Quantitative Trait Loci Associated with Agronomical Traits in Strawberry

The cultivated strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa) is derived from Fragaria chiloensis and Fragaria virginiana species a few centuries ago, and it is one of the most preferred and consumed berries all over the world because of its a good source in terms of many nutritional elements. Strawberry has high genetic variability and adaptation to different environmental conditions due to its highly heterozygous nature. In the last decades, many farmers, breeders, researchers even consumers have started to focus on berry quality traits such as large fruit, uniform shape, high fruit firmness, high fruit sensorial quality (aroma contents), color, gloss, and resistance to pathogens. Thus, the development of novel strawberry cultivars or genotypes with high nutritionally quality traits has become one of the main aims in strawberry breeding programs. Biotechnological tools such as the identification of quantitative trait loci (QTL) and marker-assisted selection (MAS) are the most widely used technologies in fruit breeding programs for shortening the breeding period. Identification of QTLs in agnomical important traits are very valuable tools for early selection in strawberry breeding programs. This chapter is focused on QTL and marker assisted breeding studies in strawberry to date and provides new perspectives on molecular breeding in strawberry breeding

Sugar, Invertase Enzyme Activities and Invertase Gene Expression in Different Developmental Stages of Strawberry Fruits

The cultivated strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) is octoploid (2n = 8x = 56) and has been the focused fruit species of which an increasing number of molecular and genetic research has been conducted in recent years. The aim of this study is to identify the relationships between sucrose metabolism, invertase enzyme activity and gene expression in four different fruit development periods (red, pink, green and white) of two commercially important strawberry varieties ‘Rubygem’ and ‘Fortuna’. The metabolite profiles (glucose, fructose, sucrose and total sugar content) of two varieties were discovered to be extremely similar. The highest amount of total sugar was found in red fruits, while the lowest was obtained from green fruits. Invertase represents one of the key enzymes in sucrose metabolism. The lowest invertase activity was obtained from the green fruits in ‘Rubygem’ and ‘Fortuna’ during four developmental periods. In these varieties, the amount of sucrose was found to be close to glucose and fructose and the lowest amount was detected in green period, while invertase activity was relatively high during red and pink periods and invertase gene expression was determined at high levels in both primers (St-4 and St-6) in the green period. The results of the study indicated that sugar content and invertase activity were positively correlated while enzyme activity and gene expression were negatively correlated. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.FBA-2020-12969Acknowledgments: The authors would like to thank the Cukurova University Scientific Research Projects (Turkey) (FBA-2020-12969) for financial support

An unexpected cause of hyponatremia in a cancer patient: Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole

Background: Hyponatremia is one of the most common electrolyte abnormalities seen in hospitalized patients. In cancer patients, it's generally related to syndrome of inappropriate ADH secretion (SIADH). Case Report: Here, we report a breast cancer patient with hyponatremia related to high dose trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole use for pneumonitis cariini pneumonia. Conclusion: It is important to be aware that all hyponatremias are not related to SIADH in cancer patients. For proper treatment strategies, a proper differential diagnosis is needed

Breast cancer survivors suffer from persistent postmastectomy pain syndrome and posttraumatic stress disorder (ORTHUS study): a study of the palliative care working committee of the Turkish Oncology Group (TOG)

Persistent postmastectomy pain syndrome (PMPS) is one of the most important disturbing symptoms. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder which is characterized by reactions to reminders of the trauma that has been experienced. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the predictors of PMPS and PTSD in Turkish breast cancer survivors and the correlation between PMPS and PTSD

Is Change in Hemoglobin Level a Predictive Biomarker of Tyrosine Kinase Efficacy in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma? A Turkish Oncology Group Study

Background: There are insufficient predictive markers for renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Methods: A total of 308 metastatic RCC patients were analyzed retrospectively. Results: The increased hemoglobin (Hb) group had significantly higher progression-free survival and overall survival (OS) compared with the decreased Hb group at 11.5 versus 6.35months (p < .001) and 21.0 versus 11.36months (p < .001) respectively. The 1- and 3-year OS rates were higher in the Hb increased group, i.e., 84% versus 64% and 52% versus 35% respectively. Conclusions: The present study showed that increased Hb levels after tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy could be a predictive marker of RCC

