Genetic Structure of Native Blue Honeysuckle Populations in the Western and Eastern Eurasian Ranges.

Blue honeysuckle ( L.) is a promising berry crop producing edible early-ripening berries with a valuable chemical composition. We evaluated the genetic diversity of native populations from the western (Baltic states) and eastern (the Russian Far East and Japan) edges of the Eurasian range using inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) and chloroplast DNA (A-H and L-F) markers.

Genetic Diversity of Aquatic (, Ranunculaceae) in One River Basin Caused by Hybridization.

Aquatic (sect. ) include homophyllous and heterophyllous plants. The development of floating leaves may be induced by genetic mechanisms or/and environmental conditions and this fact complicates the morphologically based identification of species.

Cyto/genotoxicological evaluation of hot spots of soil pollution using Allium bioassays in relation to geochemistry.

Soil from industrial and landfill sites affected by anthropogenic activity was screened for implicit negative effects in an Allium test-system in relation to geochemistry. The concentrations of 15 elements were compared to the ecotoxicologically-based soil guideline values. Admitted geoindices were used to classify test-soils according to risk/hazard categories.

Evaluation of the Inter- and Intrahospital Spread of Multidrug Resistant Gram-Negative Bacteria in Lithuanian Hospitals.

Spread of multidrug-resistant pathogenic bacteria became one of the greatest threats in healthcare worldwide. It is generally accepted that both inter- and intrahospital transmissions of these bacteria contribute significantly to this problem. The purpose of the current study was the evaluation of the inter- and intrahospital spread of multidrug resistant Gram-negative pathogenic bacteria in Lithuania.

Response of Tradescantia plants to oxidative stress induced by heavy metal pollution of soils from industrial areas.

Numerous investigations have demonstrated that even soil in which concentrations of individual elements do not exceed permissible limits can cause harmful effects in living organisms. In the present study, polluted-soil-induced oxidative stress was evaluated using Tradescantia clone 4430, which is widely used for genotoxicity evaluations, employing biochemical (superoxide dismutase (SOD), contents of ascorbic acid (AA), carotenoids (Car), hydrogen peroxide (HO), chlorophyll (Chl) a/b ratio), and molecular (RAPD and differential display (DD-PCR)) markers after long-term exposure. The activity (staining intensity) of SOD isoforms in Tradescantia leaves was higher in plants grown in all heavy-metal-polluted test soils compared to the control.

Metal bioaccumulation and mutagenesis in a Tradescantia clone following long-term exposure to soils from urban industrial areas and closed landfills.

Soil mutagens, particularly metals, may persist long after the source of pollution has been removed, representing a hazard to plants, animals, and humans in or near contaminated areas. Often, due to urban growth, previous land uses may be forgotten and hazards overlooked. We exposed Tradescantia clone #4430 plants to soil from two industrial areas (with different former uses) and two urban waste landfills in the city of Vilnius, all of which were long disused.

Inherited phenotype instability of inflorescence and floral organ development in homeotic barley double mutants and its specific modification by auxin inhibitors and 2,4-D.

Background And Aims: Barley (Hordeum vulgare) double mutants Hv-Hd/tw2, formed by hybridization, are characterized by inherited phenotypic instability and by several new features, such as bract/leaf-like structures, long naked gaps in the spike, and a wide spectrum of variations in the basic and ectopic flowers, which are absent in single mutants. Several of these features resemble those of mutations in auxin distribution, and thus the aim of this study was to determine whether auxin imbalances are related to phenotypic variations and instability. The effects of auxin inhibitors and 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid) on variation in basic and ectopic flowers were therefore examined, together with the effects of 2,4-D on spike structure.

Use of Tradescantia clone 4430 for direct long-term soil mutagenicity studies.

Soil mutagens permanently and directly affect terrestrial plants, soil microorganisms and invertebrates and indirectly impact vertebrate and human populations. However, the dynamic response to soil mutagens under conditions of long-term exposure has been studied insufficiently. The clonal nature of Tradescantia #4430 and the well-developed associated test systems for evaluation of genotoxicity allow investigation of the permanent effects of direct exposure to the soil not only on plants of the same genotype, but even with the same individual plants, as was done in the present study.

Influence of cobalt uptake by Vicia faba seeds on chlorophyll morphosis induction, SOD polymorphism, and DNA methylation.

Vicia faba plants show polymorphism to cobalt (Co) excess, expressed by a different degree of chlorophyll morphosis (CM)-from normally green (N) to yellow (Y) seedlings. For superoxide dismutase (SOD), the high V. faba polymorphism was revealed and increased by Co stress.

Soil-surface genotoxicity of military and urban territories in Lithuania, as revealed by Tradescantia bioassays.

The soil surface is a major natural system that accumulates pollutants and allows researchers to disclose the history and the present state of contamination of an area with toxic pollutants. This conclusion is based on the comparison of genotoxicity of aqueous extracts and DMSO extracts of topsoil from military territories in various locations left behind after the retreat of the Soviet Army from Lithuania, and several sites in the city of Vilnius, characterized by different history and current traffic intensity. The specific character of the soil-surface contamination was shown in a series of Tradescantia micronucleus (Trad-MN) and stamen-hair mutation (Trad-SHM) bioassays and tests.

The genetic diversity of barley cultivars from the Baltic States and Belarus, as determined by RAMPs.

A Random Amplified Microsatellite Polymorphism (RAMP) analysis was carried out on 30 barley cultivars from the Baltic states and Belarus. Seven primer combinations produced 60 polymorphic DNA fragments ranging in size from 54 b to 400 b. A Genetic Distance coefficient (GDxy) matrix was generated and a dendrogram constructed using cluster analysis of the unweighted pair-group method of arithmetic averages (UPGMA).