scholarly journals Survival on railway tracks of Geranium robertianum—a glyphosate-tolerant plant

Ecotoxicology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Bemowska-Kałabun ◽  
Agnieszka Bogucka ◽  
Bogusław Wiłkomirski ◽  
Małgorzata Wierzbicka

AbstractGeranium robertianum is a herbaceous plant that prefers shady and fertile forest habitats. However, it also occurs on railway tracks, where there are difficult conditions for plant growth and regular herbicide spraying (in high concentrations, twice a year). One of the most commonly used herbicides in railway areas is glyphosate. The effect of the glyphosate on the G. robertianum plants found on railway tracks and in nearby forests in north-eastern Poland was checked. The aim of the study was to explain how G. robertianum can survive on railway tracks despite spraying with the glyphosate. Increased tolerance to the glyphosate of the G. robertianum plants from track populations was demonstrated compared to the plants from forest populations that had not previously been in contact with the herbicide. After 35 days after treatment with the herbicide, 75% of the plants from the observed forest populations withered, while only 38% did from the track populations. Ultrastructure of plant leaf cells from forest populations was strongly disturbed, which was not observed in plants from track populations. It was also shown that plants from track populations accumulated more glyphosate and AMPA in their tissues than plants from forest populations. The obtained results indicate that long-term use of herbicides may cause formation of biotypes of plants resistant to a given herbicide. This fact explains the possibility of G. robertianum occurring on railway tracks, despite spraying with the glyphosate. It is also a manifestation of microevolutionary processes.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Bemowska-Kałabun ◽  
Paweł Wąsowicz ◽  
Łukasz Napora-Rutkowski ◽  
Zuzanna Nowak-Życzyńska ◽  
Małgorzata Wierzbicka

A strongly modified habitat can be treated as “research field”, where microevolutionary processes in plants take place and can be traced. One of such areas are railway tracks. Difficult conditions for plant growth prevail there, including: insolation, water shortage and pollutions. This leads to natural selection, which favors microevolutionary processes. Geranium robertianum L. plants were tested, which occur on railway tracks (“track populations”) and in forests (“forest populations”), of north-eastern Poland. Totally, the phenotypic and genotypic diversity was checked in 20 track populations and 18 forest populations. The aim of the research was to check what was the taxonomic rank of a different biotype of G. robertianum, which is growing on the railway tracks in the village of Waliły-Station. The plants from this population in comparison to other studied populations were: smaller, had much smaller (about twice) and darker leaves with an increased level of anthocyanins (higher by a few – over a dozen % from plants from other track populations and about 50% from plants from forest populations). These features were preserved in the next generation (F1). However, molecular studies (AFLP) showed that the population from Waliły was not genetically distinct from other studied populations. The taxonomic rank of G. robertianum plants from the track population of Waliły-Station should be described as “form”. It is possible that this new form of G. robertianum plants could have arisen as a result of the occurrence of epigenetic processes, which could increase the phenotypic variability in G. robertianum and accelerate the adaptation of these plants to adverse conditions. The obtained results are an example of the initial stage of the process of microevolution in plants in anthropogenically transformed areas.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Bemowska-Kałabun ◽  
Paweł Wąsowicz ◽  
Łukasz Napora-Rutkowski ◽  
Zuzanna Nowak-Życzyńska ◽  
Małgorzata Wierzbicka