Perspective of Turkish Medicine Students on Cancer, Cancer Treatments, Palliative Care, and Oncologists (ARES Study): a Study of the Palliative Care Working Committee of the Turkish Oncology Group (TOG)

Cancer is one of the most common causes of death all over the World (Rahib et al. in Cancer Res 74(11):2913-2921, 2014; Silbermann et al. in Ann Oncol 23(Suppl 3):iii15-iii28, 2012). It is crucial to diagnose this disease early by effective screening methods and also it is very important to acknowledge the community on various aspects of this disease such as the treatment methods and palliative care. Not only the oncologists but every medical doctor should be educated well in dealing with cancer patients. Previous studies suggested various opinions on the level of oncology education in medical schools (Pavlidis et al. in Ann Oncol 16(5):840-841, 2005). In this study, the perspectives of medical students on cancer, its treatment, palliative care, and the oncologists were analyzed in relation to their educational status. A multicenter survey analysis was performed on a total of 4224 medical school students that accepted to enter this study in Turkey. After the questions about the demographical characteristics of the students, their perspectives on the definition, diagnosis, screening, and treatment methods of cancer and their way of understanding metastatic disease as well as palliative care were analyzed. The questionnaire includes questions with answers and a scoring system of Likert type 5 (absolutely disagree = 1, completely agree = 5). In the last part of the questionnaire, there were some words to detect what the words "cancer" and "oncologist" meant for the students. The participant students were analyzed in two study groups; "group 1" (n = 1.255) were phases I and II students that had never attended an oncology lesson, and "group 2" (n = 2.969) were phases III to VI students that had attended oncology lessons in the medical school. SPSS v17 was used for the database and statistical analyses. A value of p < 0.05 was noted as statistically significant. Group 1 defined cancer as a contagious disease (p = 0.00025), they believed that early diagnosis was never possible (p = 0.042), all people with a diagnosis of cancer would certainly die (p = 0.044), and chemotherapy was not successful in a metastatic disease (p = 0.003) as compared to group 2. The rate of the students that believed gastric cancer screening was a part of the national screening policy was significantly more in group 1 than in group 2 (p = 0.00014). Group 2 had a higher anxiety level for themselves or their family members to become a cancer patient. Most of the students in both groups defined medical oncologists as warriors (57% in group 1 and 40% in group 2; p = 0.097), and cancer was reminding them of "death" (54% in group 1 and 48% in group 2; p = 0.102). This study suggested that oncology education was useful for the students' understanding of cancer and related issues; however, the level of oncology education should be improved in medical schools in Turkey. This would be helpful for medical doctors to cope with many aspects of cancer as a major health care problem in this country

Worse patient-physician relationship is associated with more fear of cancer recurrence (Deimos Study): A study of the Palliative Care Working Committee of the Turkish Oncology Group (TOG)

Objective Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) is an important psychological trauma associated with reduction in the quality of life, disruptions in the level of adjustment, emotional distress and anxiety. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the impact of patient-physician relationship on FCR. Methods The study was designed as a multicentre survey study. The cancer survivors, who were under remission, were evaluated with structured questionnaires. Patient-physician relationship (PPR) scale in which higher scores indicate better relationship and FCR inventory was used. Results Between January and April 2019, 1,580 patients were evaluated. The median age was 57.0 (19-88), and 66% were female. There was high level of FCR scores in 51% of participants. There was a negative correlation between PPR and FCR scores (r = -.134,p < .001). In multivariate analysis, young age, female gender, history of metastasectomy and worse PPR were associated with high levels of FCR. Conclusion It is the first data showing the adverse impact of worse PPR on FCR. The strategies to improve the PPR should be practised. In addition, the cancer survivors, who are under the risk of FCR, should be evaluated and managed