Intensive space exploration includes profound investigations on the effect of weightlessness and cosmic radiation on plant growth and development. Tomato seeds are often used in such experiments though up to date the results have given rather vague information about biochemical changes in mature plants grown from seeds subjected to spaceflight. The effect of half a year of storage in the International Space Station (ISS) on tomato seeds (cultivar Podmoskovny ranny) was studied by analyzing the biochemical characteristics and mineral content of mature plants grown from these seeds both in greenhouse and field conditions. A significant increase was recorded in ascorbic acid, polyphenol and carotenoid contents, and total antioxidant activity (AOA), with higher changes in the field conditions compared to greenhouse. Contrary to control plants, the ones derived from space-stored seeds demonstrated a significant decrease in root AOA. The latter plants also showed a higher yield, but lower content of fruit dry matter, sugars, total dissolved solids and organic acids. The fruits of plants derived from space-stored seeds demonstrated decreased levels of Fe, Cu and taste index. The described results reflect the existence of oxidative stress in mature tomato plants as a long-term consequence of the effect of spaceflight on seed quality, whereas the higher yield may be attributed to genetic modifications.

Changes of AO status parameters and oxidative damages in cell structures are related to tumor processes indicating the augmentation of oxidative stress in human blood. This study demonstrated potential applicability of a statistical model based on the evaluated biomarkers of oxidative stress to determine a smoking-induced harm of cancer incidence in healthy subjects.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, recurrent, inflammatory, immune-mediated dermatosis. Approximately 10%-20% of children and 1%-3% of adults suffer from this disease in developed countries. [1][2][3] AD generally develops in individuals with a polygenic inherited predisposition under the influence of external and internal triggers and is accompanied by several immunological complications. [4][5][6] Many loci affecting genetic predisposition to AD have been identified. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13] However, it is impossible to explain the predisposition to AD by only considering its genetic component. The mechanisms underlying the interaction between genetic and environmental factors in the development of AD are not yet fully understood. However, alterations in DNA methylation status have been discussed as a possible cause for the manifestation of many dermatoses. [14] The involvement of epigenetic misregulation in disease pathology has been observed in the skin and/or blood of patients with psoriasis, [15] systemic lupus erythematosus [16][17][18] and vitiligo. [19] Studies on DNA methylation in AD are rare. It is known that the DNA methylation profile of T-lymphocytes differs in patients with AD and psoriasis. [20] Some studies have shown significant differences in the DNA methylation status of individual immune

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Haploid plants with a doubled set of chromosomes (doubled haploid (DH)) significantly speed up the selection process by the fixation of genetic traits in each locus in the homozygous state within one generation. Doubled haploids are mainly attained by the formation of plants from the cultured gametophytic (haploid) tissues and cells in vitro, or by targeted reduction in the parent chromosome during intra- or interspecific hybridization. Since then, DH has become one of the most powerful tools to support various basic research studies, as well as applied research. This review is focused on the recent development of the production of doubled haploids in vivo and their fundamental bases. The various mechanisms and approaches responsible for the formation of haploids in vivo are discussed, particularly the induction of parthenogenesis by BBM-like proteins, the long constructed Salmon system of wheat, the usage of patatin-like phospholipases MTL/PLA1/NLD, the IG1 system, uniparental genome elimination during interspecific hybridization, and the perspective technology of centromeric histone 3 (CENH3) modification.

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