Nezaket Adigüzel

Composition of the Essential Oil of Prangos ferulacea (L.) Lindl.

ABSTRACT Water-distilled essential oils from whole and crushed fruits of Prangos ferulacea were analyzed by GC and GC/MS. Twenty-three compounds were identified representing 85.32% to 93.83% of the oils. Crushed and whole fruits yielded oils rich in γ-terpinene (30.22% and 33.27%) and α-pinene (16.71% and 12.83%), respectively. Germacrene B (30.30%) and γ-terpinene (17.17%) were the major constituents in the oil obtained by redistilling the already distilled whole fruits after crushing.

Removal of Ni(II) and Cu(II) ions using native and acid treated Ni-hyperaccumulator plant Alyssum discolor from Turkish serpentine soil

Alyssum discolor biomass was collected from serpentine soil and was used for removal of metal ions. The plant species grown on serpentine soils are known to be rich with metals ions and thus have more capability for accumulating heavy metals. Native and acid-treated biomass of A. discolor (A. discolor) were utilized for the removal of Ni(II) and Cu(II) ions from aqueous solutions. The effects of contact time, initial concentration, and pH on the biosorption of Ni(II) and Cu(II) ions were investigated. Biosorption equilibrium was established in about 60 min. The surface properties of the biomass preparations were varied with pH, and the maximum amounts of Ni(II) and Cu(II) ions on both A. discolor biomass preparations were adsorbed at pH 5.0. The maximum biosorption capacities of the native, and acid-treated biomass preparations for Ni(II) were 13.1 and 34.7 mgg(-1) and for Cu(II) 6.15 and 17.8 mgg(-1) dry biomass, respectively. The biosorption of Ni(II) and Cu(II) ions from single and binary component systems can be successfully described by Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. When the heavy metal ions were in competition, the amounts of biosorbed metal ions on the acid treated plant biomass were found to be 0.542 mmolg(-1) for Ni(II) and 0.162 mmolg(-1) for Cu(II), the A. discolor biomass was significantly selective for Ni(II) ions. The information gained from these studies was expected to indicate whether the native, and acid-treated forms can have the potential to be used for the removal and recovery of Ni(II) ions from wastewaters.

ESSENTIAL OIL OF SALVIA AYTACHII M. VURAL ET N. ADIGUZEL

Abstract Water-distilled essential oil of Salvia aytachii, a recently described Turkish endemic, was analyzed by GC/MS. Fifty-eight compounds were characterized representing 98.41% of the oil, with camphor (30.78%) and 1,8-cineole (27.28%) as major constitutents.

Developmental Control and Plasticity of Fruit and Seed Dimorphism in Aethionema arabicum

Aethionema arabicum produces two different fruit and seed types with distinct anatomical, biomechanical, and physiological properties. Understanding how plants cope with changing habitats is a timely and important topic in plant research. Phenotypic plasticity describes the capability of a genotype to produce different phenotypes when exposed to different environmental conditions. In contrast, the constant production of a set of distinct phenotypes by one genotype mediates bet hedging, a strategy that reduces the temporal variance in fitness at the expense of a lowered arithmetic mean fitness. Both phenomena are thought to represent important adaptation strategies to unstable environments. However, little is known about the underlying mechanisms of these phenomena, partly due to the lack of suitable model systems. We used phylogenetic and comparative analyses of fruit and seed anatomy, biomechanics, physiology, and environmental responses to study fruit and seed heteromorphism, a typical morphological basis of a bet-hedging strategy of plants, in the annual Brassicaceae species Aethionema arabicum. Our results indicate that heteromorphism evolved twice within the Aethionemeae, including once for the monophyletic annual Aethionema clade. The dimorphism of Ae. arabicum is associated with several anatomic, biomechanical, gene expression, and physiological differences between the fruit and seed morphs. However, fruit ratios and numbers change in response to different environmental conditions. Therefore, the life-history strategy of Ae. arabicum appears to be a blend of bet hedging and plasticity. Together with the available genomic resources, our results pave the way to use this species in future studies intended to unravel the molecular control of heteromorphism and plasticity.

