Assay for lipid peroxides in animal tissues by thiobarbituric acid reaction

Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands.

Heavy metal contamination of soil and water causing toxicity/stress has become one important constraint to crop productivity and quality. This situation has further worsened by the increasing population growth and inherent food demand. It have been reported in several studies that counterbalancing toxicity, due to heavy metal requires complex mechanisms at molecular, biochemical, physiological, cellular, tissue and whole plant level, which might manifest in terms of improved crop productivity. Recent advances in various disciplines of biological sciences such as metabolomics, transcriptomics, proteomics etc. have assisted in the characterization of metabolites, transcription factors, stress-inducible proteins involved in heavy metal tolerance, which in turn can be utilized for generating heavy metal tolerant crops. This review summarizes various tolerance strategies of plants under heavy metal toxicity, covering the role of metabolites (metabolomics), trace elements (ionomics), transcription factors (transcriptomics), various stress-inducible proteins (proteomics) as well as the role of plant hormones. We also provide a glance at strategies adopted by metal accumulating plants also known as “metallophytes”.

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Heavy Metal Tolerance in Plants: Role of Transcriptomics, Proteomics, Metabolomics, and Ionomics.

Inhibitory effects of selected plant essential oils on the growth of four pathogenic bacteria: E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella Typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes

Plants are the target of a wide range of pollutants that vary in concentration, speciation, and toxicity. Such pollutants mainly enter the plant system through the soil (Arshad et al. 2008) or via the atmosphere (Uzu et al. 2010). Among common pollutants that affect plants, lead is among the most toxic and frequently encountered (Cecchi et al. 2008; Grover et al. 2010; Shahid et al. 2011). Lead continues to be used widely in many industrial processes and occurs as a contaminant in all environmental compartments (soils, water, the atmosphere, and living organisms). The prominence of environmental lead contamination results both from its persistence (Islam et al. 2008; Andra et al. 2009; Punamiya et al. 2010) and from its present and past numerous sources. These sources have included smelting, combustion of leaded gasoline, or applications of lead-contaminated media (sewage sludge and fertilizers) to land (Piotrowska et al. 2009; Gupta et al. 2009; Sammut et al. 2010; Grover et al. 2010). In 2009, production of recoverable lead from mining operations was 1690, 516, and 400 thousand metric tons by China, Australia, and the USA, respectively (USGS 2009).

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Lead Uptake, Toxicity, and Detoxification in Plants

In this research, the methanolic extracts of Convolvulus arvensis were tested for genotoxic and inhibitor activity on the total soluble protein content and the genomic template stability against corn Zea mays L. seed. The methanol extracts of leaf, stem and root of C. arvensis were diluted to 50, 75 and 100 μl concentrations and applied to corn seed. The total soluble protein and genomic template stability results were compared with the control. The results showed that especially 100 μl extracts of diluted leaf, stem and root had a strong inhibitory activity on the genomic template stability. The changes occurred in random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) profiles of C. arvensis extract treatment included variation in band intensity, loss of bands and appearance of new bands compared with control. Also, the results obtained from this study revealed that the increase in the concentrations of C. arvensis extract increased the total soluble protein content in maize. The results suggested that RAPD ana...

Determination of the genotoxic effects of Convolvulus arvensis extracts on corn (Zea mays L.) seeds.

