İnci Togan

The bioaccumulation of nonyphenol and its adverse effect on the liver of rainbow trout (Onchorynchus mykiss).

Alkylphenol polyethoxylates (APEs) are widely used as nonionic surfactants. Nonylphenol (NP), one of the derivatives of APEs, has been found in the aquatic environment in ranges from nanograms per liter to milligrams per liter. In this study, juvenile rainbow trout were exposed to 0 (control), 66, 220, or 660 micro g NP/L for up to 28 days. Fish remained healthy under NP exposures of 0, 66, and 220 micro g/L for the length of the experiment. All fish died after 4 days of exposure to 660 micro g NP/L. Time-dependent NP bioaccumulation was detected in the tissues of fish exposed to 220 micro g NP/L (P<0.05) and histopathological changes were observed in the livers of fish exposed to 220 micro g NP/L. Furthermore, an increase in the activity of glutathione-S-transferase (GST) was found in the liver of fish exposed to 220 micro g NP/L for 1 week (P<0.05). There was an increase in GST activity in the liver of fish exposed to 66 micro g NP/L but it did not occur before 2 weeks of exposure to NP. The GST activity then decreased in a time-dependent manner in treatment groups, and this decrease was lower in the livers of fish treated with 66 and 220 micro g NP/L than in control fish after 3 weeks of exposure (P<0.05). These results indicated that sublethal doses of NP were accumulating in the bodies of the fish and causing histopathological and biochemical changes in the livers of rainbow trout.

FT-IR spectroscopic analysis of rainbow trout liver exposed to nonylphenol.

Nonylphenol (NP) is a biodegradation product of nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs) belonging to the alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs) group. APEs are widely used nonionic surfactants in detergents, herbicides, pesticides, paints, and cosmetics. The present work investigates the effects of NP on rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) livers at the molecular level using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The FT-IR spectra revealed dramatic differences between the NP-treated and control tissues, which mainly indicated that the level of triglycerides increased, the lipid order increased, and the protein concentration decreased in the treated samples. Moreover, it was also found that glycogen levels significantly decreased and the relative content of nucleic acids increased in NP-treated fish. The 17β-Estradiol-treated fish liver spectra were found to be quite similar to those of NP-treated fish. All these results implied that rainbow trout may offer considerable promise to be used as a bioindicator for NP in the future.

The Demographic Development of the First Farmers in Anatolia

Summary The archaeological documentation of the development of sedentary farming societies in Anatolia is not yet mirrored by a genetic understanding of the human populations involved, in contrast to the spread of farming in Europe [1, 2, 3]. Sedentary farming communities emerged in parts of the Fertile Crescent during the tenth millennium and early ninth millennium calibrated (cal) BC and had appeared in central Anatolia by 8300 cal BC [4]. Farming spread into west Anatolia by the early seventh millennium cal BC and quasi-synchronously into Europe, although the timing and process of this movement remain unclear. Using genome sequence data that we generated from nine central Anatolian Neolithic individuals, we studied the transition period from early Aceramic (Pre-Pottery) to the later Pottery Neolithic, when farming expanded west of the Fertile Crescent. We find that genetic diversity in the earliest farmers was conspicuously low, on a par with European foraging groups. With the advent of the Pottery Neolithic, genetic variation within societies reached levels later found in early European farmers. Our results confirm that the earliest Neolithic central Anatolians belonged to the same gene pool as the first Neolithic migrants spreading into Europe. Further, genetic affinities between later Anatolian farmers and fourth to third millennium BC Chalcolithic south Europeans suggest an additional wave of Anatolian migrants, after the initial Neolithic spread but before the Yamnaya-related migrations. We propose that the earliest farming societies demographically resembled foragers and that only after regional gene flow and rising heterogeneity did the farming population expansions into Europe occur.

Mitochondrial DNA Diversity of Modern, Ancient and Wild Sheep (Ovis gmelinii anatolica) from Turkey: New Insights on the Evolutionary History of Sheep

In the present study, to contribute to the understanding of the evolutionary history of sheep, the mitochondrial (mt) DNA polymorphisms occurring in modern Turkish native domestic (n = 628), modern wild (Ovis gmelinii anatolica) (n = 30) and ancient domestic sheep from Oylum Höyük in Kilis (n = 33) were examined comparatively with the accumulated data in the literature. The lengths (75 bp/76 bp) of the second and subsequent repeat units of the mtDNA control region (CR) sequences differentiated the five haplogroups (HPGs) observed in the domestic sheep into two genetic clusters as was already implied by other mtDNA markers: the first cluster being composed of HPGs A, B, D and the second cluster harboring HPGs C, E. To manifest genetic relatedness between wild Ovis gmelinii and domestic sheep haplogroups, their partial cytochrome B sequences were examined together on a median-joining network. The two parallel but wider aforementioned clusters were observed also on the network of Ovis gmelenii individuals, within which domestic haplogroups were embedded. The Ovis gmelinii wilds of the present day appeared to be distributed on two partially overlapping geographic areas parallel to the genetic clusters that they belong to (the first cluster being in the western part of the overall distribution). Thus, the analyses suggested that the domestic sheep may be the products of two maternally distinct ancestral Ovis gmelinii populations. Furthermore, Ovis gmelinii anatolica individuals exhibited a haplotype of HPG A (n = 22) and another haplotype (n = 8) from the second cluster which was not observed among the modern domestic sheep. HPG E, with the newly observed members (n = 11), showed signs of expansion. Studies of ancient and modern mtDNA suggest that HPG C frequency increased in the Southeast Anatolia from 6% to 22% some time after the beginning of the Hellenistic period, 500 years Before Common Era (BCE).

