Acta Biologica Hungarica最新文献

Traditional medicines are composed of herbal formulations and their active ingredients and constituents which play a crucial role in the treatment of various human ailments. Astragalus eremophilus and Melilotus indicus (L.) All. (syn. Melilotus parviflora Desf.) are used traditionally as antiperspirant, tonic, diuretic, laxative and narcotic agents. The current study was designed to investigate the Astragalus eremophilus and Melilotus indicus (L.) All. (syn. Melilotus parviflora Desf.) methanol extracts for their antioxidant, antibacterial and antifungal activities. Fine powder of A. eremophilus and M. parviflora was extracted with 70% methanol to get crude methanol extract. Extract was characterized for antioxidant, antibacterial and antifungal activities. Antioxidant activity of various concentrations (3 mg/ml, 1.5 mg/ ml, 0.75 mg/ml, and 0.38 mg/ml) of both plant extracts was analyzed using 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical. Salmonella typhemorium, Klebsiella pneumoniae (gram-negative) and Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis (gram-positive) bacterial strains were used for assessment of antibacterial activities. Antifungal activities of 7.5 mg/ml, 5.0 mg/ml, 2.5 mg/ml (A. eremophilus and M. parviflora) were conducted using Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus and Candida albicons. At high concentration (3 mg/ml), all the tested fractions of A. eremophilus and M. parviflora methanol extracts showed potent antioxidant activities, ranging between 83.8 and 63.33%. Antibacterial activities revealed that A. eremophilus showed a maximum zone of inhibition (8.1 ± 0.1) on Salmonella typhenorium followed by Enterococcus faecalis (7.2 ± 0.1), Klebsellesa pneumonia (6.1 ± 0.6), and Staphylococcus aureus (5.1 ± 0.4), and at highest concentration (7.5 mg/ml), however, maximum zone of inhibition of Melilotus parviflora was at 7.5 mg/ml followed by 5.0 mg/ml and 2.5 mg/ml against Klebsiella pneumonia, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhemorium and Enterococcus faecalis. Antifungal assessment of both plant extracts showed that the higher concentration (7.5 mg/ml) has significant inhibitory effect as compared to control. The results can lead to the conclusion that A. eremophilus and M. parviflora methanol extracts are indeed sources of potential therapeutic compounds against antibacterial, antifungal and free radical associated disorders.

We aimed to examine the response of three tomato introgression lines (IL925.3, IL925.5 and IL925.6) to NaCl stress. These lines originated from a cross between M82 (Solanum lycopersicum) and the wild salttolerant tomato Solanum pennellii, each line containing a different fragment of the S.pennellii genome. Salt-sensitive phenotypes related to plant growth and physiology, and the response of antioxidants, pigments and antioxidant enzymes were measured. In general, salt stress decreased the fresh weight of leaves, leaf area and leaf number and an increase of Na⁺ accumulation in aerial parts was observed, which caused a reduction in the absorption of K⁺ and Ca²⁺. Salt stress also induced a decrease in chlorophyll, carotenoids and lipid peroxidation (MDA) and an increase in anthocyanins and reduced ascorbate, although some differences were seen between the lines, for example for carotenoid levels. Guaiacol peroxidase, catalase and glutathione reductase activity enhanced in aerial parts of the lines, but again some differences were seen between the three lines. It is concluded that IL925.5 might be the most sensitive line to salt stress as its dry weight loss was the greatest in response to salt and this line showed the highest Na⁺ ion accumulation in leaves.

Hyoscyamus reticulatus L. is a herbaceous biennial belonging to the solanaceae family. Hyoscyamine and scopolamine as main tropane alkaloids accumulated in henbane are widely used in medicine to treat diseases such as parkinson's or to calm schizoid patients. Hairy roots media manipulation which uses elicitors to activate defense mechanisms is one of the main strategies for inducing secondary metabolism as well as increasing the production of valuable metabolites. Cotyledon-derived hairy root cultures were transformed by Agrobacterium rhizogenes. Sodium nitroprusside (SNP), a nitric oxide donor), was used in various concentrations (0, 50, 100, 200 and 300 μM) and exposure times (24 and 48 h). Treatment with SNP led to a significant reduction in fresh and dry weight of hairy roots, compared to control cultures. ANOVA results showed that elicitation of hairy root cultures with SNP at different concentrations and exposure times significantly affected the activity of as antioxidant enzymes such as catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX). The highest hyoscyamine and scopolamine production (about 1.2-fold and 1.5-fold increases over the control) was observed at 50 and 100 μM SNP at 48 and 24 hours of exposure time, respectively. This is the first report of SNP elicitation effects on the production of tropane alkaloids in hairy root cultures.

Although the participation of glutathione transferases (GSTs) in light-dependent pathways and the circadian changes in the whole detoxification system have been studied, there are fewer results regarding the exact daily fluctuation of GSTs. In the present study, it was demonstrated that light up-regulated, while dark period decreased the plant GST activity and the expression of the selected tau group GST genes in tomato. These findings provide additional information on our current knowledge on the circadian rhythm of GSTs in plants and could help in further defining detoxification processes.

In the behavioral science field, many of the oldest tests have still most frequently been used almost in the same way for decades. The subjective influence of human observer and the large inter-observer and interlab differences are substantial among these tests. This necessitates the possibility of using technological innovations for behavioral science to obtain new parameters, results and insights as well. The light-dark box (LDB) test is a characteristic tool used to assess anxiety in rodents. A complete behavioral analysis (including both anxiety and locomotion parameters) is not possible by performing traditional LDB test protocol, as it lacks the usage of a real-time video recording of the test. In the current report, we describe an improved approach to conduct LDB test using a real-time video tracking system.