A molecular-based fast method to determine the extent of DNA damages in higher plants and fungi

Comet assay also called ‘single cell gel electrophoresis is a technique for the detection of DNA damage and repair at the level of single cells, which is one of the most advanced techniques introduced to theagricultural sciences in recent years. The assay is one of the most popular tests of DNA damage detection (e.g. single and double-strand breaks, oxidative-induced base damage and DNA-DNA/DNAproteincross linking) by electrophoresis. The assay is very sensitive, rapid, easy to handle, noninvasive, visual and inexpensive compared to most conventional techniques to detect DNA damage, there is also little amount of cell samples required and it is applicable for most eukaryotic cells, thus, it has rapidly gained importance in the fields of genetic toxicology, medicine, environmental studies and agriculture. Isolated DNA from cells are embedded in a thin agarose gel on a microscope slide and unwound in a suitable buffer and exposed to a weak electric field to attract broken, negatively-charged DNA towards the anode. After electrophoresis, migrated DNA fragments stained with a fluorescent dye would resemble a shape of a comet observed by a fluorescence microscopy. The extent of comet-like shapes would indicate the level of DNA damage in cells. The intensity of comet tail relative to the head would also reflect the extent of DNA damage in numerical

First Report of Neoscytalidium dimidiatum Causing Canker, Shoot Blight, and Root Rot of Pistachio in Turkey

WOS: 00046885630005

The effect of small-molecular-weight heparin added to chemotherapy on survival in small-cell lung cancer - A retrospective analysis

AIMS AND BACKGROUND: Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a chemotherapy-responsive tumor and associated with alterations in the coagulation system. Addition of low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) to combination chemotherapy (CT) had resulted in increase in survival. The present retrospective trial was designed to determine whether the duration of dalteparin usage has an effect on progression and survival. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The medical records of 67 patients with SCLC who were given cisplatin-etoposide and concomitant LMWH (dalteparin) was evaluated retrospectively. RESULTS: Median follow-up of patients was 11.3 months. Outcome: 10.6% complete response, 3.0% good partial response, 36.4% partial response, 10.6% stable disease, and 39.4% progressive disease. Side-effects were seen in 40.3% of the patients. Median dalteparin duration was 6,1 months. According the duration of dalteparin patients were grouped in three: who took dalteparin less than 4 months (Group A), 4-6 months (Group B) and more than 6 months (Group C). Mean overall survival (OS) in Group A was 6.5 months, in Group B 11.8 months, and Group C 14.6 months. Mean OS in Group B and C were statistically significantly (P < 0.001) longer than Group A, between Group B and C there was not any significant difference (P = 0.037). Mean progression free survival (PFS) was 9 months. CONCLUSIONS: The CT plus LMWH minimum 4 months long is well-tolerable, and may improve PFS and OS in patients with SCLC. For treatment of patients with SCLC CT plus LMWH may be considered as effective future-therapy, and further multi-centre randomised prospective clinical trials must be done to determine the new standard treatment approach for SCLC

New disease caused by Neoscytalidium dimidiatum devastates tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) in Turkey

A novel disease of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) was observed in the Southeast Anatolia Region of Turkey. Symptoms were blight of all aerial parts of the plant, including stems, branches, leaves, petioles, flowers and fruits, defoliation, root rot, inner stem necrosis, and plant death. The disease was found in 13.9% of surveyed fields, with an incidence varying from 3% to nearly 75% (average 21.2%) of the plants in symptomatic fields. The average severity of blight on stem in fields with the symptomatic plant surveyed was 1.4%. A Botryosphaeriaceae species, identified as Neoscytalidium dimidiatum (Penz.) Crous & Slippers using morphological and cultural features, was consistently isolated from symptomatic roots, inner stems, and blighted leaves, shoots, stems, fruits and flowers. The partial nucleotide sequence data for three gene loci, including nuclear rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS), large subunit (LSU) genes and the translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF-1?), confirmed the morphological identification. Furthermore, sequence data of actin genes from N. dimidiatum was, for the first time, deposited to the GenBank. Koch's postulates were fulfilled by testing the susceptibility of different tomato tissues (leaves, stems, inner stems and roots of tomato seedlings, and detached tomato fruits and flowers) to N. dimidiatum inoculation. To our knowledge, this is the first report of N. dimidiatum on tomato. © 2018 Elsevier Lt

The combined effects of gibberellic acid and salinity on some antioxidant enzyme activities, plant growth parameters and nutritional status in maize plants

The combined effects of salt stress and gibberellic acid (GA3) on plant growth and nutritional status of maize (Zea mays L. cv., DK 647 F1) were studied in a pot experiment. Treatments were (1) control (C): nutrient solution alone, (2) salt stress (S): 100 mM NaCl, (3) S + GA1: 100 mM NaCl and 50 ppm GA3 and (4) S + GA2: 100 mM NaCl and 100 ppm GA3. Salt stress (S) was found to reduce the total dry matter, chlorophyll content, relative water content (RWC), but to increase proline accumulation, superoxide dismutase (SOD; EC 1.15.1.1), peroxidase (POD; EC 1.11.1.7) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO; 1.10.3.1) enzyme activities and electrolyte leakage. GA3 treatments overcame to variable extents the adverse effects of NaCl stress on the above physiological parameters. GA3 treatments reduced the activities of enzyme in the salt-stressed plants. Salt stress reduced some macro and micronutrient concentrations but exogenous application of GA3 increased these to levels of control treatment. Foliar application of GA3 counteracted some of the adverse effects of NaCl salinity with the accumulation of proline which maintained membrane permeability and increased macro and micronutrient levels.Peer reviewe

The effect of education given to women with breast cancer on chemotherapy treatment on anxiety levels

An n=8 worldsheet superfield action is proposed for describing chiralfermions in the twistor-like formulation of an N=1, D=10 heterotic superstring

D-dimer is a marker of response to chemotherapy in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

Purpose: D-dimer, LDH and tumor markers are usually overexpressed in colorectal carcinomas (CRC). Our purpose was to assess the prognostic role of D-dimer, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), CEA, CA19-9 and CA72-4 in patients with metastatic CRC treated with XELOX chemotherapy