A new Fridericia species (Clitellata, Enchytraeidae) and the enchytraeid fauna of the Őrség National Park (Hungary).

The enchytraeid fauna of the Őrség National Park (Western Hungary), hitherto unknown, was investigated in this study. 14 enchytraeid genera including 47 species and one other annelid worm (Hrabeiella periglandulata) were identified. One enchytraeid species was found to be new to science and is described in this paper as Fridericia zicsii sp. nov. The new species is distinguishable based on both morphological characters and molecular data (mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, nuclear histone 3 genes and nuclear ribosomal ITS region sequences) from similar species. The enchytraeid fauna of Őrség NP indicated well the subalpine nature of this area. The most species-rich site was the hay meadow (32 species) and interestingly, the species number in the Sphagnum bog of Szőce was unusually high (19 species)

Two new species of Fridericia (Annelida: Enchytraeidae) from Hungarian caves

Cave research in Hungary has developed a lot in the last decade. As a part of this progress, enchytraeid specimens were collected from Hungarian caves and were subsequently characterized by comparative morphological and molecular taxonomic analyses. Molecular phylogenetic studies based on ITS, CO1 and H3 sequences and morphological results confirmed that these specimens represented two species new to science. The descriptions of Fridericia baradlana sp. nov. and Fridericia spelaeophila sp. nov. are presented in this paper

Screening and evaluation of some green algal strains (Chlorophyceae) isolated from freshwater and soda lakes for biofuel production

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Detection of potentially pathogenic bacteria in the drinking water distribution system of a hospital in Hungary

The drinking water distribution system of a hospital was investigated using standard cultivation techniques, taxon-specific PCRs targeting pathogenic bacteria, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, cloning and sequencing. The results obtained verify the higher sensitivity of PCR compared to cultivation for detecting Legionella and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Moreover, several other opportunistic pathogenic bacteria, such as Escherichia albertii, Acinetobacter lwoffi and Corynebacterium tuberculostrearicum, were detected, emphasizing that drinking water systems, especially those with stagnant water sections, could be the source of nosocomial infections

Where the Little Ones Play the Main Role-Picophytoplankton Predominance in the Soda and Hypersaline Lakes of the Carpathian Basin

The extreme environmental conditions of the diverse saline inland waters (soda lakes and pans, hypersaline lakes and ponds) of the Carpathian Basin are an advantage for picophytoplankton. The abundance of picophytoplankton in these waters can be up to several orders of magnitude higher than that in freshwater shallow lakes, but differences are also found within different saline water types: higher picophytoplankton abundances were observed in hypersaline lakes compared to humic soda lakes, and their highest numbers were detected in turbid soda lakes. Moreover, their contribution to phytoplankton biomass is higher than that in shallow freshwater lakes with similar trophic states. Based on long-term data, their ratio within the phytoplankton increased with turbidity in the case of turbid soda lakes, while, in hypersaline lakes, their proportion increased with salinity. Picocyanobacteria were only detected with high abundance (>10(6)-10(7) cells/mL) in turbid soda lakes, while picoeukaryotes occurred in high numbers in both turbid and hypersaline lakes. Despite the extreme conditions of the lakes, the diversity of picophytoplankton is remarkable, with the dominance of non-marine Synechococcus/Cyanobium, Choricystis, Chloroparva and uncultured trebouxiophycean green algae in the soda lakes, and marine Synechococcus and Picochlorum in the hypersaline lakes

Ultra alacsony oxigén-tartalmú légtérben hűtvetárolt zöldségfélék minőségének alakulása a sajátos termékjellemzők figyelembevételével = Post-harvest quality of vegetables stored in chilled ultra-low-oxygen atmosphere with regard to the specific product characteristics

A kutatócsoport a zöldségfélék (étkezési paprika, vöröshagyma) szabályozott légterű (CA) hűtőtárolásával, annak ULO (ultra alacsony oxigén-koncentráció) változatával foglalkozott, 3 éves futamidejű kísérletben. A magyar zöldségtárolási kutatásban és gyakorlatban mindez előzmény nélküli. Az étkezési paprika (fajta: Hó és Kárpia) érésbiológiai és biokémiai tulajdonságainak figyelembevételével, Pasteur-effektus nélkül, viszonylag jó áruminőségben 40-50 napig tárolható (polcállóság: további 4-5 nap) 1,0 - 2,0 % O2 + 0,03 - 1,5 % CO2 + N2 gázösszetételben. A kitárolt paprika íze, illata szegényesebb. A vöröshagymát kombinációs eljárással tároltuk. Az első 4 hónapban külső levegővel szellőztetett (hűtött) normál légtérben, majd a további 4 hónapban ULO körülmények között (1,0 % O2 + 1,0 % CO2 + N2) tartottuk. Pasteur-hatást nem tapasztaltunk, a csírázási, kihajtási hajlam 3 % alá esett, a vöröshagyma íze, illata, állománya a 8. hónapban is piacképes volt. Kulcsszó: étkezési paprika, vöröshagyma, tárolásbiológia, ULO-technológia, minőség-megőrzés. | Our research team investigated a type of controlled atmosphere (CA) cold storage, namely the ULO (ultra low oxygen concentration) storage of vegetables (table paprika and onion) in a 3-year period. This kind of investigations are unprecedented in the research and practice of vegetable storage in Hungary. Considering ripening biology and biochemical characteristics, table paprika (varieties Hó and Kárpia) can be stored in 1,0 - 2,0 % O2 + 0,03 - 1,5 % CO2 + N2 gas composition without Pasteur-effect in a relatively good quality for 40-50 days (shelf stable for further 4-5 days). Taste and smell of paprika is plain after removing from storage. Onion was stored by a combined method. In the first 4 months it was stored in cold normal gas atmosphere ventilated by outdoor air, then in the next 4 months under ULO conditions (1,0 % O2 + 1,0 % CO2 + N2). No Pasteur effect was observed, tendency to sprout decreased below 3 %, on the basis of taste, smell and texture onions were still marketable in the 8th month. Keywords: table paprika, onion, storage biology, ULO technology, keeping qualit

