Matrix metalloproteinases 2 and 9 (MMP2 and MMP9) are proteolytic enzymes involved with extracellular matrix degradation. They play a role in tumor invasion and metastases. Be- cause of their ability to degrade signaling molecules presented in extracellular matrix, MMPs contribute to tumor proliferation and apoptosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate expression of MMP2 (latent and both active and latent forms) and MMP9 (active, latent, active and latent forms) in different subtypes of canine lymphomas and their relationship with proliferative (mi- totic index and percentage of Ki67-positive cells) and apoptotic (apoptotic index) markers. Ex- pression of MMPs was assessed immunohistochemically using an immunoreactive score system. Expression of both MMPs was found in all 20 examined lymphomas belonging to six subtypes. Most cases showed a moderate level of all analyzed forms of MMP2 and MMP9. High expres- sion of MMPs was found in single cases. Except for a positive correlation between the active form of MMP9 and the mitotic index for all lymphoma cases, no other correlations between any remaining forms of MMPs and neither proliferative nor apoptotic markers were found, irrespec- tive of whether the analysis encompassed all cases or the most numerous lymphoma subtypes i.e. centroblastic and Burkitt-like. Our results were not able to clearly confirm the influence of MMPs on the proliferation and apoptotic activity of canine lymphoma cells. However, further studies examining MMPs activity by zymography, expression of their inhibitors and other factors in- volved in activation of cell proliferation and apoptosis inhibition are needed to clarify the role of MMPs, especially the active form of MMP9, in the behavior of canine lymphoma cells.

Edible snails are kept in farms in many countries worldwide. As farm animals, they are an object of interest of veterinary studies and applied biology. There is a large demand for tests which would help identify their health and well-being. The objective of this study was to assess the usefulness of determining the concentration of urea in hemolymph as a marker of health of the Lissachatina fulica and Cornu aspersum edible snails. The observation covered snails from four farms marked from A to D, in which numerous deaths (farm A) and decreased body weight gain (farms B and C) were observed. In experimental farm D we observed a group of snails subjected to stress and a control group maintained in correct conditions. High concentrations of urea were found in the hemolymph of all farm animals from farms A, B and C, as well as in those subjected to food deprivation in farm D (on average from 96 mg/dl in farm D to 320 mg/dl in farm A). On the other hand, in controls from group D, the concentration of the parameter in question was much lower (< 2.0 mg/dl). The results obtained indicate that the urea concentration is a non-specific marker of pathological conditions in snails, and that the continuous monitoring of this parameter makes it possible to demonstrate irregularities in farming and introduce appro- priate and early measures to eliminate such disturbances.

Number of trace compounds (called biomarkers), which occur in human breath, provide an information about individual feature of the body, as well as on the state of its health. In this paper we present the results of experiments about detection of certain biomarkers using laser absorption spectroscopy methods of high sensitivity. For NO, OCS, C₂H₆, NH₃, CH₄, CO and CO(CH₃)₂ an analysis of the absorption spectra was performed. The influence of interferents contained in exhaled air was considered. Optimal wavelengths of the detection were found and the solutions of the sensors, as well as the obtained results were presented. For majority of the compounds mentioned above the detection limits applicable for medicine were achieved. The experiments showed that the selected optoelectronic techniques can be applied for screening devices providing early diseases detection.

Eyespot is one of the most important fungal diseases of the stem base of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The presented study clearly demonstrated that the Pch1 gene was the main effective source for reducing the eyespot disease score in the analyzed winter wheat lines. Nevertheless, Pch1 was present only in 8−9% of the investigated lines. Using an isoenzymatic marker and molecular markers, the presence of the Pch1 gene and lack of the Pch2 gene was identified in six lines. Two lines, SMH 9409 and DL 358/13/4, were polymorphic in an isoenzymatic marker study. In the remaining three lines, C 3373/11-1, KBH 15.15 and KBP 1416, the Pch1 gene was identified only with the use of an isoenzymatic marker. Both genes Pch1 and Pch2, as well as the resistant variety Rendezvous, were found in three lines: DD 248/12, KBP 15.2 and STH 4431. In line DD 708/13, the presence of the Pch1 and Pch2 genes was identified, where the association between the Pch1 and the locus of the Xorw5 marker was broken. It was shown that the presence or absence of Pch1 and Pch2 genes did not significantly affect the grain yield (from the plot), although the yield was highest in the presence of both genes. A significant effect of the presence of the Pch1 gene on thousand kernel weight (TKW) was observed. Lines with the Pch1 gene showed significantly higher TKW values than lines without both genes or with the Pch2 gene only.

