Phytoremediation as a program for decontamination of heavy-metal polluted environment

The aim of the project is to develop a biotechnology which is able to detect and eliminate pollutant heavy metals from the environment. Elements of the system include introduction of heavy metal accumulating plants (endemic or foreign) in the target areas (polluted soil, refuse dumps, slurry); increasing the uptake of heavy metals with local stress resistant bacteria and fungi species in the plant rhizosphere; monitoring the actual metal load with transgenic cyanobacteria functioning as biosensors. The expected result is a technology ready for application, involving special combinations of soil- and heavy metal-specifi c plant and microbial species, and the technical details of application and related know-how including detoxifi cation of the fi nal product. Application of the technology decreases the rate of pollution under limiting values. The advantage of phytoremedial methods include reduced expenses and the natural restoration of nature

The past three decades of plant physiology in Hungary

This retrospective paper describes the emergence and development of the organizations of plant physiologists and their activities in the last three decades in Hungary. It is concluded that the Federation of European Societies of Plant Physiology (FESPP) initiated the birth of the Hungarian Society for Plant Physiology and exerted great impact on its activities in participating the FESPP congresses, in organizing the congresses of the Hungarian Society and also the 12th FESPP Congress in Budapest. The past 30 years witnessed the transition of the traditional plant physiology into the postgenomic era, which brought more intense co-operation between plant scientists in a modernized form of the organized framework of research and development of integrated plant biology

Osmotic stress responses of wheat species and cultivars differing in drought tolerance: some interesting genes (advices for gene hunting)

The aim of the present work is to provide information for the establishment of gene bank and to obtain comparative data for the new transgenic lines to be established in a later stage of this project. For revealing traits for drought tolerance, wheat species of different ploidy levels and hexaploid cultivars of different stress tolerance were chosen. For gene isolation the osmotic stress resistant Triticum aestivum L. cv. Kobomugi, and the sensitive cv. Ôthalom were chosen. Osmotic treatment was administrated using PEG 6000 at a final concentration of 400 mOsm (19.0%). Significant differences were found between the two cultivars in carbohydrate accumulation, in changes in water relation and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters measured in vivo. It is suggested that cv. Kobomugi may be a useful source for isolation of drought tolerance-related genes

Identification of Structural Proteins of Rhizobium meliloti Temperate Phage 16-3

The structural proteins of Rhizobium meliloti temperate phage 16-3 have been analysed by means of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, isoelectric focusing and agarose gel electrophoresis. Five major and five minor proteins were identified and characterized with respect to their size, isoelectric point and their distribution between the head and tail of the phage particle. The synthesis of structural proteins was studied by one- and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis

The role of rhizome system in the distribution of cadmium load among ramets of Phragmites australis

The common reed, Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud., is a clonal plant which is sensitive to environmental disturbances. A clone is composed of large number of ramets which are physically interconnected. In this work the translocation of cadmium from a selected ramet towards the rhizome network of 15 to 30 ramets was investigated in model experiments with known rhizome systems. At the site of treatment, Cd2+ uptake was much higher both in the roots and rhizome than in the shoot, however, at the distal ramets, shoots accumulated higher concentration of Cd2+ than roots and rhizomes, and the ramets at the farthest site contained the highest levels of Cd2+. The control of transport through the rhizome network by the distal ramet so far has not been described. The mechanism by which the farthest ramet attracts the heavy metal remains to be investigated

Nitric oxide as a potent signalling molecule in plants

The role of NO in stress responses in plants came in the focus of plant science in the last decade. Better understanding of plant stress responses is very important in the light of increasing intensities of stressors like drought, salinity and others, due to global climatic and environmental changes. Our knowledge, concerning signal transduction pathways is very scarce, especially in terms of NO-related alterations in proteins and gene expression as well as regulation. In this review we consider different NO-reactions, signalling pathways, NO – plant hormone interactions and NO-induced and -mediated signalization under osmotic stress in relation with the development of root architecture

Adaptive responses to high salinity of two subspecies of Aster tripolium on different nitrogen sources

The effects of NaCl salinity, different N-sources (nitrate or ammonium), as well as pH on the major enzymes of N-metabolism and total antioxidant capacity were investigated in two subspecies of Aster tripolium L., A. tripolium ssp. tripolium, a maritime halophyte, and A. tripolium ssp. pannonicus, endemic on the continental alkaline salty meadows. Differences in their biochemical and physiological responses to the experimental conditions are in agreement with their evolutional adaptation either to the fluctuating coastal circumstances or to the more constant salinity level on the alkaline salty meadows. Accordingly, A. tripolium ssp. tripolium reacted more sensitively to salinity while A. tripolium ssp. pannonicus showed less physiological flexibility and more stable performance

Jelzőtáblák mozgóképről történő felismerésére létrehozott szoftver OpenCV alapon

Manapság az autóbalesetek nagy százaléka azért történik meg, mivel az autóvezetők valamilyen külső/belső behatás következtében figyelmen kívül hagyják az út menti jelzőtáblákat. Az ilyen mulasztások miatt bekövetkezett károk sokszor komoly anyagi terhet jelentenek, rosszabb esetben, mint ismeretes az emberi élet nem pótolható. A projektben ezért törekedtünk arra, hogy az eddigi fejlesztések során megalkotott munkát abba az irányba fejlesszük tovább, ami segíthet ezt kiküszöbölni vagy iránymutatásként szolgálhat. A munka során megalkotott program lehetővé teszi, hogy egy tetszőlegesen megadott videó felvételen szereplő jelző táblát vagy valódi táblát felismerjen