Elasticity as the basis of allostery in DNA

Allosteric interactions in DNA are crucial for various biological processes. These interactions are quantified by measuring the change in free energy as a function of the distance between the binding sites for two ligands. Here we show that trends in the interaction energy of ligands binding to DNA can be explained within an elastic birod model. The birod model accounts for the deformation of each strand as well as the change in stacking energy due to perturbations in position and orientation of the bases caused by the binding of ligands. The strain fields produced by the ligands decay with distance from the binding site. The interaction energy of two ligands decays exponentially with the distance between them and oscillates with the periodicity of the double helix in quantitative agreement with experimental measurements. The trend in the computed interaction energy is similar to that in the perturbation of groove width produced by the binding of a single ligand which is consistent with molecular simulations. Our analysis provides a new framework to understand allosteric interactions in DNA and can be extended to other rod-like macromolecules whose elasticity plays a role in biological functions

One step closer to eliminating the nomenclatural problems of minute coccoid green algae: Pseudochloris wilhelmii, gen. et sp. nov. (Trebouxiophyceae, Chlorophyta)

‘Chlorella’ and ‘Nannochloris’ were traditional genera of minute coccoid green algae with numerous species described in the past century, including isolates used as experimental test organisms. In the last few years, the introduction of DNA-based phylogenetic analyses resulted in a large number of taxonomic revisions. We investigated and reclassified a taxonomically problematic group within the Trebouxiophyceae (comprising ‘Nannochloris eucaryotum’ UTEX 2502, ‘N. eucaryotum’ SAG 55.87 and ‘Chlorella minutissima’ SAG 1.80), distantly related to the recently described Chloroparva isolates (97.5–97.9 % 18S rRNA gene pairwise similarity). Cryopreserved material of SAG 55.87 was selected as holotype for a novel species – Pseudochloris wilhelmii Somogyi, Felföldi & Vörös – whose phylogenetic position confirmed the proposal of a new genus. Pseudochloris wilhelmii had spherical to oval cells with an average diameter of 2.6 × 2.8 µm and a simple ultrastructure characteristic of small green algae. Vegetative cells sometimes contained several lipid droplets occupying a large portion of the cells. The cell wall consisted of an outer trilaminar layer and an inner microfibrillar sheet. Cells divided by autosporulation, forming two or four daughter cells per autosporangium. The pigment composition was typical of green algae, with chlorophylls a and b, and lutein as the dominant carotenoid

A fitoplankton molekuláris diverzitása az Erdélyi-medence sós tavaiban

Az Erdélyi-medence sós tavaira jellemző a magas trofitás és az erős emberi zavarás. Ezekben a tavakban pikocianobaktériumok és pikoeukariota algák egyaránt előfordulnak jelentős részesedéssel az össz alga biomasszából magas trofitás mellett is. Mikroszkópos módszerek alkamazásával megállapításra került hogy a nanophytoplanktont a sós tavakban közönséges Dunaliella fajok dominálják. A fitoplankton mikrszokópos vizsgálatának újszerű eredményei indokoltá tették a fitoplanktont alkotó fajok azonosítását melynek legalkalmasabb módja a molekuláris biológiai módszerek alkalmazása. Vizsgálataink során PCR, denaturáló gradiens gél elektroforézis és szekvenciaelemzés alkalmazásával megállapítottuk, hogy a fitoplanktont eddig kontinentális vizekben nem ismer tengeri cianobakériumok és tengeri eukariota algák alkotják. A pikofitoplnaktont tengeri Synechococcus (Cyanobacteria) és tengeri illetve sós tavi Picochlorum (Chlorophyta) fajok alkotják. A tengeri pikofitoplankton mellett több tengeri nanoplanktonfaj (Guillardia sp., Isochrysis sp.) is azonosításra került. Ezekben a kontinentális sós tavakban azonosított tengeri algafajok jelenlétére magyarázat lehet a szél- és a vízimadarak általi terjesztés, esetleg a sórétegekből kioldodó algasejtek, azonban ennek a kiderítésére további vizsgalatok szükségesek