BOTANICA SERBICA
Volume 34
Issue 1
2010

ABSTRACT: Hyperaccumulation of nickel to concentrations above 1000 mg kg-1 on a dry matter basis has become
recognized as an unusual response by some plant species to the elevated nickel concentrations generally found in soils derived from ultramafi c rocks (oft en referred to as serpentine soils). Such soils are widespread in the Balkans. Th ese soils host some widespread species and a smaller number of regional or local endemics. Several serpentine areas in Albania (AL), Bulgaria (BG) and Greece (GR) have been surveyed because of the presence of nickel hyperaccumulating endemics, including some that are common for all three studied countries. Th e objectives of the study were to widen understanding of the distribution of the nickel hyperaccumulators and their uptake behaviour in relation to the haracteristics of their native soil environments. Collection and chemical analysis of both plant and soil samples has allowed evaluation of phenotypic effi cacy in hyperaccumulating nickel. In total, eight taxa were studied. In this work the highest Ni concentrations in leaves (1.5- 2.0%) were found in Alyssum murale at Pojska (AL), A. murale at Kazak (BG), A. markgrafi i at Gjegjan (AL) and Th laspi kovatsii at Fotinovo (BG). Th e maximum quotients of plant Ni concentration to soil Ni concentration range from 13.9 for A. markgrafi i to 6-7 for A. murale, T. kovatsii and T. tymphaeum from northern Greece. Eight of the taxa collected in this work show hyperaccumulation of Ni; these include A. murale subsp. pichleri and all of Thlaspi species studied from serpentine in Bulgaria. In total, twentyfive Ni hyperaccumulating taxa are now known from the Brassicaceae of Albania, Bulgaria and Greece. Because of its high biomass production, A. murale is likely to be the most suitable species for Niphytomining in the Balkans..

KEY WORDS: hyperaccumulation, nickel, Alyssum, Thlaspi, ultramafics, the Balkans

ABSTRACT:  Maize (Zea mays L.) seedlings (hybride ZP 330) were grown in hydropone culture on a standard nutrient solution containing 7.5 mM N. Nitrogen was applied in two forms: 1) as NO3 - and 2) as NO3 -/NH4 + (2:1). Aft er two days in the culture, the plants were exposed to heavy metals and the two treatments were further divided into four groups: a) control; b) 0.5 mM Pb; c) 0.5 mM Cd; d) 0.5 mM Ni. Aft er three days of exposure, the following parameters were determined in roots: heavy metal concentration, root length, root weight, the concentrations of proline, soluble proteins, K, Ca and Mg. Th e results show that almost all the determined parameters depend on nitrogen form. Lead and Cd accumulation were lower under NO3 - treatment, while Ni accumulation was lower under NO3 -/NH4 + treatment. Th e decrease of the root length depended on heavy metal concentration in roots, while root weight decrease depended only on N form. Soluble protein and K concentrations changed in dependence of both N form and heavy metal type. Proline concentration increased signifi cantly in the presence of each metal under NO3 - treatment, while under NO3 -/NH4 + treatment the change was negligible except in the plants exposed to Ni. Cadmium and Ni induced a signifi cant decrease of Ca and Mg concentrations, which was more pronounced under NO3 -/NH4 + treatment in both cases. Lead induced a decrease of Mg concentration under NO3 - treatment, accompanied with Ca concentration increase, and a decrease of Ca concentration accompanied with Mg concentration increase under NO3 -/NH4 + treatment. Such results showed, apart from diff erent maize responses to diff erent metals, a wide potential for the modifi cation of heavy metal impact by ionic form of nitrogen nutrition.

KEY WORDS: cadmium, growth, ion uptake, lead, nickel, root, Zea mays.