Bu calisma, sera kosullarinda kadmiyum (Cd) (0, 100, 150 ve 200 mg kg -1 ) ve kursunun (Pb) (0, 1000, 1500 ve 2000 mg kg -1 ) rokada ( Eruca sativa L.) morfolojik, fizyolojik ve biyokimyasal tepkiler uzerine etkilerini belirlemek amaciyla yapilmistir. Roka bitkilerinin buyume, bazi fizyolojik (membran gecirgenligi, nisbi su icerigi, stoma iletkenligi vb.) ve biyokimyasal (antioksidan enzim aktivitesi, prolin ve sukroz icerigi) parametreleri agir metal stres kosullari altinda degismistir. Rokanin Cd ve Pb icerigi yuksek konsantrasyonla artmistir. Hem Cd hem de Pb stres kosullari bitki buyumesini, fotosentetik aktiviteyi ve klorofil icerigini olumsuz etkilemistir. Agir metallerin negatif etkisi artan Cd ve Pb dozlari ile daha fazla olmustur. Cd ve Pb uygulamalari antioksidan enzim aktivitelerini onemli olcude artirmistir. Ayrica, agir metal stresli bitkilerde, kontrol bitkilerine kiyasla daha fazla malondialdehit (MDA), hidrojen peroksit (H 2 O 2 ), prolin ve sukroz bulunmustur. Bu calisma, roka bitkilerinin enzim aktivitesini ve osmolit birikimini duzenleyerek agir metal stresine karsi savunma mekanizmalari gelistirdiklerini gostermistir.

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Impact of Cadmium and Lead Heavy Metal Stress on Plant Growth and Physiology of Rocket(Eruca sativa L.)

Humic acids protective activity against manganese induced LTR (long terminal repeat) retrotransposon polymorphism and genomic instability effects in Zea mays

Abiotic stresses, such as heavy metals, adversely affect the living groups including plants. It should be ensured that plants are resistant to environmental stresses in order to increase their growth and development. In this sense, it is an important step for agriculture identify stress-related genes whose tolerance against environmental stresses can be increased. NAC transcription factor (TF) genes provide plant growth and development as well as regulate abiotic stress responses. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine expression levels of NAC TF genes (TF ID: Han682, Han2027 and Han2724) against chromium (Cr; 1 mM) stress in sunflower tolerant to heavy metals. The effects of copper (Cu; 0,25 mM), which are micronutrient elements, and exogenous ascorbic acid (AsA; 200 mg/L) treatments on the expression of these genes and some stress parameters such as chlorophyll amount, leaf relative water content, cell membrane damage are examined. According to the results obtained, Cr stress decreased chlorophyll content and leaf water content and increased cell membrane damage. Treatment of AsA and Cu in combination with Cr reduced toxicity by decreasing cell membrane damage by increasing chlorophyll content and leaf relative water content. The results obtained show that Cu and AsA can equally improve Cr stress. Expression profiles of NAC TF genes obtained by quantitative real-time PCR (q-PCR) were changed with plant tissues. NAC TF genes, which are upregulated with Cr stress in the root, have been determined to be a heavy metal response gene.

Response of NAC transcription factor genes against chromium stress in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)

Arsenic is a well-known toxic substance on the living organisms. However, limited efforts have been made to study its DNA methylation, genomic instability, and long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposon polymorphism causing properties in different crops. In the present study, effects of As2O3 (arsenic trioxide) on LTR retrotransposon polymorphism and DNA methylation as well as DNA damage in Zea mays seedlings were investigated. The results showed that all of arsenic doses caused a decreasing genomic template stability (GTS) and an increasing Random Amplified Polymorphic DNAs (RAPDs) profile changes (DNA damage). In addition, increasing DNA methylation and LTR retrotransposon polymorphism characterized a model to explain the epigenetically changes in the gene expression were also found. The results of this experiment have clearly shown that arsenic has epigenetic effect as well as its genotoxic effect. Especially, the increasing of polymorphism of some LTR retrotransposon under arsenic stress may be a part of the defense system against the stress.

Guleray Agar

Papers

Determination of the genotoxic effects of Convolvulus arvensis extracts on corn (Zea mays L.) seeds.

Impact of Cadmium and Lead Heavy Metal Stress on Plant Growth and Physiology of Rocket(Eruca sativa L.)

Humic acids protective activity against manganese induced LTR (long terminal repeat) retrotransposon polymorphism and genomic instability effects in Zea mays

Response of NAC transcription factor genes against chromium stress in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)

Effects of As2O3 on DNA methylation, genomic instability, and LTR retrotransposon polymorphism in Zea mays