Anticancer and anti-inflammatory effects of American and European Cranberries have been previously shown on different cancer cells. Owing to the limited evidence on growth conditions and anticancer potentials of the Iranian Vaccinium genus, Vaccinium arctostaphylos, it was aimed to investigate its effect on colorectal cancer cells. In this regard, Vacciniumarctostaphylos was cultured in Woody Plant Medium (WPM) following incubation at 27°C in cycles of light and darkness. Callogenesis was induced using growth mediums containing different concentrations of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), yeast extract, and Kinetin. Total polyphenol and antioxidant activity of prepared extracts from wet and dried callus and air-dried fruit was measured through the Folin-Ciocalteu method and DPPH assay, respectively. Various concentrations (0-500 µgr/ml) of fruit and callus extracts were examined on HCT-116 colorectal cancer cells. MTT assay was employed to determine the cytotoxicity of fruit and callus extracts. Obtained data were analyzed using Graph Pad Prism V7.04. The size and weight of the obtained callus were significantly dependent on the concentrations of 2,4-D, yeast extract, and Kinetin. Dry callus has been found to have the highest amount of polyphenol and antioxidant activity. HCT-116 cell death rate (20.5%) was demonstrated to be the most for dry callus at the concentration of 400 ‫‪µg/ml. However, half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) was not achieved for none of Vaccinium arctostaphylos fruit or callus, Present evidence on cancer cell death can pave the way towards further assessment of anti-inflammatory and cancer cell cytotoxicity of the Iranian Cranberry genus. تفاصيل المقالة

The cyclamen (Myrsinascea) as the flowers growing in some temperate regions, are of high ecological and botanical importance and endangered as well. Therefore, to provide an opportunity to identify and protect its species, Iranian native cyclamen was studied. Plants were collected (in winter and spring) from three northern provinces of Iran, i.e., Guilan, Mazandaran, and Golestan, and their morphological traits (14 quantitative and 10 qualitative traits) were assessed. Based on the analysis of variance, there were significant differences in some recorded traits, e.g., leaf number, flower number, flower color, and flower and leaf shape, which would allow selecting plants with more optimal traits. The cluster analysis divided the plants into three groups. Accordingly, the plants collected from the Shadan region in Golestan province and those collected from the Sinava and Shahsheshmeh regions in Chalus County, Mazandaran province differed from the plants collected from the other regions. The plants were collected from the Abpari and Lavij regions in Nur County, the Pasand region in Behshahr County, the Qarnabad region in Gorgan County, and the Deylaman region in Siahkal County were placed in the same group due to their similar morphology although they had been collected from three different provinces. The first group included the cyclamens of the Qarnabad region in Gorgan County, the Lavij region in Nur County, the Deylaman region in Siahkal County, the Pasand region in Behshahr County, and the Abpari region in Nur County. These plants had lowly toothed leaf margins, long petals, and few seeds. The second group included the cyclamens of the Shadan region in Kordkuy County. These plants had longer and heavier hypocotyls, larger and wider leaves, and smaller flowers. They showed the highest number of seeds, hypocotyl diameter, length, and weight, flower number, leaf length and width, leaf area, petiole and peduncle length, and peduncle diameter. The third group included the cyclamens of the Sinava and Shahsheshmeh regions in Chalus County. They had the highest petal width but the lowest peduncle diameter, leaf length, width, and area, flower and leaf number, and hypocotyl weight, length, and diameter. The cyclamens native to Iran are highly diverse in morphological traits and they need to be further investigated by cytogenetic, phytochemical, and molecular methods. تفاصيل المقالة