Correction to: Indirect somatic embryogenesis of purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench): a medicinal­ornamental plant: evaluation of antioxidant enzymes activity and histological study.

The article Indirect somatic embryogenesis of purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench): a medicinal­ornamental plant: evaluation of antioxidant enzymes activity and histological study written by Maryam Dehestani-Ardakani, Mohadeseh Hejazi, Kazem Kamali Aliabad, was originally published electronically on the publisher's internet portal (currently SpringerLink) on 17 August 2020 with open access. With the author(s)' decision to step back from open choice, the copyright of the article changed on 18 November 2020 to © Springer Nature B.V. 2020 and the article is forthwith distributed under the terms of copyright. The original article has been corrected.

Effects of phosalone plant pesticide on sperm parameters and sexual hormone levels in Wistar rats: An experimental study.

BACKGROUND: Phosalone is an organophosphate insecticide, applied to control of plant pests. This compound has various side effects because it acts as an acetyl cholinesterase enzyme inhibitor. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of phosalone on the sperm parameters of and levels of sex hormones in adult male rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this experimental study, 16 adult (8-12 wk) male Wister rates (weighing 220-280 gr) were randomly assigned into 4 groups (n = 4/each). Group 1 (control) received only routine adequate water and food; Group 2, 3, and 4 received different low doses of phosalone (60, 90, and 120 mg/kg respectively). The rats were weighed and anesthetized after 48 days. Sperm parameters including number, motility, and viability as well as sex hormones (such as Luteinizing Hormone, Follicle Stimulating Hormone, and testosterone) were evaluated and compared after removing the epididymis tail. RESULTS: Our results showed that phosalone decreased sperm motility, viability, and number in a dose-dependent manner. The level of FSH and LH was increased, and testosterone was decreased. Also, depending on the dose, phosalone decrease sperm motility and viability (p ≤ 0.001), while the level of FSH and LH was increased and testosterone was decreased (p = 0.861). CONCLUSION: Phosalone has negative effects on reproductive indices in male rats and can cause serious damage and decrease the number and sperms motility. It can also cause infertility due to changing the concentration of hormones.

Indirect somatic embryogenesis of purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench): a medicinal-ornamental plant: evaluation of antioxidant enzymes activity and histological study.

Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench) is a widely used medicinal and ornamental plant. In the present study, the callus embryogenesis was examined using benzyl adenine (BA) at three levels (3, 4, 5 mg L-1), 1-Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) at three levels (0.1, 0.2 and 0.5 mg L-1) with or without activated charcoal (1 g L-1), coconut milk (50 ml L-1) and casein hydrolysate (50 mg L-1) in the MS (Murashige and Skoog 1962) medium. The embryogenesis indirectly occurred with the production of callus. The calli were observed in three forms: undifferentiated, embryogenic and organogenic. The embryogenic calli were dark green and coherent with a faster growth rate. The highest embryogenesis (100%) and embryonic regeneration (plantlet production) were obtained in the combined BA + NAA treatments with the activated charcoal, coconut milk and casein hydrolysate. However, the combined treatments of growth regulators failed to produce somatic embryos without the use of coconut milk and casein hydrolysate. The maximum amount of protein, peroxidase and catalase activity of embryogenic calli (2.02, 1.79 and 6.62ΔOD/Min/mg.protein, respectively), and highest percentage of acclimatization success (29.3% of plants) were obtained in the combined treatment of 5 mg L-1 BA + 0.5 mg L-1 NAA + activated charcoal + coconut milk + casein hydrolysate. The highest amount of chlorophyll content (33.3 SPAD value) and growth characteristics of acclimatized plantlets were observed in the media containing 3 mg L-1 BA + 0.1 and 0.2 mg L-1 NAA + 1 g. L-1 combined activated charcoal, coconut milk, casein hydrolysate. The histological studies confirmed the somatic embryogenesis in purple coneflower. Generally, it was found that the somatic embryogenesis of E. purpurea occurs at high levels of BA and low levels of NAA with the addition of coconut milk and casein hydrolysate.

Effect of salt stress on the genes expression of the vacuolar H+ -pyrophosphatase and Na+/H+ antiporter in Rubia tinctorum.

Salinity which covers vast areas of the world is increasing every year. But some plants like madder can grow in these areas. Madder (Rubia tinctorum) is a perennial plant species from the Rubiaceae family. In this study, madder plants were first treated by different concentration of NaCl (100, 200, 300, and 400 mM). Then gene expression of salinity stress was studied. For gene study, vacuolar H+-pyrophosphatase pump (AVP) and tonoplast Na+/H+ antiporters (NHX) from madder plant were isolated and sequenced. Analyzing protein sequences of these genes demonstrated that the protein sequences have high similarity with the same genes in other plants. Constructing phylogenetic trees based on the protein sequences of the AVP and NHX genes, we found high similarity with Coffea arabica and Capsicum annuum, respectively. Studying gene expression of the AVP and NHX under the condition of salt stress revealed that the genes were up-regulated, which continues up to 400 mM of salt concentration.

Correction to: Transcriptome profiling of fully open flowers in a frost­tolerant almond genotype in response to freezing stress.

In the original publication of the article, the affiliation of the third author has been incorrectly published as University of Yazd. However, the correct affiliation is Yazd University.