Barley scald, caused by Rhynchosporium commune is one of the most prevalent diseases in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) worldwide. The primary loss from scald is reduced yield, which can exceed 25% in dry areas. In our earlier studies, we developed a low-resolution linkage map for recombinant inbred lines of the cross Tadmor/WI2291. Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for scald were localized on chromosomes 2H and 3H flanked by Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) markers HVM54 and Bmac0093b on 2H and HVLTPP8, HVM62 and Bmag0006 on 3H. These chromosome 3H markers were found to be located close to the Rrs1 − R. commune resistance gene(s) on chromosome 3H. In this study, 10 homozygous resistant and 10 homozygous susceptible plants each from the F7 population of Tadmor/ Sel160, a panel of 23 barley varieties used routinely in the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) breeding program and three populations were used for scald resistance screening using 25 DNA markers that are located very close to scald resistance gene(s) on barley chromosomes. Only five of those markers clearly discriminated co-dominantly between resistant and susceptible plants. These markers, Ebmac0871- SSR, HVS3-SCAR, Bmag0006-SSR, reside on different arms of barley chromosome 3H. Ebmac871 is localized on the short arm of 3H and HVS3 and Bmag0006 are localized on the long arm of 3H. This result indicates that the scald resistance genes which they tag are probably close to the centromeric region of this chromosome. Scald resistance from several sources map to the proximal region of the long arm of chromosome 3H, forming the complex Rrs1 locus. The availability of highly polymorphic markers for the discrimination of breeding material would be extremely useful for barley breeders to select for the trait at the DNA level rather than relying on phenotypic expression and infection reaction.

This communication reports detection of somaclonal variation among tissue culture-raised plants of Amorphophallus rivieri Durieu, an economically important crop in China, with high content of glucomannan in its corms. A population of regenerated plants was obtained from a single donor plant of A. rivieri via corm organogenesis, and 28 plants were randomly selected as a representative sample and subjected to analysis of somaclonal variation using inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers. Of the 26 ISSR primers screened, 13 gave distinct and reproducible band patterns, yielding 131 bands with an average of 10.1 bands per primer. Ten primers were polymorphic and generated 16 polymorphic bands with 12.2% mean polymorphism. Based on the ISSR data from the regenerated plants and the donor plant, Jaccard's similarity coefficients were calculated; they ranged from 0.961 to 1.000 with a mean of 0.982. A dendrogram was constructed using the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (Upgma); it showed that a majority of regenerated plants (including the donor plant) clustered closely, with a mean similarity coefficient of 0.987. Low somaclonal variation observed in the regenerated plants indicates that rapid propagation of A. rivieri via corm organogenesis is a practicable method with a low risk of genetic instability.

The aim of the present study was to determine changes in oxidative status in plasma of sows during periparturient period using markers of lipid and protein peroxidation intensity. Plasma from 12 pregnant gilts collected on days 14 and 1 before parturition and on days 1, 7 and 14 postpartum was used in the study. As indicators of alterations in the oxidative status, plasma concentrations of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and sulphydryl groups (SH groups) were measured spectrophotometrically, as well as plasma concentrations of bityrosine and formylokinurenine were determined by the spectrofluorimetric method. Compared to the 14th day antepartum, the concentration of TBARS increased significantly on day 1 postpartum and then decreased significantly on days 7 and 14 after parturition. The concentration of SH groups increased significantly on the last day before parturition and decreased significantly on day 14 postpartum. The concentration of bityrosine increased significantly on the last day before parturition and decreased significantly on days 7 and 14 postpartum. The concentration of formylokinurenine increased significantly on the last day before parturition, remained at this level on the first day after parturition and then decreased slightly on days 7 and 14 postpartum. These results indicate that during periparturient period in sows, especially around the parturition, the oxidative/antioxidative balance is disturbed, which leads to oxidative stress. Considering that oxidative stress is potentially harmful for mothers and neonates, this may be an important factor in the increased risk of diseases occurring during this period.

