Transgenic potato lines expressing hairpin RNAi construct of molting-associated EcR gene exhibit enhanced resistance against Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata,Say)

Transgenic Research - Most of the commercialized insect resistant transgenic crops express cry gene(s) isolated from Bacillus thuringiensis; however, intensive cultivation of Bt crops over almost...     

Content Analysis of Printed News Media Related to Drowning Incidents in Turkey

Drowning is a major public health problem in Turkey as it is for other countries. According to the latest statistics, the annual average number of people who drowned in the rivers, lakes, or seas of Turkey is 642. An examination of the language and the presentation style that the media use while covering the news about drowning cases may help us to determine the risk factors of the drowning cases and reduce the number. This study aims to show the awareness level of the Turkish print media on preventing drowning incidents and to discuss the steps to be taken in the Turkish media in order to prevent drowning. To this end, attitudes and presentations of three best-selling newspapers in Turkey—Zaman, Posta, and Hürriyet—and a less-selling one, Cumhuriyet, were studied in accordance with the content analysis method. The results show that the awareness of the Turkish media to prevent drowning incidents is inadequate. The number of drowning cases covered by these newspapers are very few, and they emphasis the forensic aspect of the incidents by using dramatic language without background information.     

Infections of Larval Stages of Dicrocoelium dendriticum and Brachylaima sp. in Brown Garden Snail,Helix aspersa,in Turkey

The aim of this study was to determine the presence and prevalence of larval stages of Dicrocoelium dendriticum and Brachylaima sp. in the first intermediate host, a species of land snail, Helix aspersa, in Turkey. A total of 211 snails were collected in April-May 2014 from pastures in Mersin District. Larval stages of D. dendriticum were identified under a light microscope. Hepatopancreas from naturally infected H. aspersa snails were examined histologically. The prevalence of larval stages of D. dendriticum and Brachylaima sp. in H. aspersa snails was found to be 2.4% and 1.9%, respectively, in Mersin, Turkey. Cercariae were not matured in sporocysts at the beginning of April; however, it was observed that cercariae matured and started to leave sporocysts by early-May. Thus, it was concluded that H. aspersa acts as an intermediate host to D. dendriticumin and Brachylaima sp. in Mersin, Turkey. A digenean trematode Brachylaima sp. was seen for the first time in Turkey.     

Mutation of Androgen Receptor N-Terminal Phosphorylation Site Tyr-267 Leads to Inhibition of Nuclear Translocation and DNA Binding

Reactivation of androgen receptor (AR) may drive recurrent prostate cancer in castrate patients. Ack1 tyrosine kinase is overexpressed in prostate cancer and promotes castrate resistant xenograft tumor growth and enhances androgen target gene expression and AR recruitment to enhancers. Ack1 phosphorylates AR at Tyr-267 and possibly Tyr-363, both in the N-terminal transactivation domain. In this study, the role of these phosphorylation sites was investigated by characterizing the phosphorylation site mutants in the context of full length and truncated AR lacking the ligand-binding domain. Y267F and Y363F mutants showed decreased transactivation of reporters. Expression of wild type full length and truncated AR in LNCaP cells increased cell proliferation in androgen-depleted conditions and increased colony formation. However, the Y267F mutant of full length and truncated AR was defective in stimulating cell proliferation. The Y363F mutant was less severely affected than the Y267F mutant. The full length AR Y267F mutant was defective in nuclear translocation induced by androgen or Ack1 kinase. The truncated AR was constitutively localized to the nucleus. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis showed that it was recruited to the target enhancers without androgen. The truncated Y267F AR mutant did not exhibit constitutive nuclear localization and androgen enhancer binding activity. These results support the concept that phosphorylation of Tyr-267, and to a lesser extent Tyr-363, is required for AR nuclear translocation and recruitment and DNA binding and provide a rationale for development of novel approaches to inhibit AR activity.     

Effects of ammonia and allopurinol on rat hippocampal NMDA receptors

Ammonia is considered to be the main agent responsible for hepatic encephalopathy which progressively leads to altered mental status. N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA) is an ionotropic glutamate receptor, which is involved in synaptogenesis, memory and neurotoxicity. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of ammonia intoxication and allopurinol, a xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibitor, on NMDA receptor subunits, NR2A and NR2B, in the hippocampus of rats. Thirty‐six male rats were divided into three groups (n = 12/group) as follows: (1)control group (phosphate buffered saline (PBS) solution); (2)ammonia group (ammonium acetate, 2.5 mmol/kg), (3)ammonia + allopurinol group (ammonium acetate, 2.5 mmol/kg, allopurinol, 50 mg/kg). Each rat received intraperitoneal injection for 28 days. Western Blotting technique was used for detecting NR2A and NR2B expressions. Both NR2A and NR2B subunit expressions decreased 27 and 11%, respectively, in ammonia group with respect to the control group. Ammonium acetate decreased significantly in NR2A subunit expressions in the hippocampus (p < 0.01). Administration of ammonia + allopurinol caused statistically significant increases in NR2A subunit expressions compared to the ammonia group (p < 0.001). The down‐regulation of NMDA receptors caused by ammonium acetate suggest that these receptors may play role in the process of hepatic encephalopathy and using allopurinol may have some protective effects in ammonia toxicity. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pollen and seed morphology of some<Emphasis Type="Italic">Ophrys</Emphasis> L. (Orchidaceae) taxa

Morphologies of pollen and seed surfaces were investigated with SEM technology for eight natural Ophrys taxa collected from southeastern Mediterranean countries and Turkey. The morphometric characteristics ofO. transhyrcana, O. sphegodes, O. epirotica, O. mammosa, O. pseudomammosa, O. oestrifera subsp.oestrifera, O. cornuta, andO. apifera were recorded and compared statistically. In general, the current species could be separated, in detail, according to those characteristics. These findings were also compared with those from recent studies, and were examined in terms of the present neighbouring taxa.