Document Type : Full Paper
Authors
1
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
2
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad. Iran.
3
Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
4
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.
5
Medicinal Plants Research Center, Institute of Medicinal Plants, ACECR, Karaj, Iran.
Abstract
Silybum marianum has effective biological activities, including antioxidant and anticancer, due to its phytochemical properties. Hence, it has long been considered a valuable medicinal plant. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of biological stimuli, including bacteria (Pseudomonas putida), yeast (Yarrowia lipolytica), fungi (Aspergillus niger), and AgNO3 elicitors, on the contents of phenolic compounds, silymarin and antioxidant potential in the seeds and aerial parts of plants during the vegetative and reproductive stages of growth. This study was conducted as separate experiments in a completely randomized design with 3 repetitions in the research greenhouse of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. The results of the experiment revealed that the phenol content in the seeds with biological and non-biological motivation was greater than that in the aerial parts in both the vegetative and reproductive growth stages, whereas the lowest IC50 was assigned to the seeds in all the investigated treatments. In this study, the total flavonoid content decreased with the transition from the vegetative stage to reproductive and seed production that is likely related to the increase in cell differentiation during the period of growth, protection against pest attack, degradation, and reduction in the activity of biosynthetic pathway enzymes. Although AgNO3 increased the percentage of silymarin in the vegetative growth (9.96%) and reproductive stages (6.64%) compared with the control, in the seed production stage, bacterial inoculation had the greatest effect on improving the silymarin content and the silymarin content in the seed. Compared with the control, the percentage increased by 33%.
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