Ozlem Baris

Identification and characterization of thermophilic bacteria isolated from hot springs in Turkey

The present study was conducted to identify and characterize the thermophilic bacteria isolated from various hot springs in Turkey by using phenotypic and genotypic methods including fatty acid methyl ester and rep-PCR profilings, and 16S rRNA sequencing. The data of fatty acid analysis showed the presence of 17 different fatty acids in 15 bacterial strains examined in this study. Six fatty acids, 15:0 iso, 15:0 anteiso, 16:0, 16:0 iso, 17:0 iso, and 17:0 anteiso, were present in all strains. The bacterial strains were classified into three phenotypic groups based on fatty acid profiles which were confirmed by genotypic methods such as 16S rRNA sequence analysis and rep-PCR genomic fingerprint profiles. After evaluating several primer sets targeting the repetitive DNA elements of REP, ERIC, BOX and (GTG)(5), the (GTG)(5) and BOXA1R primers were found to be the most reliable technique for identification and taxonomic characterization of thermophilic bacteria in the genera of Geobacillus, Anoxybacillus and Bacillus spp. Therefore, rep-PCR fingerprinting using the (GTG)(5) and BOXA1R primers can be considered as a promising genotypic tool for the identification and characterization of thermophilic bacteria from species to strain level.

Mutagenic and antimutagenic effects of hexane extract of some Astragalus species grown in the eastern Anatolia region of Turkey

Medical plants and their various extracts have been occasionally used in the treatment of many diseases. Astragalus is one of those medical plants and it has several biological activities. In the present study, the hexane extracts of six Astragalus species, which are grown in the eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, were isolated, and their mutagenic and antimutagenic properties were investigated by using Salmonella typhimurium TA1535, TA1537 and Escherichia coli WP2uvrA tester strains at 0.05, 0.5 and 5 μg/plate concentrations. Known mutagens sodium azide (NaN3), 9‐Aminoacridine (9‐AA) and N‐Methyl‐N′‐nitro‐N‐nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) were used to determine antimutagenic properties of hexane extracts. The results showed that all hexane extracts, investigated in the present study, can be considered genotoxically safe because they do not have mutagenic activity at the tested concentrations. But, a great many of them have antimutagenic activity against 9‐Aminoacridine known as a model intercalator agent. The inhibition rates obtained from the antimutagenicity assays ranged from 27.51% (A. macrocephalus – 0.05 μg/plate) to 54.39% (A. galegiformis – 5 μg/plate). These activities are valuable toward an extension of the employ of these drugs as new phytotherapeutic or preservative ingredients. Copyright

Isolation of some luteolin derivatives from Mentha longifolia (L.) Hudson subsp. longifolia and determination of their genotoxic potencies

This study was designed to evaluate the mutagenic and antimutagenic activities of luteolin derivatives (luteolin 7-O-glucoside, luteolin 7-O-rutinoside and luteolin 7-O-glucuronide) isolated from Mentha longifolia (L.) Huds. subsp. longifolia by using Ames Salmonella test (TA 1535 and TA1537 strains). In the antimutagenicity assays, luteolin 7-O-glucoside, luteolin 7-O-rutinoside and luteolin 7-O-glucuronide showed antimutagenic effects on TA1537 and TA1535 strains. The highest inhibition rates for luteolin 7-O-glucoside, luteolin 7-O-rutinoside and luteolin 7-O-glucuronide on TA1537 strain were 84.03%, 87.63% and 67.77%, respectively. Similarly, in the antimutagenicity assays performed with the TA1535 strain, the inhibition rates for luteolin 7-O-glucoside and luteolin 7-O-rutinoside were 23.86% and 23.76% respectively. Our findings showed that the antimutagenic properties of luteolin derivatives on TA1537 and TA1535 strains have been found to be structure dependent. The clarification of differences in antimutagenic potency of these luteolin derivatives based on their structures has been demonstrated in this study.

Isolation of 3 Flavonoids from Mentha longifolia (L.) Hudson subsp. longifolia and Determination of Their Genotoxic Potentials by Using the E. coli WP2 Test System

UNLABELLED Flavonoids, abundant in most of plant species, are widely used in medicine and development studies on phytotherapeutic drugs due to their various biological activities. In the present study, 3 flavonoids, apigenin-7-O-glucoside, apigenin-7-O-rutinoside, and apigenin-7-O-glucuronide, were isolated from Mentha longifolia (L.) Hudson subsp. longifolia by using E. coli WP2 genotoxicity assay guided fractionation procedures. Later, the mutagenic and antimutagenic properties of each flavonoid were evaluated by using the same genotoxicity assay. The results showed that all the test compounds have significant antimutagenic activity at tested concentrations with or without S9 activation. The inhibition rates were between 25.3% (apigenin-7-O-glucoside with S9-2.0 μM/plate) and 59.0% (apigenin-7-O-rutinoside without S9-2.0 μM/plate). In conclusion, the results revealed that the 3 flavonoids from Mentha longifolia (L.) Hudson subsp. longifolia have significant antimutagenic activity, and the findings of the present study are valuable for further investigations, focus on the phytotherapeutic drug discovery. PRACTICAL APPLICATION Apigenin derivatives can be thought as genetically safe at tested concentrations because they did not show mutagenic activity. Furthermore, they have also significant antimutagenic activity. These are valuable for further research focus on phytotherapeutic drug discovery and development.

