Sublethal Toxic Effects and Induction of gGutathione S-transferase by Short-Chain Chlorinated Paraffins (SCCPs) and C-12 alkane (dodecane) in Xenopus laevis Frog Embryos

Short chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) are important industrial chemicals with high persistence in the environment but poorly characterized ecotoxicological effects. We studied embryotoxic effects of commercial mixture of SCCP (carbon length C-12, 56% of chlorine; CP56-12) and non-chlorinated n-alkane (dodecane, C-12) in the 96h Frog Embryo Teratogenesis Assay - Xenopus (FETAX). Only weak lethal effects were observed for both substances (the highest tested concentration 500 mg/L of both chemicals caused up to 11% mortality). On the other hand, we observed developmental malformations and reduced embryo growth at 5 mg/l and higher concentrations. However, the effects were not related to chlorination pattern as both SCCPs and dodecane induced qualitatively similar effects. SCCPs also significantly induced phase II detoxification enzyme glutathione S-transferase (GST) in Xenopus laevis embryos even at 0.5 mg/L, and this biomarker might be used as another early warning of chronic toxic effects. Our results newly indicate significant developmental toxicity of both SCCPs and n-dodecane to aquatic organisms along with inductions of specific biochemical toxicity mechanisms

Трава чаберу гірського (Satureja montana L., Lamiaceae) як перспективна лікарська сировина для розробки антимікробних та антиоксидантних засобів