A strongly modified habitat can be treated as “research field”, where microevolutionary processes in plants take place and can be traced. One of such areas are railway tracks. Difficult conditions for plant growth prevail there, including: insolation, water shortage and pollutions. This leads to natural selection, which favors microevolutionary processes. Geranium robertianum L. plants were tested, which occur on railway tracks (“track populations”) and in forests (“forest populations”), of north-eastern Poland. Totally, the phenotypic and genotypic diversity was checked in 20 track populations and 18 forest populations. The aim of the research was to check what was the taxonomic rank of a different biotype of G. robertianum, which is growing on the railway tracks in the village of Waliły-Station. The plants from this population in comparison to other studied populations were: smaller, had much smaller (about twice) and darker leaves with an increased level of anthocyanins (higher by a few – over a dozen % from plants from other track populations and about 50% from plants from forest populations). These features were preserved in the next generation (F1). However, molecular studies (AFLP) showed that the population from Waliły was not genetically distinct from other studied populations. The taxonomic rank of G. robertianum plants from the track population of Waliły-Station should be described as “form”. It is possible that this new form of G. robertianum plants could have arisen as a result of the occurrence of epigenetic processes, which could increase the phenotypic variability in G. robertianum and accelerate the adaptation of these plants to adverse conditions. The obtained results are an example of the initial stage of the process of microevolution in plants in anthropogenically transformed areas.


Author(s):  
سعيد مزعل موازي ◽  
يحيى فائق حسين ◽  
عبد المنعم دولاني ◽  
سيف يوسف عبدالله السويدي

Recently, many studies have been conducted to discover or improve cancers treatment. The current study aims to investigate the anticancer effect of thymoquinone, cordyceps, spirulina, ganoderma lucidium, poria cocos, and lion’s mane in four different concentrations 4, 8, 16, and 32 ug (equivalent to 1 mg/mL) in two different time treatments (48 and 96 hours) on human nasal epithelial cell line RPMI 2650. By using cell culture cytotoxicity techniques and assay, the highest anticancer effect on RPMI 2650 was obtained by thymoquinone. The lowest anticancer effect was demonstrated by poria cocos and cordyceps. However, these two medications showed higher anticancer effect when given in short-term treatment (48 hours) compared to long-term treatment (96 hours). Ganoderma lucidium and spirulina showed better impact than poria cocos, cordyceps, and lion’s mane in term of cells cytotoxicity. Mild to moderate antineoplastic effect was seen by utilizing lion’s mane treatment compared other drugs. Therefore, adopting a long-term treatment of high concentrations and doses of thymoquinone, cordyceps, spirulina, ganoderma lucidium, poria cocos, and lion’s mane can be more effective in the treatment of nasal cancer. In conclusion, these drugs were found to be a promising cancer remedy; therefore, they can be utilized as alternative treatment for nasal cancer or any other type of cancer therapy.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 315-328
Author(s):  
Sergey Aleksandrovich Mikhailov

This article deals with the issue of North-Eastern India, its current social and economic problems in the context of long-term demonstrations of the ethnic separatism. The main aim of the research implies systematic analysis and identification of key factors and reasons perpetuating separatism in NER as well as resource search which determines Indian strategy in solving this problem. The first part of the article is devoted to separatism peculiarities in the region which remains withdrawn and underexplored in many respects. Apart from this, the author provides a quite detailed analysis of negative mentality of the certain part of NER population which justifiably reproaches New Delhi for “discrimination” and inability to solve many problems of the region. Then the author paid the detailed attention to these problems of NER modern society (ethnic, demographic, economic, transport, social etc.) as well as measures undertaken by the Indian government for its settlement.


Author(s):  
M. Focker ◽  
H. J. van der Fels-Klerx ◽  
A. G. J. M. Oude Lansink

AbstractEarly 2013, high concentrations of aflatoxin M1 were found in the bulk milk of a few dairy farms in the Netherlands. These high concentrations were caused by aflatoxin B1 contaminated maize from Eastern Europe that was processed into compound feed, which was fed to dairy cows. Since the contamination was discovered in the downstream stages of the supply chain, multiple countries and parties were involved and recalls of the feed were necessary, resulting into financial losses. The aim of this study was to estimate the direct short-term financial losses related to the 2013 aflatoxin incident for the maize traders, the feed industry, and the dairy sector in the Netherlands. First, the sequence of events of the incident was retrieved. Then, a Monte Carlo simulation model was built to combine the scarce and uncertain data to estimate the direct financial losses for each stakeholder. The estimated total direct financial losses of this incident were estimated to be between 12 and 25 million euros. The largest share, about 60%, of the total losses was endured by the maize traders. About 39% of the total losses were for the feed industry, and less than 1% of the total losses were for the dairy sector. The financial losses estimated in this study should be interpreted cautiously due to limitations associated with the quality of the data used. Furthermore, this incident led to indirect long-term financial effects, identified but not estimated in this study.


