Analysis of the Role of Physicians in the Cessation of Cigarette Smoking Based on Medical Specialization

OBJECTIVE: Physicians do not adequately use their unique professional privilege to prevent patients from smoking. The aim of this study was to investigate the type and extent of advice given to patients by physicians of different medical specialties regarding smoking cessation. METHODS: In total, 317 volunteer physicians were included in this study. The participants rated their attitudes toward the smoking habits of their patients by completing a questionnaire. The approaches used to address the smoking habits of patients significantly differed among physicians working at polyclinics, clinics and emergency service departments (

Utilization of sucrose during cocultivation positively affects Agrobacterium-mediated transformation efficiency in sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.)

Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) is one of the most important industrial crops throughout world. With the availability of suitable genetic transformation technologies, the yield, quality, and stress tolerance of sugar beet could be improved significantly. However, low transformation efficiencies seriously limit the application of molecular technologies to the genetic improvement of sugar beet. With the aim of improving gene transfer techniques for sugar beet, the effect of different sucrose concentrations during cocultivation on the initial Agrobacterium-mediated transformation efficiencies in sugar beet was tested. To develop an efficient experimental system through which the effect of sucrose could be tested, first, a prolific regeneration system was optimized by testing the effect of different plant growth regulators on in vitro regeneration and rooting efficiencies from sugar beet cotyledonary node explants. The highest mean number of regenerated shoots per explant was obtained when the cotyledonary node explants excised from young seedlings were grown on MS medium supplemented with 1.0 mg/L 6-benzylaminopurine. Using this regeneration system, the effect of different concentrations of sucrose included in the cocultivation medium on the initial genetic transformation efficiencies observed in T0 plants was tested using an Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain carrying the pBin19/35S:GUS-INT construct. The inclusion of 4.5% sucrose in the cocultivation medium resulted in significantly higher transformation (34.09%) and expression efficiencies (22.72%), confirmed by polymerase chain reaction and β-glucuronidase assays, respectively, in regenerated T0 seedlings. If translated into stably inherited transformation efficiencies, these findings could contribute to the success of genetic transformation studies in sugar beet and other crops recalcitrant to Agrobacterium-mediated transformation

Identification of Self Incompatibility (S) Alleles in Turkish Apple Gene Sources using Allele-specific PCR

Self-incompatibility (SI) is a genetic mechanism in many flowering plants by which generative reproduction is prevented. The self-incompatibility caused by the genetic functions of the cell is controlled by genes called S genes or self-incompatibility genes. Self-incompatibility results in decreased pollination and ultimately yield loss. In apple (Malus domestica L.), self-incompatibility is controlled by multi-allelic S-locus. Approaches in the S-glycoprotein profiles and allele-specific PCR methods using the gene profiles and S-glycoprotein profiles for determination of the incompatibility levels are of great importance. In current study, the self-incompatibility status of 192 apple genotypes (such as, Amasya, Hüryemez, Şah elması, Tokat, Demir elması etc.) obtained from the National Collection of Atatürk Horticultural Central Research Institute, Yalova, Turkey, has been determined. For this purpose, genotype-specific allele status and compatibility levels were screened via PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) using 4 different S-alleles (Sd, Sf, S26 and S9). 181 genotypes containing at least 1 S-allele were identified as ‘Partially Incompatible’ and 12 genotypes involving 4 S-alleles were assigned ‘Totally Incompatible’. No S-alleles were observed in 2 genotypes (Pancarlık and Hüryemez) which exhibited ‘Compatibility’ status

Comprehensive expression profiling analysis to investigate salt and drought responding genes in wild barley (Hordeum spontaneum L.)

Drought and salinity are among the most affecting abiotic stress factors that limit the productivity in economically important plants. Understanding drought and salt tolerance mechanism is pivotal for developing drought and salt tolerant crop cultivars. Here, we monitored the changes in gene expression profiles of leaf and root tissues of two wild barley (Hordeum spontaneum L.) accessions after treatment with salt and drought stresses. We identified a total of 641 DEGs across 24 conditions (2 accessions, 2 stress conditions, 2 tissues and 3 time-points). Interestingly, there was a relatively little overlap between the leaf and the root stress responsive gene expression patterns, suggesting that different stress associated processes might be operating in these tissues during stress adaptation. In hierarchical clustering, the genes with distinct expression patterns were nearly half found in Cluster 1 and Cluster 9 and DEGs found in Cluster 9 were significantly enriched for metabolic processes and organic substance metabolic process. Gene ontology (GO) annotations of biological process of salt and drought analysis identified genes in categories including, catabolic processes, oxidation–reduction and organic substance metabolic process. Molecular function analyses significantly detected transcripts associated with oxidoreductase activity and nucleotide binding. Overall, our results revealed a number of candidate genes and plant processes associated with stress tolerance in wild barley. Determination of responsive genes will shed light on other barley studies aiming to elucidate molecular mechanism of drought or salt tolerance