The analysis of sources of scientific literature concerning phytochemical and pharmacological studies of non-officinal medicinal plants is important for the identification of new potential sources of antibacterial and antioxidant herbal products. In this regard, biologically active substances of Winter Savory (SaturejamontanaL.) are of significant interest. Aim. To analyze and generalize the data of scientific literature sources and the own experimental investigations regarding the component composition of the essential oil and the phenolic compound content of Winter Savory herb with the aim of its potential use for the development of herbal preparations with antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. Materials and methods. The objects of our research were national and foreign sources of scientific literature; the raw material and the tincture from Winter Savory herb. To solve the tasks of the research the search and experimental methods, and logical analysis of literary sources were used. Results and discussion. The results of the analysis of the Winter Savory essential oil and other Savory representatives are given. It has been determined that the essential oil of Winter Savory consists mainly of carvacrol (up 53.35 %), p-cymene (0.66-41.4 %), thymol (0.15-46 %), linalool (0.1-50.42 %), and other monoterpenoids, as well as sesquiterpenes and diterpenes. Based on the experimental studies conducted the authors have determined the presence of a special chemotype of Satureja montana grown on the experimental plots in the Kherson region, in its essential oil p-thymol prevails (about 81.79 %). This compound has not been previously stated in available scientific sources as the dominant component of the Winter Savory essential oil. According to the literature data, essential oils, in which such aromatic substances as carvacrol, eugenol or thymol dominate, have a pronounced antimicrobial effect. Our own studies have shown a high content of polyphenols and flavonoids in the tincture obtained from the special “p-thymol” chemotype of Saturejamontana. The high content of polyphenols indicates the potential antioxidant properties of water and water-ethanol extracts from the herb of this plant. Conclusions. Therefore, this medicinal plant raw material can be considered as a potential source of antimicrobial and antioxidant agents due to the prevalence of aromatic components in the essential oil, and among the phenolic compounds of the herb – substances with 3-4 hydroxyl groups in the molecule prevail. New “p-thymol” chemotype of Winter Savory has been analyzed. The studies conducted are the basis for the development of tinctures and herbal infusions, which in the future can be recommended as herbal medicines with the antimicrobial and antioxidant activity. They can be used in the treatment of infectious diseases of the oral cavity, skin, respiratory tract, etc.Введение. Для выявления новых потенциальных источников антимикробных и антиоксидантных лекарственных растительных средств важное значение имеет анализ источников научной литературы относительно фитохимических и фармакологических исследований неофицинальных видов лекарственных растений. Значительный интерес в этом плане вызывают биологически активные вещества чабра горного (Satureja montana L.). Цель исследования. Проанализировать данные научных первоисточников и собственных экспериментальных исследований относительно компонентного состава эфирного масла и содержания фенольных соединений в сырье травы чабра горного с целью его потенциального использования для создания растительных препаратов с антимикробными и антиоксидантными свойствами. Материалы и методы. Объектами исследования были иностранные и отечественные источники научной литературы, сырье и настойка из травы чабра горного. Для решения поставленных задач исследования использовались поисковые и экспериментальные методы, логический анализ литературных источников. Результаты и их обсуждение. Приведены результаты анализа основных компонентов эфирного масла чабра горного и других видов этого рода. Установлено, что его эфирное масло состоит в основном из карвакрола (до 53,35 %), p-цимена (0,66-41,4 %), тимола (0,15-46 %), линалоола (0,1-50,42 %), других монотерпеноидов, а также сесквитерпенов и дитерпенов. На основании проведенных экспериментальных исследований авторы установили наличие особенного хемотипа Satureja montana, выращенного на опытных участках в Херсонской обл., в эфирном масле которого доминирует p-тимол (около 81,79 %). Данное соединение не было заявлено раньше в доступных научных первоисточниках как доминирующее вещество эфирного масла чабра горного. Согласно литературным данным эфирные масла, в составе которых доминируют такие ароматические вещества как карвакрол, эвгенол или тимол, имеют выраженное антимикробное действие. Собственные исследования показали высокое содержание полифенолов и флавоноидов в разработанной настойке из особого «p-тимольного» хемотипа Satureja montana. Высокое содержание полифенолов указывает на потенциальные антиоксидантные свойства водных и водно-этанольных извлечений из травы растения. Выводы. Сырье чабра горного может рассматриваться как перспективный источник антимикробных и антиоксидантных средств благодаря доминированию в эфирном масле ароматических компонентов, а среди фенольных соединений травы – веществ с 3-4 гидроксильными группами в молекуле. Проанализирован новый «p-тимольный» хемотип чабра горного. Проведенные исследования являются основанием для разработки настойки и настоя из травы растения, которые в перспективе наряду с эфирным маслом могут быть рекомендованы как растительные лекарственные средства с антимикробной и антиоксидантной активностью; их можно будет использовать в лечении инфекционных заболеваний полости рта, кожи, органов дыхания и др.Вступ. Для виявлення нових потенційних джерел антимікробних та антиоксидантних рослинних засобів важливе значення має аналіз джерел наукової літератури стосовно фітохімічних та фармакологічних досліджень неофіцинальних видів лікарських рослин. Значний інтерес у цьому плані становлять біологічно активні речовини трави чаберу гірського (Satureja montana L.). Мета дослідження. Проаналізувати дані наукових першоджерел та власних експериментальних досліджень стосовно компонентного складу ефірної олії і вмісту фенольних сполук у траві чаберу гірського з метою її потенційного використання для створення рослинних препаратів з антимікробною та антиоксидантною дією. Матеріали та методи. Об’єктами дослідження були вітчизняні та іноземні джерела наукової літератури, сировина та настойка з трави чаберу гірського. Для вирішення поставлених завдань дослідження використовувалися пошукові та експериментальні методи, логічний аналіз літературних даних. Результати та їх обговорення. Наведені результати аналізу основних компонентів ефірної олії чаберу гірського та інших видів цього роду. Визначено, що ефірна олія чаберу гірського складається, в основному, з карвакролу (до 53,35 %), p-цимену (0,66-41,4 %), тимолу (0,15-46 %), ліналоолу (0,1-50,42 %) та інших монотерпеноїдів, а також сесквітерпенів і дитерпенів. На основі проведених експериментальних досліджень автори встановили наявність особливого хемотипу Satureja montana, вирощеного на дослідних ділянках у Херсонській обл., в ефірній олії якого домінує р-тимол (81,79 %). Дана сполука раніше не була заявлена в доступних наукових першоджерелах як основний компонент ефірної олії чаберу гірського. За літературними даними ефірні олії, в яких домінують такі ароматичні компоненти як карвакрол, евгенол або тимол, чинять виражену антимікробну дію. Власні дослідження показали високий вміст поліфенолів і флавоноїдів у розробленій настойці з особливого «p-тимольного» хемотипу Satureja montana. Високий вміст поліфенолів вказує на потенційні антиоксидантні властивості водних та водно-етанольних витяжок з трави цієї рослини. Висновки. Сировина чаберу гірського може розглядатися як перспективне джерело антимікробних та антиоксидантних засобів завдяки домінуванню в ефірній олії ароматичних компонентів, а серед фенольних сполук трави – речовин з 3-4 гідроксильними групами в молекулі. Проаналізовано новий «p-тимольний» хемотип чаберу гірського. Проведені дослідження є основою для розробки настойки та настою з трави рослини, які у перспективі поряд з ефірною олією можуть бути рекомендовані як рослинні лікарські препарати з антимікробною та антиоксидантною активністю, що можуть використовуватись у лікуванні інфекційних захворювань порожнини рота, шкіри, органів дихання тощо