2019 ◽  
Vol 128 (3) ◽  
pp. 583-591
Author(s):  
Leo Joseph ◽  
Alex Drew ◽  
Ian J Mason ◽  
Jeffrey L Peters

Abstract We reassessed whether two parapatric non-sister Australian honeyeater species (Aves: Meliphagidae), varied and mangrove honeyeaters (Gavicalis versicolor and G. fasciogularis, respectively), that diverged from a common ancestor c. 2.5 Mya intergrade in the Townsville area of north-eastern Queensland. Consistent with a previous specimen-based study, by using genomics methods we show one-way gene flow for autosomal but not Z-linked markers from varied into mangrove honeyeaters. Introgression barely extends south of the area of parapatry in and around the city of Townsville. While demonstrating the long-term porosity of species boundaries over several million years, our data also suggest a clear role of sex chromosomes in maintaining reproductive isolation.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yunjiang Zhang ◽  
Olivier Favez ◽  
Jean-Eudes Petit ◽  
Francesco Canonaco ◽  
Francois Truong ◽  
...  

Abstract. Organic aerosol (OA) particles are recognized as key factors influencing air quality and climate change. However, highly-time resolved year-round characterizations of their composition and sources in ambient air are still very limited due to challenging continuous observations. Here, we present an analysis of long-term variability of submicron OA using the combination of Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor (ACSM) and multi-wavelength aethalometer from November 2011 to March 2018 at a background site of the Paris region (France). Source apportionment of OA was achieved via partially constrained positive matrix factorization (PMF) using the multilinear engine (ME-2). Two primary OA (POA) and two oxygenated OA (OOA) factors were identified and quantified over the entire studied period. POA factors were designated as hydrocarbon-like OA (HOA) and biomass burning OA (BBOA). The latter factor presented a significant seasonality with higher concentrations in winter with significant monthly contributions to OA (18–33 %) due to enhanced residential wood burning emissions. HOA mainly originated from traffic emissions but was also influenced by biomass burning in cold periods. OOA factors were distinguished between their less- and more-oxidized fractions (LO-OOA and MO-OOA, respectively). These factors presented distinct seasonal patterns, associated with different atmospheric formation pathways. A pronounced increase of LO-OOA concentrations and contributions (50–66 %) was observed in summer, which may be mainly explained by secondary OA (SOA) formation processes involving biogenic gaseous precursors. Conversely high concentrations and OA contributions (32–62 %) of MO-OOA during winter and spring seasons were partly associated with anthropogenic emissions and/or long-range transport from northeastern Europe. The contribution of the different OA factors as a function of OA mass loading highlighted the dominant roles of POA during pollution episodes in fall and winter, and of SOA for highest springtime and summertime OA concentrations. Finally, long-term trend analyses indicated a decreasing feature (of about 200 ng m−3 yr−1) for MO-OOA, very limited or insignificant decreasing trends for primary anthropogenic carbonaceous aerosols (BBOA and HOA, along with the fossil fuel and biomass burning black carbon components), and no trend for LO-OOA over the 6+-year investigated period.


1933 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Bonner

1. Sections of Avena coleoptiles are found to show a considerable elongation when suspended in solutions of growth substance. 2. This elongation does not take place in the absence of O2 and is inhibited by KCN and phenylurethane. 3. The rate of respiration of sections of coleoptiles is increased by the addition of growth substance in concentrations which cause growth. High concentrations of growth substance inhibit growth and also respiration. 4. The increase in respiration is inhibited by KCN and phenylurethane in the concentrations which inhibit normal respiration. These concentrations are the same as those which inhibit growth. 5. From 2, 3, and 4, it seems possible that the increase in respiration caused by growth substance may be an essential part of its action in growth.


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