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Thymus cilicicus is an endemic Eastern Mediterranean element that has aromatic-medicinal properties. Its natural population spreads across gravelly ground and open rocky areas of South and Southwest Anatolia. The current study on in vitro propagation of T. cilicicus focused deeply on environmental applications such as the development of an optimum medium composition for efficient and genetically stable micropropagation and improved preservation procedures for long-time conservation of elite germplasms for further studies. For this purpose, MS and OM media were used individually and in combination with cytokinins, charcoal, AgNO3, Fe-EDDHA, and H3BO3. The raw data were statistically analyzed via the graph kernel method to optimize the nonlinear relationship between all parameters. The optimal proliferation medium for T. cilicicus was OM supplemented with a combination of 10 g L-1 charcoal and 1 mg L-1 KIN and the calculated averages of the best regeneration rate, the best shoot number and the best shoot length were 96.89%, 3 and 1.24 respectively on this medium. The determination of genetic stability of in vitro grown plants on the optimum medium compositions obtained by the graph kernel method was carried out with the use of the ISSR-PCR technique. All the ISSR primers produced a total of 192 reproductive band profiles, none of which were polymorphic. Furthermore, the micropropagated plants were successfully rooted and acclimatized to greenhouse conditions. In this study, we present a graph kernel multiple propagation index which considers all the possible parameters needing to be analyzed. Such an index is used for the first time for the determination of the optimum proliferation medium.

Cryopreservation is an important technique for the long-term storage of economically important plant germplasm. In this study, an efficient protocol was developed for the long-term conservation of seven economically important Musa taxa: M. acuminata Colla ssp. burmannica N.W. Simmonds, M. acuminata Colla ssp. zebrina (Van Houtte) R.E. Nasution, M. balbisiana Colla, M. basjoo Sieb., M. ornata W. Roxburgh (St. Lavender), M. velutina H. Wendl. et Drude (Velvet Pink Banana), and M. acuminata’ balbisiana. The seeds were dehydrated in a sterile laminar flow cabinet for different exposure times and then they were directly immersed in liquid nitrogen. The critical point was to support the initial germination of cryopreserved seeds and this was achieved by the excision of zygotic embryos after liquid nitrogen treatment that allowed the seed germination. The best moisture content for tolerance to cryopreservation ranged from 15.8% (M. acuminata ssp. zebrina) to 17.1% (M. ornata) and the maximum post-cryopreservation germination rates varied from 86.4% (M. velutina) to 55.0% (M. ornata). All seedlings derived from seeds germinated after cryopreservation were easily rooted and acclimated to greenhouse conditions.

Cancer is the leading cause of death in the world, accounting for nearly 10 million deaths in 2020 alone and surpassing all other categories by a large margin. Several different strategies have been and are still being deployed to combat different types of cancers and among the common clinical approaches are the use of synthetic and natural compounds as anticancer agents within chemotherapy regimens. Thymus cilicicus Boiss. & Bal is a spice endemic to Turkey, the Northern Aegean Islands, Lebanon, and Syria, while several species of the Thymus genus are known to exhibit different clinically valuable properties, the research on T. cilicicus is rather scarce, therefore, in this study, the wound healing properties of in vitro propagated T. cilicicus ethanolic extracts were investigated on murine fibroblast (NIH-3T3), and its anticancer potency was investigated on the human alveolar basal epithelial adenocarcinoma (A549), human breast adenocarcinoma (MDA-MB-213), and human prostate cancer (DU-145) cell lines via colorimetric MTT assays. The wound healing property assessments didn't lead to any significant results, however, T. cilicicus yielded selective and promising anticancer potency on the A549 cell line. Furthermore, molecular docking analyses were on the proteins of 9 genes confirmed to be upregulated in both 3D and 4D A549 cultures against 48 compounds found in the essential oils of T. cilicicus were performed and yielded results acquiescent with previous findings in the scientific literature. This study provides in vitro evidence to the selective anticancer activity of T. cilicicus extracts on A549 cells enhanced with computational evidence on the molecular mechanism involved in this selective activity. This study serves as a precursor for further in vivo and clinical research on the constituents of T. cilicicus as potent anticancer agents and their potential use in cancer therapies.

In the present study, the boron salts effects on the micropropagation of Liquidambar orientalis, a relict-endemic plant species, were investigated and genetic stability of micro-shoots was determined by ISSR marker technique. Especially in species with low salinity and drought tolerance, salt stress may cause physiological and molecular changes such as plant growth and development, increase in secondary metabolite content in response to stress, and somaclonal variation. In this context, three different concentrations of boric acid, sodium perborate, sodium metaborate and disodium octaborate salts were applied to meristems isolated from in vitro clonal propagated L. orientalis and the effects of these boron salts on meristem regeneration and development were evaluated. When compared to the control group samples in which no salt application was applied, the best regeneration percentage was determined as 1mgL-1 disodium octaborate treatment with a value of 100%, while when the shoot forming capacity index was evaluated, 5mgL-1 sodium perborate treatment with a value of 4.94 gave the best results. However, when compared with the mother plant, it was observed that all salt treatments caused somaclonal variation on genetic stability, and in the light of the analyzed data, the lowest 30% (5mgL-1 disodium octaborate) and the highest 49% (1 mgL-1 boric acid) somaclonal variation were determined in all applications.