Use of Plant-Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) Seed Inoculation as Alternative Fertilizer Inputs in Wheat and Barley Production

In this study we aimed to investigate the effects of plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) on seed incubation of spring wheat and barley. Three bacterial strains were applied singly and in combinations. Seed inoculation with strains significantly affected grain yield (GY), straw (SWY), total yield (TY), and plant nutrient element (PNE) content. In field trials, compared to the control, single inoculations gave GY, SWY, and TY increases by 27.5–31.9%, 1.1–5.3%, and 1.3–11.3% in wheat and 15.1–27.8%, 10.8–15.5%, and 14.5–18.5% in barley, respectively, but mixtures of strains gave increases in GY, SWY, and TY by 54.7%, 2.1%, and 6.7% in wheat and 57.8%, 14.6%, and 17.5% in barley, respectively. According to the results, it was concluded that seed inoculations with PGPR and mixture inoculation might satisfy nitrogen requirements, but Bacillus megaterium M3 and MIX (Bacillus subtilis OSU142, B. megaterium M3, Azospirillum brasilense Sp245) inoculation provided greater PNE concentrations than mineral fertilizer application for wheat and barley under field conditions.

Composition of the essential oil of Salvia longipedicellata from Turkey

2312493, e-mail: haozer@atauni.edu.tr; 2) Ataturk University, Faculty of Art and Science, Department of Chemistry, Erzurum 25240, Turkey; 3) Ataturk University, Faculty of Art and Science, Department of Biology, Erzurum 25240, Turkey; 4) Ataturk University, Biotechnology Application and Research Center, 25240, Turkey . Published in Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 2, pp. 190-191, March-April, 2007. Original article submitted January 18, 2006.

Determination of genotoxic and antigenotoxic properties of essential oil from Ferula orientalis L. using Ames/Salmonella and E. coli WP2 bacterial test systems

The essential oils having many application fields such as medicine, flavoring, cosmetics are natural products obtained from aromatic plants. As the natural products of Ferula species have a wide range of use in folk medicine, this study was planned to evaluate the mutagenic and antimutagenic activities of essential oils of leaves and flowers of Ferula orientalis grown in Erzurum, through the bacterial reverse mutation assay. Furthermore, the chemical compositions of essential oils isolated by the hyrodistillation method were analysed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy (GC-MS), as their biological activities were connected to their contents. According to our results, any tested essential oil at any used concentration on Salmonella typhimurium TA1535 and TA1537 strains and in Escherichia coli WP2 uvrA strain showed no mutagenic activity. However, the tested materials at different concentrations showed antimutagenic activities against the used mutagens. The inhibition rates ranged against sodium azide (NaN3) on S. typhimurium TA1535 from 29% to 36%, against 9-aminoacridine (9-AA) on S. typhimurium TA1537 from 40% to 68% and against N-methyl-N’-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) on E. coli WP2 uvrA from 23% to 52%, respectively. Also, it is revealed by GC and GC/MS analysis of the essential oils isolated from the leaves and flowers, respectively. The major compounds in these oils were determined as α-cadinol, δ-cadinene and germacrene D-4-ol. The results of this study indicate that as the essential oils of F. orientalis have many constituents, they show no mutagenic activity but significant antimutagenic activity, and these materials can be safely used in medicinal applications after further investigations.

Genomic Rearrangements and Evolution

All genomes in living organisms can change under influence of internal or external factors. That is why genomic materials are commonly defined as dynamic entities and it is believed that they have been repeatedly altered and rearranged since the beginning of the life on the planet [1-4]. Understanding this dynamism is a valuable key to unlock the chest of the mysterious existence story in an evolutionary manner. Therefore, a lot of studies have been conducted on the dynamism of genomic materials in organisms and the count of related researches has gradually risen by the day. An enormous data from these studies call attention to recombinational, tranpositional and mutational processes as three main sources of genomic changes [1,2,5-18].

Salmonella as a Unique Tool for Genetic Toxicology

In molecular biology and genetics, mutations are described as sudden and spontaneous or induced changes in a genomic sequence (Brown, 2007). They have wide effects on all living organisms from bacteria with a single prokaryotic cell construction to multicellular and eukaryotic organisms including human being with high-level cellular differentiation. Mutations occur also in the genomic materials (DNA or RNA) of viruses and affect their functionality (Hartl & Jones, 1998; Lewin, 2004). When a mutation happens, it can basically result in several different types of change in DNA (or RNA for some viruses) sequences; these can have no effect, alter the product of gene, and prevent the gene from functioning properly or completely. Alterations in the product of gene and partial or total loss of gene function generally result in a disadvantageous situation for the organism, which cause various symptoms and ailments affect the maintenance of life (Brown, 2007). Previous studies made to understand the relations between mutations and their negative effects on human being clearly showed that some diseases, such as most forms of cancer, heart disease and mental disorders, have a partly or completely genetic basis closely related to mutagenesis (Bertram, 2000; Alberts et al., 2002; Lodish et al., 2007). Therefore, recent investigations have mainly focused on mutation classification, understanding mutagenesis mechanisms, determination of mutagenic agents and prevention strategies (Cox, 1976; Albertini et al., 1990; Davidson et al., 2002; Akiyama, 2010; Evans et al., 2010; Gulluce et al., 2010; Lynch, 2010; Waters et al., 2010; Lange et al., 2011; Loeb, 2011; Pao & Girard, 2011). Thus, the identification of substances capable of inducing mutations has become an important procedure in safety assessment. In the research studies, mutations can be divided in two main groups to get more comprehensive results according to their size. First group is described as gene mutations, where only single base is modified, or one or a relatively few bases are inserted or deleted (Brown, 2007). Other one consists of chromosome mutations, which are including chromosome breaks, large deletions, rearrangements, or gain or loss of whole chromosome (Hartl & Jones, 1998; Lewin, 2004).