Eastern Anatolian apples with a unique population structure are genetically different from Anatolian apples

The origin of the apple is known to be the Transcaucasian region. Eastern Anatolia, which is located on the migration routes from Asia to Europe, has a rich and an uncharacterized apple germplasm and the characterization of apple genetic sources from this region is important for both evolutionary studies and apple breeding. In this study, 94 M. domestica accessions originated from seven diverse regions within Eastern Anatolia were studied using 16 SSR (simple sequence repeat) loci. SSR markers we used produced high allele numbers in all loci and CH02d11 (PI: 0.059) with 18 alleles was the most informative locus. In addition, 14 identical accession groups were identified. Most likely due to self-incompatibility, relatively high levels of heterozygosity (Ho: 0.696) was found for Eastern Anatolia apples. Structure Harvester analyses of East Anatolian apple accessions showed that although each group seems to be somewhat distinct, some levels of admixture with other populations might also exist. Due to a significant gene flow between all pairs of seven apple populations, a limited (low) differentiation was found between the populations. Comparisons using 16 common SSR loci revealed that Eastern Anatolia accessions were genetically different from Anatolian accessions. In addition, based on FCA, and Nei's genetic distance analyses, Eastern Anatolian apples were found to be genetically different from the commercial apple cultivars Golden Delicious and Florina. Our results suggesting that Eastern Anatolia apple populations have a unique structure will be useful for future genetic and evolutionary studies on apples

Genetic analysis of central Anatolian grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) germplasm by simple sequence repeats

The Anatolian peninsula otherwise known as Asia Minor is considered one of the centers that shaped grape (Vitis spp.) evolution and domestication. This region with diverse ecological conditions also has a long history of viticulture and growing grapes has been a part of the local culture since very old times. However, very little information is available on genetic analysis of Anatolian grape germplasm. This study reports on genetic analyses of 88 grapevine cultivars from Central Anatolia using 17 microsatellite (SSR) loci. The average number of alleles per locus was 9.18, ranging from 5 to 15. The highest heterozygosity rate was obtained for the SSR loci “VVS2” and “VMC2H4.” Genetic distances between populations ranged from 0.056 to 0.207 and two cases of identical, seven cases of homonymous, and nine cases of synonymous grape cultivar groups were identified. Based on comparisons with international Vitis databases, it has been determined that “Moldova-Coarna Neagra” cultivar is synonymous with some Anatolian cultivars. In addition, investigation of the genetic diversity of 20 genotypes of Anatolian wild germplasm revealed a higher level of genetic diversity in wild populations than in cultivated ones at the studied microsatellite loci. The results reported here should not only contribute towards better management of the grape germplasm of the region but also provide new insights into grape domestication

Genetic characterisation and population structure analysis of Anatolian figs ( Ficus carica

© 2021 Ali Ergül et al., published by Sciendo 2021.The common fig (Ficus carica L.) is a tree species and is one of the oldest fruit trees cultivated in Turkey. The Western Anatolian region of Turkey produces nearly a quarter of the total dried fig production of the world. This region also harbours a rich fig germplasm. However, so far this germplasm has remained largely uncharacterised. In this study, using 14 simple sequence repeat (SSR) primer pairs, we analysed a total of 310 fig accessions from six different regions of Anatolia. In structure analyses, Western Anatolian accessions formed a group, which was correlated with their geographical distribution. In addition, 7 identical, 36 synonymous, and 22 homonymous fig accessions were identified. In multilocus lineages (MLLs) analysis a total of 54 accessions were matched to different accessions as clone assignment. The results will facilitate future germplasm management and breeding efforts in this economically important tree species by identifying genetic diversity, genetic relations and characterising the structure of studied populations and accessions

Genetic characterisation and population structure analysis of Anatolian figs (Ficus carica L.) by SSR markers

© 2021 Ali Ergül et al., published by Sciendo 2021.The common fig (Ficus carica L.) is a tree species and is one of the oldest fruit trees cultivated in Turkey. The Western Anatolian region of Turkey produces nearly a quarter of the total dried fig production of the world. This region also harbours a rich fig germplasm. However, so far this germplasm has remained largely uncharacterised. In this study, using 14 simple sequence repeat (SSR) primer pairs, we analysed a total of 310 fig accessions from six different regions of Anatolia. In structure analyses, Western Anatolian accessions formed a group, which was correlated with their geographical distribution. In addition, 7 identical, 36 synonymous, and 22 homonymous fig accessions were identified. In multilocus lineages (MLLs) analysis a total of 54 accessions were matched to different accessions as clone assignment. The results will facilitate future germplasm management and breeding efforts in this economically important tree species by identifying genetic diversity, genetic relations and characterising the structure of studied populations and accessions