The use of plants in treatments has been as old as humanity and it has preserved its popularity for centuries til now because of their availability, affordability and safeness. However, despite their widespread use, safety and quality issues have been major concerns in the world due to industrial- and anthropogenic-based heavy metal contamination risks. Thus, this study was attempted to analyze the heavy metal levels and mineral nutrient status of widely used medicinal plants in Turkey to have insights about their health implications on humans. The plant concentrations of B, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb and Zn were analyzed by ICP-OES in the leaves of 44 medical plants purchased from herbal markets of three different districts of Istanbul/Turkey. The measured lowest to highest concentrations were 0.065-79.749 mg kg B, 921.802-12,854.410 mg kg Ca, 0.020-0.558 mg kg Cd, 0.015-4.978 mg kg Cr, 0.042-8.489 mg kg Cu, 34.356-858.446 mg kg Fe, 791.323-15,569.349 mg kg K, 102.236-2837.836 mg kg Mg, 4.915-91.519 mg kg Mn, 10.224-3213.703 mg kg Na, 0.001-5.589 mg kg Ni, 0.003-3.636 mg kg Pb and 2.601-36.102 mg kg Zn. Those levels in plants were in acceptable limits though some elements in some plants have high limits which were not harmful. Variations (above acceptable limits) in element concentrations also indicated that these plants could be contaminated with other metals and that genetic variations may influence accumulation of these elements at different contents. Overall, analyzed medicinal plants are expected not to pose any serious threat to human health.

Boron (B) is an essential plant micronutrient but studies regarding its transport are still limited to a few plants. This work identified two major B transport sequences in plants, NIP5;1 boric acid channel protein and BOR1 transporter. 80 BOR1 and 34 NIP5;1 homologs were identified in 18 different plant genomes. BOR1 homologs had a HCO3-transporter domain, 649-737 aminoacid residues with mainly basic nature, putative 8-11 transmembrane domains (TMDs) and 11-13 exons. NIP5;1 homologs had a MIP family domain, 294-311 amino-acid residues with basic nature, 5-6 putative TMDs and 3-5 exons. Tyrosine-based motif, acidic di-leucine motif and lysine residue, reported for polarity, vacuolar sorting and B-dependent degradation, were identified in BOR1 homologs. Two NPA motifs and an ar/R selectivity filter with AIGR residues, reportedly essential in B transport, were also found in NIP5;1 homologs. Two NPA motifs in AtNIP5;1 and OsNIP3;1 homologs were NPS and NPV, whereas in sequences homologous to AtNIP6;1 were NPA/V. Besides, ar/R selectivity filters were identified with A(N/S/T)IGR residues in NIP5;1 and NIP3;1 homologs. The BOR1 and NIP5;1 model structures were mainly conserved. Under different perturbations, Arabidopsis thaliana NIP5;1 and NIP6;1 genes demonstrated similar expression patterns although they act in different tissues, suggesting a common regulatory mechanism, whereas BOR1 showed a different expression pattern. BOR1 was substantially expressed in primary root, radicle and flower; NIP5;1 in primary root and roots, and NIP6;1 in petiole. NIP5;1, 6;1 and BOR1 expression in other plant organs implied their involvement in different pathways in addition to B uptake and its mobilization.

The fields in which lead (Pb) finds application in the modern world have increased dramatically in recent years. As a consequence of this intensive utilization of Pb, its toxicity tends to pose more and more environmental problems. The aim of this study was to evaluate the genotoxic potential of Pb and to characterize some physiological parameters in Secale cereale under Pb stress. Plants were subjected to different exposure levels of Pb (0, 100, 200 and 400 mmol/L) for two weeks. At the end of the experimental period, the effects of Pb exposure on the photosynthetic pigments content (chlorophyll a and b, total chlorophyll, chlorophyll a/b and carotenoids) and genetic material of S. cereale were studied. To evaluate the genotoxic effect of Pb, random amplified polymorphic DNA À polymerase chain reaction (RAPD-PCR) was employed. The obtained results showed alteration in the photosynthetic pigments content and RAPD-PCR profiles of S. cereale grown in the presence of Pb. The alterations in the RAPD-PCR profiles following Pb treatments appeared to be losses of normal bands and occurrences of new bands compared to unexposed plantlets. Overall, the content of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll and carotenoids decreased by 6.68%, 6.08%, 2.89% and 8.57%, respectively, under severe Pb stress (400 mmol/L).

T ve B hücreleri, omurgalılarda adaptif veya edinilmiş bağışıklık sisteminin bir parçasıdır. Bu hücreler, yüzeylerinde bir antijen reseptörü, antijenlerin tanınmasından sorumlu T hücresi reseptörü (TCR) veya B hücresi reseptörü/ İmmünoglobulin (Ig) eksprese eder. Büyük doku uyum kompleksi (MHC) proteinleri tüm yüksek omurgalılarda bulunur İnsanlarda bu komplekse insan lökosit antijen (HLA) sistemi adı verilmiştir. MHC sınıf I ve II molekülleri peptit reseptörleri olarak kabul edilebilir ve bu kompleks, T hücresi reseptörü tarafından tanınabilir. MHC molekülleri sadece T hücrelerine peptitler sunmakla kalmaz, aynı zamanda birkaç doğal öldürücü hücre (NK) reseptörü için de ligand olarak görev yaparlar . MHC-I'in birçok hücrede çok fazla ekspresyonu nedeniyle, NK hücreleri bu reseptörlerle etkileşimler yoluyla sağlıklı dokuya karşı sessiz kalır. Yeni tekniklerin sayesinde, diğer yaşam bilimleri gibi immünogenetik, veri açısından zengin bir dönemine girmiştir.Yeni yüksek verimlilikteki veriler, bağışıklık sisteminin karmaşık yapılarını incelememizi sağlar. Bununla birlikte, bunu doğru bir şekilde yapmak, biyoinformatistlerin ve hesaplamalı biyologların immünologlarla yakın işbirliği içinde çalıştığı disiplinler arası bir yaklaşımı gerektirir.

Objective: This study aims to prove that analyzing the hypervariable I (HV-I) and HV-II regions of mitochondrial DNA using 150 blood samples from Canis lupus familiaris would be an important source of evidence in solving an incident. Materials and Methods: The target region was amplified in the first and second polymerase chain reaction step following DNA isolation and the purification process was performed. As for the sequence analysis, it was analyzed in the ABI3130 capillary electrophoresis device. The analysis of raw data was performed. The results obtained were compared with the reference sequence. 16,658 (13.71%), and 16,676 (4.03%) of the region HV-II were identified for the first time. Conclusions: This study is a first of its kind in the field of forensic science in Turkey; however, the run time and cost were reduced via optimization in a different way as compared to the methods used in international publications.