Bacterial endophytes are known to protect Vitis vinifera L. against various harmful effects of the environment and support its growth. However, for the most part, biochemical responses of such co-existence have not yet been fully elucidated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFplants are used both as food supplements and as cosmetic and medicinal products. The objectives of this work consisted of preparing extracts from leaves and flowers of eight plants, and of determining concentrations of magnolol (1 to 100 mg·g), honokiol (0.11 to 250 mg·g), and obovatol (0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiochar (BC) was characterized as a new carbonaceous material for the adsorption of toluene from water. The tested BC was produced from pine wood gasification, and its sorption ability was compared with that of more common carbonaceous materials such as activated carbon (AC). Both materials were characterized in terms of textural features and sorption abilities by kinetic and equilibrium tests.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) has been shown to reduce HM (heavy metal) content in soil, its wider phytoremediation potential has been neglected. Urtica dioica was cultivated in soils contaminated with HMs or polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). After four months, up to 33% of the less chlorinated biphenyls and 8% of HMs (Zn, Pb, Cd) had been removed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDegradation of selected organochlorinated pesticides (γ-hexachlorocyclohexane - γ-HCH, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane - DDT, hexachlorobenzene - HCB) by soil microorganisms was studied. Bacterial strains isolated from contaminated soil from Klatovy-Luby, Hajek and Neratovice, Czech Republic, capable of growth on the selected pesticides were isolated and characterised. These isolates were subjected to characterisation and identification by MS MALDI-TOF of whole cells and sequence analysis of 16S rRNA genes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGenetically modified plants can serve as an efficient tool for remediation of diverse dangerous pollutants of the environment such as pesticides, heavy metals, explosives and persistent organic compounds. Transgenic lines of Nicotiana tabacum containing bacterial bphC gene from the degradation pathway of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were tested. The product of the bphC gene - enzyme 2,3-dihydroxybiphenyl-1,2-dioxygenase is responsible for cleaving of the biphenyl ring.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDegradation of chlorobenzoic acids (e.g., products of microbial degradation of PCB) by strains of microorganisms isolated from PCB contaminated soils was assessed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTobacco seedlings (Nicotiana tabacum var. xanthi) were treated for 24 h with mono-(2- and 3-CBA), di-(2,5- and 3,4-CBA), and tri-(2,4,6- and 2,3,5-CBA)-chlorobenzoic acids (CBAs) and with the mixture of polychlorinated biphenyls--Delor 103, or cultivated for 1 or 2 weeks in soil polluted with the CBAs. DNA damage in nuclei of leaves and roots was evaluated by the comet assay.
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