Ferulago angulata (Schlecht) Boiss is one of the valuable and endemic medicinal plants of Iran, which is of great importance due to the source of terpenoid compounds and antimicrobial properties. In current study, the effects of different concentrations of salicylic acid and yeast extract in cell suspension culture of F.angulata on expression pattern of the HMGR and GPPS genes (involved in terpenes biosynthesis) were investigated for the first time. The F. angulata cell suspension cultures were initiated and established using calli derived from leaf explants, and salicylic acid and yeast extract elicitors (with 50, 100 and 150 mg/L concentrations) were added to the cultures during active growth. Then, the cell samples were prepared at 24, 48 and 72 hours after treatment. Analysis of expression pattern of HMGR and GPPS genes using Real-time PCR showed that the expression of both genes were significantly influenced by the type and concentration of the elicitors and also the times after treatment. The relative expression of HMGR and GPPS genes under elicitors were increased compared to the control, and furthermore, the increase in the relative expression of these genes under salicylic acid treatment was significantly higher than that of yeast extract treatment. The highest relative expression of GPPS and HMGR genes was related to 100 mg/L salicylic acid treatment at 24 hours after treatment. However, the highest relative expression of these genes was observed under the 24 and 72 hours after treatment of 150 mg/L yeast extract. The results of this study could be useful in metabolic engineering of F. angulata.

Sweet flag (Acorus calamus) is a perennial, semi-aquatic and aromatic plant of the family Acoraceae that, in addition to its multiple medicinal properties, is used in health, food and agricultural industries (as pest control). This research was conducted to comparasion study of genetic diversity of natural and regenerated plants from tissue culture of Arzefon, Pelesk and Alandan populations of Sweet flag by using ISSR molecular markers. Out of 15 screened primers, 9 primers produced the most polymorphic bands. Totally, these primers generated 83 bands, of which 52 bands (62.65%) were polymorphic. The percentage of polymorphic locus for natural and regenerated plants was 43.37% and 55.42%, respectively, and Nei’s genetic diversity (H) was calculated to be 0.239 for the two studied groups. The Shannon’s index (I) for natural and regenerated plants was estimated to be 0.251 ± 0.033 and 0.299 ± 0.031, respectively. Among the natural and regenerated groups, the highest genetic similarity was observed between the samples of Alandan population (0.63), and the lowest value was observed between the samples of Pelesk population (0.44). Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that 94 % of genetic variation attributed to whithin groups and 6 % to between groups. Based on the results, the genetic diversity of the regenerated plants was higher than the natural plants. According to the results of the present research, the lowest rate of genetic divergence was observed between natural and regenerated plants of Alandan populatiuon, so the plants of this population could be suitable for domestication and cultivation in Iran.