: the first groups causing blistering and malformation of leaves and the second showed mild mosaic and vein clearing in Nicotiana glutinosa. The almost complete nucleotide sequence of two isolates as a representative of severe and a mild isolates were determined. Genomes of two PVX Iranian isolates are identical to that of the most PVX isolates comprise 6435 nucleotides in length excluding 101 nucleotide in the 5 0 end of the genome and shares 94.8-96.7 % identities with European and Asian, and 77-96.1 % with American isolates. Furthermore, the 3 0 -terminal sequences, including the coat protein coding region of other 13 Iranian isolates were determined and compared with the GenBank sequences. Phylogenetic analysis of the cp gene of 13 Iranian isolates together all those available in public databases indicated that the 13 Iranian isolates all belong to low diversity clade I.

Damping-off caused by Pythium aphanidermatum, as one of the most infamous plant diseases, is considered as a significant disease that causes severe damages in greenhouse and field crops in a vast range of hosts especially vegetables. The application of chemical fungicides as a common method to control this disease poses negative side effects on humans and the environmental components. Actinobacteria, especially members of the genus Streptomyces, are fascinating biocontrol agents and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, which exhibit safer alternative managements to control this disease. The present study aims to explore for bioactives soil Streptomyces isolates that are able to control P. aphanidermatum, which is the causal agent of damping-off in tomato. Out of a total of 116 actinobacteria isolates collected from the soil, 53 have showed an antagonistic activity against P. aphanidermatum, as deduced through in vitro dual cultures. Based on in vitro Petri plate seedling-bioassays (IPSB), from the 53 tested isolates in dual cultures, two isolates coded as H2 and H3, considered as the most bioactive agents, were selected to assess their biocontrol performances against P. aphanidermatum in the Sandwich bed-mix technique in greenhouse experiments. In vivo greenhouse statistical studies were performed to compare seven treatments using completely randomized design experiments. Metalaxyl fungicide was applied as the chemical-control treatment. To evaluate biocontrol efficiencies of the two Streptomyces symbionts, disease incidence recorded throughout the course of experiment and criteria of number of leaves, length of the plants, plant fresh and dry weights, were measured at the end of experiment and analyzed statistically. The resulted disease incidences for all treatments indicated that the two Streptomyces strains had PGPR activity, and they were effective in decreasing disease incidence and improving plant performances regarding number of leaves, height, and plant fresh and dry weights. Based on the phylogenetic analysis of the partial sequences of the 16S rRNA gene, the strain H2 revealed a close relation to six Streptomyces species, namely S. badius, S. caviscabies, S. globisporus, S. parvus, S. sindenensis, and S. griseoplanus, with 99.9% similarity. The strain H3 also indicated a close relation of the same similarity to two species, namely S. flavogriseus and S. pratensis. In overall, collected data dictated that the two bioactive root symbiont Streptomyces strains effectively controlled the damping-off disease caused by P. aphanidermatum.

Hop stunt viroid (HSVd) infects a large number of woody plants such as grapevine, citrus, plum, peach, fig, mulberry, pear, pistachio and almond. Kerman Province is the most important pistachio‐growing region in Iran. During 2015–2016, pistachio orchards were surveyed in Kerman for the detection of HSVd. A total of 106 symptomatic and asymptomatic leaf samples from pistachio trees were collected and assayed for HSVd by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) and dot‐blot hybridization methods. The genomes of 11 HSVd isolates were PCR amplified, cloned, sequenced and compared with those available in GenBank. The full‐length genomes of Iranian variants range from 297 to 302 nucleotides, which are comparable to those of previously known HSVd variants. Phylogenetic analyses showed that four HSVd pistachio variants from Anar region were classified together with five Tunisian HSVd pistachio variants and formed a sub‐cluster within the HSVd‐hop isolates group, whereas two variants from Shahr‐e‐Babak region were grouped with known HSVd‐citrus variants. The other remaining five variants were clustered into the recombinant isolates group (P‐H/cit3). Phylogenetically, we discuss that the presence of HSVds in pistachio trees has a long history in Iran, and Tunisian HSVd pistachio variants probably originated from Iran. The infectivity of two HSVd pistachio variants was further verified by mechanical inoculation on some Cucurbitaceae plant species. The viroid was also transmitted to three healthy pistachio rootstocks by bud grafting. This is the first report on HSVd in pistachio trees in Iran.

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