Status and management of brown bears in Turkey

Abstract The brown bear (Ursus arctos) is the largest carnivore in Turkey. Its present distribution is mainly confined to the intact natural habitats of the Black Sea and Eastern Anatolian regions. Forest fragmentation and direct persecution by humans have resulted in population declines in other regions during the last 50 years. Human–bear conflicts are more often observed in the eastern Black Sea than other areas within Turkey, but the species does not seriously threaten humans in Turkey. Turkish authorities have not kept records of bear damage, but depredation has mainly occurred on cattle and sheep. The brown bear has a more positive image among the local people than the wolf (Canis lupus). Brown bears are a protected species, but protected areas in Turkey are too small to provide a refuge for the species. Priority actions for the conservation of brown bears in Turkey are legislation development and implementation, research on population status and range, expansion of current protected areas, and identification of new ones. Public awareness and capacity building of the local authorities on theoretical and practical aspects of wildlife management, such as designing surveys, collecting systematic data, analyzing and reporting data, and brown bear handling techniques, will also play a critical role.

Alkylphenol concentrations in two rivers of Turkey.

Alkylphenol polyethoxylates (APEs) called environmental endocrine disruptors has been shown to accumulate in water around the world. In this study, the pollution level of alkylphenolic compounds was measured and quantified in water, sediment, and the tissues of fishes collected in two rivers, Sakarya and Degirmendere Rivers, Turkey. Butylphenol (BP) were detected in sediment samples at one sampling stations of both rivers with 1.68 and 3.15 μg/g sediment, while nonylphenol (NP) were detected with the amount of 4.46 μg/g sediment in one sampling station in Degirmendere river. Fish samples also showed the presence of alkylphenolic compounds in both rivers. The level of alkylphenol pollution in two rivers of Turkey was determined to be in the range of alkylphenol level reported in Europe but lower than that of in the USA.

Developmental genetics and physiology of sex differentiation in vertabrates

The involvement of the Y chromosome in sex determination was determined by the development and the application of techniques for karyotyping the mammalian chromosome in 1960s. There were many reports on the particular region of the Y chromosome, such as histocompatibility (H-Y) antigen, bandit krait minor satellite (Bkm) the zinc finger Y gene (ZFY) and the sex-determining region of the Y chromosome (SRY) which were believed to be the testis determining factors. However, converging experimental evidence have indicated that the sex determining region of the Y chromosome (sry) is the testis determining factor (TDF) in mammalian species since sex is determined genetically at the time of fertilization in these species. In non-mammalian vertebrates especially in fishes, amphibians and reptiles, genotypic sex can be overridden by the external application of steroid hormones and temperature. In this review paper, after reviewing the complex literature on the molecular and biochemical mechanisms of sex determination and differentiation in all vertebrates, the potential danger of environmentally induced sex determination will be focused on.

Beta-casein A1/A2, kappa-casein and beta-lactoglobulin polymorphisms in Turkish cattle breeds

Abstract. In this study, the genetic diversity of three milk protein genes namely beta-casein, kappacasein and beta-lactoglobulin was estimated in Turkish cattle breeds. Based on these genes, breeds in Turkey have been grouped as: 1) Eastern Anatolian Red, Anatolian Black and Southern Anatolian Red and 2) Turkish Grey, Turkish Holstein and Holstein Candidate Bulls. B alleles of the three studied genes, which were reported to be positively related with cheese yield and quality, seemed to be low-intermediate for beta-casein and kappa-casein but relatively high for beta-lactoglobulin in the first group of Turkish breeds compared to other breeds of the world. The kappa-casein E allele, which has a negative effect on cheese quality, is absent in Turkish cattle breeds, except in Holstein Candidate Bulls. Therefore, the results suggest that milk of Turkish native breeds is suitable for cheese making. Based on observations of the Turkish breeds, some suggestions were made regarding breeding practices in Turkey.

Archaeogenomic analysis of the first steps of Neolithization in Anatolia and the Aegean

The Neolithic transition in west Eurasia occurred in two main steps: the gradual development of sedentism and plant cultivation in the Near East and the subsequent spread of Neolithic cultures into the Aegean and across Europe after 7000 cal BCE. Here, we use published ancient genomes to investigate gene flow events in west Eurasia during the Neolithic transition. We confirm that the Early Neolithic central Anatolians in the ninth millennium BCE were probably descendants of local hunter–gatherers, rather than immigrants from the Levant or Iran. We further study the emergence of post-7000 cal BCE north Aegean Neolithic communities. Although Aegean farmers have frequently been assumed to be colonists originating from either central Anatolia or from the Levant, our findings raise alternative possibilities: north Aegean Neolithic populations may have been the product of multiple westward migrations, including south Anatolian emigrants, or they may have been descendants of local Aegean Mesolithic groups who adopted farming. These scenarios are consistent with the diversity of material cultures among Aegean Neolithic communities and the inheritance of local forager know-how. The demographic and cultural dynamics behind the earliest spread of Neolithic culture in the Aegean could therefore be distinct from the subsequent Neolithization of mainland Europe.

The Asian contribution to the Turkish population with respect to the Balkans: Y-chromosome perspective

Admixture analysis is one of the methods that can be used to calculate the contribution of migrations. There are several admixture estimation methods. In the present study, Chikhi et al.s admixture method, which considers the effect of genetic drift, was used to estimate the male genetic contribution of Central Asia to hybrids. It was observed that the male contribution from Central Asia to Turkish population with reference to the Balkans was 13%. Comparison of the admixture estimate for Turkey with those of neighboring populations pointed out that the Central Asian contribution was lowest in Turkey. This observation might be explained by the homogenization between the males of the Balkans and Anatolia.