Composition of the Essential Oil of Achillea goniocephala Boiss. et Bal. from Turkey

Abstract Water-distilled essential oil of the dried flowering herbal parts of Achillea goniocephala, endemic to Turkey, was analyzed by GC/MS. Seventy three components making up 98.1% of the oil were characterized with camphor (32.6%) and 1,8-cineole (23.2%) as major constituents.

Composition of the essential oil of Heracleum paphlagonicum Czeczott.

Abstract Crushed fruits of Heracleum paphlagonicum, a rare endemic of Turkey, were hydrodistilled and the oil was analyzed by GC/MS. Ninety-seven compounds were identified representing 95.4% of the oil with octyl acetate (31.5%), hexyl butyrate (17.0%) and octyl hexanoate (10.2%) as the main constituents.

A remarkable new Salsola and some new records of Chenopodiaceae from Central Anatolia, Turkey

Abstract Freitag, H., Vural, M. & Adigüzel, N.: A remarkable new Salsola and some new records of Chenopodiaceae from Central Anatolia, Turkey. — Willdenowia 29: 123–139. 1999. — ISSN 0511-9618. The chenopod flora of a badland area 120 km WNW of Ankara was studied with the following results: Salsola grandis is described as a species new to science and illustrated, the presence of two species, viz. Anabasis aphylla and Atriplex aucheri, not listed in ‘Flora of Turkey’ but earlier reported from E Anatolia by Russian authors, is confirmed, and four species, viz. Atriplex laevis, Halanthium kulpianum, Petrosimonia nigdeensis and Salsola nitraria, are newly recorded from NW Central Anatolia. Salsola grandis belongs to S. sect. Salsola s.str. and is distantly related to S. soda. From the number and frequency of halophytic and semi-desert chenopod species, particularly from the presence of both the rather isolated endemic Salsola grandis and the strongly disjunct Anabasis aphylla, the conclusion is drawn that the area SE of Nallıhan has a much drier climate than its surroundings. Very likely, the evolution of S. grandis has taken place there from Tertiary times onwards, and the other disjunct species might have invaded later during drier climatic phases of the Pleistocene or early Holocene.

Verbascum turcicum (Scrophulariaceae), a New Species from Turkey

Verbascum turcicum B. Bani, Adigüzel & Karavel. sp. nova (Scrophulariaceae), collected from B6 Adana province in South Anatolia, Turkey, is described and illustrated. The diagnostic morphological characters of the new species and the closely similar V. leianthoides and V. leiocarpum are discussed. A distribution map of V. turcicum and the two other species are provided.

Volatile compounds from the aerial part and fruits of Grammosciadium pterocarpum Boiss. growing in Turkey

Volatile constituents obtained from crushed fruits and aerial parts of Grammosciadium pterocarpum Boiss. (Apiaceae) by microdistillation were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and GC–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) systems, simultaneously. Fifteen components comprising 99.5% of the volatile oil of the fruit and twenty components comprising 97.4% of the volatile oil of the aerial parts were identified. The main constituents of the fruit volatiles were found to be linalool (68.4%) and β-pinene (22.0%), whereas caryophyllene oxide (55.1%) and β-caryophyllene (15.3%) were found to be major constituents in the volatiles of the aerial parts.

New HPLC-chemometric approaches to the analysis of isoflavones in Trifolium lucanicum Gasp.

New HPLC-chemometric approaches were proposed for the simultaneous chromatographic quantification of daidzein, genistein, formononetin, and biochanin A in the samples consisting of the aerial parts of Trifolium lucanicum Gasp. (Leguminosae). Partial least squares and principal component regression algorithms were applied to the multiple chromatographic data set obtained by measuring at 240, 248, 256, and 264 nm to construct HPLC-partial least squares and HPLC-principal component regression calibrations. Chromatographic separation was carried out by using a mobile phase containing methanol, acetate buffer (pH=4.75) and acetonitrile (21:58:21, v/v/v) on the reversed phase column, Supelcosil™ LC-18 (15 cm×4.6 mm id). In addition, conventional HPLC based on the detection at a single wavelength was used for the determination of each compound in the extracts of T. lucanicum. The validity and applicability of the proposed HPLC-chemometric and conventional HPLC methods were performed by analyzing various synthetic plant samples. A good agreement was observed in the application of the proposed HPLC-chemometric tools to the synthetic and extracted samples of T. lucanicum.