ABSTRACT:  The paper is a part of a complex study of some Gymnospermae leaf species and presents a comparative study concerning the leaf structure of six Gymnospermae species which belong to two families. All of them are also popular ornamental trees in parks and large gardens. Four of them were introduced in Romania aft er 1990 and acclimatized in diff erent regions: Abies alba Miller, Abies nordmanniana subsp. nordmanniana (Stev.) Spach, Cedrus atlantica (Endl.) G. Manetti ex. Carriére var. glauca Carriére, Cedrus deodara (Roxb.) G. Don (Pinaceae), Juniperus communis L. and Juniperus chinensis L. (Cupressaceae). Anatomically, the leaves of the studied coniferous species are quite similar in the basic structure but diff er somewhat in terms of details. Th e paper presents anatomical information concerning the epidermal cells, the hypodermal cells, the type of mesophyll, the number, size and arrangement of the resin ducts and the distribution of the vascular system elements. Th e leaf anatomical features of the six studied coniferous species are comparatively discussed.

KEY WORDS:  anatomy, Gymnospermae, epidermis, leaf, mesophyll, resin ducts, vascular system

ABSTRACT:  Th is work compares the polyphenolic compounds content in the in vitro shoot cultures of Hypericum rumeliacum, H. tetrapterum and in the hypericin non-producing H. calycinum, which are characteristic for the Balkan fl ora. In addition, the impact of diff erent vitamin supplementation to culture medium on secondary metabolites is discussed. Th ough Gamborg’s vitamins supplementation improved growth parameters in vitro, it resulted in reduced polyphenolics levels in comparison with Murashige and Skoog’s vitamins. Preliminary experiments on cryopreservation of H. rumeliacum which were previously performed, gave low rates of plant survival. Th erefore, as a part of a broader study for improving the approach for cryopreservation of H. rumeliacum, phenolics accumulation, total soluble sugars content as well as malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide content were studied during preculture treatment prior to dehydratation and liquid nitrogen immersion and results are discussed in this work.

KEY WORDS:  Hypericum rumeliacum, H. tetrapterum, H. calycinum, shoot cultures, polyphenolics, cryopreservation..

ABSTRACT: A list of the rare and threatened vascular plants from the terrestrial coastal zone of Dobrogea between Cape Midia (Romania) and Cape Kaliakra (Bulgaria) are given in the paper. Some considerations regarding the Red Data categories from the Romanian Red List and the Red Data Book of Republic of Bulgaria are also provided. A special attention is paid to plant species protected by the national legislations of Romania and Bulgaria and by the international legislation regarding the conservation of wild fl ora. We report from studied area Minuartia bilykiana as new taxa for the Bulgarian fl ora. A lot of local endemic, regional endemic (for Dobrogea) and Balkan endemic taxa from studied area are mentioned in the paper.

KEY WORDS:  rare plants, threatened plants, coastal zone, Black Sea, Dobrogea

ABSTRACT:  The leaf epidermis structure of six Malus species was studied by light and scanning electron microscopy. Special emphasis was put on Malus trilobata (Labill.) C. K. Schneid. Anomocytic stomatal type, diff erent types of simple single trichomes, cuticle ornamentation and waxes were described. An attempt was made to estimate all features of taxonomic value which are relevant for further clarifi cation of the relationships on inter- and intrageneric level within subfamily Maloideae.

KEY WORDS: epidermis structure, cuticle, Malus

Histological and physico-chemical evaluation of Buxus wallichiana Baill
NANDEESH R, KUMAR BSA, LAKSHMAN K, MANOHARA KP, KHAN S &  GANAPATHY S.
Pages 51-56

Full reference | Abstract | Full text PDF

ABSTRACT:  Buxus wallichiana Baill, belongs to family Buxaceae. Traditionally Buxus wallichiana is used as bittertonic, diaphoretic, anti-rheumatic, vermifuge, antihelmentic, analgesic, purgative, diuretic, antiepileptic, antileprotic and in hemorrhoids. Th is paper deals with the macroscopic, microscopic and powdered studies of Buxus wallichiana wood, along with this physical constants like ash values and extractive values and preliminary phytochemical analysis were studied. Preliminary phytochemical analysis shows the presence of steroids, alkaloids, fl avonoids.