Rare and endemic plant species represent important components of plant biodiversity which require protection to ensure their sustainable conservation. Cerastium banaticum (Rochel) Heuff. is such an endemic and rare species from Romania, for which the genetic variability of two natural populations was studied by SSR markers. Shannon’s information index revealed low levels of genetic diversity in both populations (I = 0.296). As the first attempt in a conservation program a reproducible micropropagation protocol was established starting from seeds, followed by multiplication, rooting, and ex vitro acclimatization. Among the various plant growth regulators tested the highest multiplication coefficient was achieved on a culture medium with 0.5 mg L-1 6-furfurylaminopurine (K) and 1 mg L-1 α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA). On this PGRs concentration a number of 26.6 shoots/individual explant with a mean length of 7.9 cm for new generated shoots was registered. The highest number of roots/individual initiated shoot was 2.6 and it was recorded on a culture medium with 0.5 mg L-1 2-isopentyl-adenine (2iP) and 0.1 mg L-1 NAA. The outdoor acclimatization was successfully performed in a specially designed rocky area in the ‘Alexandru Borza’ Botanical Garden, Cluj-Napoca (Romania).

Habitat fragmentation is one of serious threats to biodiversity of nature in today's world. The present study of a typical steppe species Iris pumila L. (Iridaceae) has analyzed the impacts of geographical isolation and population size on genetic diversity and population structure in conditions of habitat fragmentation. The key indices of population genetic variability calculated from the ISSR markers data were on average as follows: Shannon diversity index (S) – 0.188; unbiased Nei’s gene diversity (He) – 0.123; and the average measure of Jaccard’s genetic distances between individuals within populations – 58.4%. Although the largest population had significantly higher values of S and He, the small and marginal populations also showed a comparable level of variation. Most of the genetic variation of I. pumila was distributed within the populations. A strong correlation was found between Nei’s genetic distances and geographic distances between the populations. According to the Bayesian analysis, genetic structure of the populations was highly homogeneous; however, the presence of admixed genotypes indicated the possibility of gene flow between the populations at present.

The aim of this article is to analyze the role of phraseological units (PhUs) in discourse and to investigate their co(n)textual dependency. The paper presents a typology of the lexical and phraseological units, labelled as co(n)textual supports and developed by Olza y Losada (2011): expressions that paraphrase the initial phraseological meaning; expressions that highlight a specific component of this meaning; lexical and phraseological units that are synonymous with the ‘central’ phraseological expression they co-occur with; and lexical and phraseological units that are antonymous with the ‘central’ expression. These units orient and specify the use and interpretation of PhUs. The analysis also focuses on the so-called markers of phraseological units that function as (quasi) PhUs that serve to introduce phraseology within discourse in a (more or less) explicit way and have pragmatic discursive value (cfr. Olza 2013). The last part of the article examines some PhUs whose implicatures can be affected by contextual circumstances and characterized by greater dependence on the general context of the statement despite showing some degree of conventionalization.

Bread wheat is a major food crop on a global scale. Stripe rust, caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici, has become one of the largest biotic stresses and limitations for wheat production in the 21st century. Post 2000 races of the pathogen are more virulent and able to overcome the defense of previously resistant cultivars. Despite the availability of effective fungicides, genetic resistance is the most economical, effective, and environmentally friendly way to control the disease. There are two major types of resistance to stripe rust: all-stage seedling resistance (ASR) and adult-plant resistance (APR). Although both resistance types have negative and positive attributes, ASR generally is race-specific and frequently is defeated by new races, while APR has been shown to be race non-specific and durable over time. Finding genes with high levels of APR has been a major goal for wheat improvement over the past few decades. Recent advancements in molecular mapping and sequencing technologies provide a valuable framework for the discovery and validation of new sources of resistance. Here we report the discovery of a precise molecular marker for a highly durable type of APR – high-temperature adult-plant (HTAP) resistance locus in the wheat cultivar Louise. Using a Louise × Penawawa mapping population, coupled with data from survey sequences of the wheat genome, linkage mapping, and synteny analysis techniques, we developed an amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS) marker LPHTAP2B on the short arm of wheat chromosome 2B, which cosegregates with the resistant phenotype. LPHTAP2B accounted for 62 and 58% of phenotypic variance of disease severity and infection type data, respectively. Although cloning of the LPHTAP2B region is needed to further understand its role in durable resistance, this marker will greatly facilitate incorporation of the HTAP gene into new wheat cultivars with durable resistance to stripe rust.