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Royal jelly (RJ) from queen honeybee larva as a traditional medicine agent has a variety of pharmacological benefits. In the present study, the effect of Royal jelly was investigated on the urinary bladder cancer cell line (HTB-9 5637). To determine the cell viability in different concentrations of Royal jelly, MTT assay was performed. An in vitro wound healing assay was applied to investigate the effect of RJ on cell migration. The activity and gene expression level of matrix metalloproteinase 2 and 9 was assessed by zymography and Real time PCR respectively. R.J.S at the concentration of 0.7 mg/ml had a significant effect on reducing the proliferation rate of 5637 cells after 72h (p < 0.009). R.J.S significantly decreased cell migration and induced a significant decrease in the transcriptional level of MMP9 after 72h (0.5x; P < 0.049). However R.J.S did not impose any effect on the expression level and activity of matrix metalloproteinase 2. These results indicate the potential of RJ as a promised natural anti-proliferative and anti-metastatic drug in combination with advanced therapy methods for cancer treatment. Royal jelly has the potential to be more focused as an anti-metastatic drug to control tumor growth and can be considered as a more effective alternative to the current chemotherapy drugs.

Silver nanoparticles are widely used in manufacturing of different products considering their unique physical and chemical properties. Also they have been noticed in medical diagnosis and treatment because of their antibacterial properties. Physical and chemical methods of producing nanoparticles, are expensive and are not safe enough as toxic substances may remain in the final preparations. To solve this problem, biological production of nanoparticles is considered as an efficient alternative method. In present study, synthesis of silver nanoparticles via seeds, petals, roots, and hairy root extracts of Calendula officinalis were performed. These nanoparticles were characterized by means of spectrophotometer, particle size analyzer and transmission electron microscope. Nanoparticles which were synthesized by hairy root extract showed the highest absorption at 430 nm (1/6 a.u) and the smallest size (5/3 nm), in comparison to other examined particles. Results confirmed the better performance of hairy root extracts in the synthesis of silver nanoparticles.

Variegation in flower color is commonly observed in many plant species and also occurs on petunia (Petunia hybrida) as an ornamental plant. Variegated plants are highly valuable in the floricultural market. To gain a global perspective on genes differentially expressed in variegated petunia flowers, we investigated the expression of chalcone synthase (chs) and chalcone isomerase (chi) as two essential genes in biosynthesis pathway of pigment production. Also, we measured the concentration level of total flavonoids, naringenin chalcone and naringenin to evaluate the probably relationship between the expression profile of chs and chi genes and the concentration of mentioned pigments. The results indicated that chalcone synthase and chalcone isomerase expression had different profile in different petal color of Petunia hybrida. Because red flower color in petunia is related to the synthesis of pelargonidin-based (orange to red) pigments, our results suggest that the low chalcone synthase and chalcone isomerase expression levels in white petals reduce dihydrokaempferol formation, thereby inhibiting pelargonidin production. In contrast, the high expression levels of these genes observed in red petals ensure sufficient anthocyanin yields to make flowers red.

Saffron (Crocus sativus) is the most valuable and indigenous crop in Iran. The stigmas of flower are used as a popular natural flavouring, colouring and medicinal agent. However, the market suffers from frauds in this plant such as mixing with safflower petals due to high profit. Identification of these frauds with conventional and biochemical methods is difficult and low sensitive. Therefore, application of molecular markers such as random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)/sequence characterized amplified regions (SCAR) is being considered as an alternative. In this study, DNA was extracted from dry stigmas of 5 Saffron accessions and dry petals of 7 safflower cultivars. RAPD reactions with ten 15-mer random primers resulted in two specific monomorphic bands (500 and 700 bp) for safflower, while they were absent in saffron accessions. PCR analysis with specific SCAR primers amplified two specific bands (414 and 589 bp) for safflowers in different combinations of saffron stigmas and safflower petals. This was the case with very low rates or 1% of safflower. Therefore, this method seems to be suitable for fraud identification of safflower petals in commercial saffron samples.

Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is an indigenous and the most valuable and marginal plant in Iran. However, limited knowledge exists on its molecular biology. The importance of this plant is due to the color, flavor and medicinal properties of its red stigmas. Saffron stigmas contain a high amount of carotenoids such as crocetin and crocin. Two genes, bch and pds, have essential role in carotenoid production. In this study, the effect of four different irrigation regimes was evaluated on the expression of bch and pds genes. Semi-quantitative RTPCR showed no significant difference in the expression levels of genes of interest related to the internal standard (18S rRNA). Results of Real-Time PCR assays showed that the expression of bch and pds genes were affected by irrigation treatments as their expression decreased in irrigated plants in comparison to non irrigated ones, exept for one irrigation treatment (one irrigation in September) where the pds gene expression showed higher level. However, the expression profile of the genes was almost the same in all treatments. The comparison between results of two techniques indicated that the Real-Time PCR is more accurate for determination of the level of transcript in the Iranian saffron. It was interesting that by decreasing of irrigation, the expression level of these two genes increased indicating that abiotic stress and drought can affect on the gene expression relating to the saffron color.