KEY WORDS:  Buxus wallichiana, Buxaceae, Antileprotic, Purgative, Diuretic

ABSTRACT: Th e present study describes the antifungal and antioxidant activity of Mentha longifolia (L.) Hudson essential oil. Th is plant is native to Europe, Central Asia and Australia. It is used as carminative, stomachic and stimulant and also in aromatherapy. Th e essential oil profi le was determined by GC and GC-MS. Th e main compounds in the oil were trans-dihydrocarvone (23.64%), piperitone (17.33%) and cis-dihydrocarvone (15.68%). Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentrations (MFC) were recorded using the microdilution method. Commercial antimicotic bifonazol was used as a control. Th e concentration of 10 µl/ml showed fungicidal activity against Aspergillus and Fusarium species, Penicillium funiculosum and Trichoderma viride. Concentration of 5 µl/ml was effi cient against Trichophyton menthagrophytes and yeast Candida albicans. Th e most sensitive micromycetes were Cladosporium fulvum, C. cladosporium cladosporioides and Penicillium ochrochloron where concentration of 2.5 µl/ml was lethal. Th e antioxidant activity of essential oil was evaluated by means of the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazil (DPPH) radical scavenging method. Th e essential oil of M. longifolia was able to reduce DPPH radicals into the DPPH-H form, and this activity was dose-dependent. Th e oil exhibited signifi cant potential for antioxidant activity, and reduced DPPH to 50% (IC50=0,659 ml/ml of solution).

KEY WORDS:  Mentha longifolia, essential oil, antifungal, antioxidant activity, DPPH.

ABSTRACT:  The existence of structural heterozygosity for reciprocal translocations in the wild diploid (n=9) accession of Artemisia parvifl ora collected from the Parvati Valley in Kullu district, Himachal Pradesh, India is reported for the fi rst time. Th e other two Indian accessions studied from Pangi Valley in Chamba district and Pulga, 2300m in Parvati Valley depict normal meiosis with the presence of nine bivalents, regular segregation of chromosomes during anaphases and almost a hundred percent pollen fertility. We studied in detail the male meiosis in pollen mother cells (PMC) and pollen fertility in the accessions showing structural heterozygosity. Th e PMCs exhibited abnormal meiosis due to the presence of multivalents in 62.92% of the analyzed 213 PMCs. A total of 12.31% of the chromosomes are observed to be involved in multivalents and 2.35% remained as univalents. In spite of the presence of multivalents and early/late disjunction of few bivalents, the chromosomes in PMCs are regularly segregated to poles at A-I/A-II resulting into normal tetrad formation. Th e structural rearrangements of chromosomes in A. parvifl ora are responsible for causing some pollen malformation (30%) as has been the case in other species. Another eff ect of structural heterozygosity is the increase in chiasma frequency per PMC from 10.75-12.40. Key words: Artemisia parvifl ora, chiasma frequency, multivalents, reciprocal

KEY WORDS:  Artemisia parviflora, chiasma frequency, multivalents, reciprocal translocations, structural heterozygosity.

ABSTRACT:  Phytosociological characteristics of chasmophitic communities on subalpine serpentine cliff s of Kopaonik Mountain were analysed according to Braun-Blanquet methodology. In order to detect purely fl oristic diff erentiation of analysed communities we applied ordinary Correspondence Analysis (CA). Relationship between vegetation and environment was assessed using the Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA), while classifi cation of sites was performed using UPGMA method and chord distance. All analyses were performed using the latest version of the “FLORA” package. According to fl oristic and ecological characteristics, analysed chasmophitic communities on serpentine cliff s of Kopaonik Mountain is divided in three new associations: Edraiantho jugoslavici- Festucetum pancicianae ass. nova, Silenetum serbicae ass. nova and Musco-Jovibarbetum kopaonikense ass. nova.

KEY WORDS: 

chasmophitic communities, serpentine, ordination, classifi cation, Serbia