Anca BUTIUC Keul

Babeș-Bolyai University | UBB · Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology

Plant genome editing tools as Zinc-Finger Nucleases (ZFNs), Trans Activator-Like Effector Nucleases (TALENs), and Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) associated with Cas proteins are offering new possibilities for crop improvement and new insights for functional genomics. In this review, we discuss (i) the new finding...

The expanding antibiotic resistance is becoming a global health and environmental phenomenon. Multiple technologies have been advanced to help to control this phenomenon. One of these, hydrogel production, could prove to be particularly useful in these biological challenges through the development of antimicrobial hydrogels. The most promising stra...

There is a plurality of studies highlighting the beneficial properties of blackcurrant, especially the anti-oxidant ones. These are mainly due to phenols, of which anthocyanins and flavonoids stand out, yet the mechanisms by which the active substances in blackcurrant act are not fully understood. Blackcurrant extract has a complex biochemical comp...

The aim of the present study was to determine the optimum parameters for high regrowth following cryostorage (− 196 °C) of seven endemic and endangered Dianthus species. A cryopreservation approach based on a droplet-vitrification protocol was successfully applied using explants (shoot apices and axillary buds) from a collection of in vitro grown D...

In the present study it was investigated the chemical and microbiological quality of eight private wells located in Lazuri village (Satu Mare County – NW of Romania). A total of 48 samples were collected during six sampling campaigns (April, June, July, October, November and December 2018). The investigated physicochemical parameters were pH, redox...

The increasing anthropogenic pressure, the uncontrolled use of antimicrobial agents and antibiotic consumption, as well as the free movement of population and goods are the main factors facilitating the emergence and global invasion of versatile pathogens. Microbial consortia integrating the urban water cycle represent important vehicles for dissem...

The spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global concern, high research priority being given to the environmental contamination, as the prevalence of organisms exhibiting AMR continues to increase. Multiresistant bacteria carrying different mobile genetic elements have been detected in sites with different degrees of urbanization, surface w...

Genetic stability of in vitro plants should be assessed in order to develop proper programs of conservation. Such conservation programs could be developed only after evaluation of genetic variability in the natural populations and the genetic stability or somaclonal variability after conservation. In case of valuable economic plants as fruit trees,...

Dianthus spiculifolius Schur is an endemic and endangered plant species from Romania with high ornamental value. SSR markers were used to investigate the genetic structure of in situ populations of this species and also for study the genetic stability of in vitro plants. The molecular studies showed that the two populations are similar, and there a...

Biofilms are the predominant mode of microbial growth in drinking water systems. A dynamic exchange of individuals occurs between the attached and planktonic populations, while lateral gene transfer mediates genetic exchange in these bacterial communities. Integrons are important vectors for the spread of antimicrobial resistance. The presence of c...

Efficient micropropagation and cryopreservation of Hypericum richeri ssp. transsilvanicum, an endemic species in Romania, and Hypericum umbellatum, a rare and endangered Daco-Balkan species, was achieved. The effects of type of explant and cytokinin on in vitro plant regeneration were investigated. Shoot organogenesis was achieved in all explants,...

The aim of the present study was to examine soil samples from various vegetation zones in terms of physicochemical properties, microbial communities, and isolation and identification (by polymerase chain reaction and transmission electron microscopy) of bacteria producing poly-β-hydroxybutyrates (PHBs). Soil samples were analysed originating from z...

In vitro tissue culture protocols were tested for propagation of Echinacea purpurea, Echinacea pallida and Echinacea angustifolia in order to obtain biomass for the production of cichoric acid, which is the major active compound in the Echinacea extracts. The in vitro culture process was initiated by seed germination on half-strength Murashige and...

The goal of this study was to evaluate the suitability of the hilA, agfA, spvC and sef genes amplification by PCR as a method for detection of Salmonella strains. Twenty nine isolates of Salmonella spp. including 6 different serotypes were analyzed in this study. The bacteria were isolated between 2005 and 2007 and serotyped at the Clinical Hospita...

The goal of this study was to determine the presence of the genes implicated in resistance to agents used for chemotherapy of infectious diseases caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Twenty seven P. aeruginosa isolates from the Clinical Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, were analyzed. The bacteria were isolated over two years p...

The aim of the present study was to develop a PCR assay for identification of antibiotic resistance genes at Staphylococcus aureus clinical isolates. Thirty five isolates from the Emergency County Hospital and Clinical Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, were analyzed. The bacteria were isolated over two years period, in 2007...

Nitrogen fixing microbial consortia from soil samples taken from five altitudinal vegetation zones (alpine, subalpine, coniferous, beech, Maleia flood plain) of Parâng Massif, Romania, were isolated and identified. Molecular characterisation of nitrogen fixing consortia was carried out by PCR and nested PCR with 7 primer sets specific to nifH genes...

The present work aimed to evaluate the expression of several enzymatic systems in apple (Malus domestica Borkh., cvs. Florina, Romus3, Romus4, Colmar, Rebra, Goldrush, Idared) plants grown in vitro in comparison with the in vivo donor plants. In vitro culture was established on Murashige and Skoog (1962) basal medium supplemented with Lee and Fossa...

The aim of present paper was to study the influence of different pH values on activity of nitrogen fixing strains isolated from five altitudinal vegetation zones of Parâng Massif (Central Romania). The effect of varying the pH on growth and development of Azotobacter strains as well as on the products of molecular nitrogen fixation was surveyed. Th...

Twenty two grapevine cultivars were genotyped at six microsatellite loci (VVMD5, VVMD7, VVMD27, VVS2, VrZAG62, VrZAG79) in order to characterize their genetic diversity and to establish the maintenance of their identity and purity throughout two different national germplasm collections and one private collection from Romania. A total of 62 alleles...

Six cave material samples from Dârninii Cave, Bihor Mountains, were microbiologically andenzymologically analyzed. The microbiological analyses consisted in determining the presence ofoligotrophs, aerobic heterotrophs, ammonifiers, nitrate and nitrite bacteria, denitrifiers and determining thepresence of micromycetes. In order to form a complete im...

Two coniferous tree species, Norway spruce [Picea abies L. (Karst)] and silver fir (Abies alba Mill.), from Maramures Mountains Nature Park, in northern Romania, were examined by means off allozyme markers. For Norway spruce, the genetic structure was observed at 19 enzyme coding loci in two populations situated at different elevations above the se...

The biotechnology of in vitro culture is increasingly used as part of ex situ and in situ programmes for the conservation of a number of plant species that are endemic, endangered, vulnerable or rare. Dianthus pyrenaicus Pourr. it is mentioned in Flora Europaea as en endemism for the French south part and the Spanish north-east part of the Pyrenean...

Multiplication of Gentiana punctata was obtained from seedlings inoculated into MS medium supplemented with different growth regulators and maize extract. Media supplemented with 2iP or zeatin and IBA ensure a low multiplication. Plant multiplication was slightly improved by addition of maize extract to the culture media. Rhysogenesis was not obtai...

Micropropagation of Arnica montana L. using Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with N6-[2-isopentenyl]adenine (2iP), zeatin and α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) in different concentrations does not ensure the formation of a high number of regenerated plants; a maximum of 3.2 neoplantlets per explant were obtained. After 4 wk of culture on m...