Ismet Uysal

Antimicrobial Activity of Centaurea Species

Abstract The antimicrobial activity of the ethyl acetate, acetone, chloroform, and ethanol extracts from the Centaurca. species C. ptosomipappoides. Wagenitz, C. odyssei. Wagenitz, C. ptosomipappa. Hayek, C. amonicola. Hub. Mon, and C. kurdica. Reichardt (Compositae) were investigated by agar-well diffusion assay, and all of the extracts exhibited an antimicrobial effect against most of the bacteria and all of the yeasts tested. Although the plants and extracts differed in their activities against the microorganisms tested, the extracts displayed no antifungal activity against the fungi tested. Ethyl acetate extracts showed most significant inhibitory activity, and the yeasts were more suscebtible to the extracts than the bacteria in general. Therefore, minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of only ethyl acetate extracts of the samples was determined for some bacteria and the yeasts. In conclusion, C. kurdica. was the most active antimicrobial plant. Ethyl acetate extract of C. odyssei. and C. kurdica. should be further evaluated against human pathogenic yeast isolates, as its antimicrobial activity is stronger than the standard antibiotic ketokonazole.

Medicinal Uses of Natural Dye-Yielding Plants in Turkey

PPlants have been grown for natural dyes to produce a wide range of colors.. N Natural dyes become increasingly important these days as synthetic dyes cause serious damage to the environment and have to be replaced. The published records show that Turkey has about 10,000 taxa of higher plants, 145 of which come from 92 genera and 51 families and can be used as dyeing sources of 17 colors. The most common families used for dyeing are Asteraceae, Rosaceae, Lamiaceae, Polygonaceae and Euphorbiaceae, and the dominating genera are Rumex, Anthemis, Euphorbia, and Salvia. Dye plants are of great medicinal value as well and can be used for producing antihelmintic, antiseptic, appetizer, carminative, diuretic, exudative, laxative, sedative and stomachic preparations.

Centaurea species in Turkey (A): Centaurea odyssei Wagenitz (Asteraceae) in Kazdagi (Mt. Ida) National Park

Kazdagi (Mt. Ida: 1774 m) is in northwestern Turkey. The rock type is mainly schist, and the soil is brown forest soil without lime. For these reasons, Kazdagi is one of the most important floristic areas in Turkey. With regard to genetic resources, this area is of major importance for in situ conservation of plant genetic diversity. Centaurea odyssei Wagenitz is a threatened very local endemic species, growing only in three small areas on Kazdagi. These populations are under heavy grazing stress. Morphological, anatomical and palynological studies are described and autecological and conservation aspects of the species are discussed.

Centaurea species in Turkey (B): Comparative studies of two closely related species, C. kurdica Reichardt and C. sclerolepis Boiss

Morphological, anatomical, palynological, achene structure, and ecological features of two endemic Centaurea L. species, C. kurdica Reichardt and C. sclerolepis Boiss., were studied in detail. Pollen studies showed that the pollen grains of the species could be described as prolate-spheroidal in C. kurdica, and prolate in C. sclerolepis. The SEM study of achene surfaces showed that the cell wall in C. kurdica is thicker than that of C. sclerolepis, especially on the margins. It was determined that the soil in which C. sclerolepis grows is richer in organic matter and Ca++ and Mg++ ions than that below C. kurdica. It was also found that the root anatomy shows significant variations between the species and can be used to differentiate them.

Thymus zygioides Grisebach var. zygioides’in Morfolojik, Anatomik ve Ekolojik Özellikleri

Lamiaceae familyasina ait olan Thymus L. cinsi ulkemizde 46 tur ve tur alti taksonla temsil edilmekte olup, cok yillik, aromatik ve tibbi degeri olan otsu bir bitkidir. Onemli bir etnobotanik degere sahip olan Thymus zygioides Griseb. var. zygioides kozmopolit bir taksondur. Calismamiza ait bitki ornekleri 2014 yilinin Mayis ayinda Lapseki’den (Canakkale) toplanmistir. Arastirmamizda bu turun morfolojik, anatomik ve ekolojik ozelliklerinin belirlenmesi amaclanmistir. Morfolojik ozelliklerini belirlemek icin bitkinin biometrik olcumleri lup altinda gerceklestirilmistir. Anatomik calismalari icin %70’lik alkole alinan canli bitki orneklerinin; kok, govde ve yapragindan parafin metodu kullanilarak enine kesitler alinmistir. Anatomik ozellikleri, yapilmis olan benzer arastirmalarla karsilastirilmistir. Bitkinin yayilis alanlari belirlenirken; toprak analizleri sonucu degerlendirilmistir. Bu arastirma sonuclarinin endemik olan varyete ile karsilastirilmasi onemlidir. Taksonun biometrik olcumleri flora kayitlarindan onemli farklilik gostermemistir.