Studying the Expression Pattern of aox2 and pal2 Genes Associated with the Production of Antioxidants and Flavonoids in Yarrow Plant Following Salicylic Acid Treatment

The various medicinal functions of Yarrow have made it an important medicinal plant in medicine. Also, yarrow is a rich source of antioxidants and flavonoids that protect plants from the harmful effects of active oxygen species. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of salicylic acid treatment on the expression pattern of two genes (aox2 and pal2) involved in the production of antioxidants and flavonoids in Yarrow plant. For this purpose, a factorial experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design including salicylic acid at two levels (0 and 50 mM) as the first factor and sampling time with two levels (24 and 48 hours) as the second factor in the greenhouse of the Faculty of Agriculture. First, the yarrow plant was subjected to hormonal treatment in Johnson's hydroponic environment, and 24 and 48 hours after the treatment, leaf tissue sampling was done. The results of qRT-PCR showed that salicylic acid stimulation significantly decreased the expression of two genes in the path of producing antioxidants in yarrow. The lowest relative expression of studied genes occurred 48 hours after treatment with salicylic acid. In general, the use of salicylic acid triggers molecular processes that result in the plant responding by changing the expression level of genes encoding antioxidants and flavonoids; therefore, it is suggested to use other stimulants such as jasmonic acid to investigate the expression of genes encoding antioxidants and flavonoids in future researches.