Major haplotype divergence including multiple germin-like protein genes, at the wheat Sr2 adult plant stem rust resistance locus

Background The adult plant stem rust resistance gene Sr2 was introgressed into hexaploid wheat cultivar (cv) Marquis from tetraploid emmer wheat cv Yaroslav, to generate stem rust resistant cv Hope in the 1920s. Subsequently, Sr2 has been widely deployed and has provided durable partial resistance to all known races of Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici. This report describes the physical map of the Sr2-carrying region on the short arm of chromosome 3B of cv Hope and compares the Hope haplotype with non-Sr2 wheat cv Chinese Spring. Results Sr2 was located to a region of 867 kb on chromosome 3B in Hope, which corresponded to a region of 567 kb in Chinese Spring. The Hope Sr2 region carried 34 putative genes but only 17 were annotated in the comparable region of Chinese Spring. The two haplotypes differed by extensive DNA sequence polymorphisms between flanking markers as well as by a major insertion/deletion event including ten Germin-Like Protein (GLP) genes in Hope that were absent in Chinese Spring. Haplotype analysis of a limited number of wheat genotypes of interest showed that all wheat genotypes carrying Sr2 possessed the GLP cluster; while, of those lacking Sr2, some, including Marquis, possessed the cluster, while some lacked it. Thus, this region represents a common presence-absence polymorphism in wheat, with presence of the cluster not correlated with presence of Sr2. Comparison of Hope and Marquis GLP genes on 3BS found no polymorphisms in the coding regions of the ten genes but several SNPs in the shared promoter of one divergently transcribed GLP gene pair and a single SNP downstream of the transcribed region of a second GLP. Conclusion Physical mapping and sequence comparison showed major haplotype divergence at the Sr2 locus between Hope and Chinese Spring. Candidate genes within the Sr2 region of Hope are being evaluated for the ability to confer stem rust resistance. Based on the detailed mapping and sequencing of the locus, we predict that Sr2 does not belong to the NB-LRR gene family and is not related to previously cloned, race non-specific rust resistance genes Lr34 and Yr36

Major haplotype divergence including multiple germin-like protein genes, at the wheat Sr2 adult plant stem rust resistance locus

Background The adult plant stem rust resistance gene Sr2 was introgressed into hexaploid wheat cultivar (cv) Marquis from tetraploid emmer wheat cv Yaroslav, to generate stem rust resistant cv Hope in the 1920s. Subsequently, Sr2 has been widely deployed and has provided durable partial resistance to all known races of Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici. This report describes the physical map of the Sr2-carrying region on the short arm of chromosome 3B of cv Hope and compares the Hope haplotype with non-Sr2 wheat cv Chinese Spring. Results Sr2 was located to a region of 867 kb on chromosome 3B in Hope, which corresponded to a region of 567 kb in Chinese Spring. The Hope Sr2 region carried 34 putative genes but only 17 were annotated in the comparable region of Chinese Spring. The two haplotypes differed by extensive DNA sequence polymorphisms between flanking markers as well as by a major insertion/deletion event including ten Germin-Like Protein (GLP) genes in Hope that were absent in Chinese Spring. Haplotype analysis of a limited number of wheat genotypes of interest showed that all wheat genotypes carrying Sr2 possessed the GLP cluster; while, of those lacking Sr2, some, including Marquis, possessed the cluster, while some lacked it. Thus, this region represents a common presence-absence polymorphism in wheat, with presence of the cluster not correlated with presence of Sr2. Comparison of Hope and Marquis GLP genes on 3BS found no polymorphisms in the coding regions of the ten genes but several SNPs in the shared promoter of one divergently transcribed GLP gene pair and a single SNP downstream of the transcribed region of a second GLP. Conclusion Physical mapping and sequence comparison showed major haplotype divergence at the Sr2 locus between Hope and Chinese Spring. Candidate genes within the Sr2 region of Hope are being evaluated for the ability to confer stem rust resistance. Based on the detailed mapping and sequencing of the locus, we predict that Sr2 does not belong to the NB-LRR gene family and is not related to previously cloned, race non-specific rust resistance genes Lr34 and Yr36

