Assessment of anticlastogenic activity of cinnamic acid: Anticlastogenic index (ACI) and model simulation

Cinnamic acid and its derivatives are an important member of the phenolic compound used in food supplements. They usually occur in various conjugated forms, more frequently esters and glycosides. Mice (Mus musculus, 2n = 40) were employed as an experimental mammalian system to assess the anticlastogenic activity of cinnamic acid (CA) induced by Endoxan. Four doses; 1/32, 1/16, 1/8 and 1/4 of the LD50 of CA (5, 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg, respectively) in combination with five administration times of CA were tested. Micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (PCE) and mitotic index (MI) were used as a sensitive short term genotoxic bioassays. The results obtained showed that low doses (1/32 LD50 and 1/16 LD50) decreased the percentage of PCE significantly compared with that of the positive control and closer to that of the negative control. The data of this study were used to calculate a new index called anticlastogenic index (ACI). The new index measures the anticlastogenic activity of a compound or an extract. The ACI beside the percentage of PCE can give a deeper look of the anticlastogenic activity of compounds. It also makes it easy to draw conclusions from the genotoxicity data. The maximum ACI of CA was achieved when both CA and Endoxan were given concurrently. On the other hand, the higher doses of CA (1/8 and 1/4 LD50) caused a significant increase in the percentage of PCE. This gives evidence that CA at high doses (20 and 40 mg/kg) would be considered as a positive clastogen itself. CA significantly decreased the mitotic index compared with the negative control. In addition, high doses showed sharp decrease in mitotic index. Direct significant correlation coefficient was found between the ACI and the mitotic index. The data also were used for the simulation of a model to predict the ACI of doses with different relative timing to a treatment of the clastogen that were not conducted experimentally in the limit of experiment data range.Key words: Anticlastogenic, cinnamic acid, anticlastogenic index, ACI, mitotic index, mice, model simulation of ACI

Estimation of water pollution by genetic biomarkers in tilapia and catfish species shows species-site interaction

This study was aimed at the estimation of water pollution with heavy metals using four biomarkers as well as to study the species-site interaction. Two species of tilapia as well as two catfish species caught from four sites that represent differential environmental stresses were used for this purpose. Water samples and gills were analyzed for heavy metal contents. Three enzyme biomarkers (acid phosphatase (AP), glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT), glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT), metalothionein (MT) gene expression) as well as real time PCR quantification of metalothionein transcripts from liver were used to monitor fish response to water pollutants. Results showed various activities of the four biomarkers at the different studied sites. There were clear interaction between fish species and the level of heavy metals. Real time PCR evaluation of metalothionein gene expression revealed species variations at similar sites. It is concluded that there are various types of interaction of species at different sites. These types of interaction depend on the type of biomarker tested

Molecular and biological characterization of Trichogramma turkestanica

Parasitoids of Trichogramma (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) parasitize the eggs of many species of Lepidoptera and have been used for the biological control of numerous pest species. We collected this parasitoid from Taif governorate, KSA in summer of 2009. It is difficult to differentiate between Trichogramma species because of their small size and lack of differences in morphological characters. Therefore, different molecular markers were employed to characterize this species, including direct amplification of the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) of ribosomal DNA and by restriction fragment length polymorphism followed by sequencing. The results show that ITS2 region is 491 bp and indicated that this is a new stain of Trichogramma. We named this strain TaifKSA. From the tested restriction enzymes, only EcoRI and PstI cut the PCR product of ITS2 region. We compared the biological characteristics of the strain under investigation with other commercial strain (SQG) of the same species and no significant differences between them have been shown.Key words: Trichogramma turkestanica, TaifKSA, molecular identification, internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2), restriction enzymes, biological characteristics

Micronucleus test in fish genome: A sensitive monitor for aquatic pollution

The aquatic environment makes up the major part of our environment and resources, therefore its safety is directly related to the safety our health. In this study, three tilapia species (Oreochromisniloticus, Oreochromis aureus and Tilapia zilli) and Clarias gariepinus were employed to estimate water pollution using micronucleus (MN) test. The test has been used successfully as a mutagenic assay. It issimple, reliable, sensitive, and it does not depend on any karyotypic characteristics. Fish were collected from locations that display differential environmental stresses. Two main experiments were carried out. In the first one, blood samples were collected, fixed for 24 h and then were stained with Giemsa. In the second experiment, fish were acclimated for a week. Fish were fed and each specimen had received anIP injection of cyclophosphamide (2.6, 10, 40, mg/kg b.wt). After 24 h, blood samples were collected and MN frequencies were counted and statistically tested. Results from this study recommend the use ofthe micronucleus test in fish erythrocytes as a sensitive monitor for aquatic pollution. The results show also that the assay can be employed for the evaluation and the assessment of water pollution andaquatic mutagens