| Abstrakt: |
Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is a highly valued medicinal plant known for its unique characteristics of color, taste, and aroma, attributed to the presence of important compounds such as crocin, picrocrocin, and safranal. In this study, the investigation focused on the Crocus genus, particularly the Khazar (C. caspius) and Ziba (C. speciosus) wild species, as well as the cultivated saffron. The aim of this study was to analyze the expression of six active genes involved in the production pathway of the aforementioned compounds (ALDH, CCD2, PSY, LYC, BCH, UGT74) in two flower tissues (stigma and pistil) at five different stages of the flowering process. Real-time PCR was employed to measure the expression ratios of these genes relative to the first stage (used as a comparison basis) and an internal control gene (TUB) using a logarithmic scale (base 2). The results revealed interesting patterns of gene expression. In the stigma of cultivated saffron and the two wild species, CCD2 expression showed an increasing trend during the later stages of growth. A similar trend was observed in the tepals of the Ziba and Khazar, except for stage 5 where an increase was observed. The UGT74 gene expression decreased initially in the cultivated stigma but then displayed an overall increasing trend in both wild species, with a similar pattern observed in the tepals. PSY gene expression increased in the stigma of both cultivated and wild species, while in the tepals, it increased from the beginning in all species. LYC gene expression generally decreased initially but exhibited an increasing trend in both stigma and tepals. The BCH gene showed increased expression in stigmas (except in Ziba), decreased expression in cultivated tepals, and increased expression in wild species. The ALDH gene displayed a decrease followed by a steady increase in the cultivated stigma, while in Khazar, it increased consistently but did not show a consistent trend in Ziba. These findings suggest the potential presence of valuable active compounds in the studied Iranian wild species.Key words: Crocin, Picrocrocin, Safranal, Khazar Saffron, Ziba saffron. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