The improved assembly of 7DL chromosome provides insight into the structure and evolution of bread wheat

Wheat is one of the most important staple crops worldwide and also an excellent model species for crop evolution and polyploidization studies. The breakthrough of sequencing the bread wheat genome and progenitor genomes lays the foundation to decipher the complexity of wheat origin and evolutionary process as well as the genetic consequences of polyploidization. In this study, we sequenced 3286 BACs from chromosome 7DL of bread wheat cv. Chinese Spring and integrated the unmapped contigs from IWGSC v1 and available PacBio sequences to close gaps present in the 7DL assembly. In total, 8043 out of 12 825 gaps, representing 3 491 264 bp, were closed. We then used the improved assembly of 7DL to perform comparative genomic analysis of bread wheat (Ta7DL) and its D donor, Aegilops tauschii (At7DL), to identify domestication signatures. Results showed a strong syntenic relationship between Ta7DL and At7DL, although some small rearrangements were detected at the distal regions. A total of 53 genes appear to be lost genes during wheat polyploidization, with 23% (12 genes) as RGA (disease resistance gene analogue). Furthermore, 86 positively selected genes (PSGs) were identified, considered to be domestication‐related candidates. Finally, overlapping of QTLs obtained from GWAS analysis and PSGs indicated that TraesCS7D02G321000 may be one of the domestication genes involved in grain morphology. This study provides comparative information on the sequence, structure and organization between bread wheat and Ae. tauschii from the perspective of the 7DL chromosome, which contribute to better understanding of the evolution of wheat, and supports wheat crop improvement

Physical Mapping of Bread Wheat Chromosome 5A: An Integrated Approach

The huge size, redundancy, and highly repetitive nature of the bread wheat [Triticum aestivum (L.)] genome, makes it among the most difficult species to be sequenced. To overcome these limitations, a strategy based on the separation of individual chromosomes or chromosome arms and the subsequent production of physical maps was established within the frame of the International Wheat Genome Sequence Consortium (IWGSC). A total of 95,812 bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones of short-arm chromosome 5A (5AS) and long-arm chromosome 5A (5AL) arm-specific BAC libraries were fingerprinted and assembled into contigs by complementary analytical approaches based on the FingerPrinted Contig (FPC) and Linear Topological Contig (LTC) tools. Combined anchoring approaches based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) marker screening, microarray, and sequence homology searches applied to several genomic tools (i. e., genetic maps, deletion bin map, neighbor maps, BAC end sequences (BESs), genome zipper, and chromosome survey sequences) allowed the development of a high-quality physical map with an anchored physical coverage of 75% for 5AS and 53% for 5AL with high portions (64 and 48%, respectively) of contigs ordered along the chromosome. In the genome of grasses, Brachypodium [Brachypodium distachyon (L.) Beauv.], rice (Oryza sativa L.), and sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] homologs of genes on wheat chromosome 5A were separated into syntenic blocks on different chromosomes as a result of translocations and inversions during evolution. The physical map presented represents an essential resource for fine genetic mapping and map-based cloning of agronomically relevant traits and a reference for the 5A sequencing projects

A chromosome conformation capture ordered sequence of the barley genome

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