Martin Backor

• Professor
• University of Pavol Jozef Šafárik

In the present work, the phytotoxic effects of secondary metabolites extracted from lichen Ramalina celastri (usnic acid) and lichen Stereocaulon ramulosum (a naturally occurring mixture of atranorin and perlatolic acid, approx. 3:1) on cultures of the aposymbiotically grown lichen photobiont Asterochloris erici were evaluated. Algae were cultivate...

Cyanobacterium Nostoc commune is a filamentous terrestrial prokaryotic organism widely distributed, which suggest its high adaptive potential to environmental or abiotic stress. Physiological parameters and proteomic analysis were performed in two accession of N. commune with the aim to elucidate the differences of physiological trails between dist...

(1) Background: Lichens, as an important part of the terrestrial ecosystem, attract the attention of various research disciplines. To elucidate their ultrastructure, transmission electron microscopy of resin-embedded samples is indispensable. Since most observations of lichen samples are generated via chemical fixation and processing at room temper...

Aquatic habitats are very frequently polluted with different kinds of xenobiotics, including heavy metals. For biomonitoring studies of aquatic pollution, algae are frequently used, as they do not contain protective cuticle on the surface of their thalli and can accumulate pollutants over the whole surface of thalli. However, this is a feature of m...

In the cosmetic industry there is an increasing demand for substances obtained from natural sources that can replace synthetic ones. Due to consumer demand for a protective filter with (SPF) labels in sunscreens, moisturizers, face make-up, and lipsticks worldwide, they produce tonnes of such products every year. Many species of cyanobacteria live...

In the present work, we studied the influence of lichen secondary metabolites (evernic acid, orcinol, usnic acid) on selected species of algae: Trebouxia erici, photobiont of lichen Cladonia cristatella producing typical lichen secondary metabolites, Coccomyxa solorinae-saccatae, photobiont of lichen Solorina saccata which does not produce typical...

Lichens are supra-organismal symbiotic systems found in most environments. Environmental factors, such as temperature, altitude, precipitation, UV irradiation, or pathogens, significantly influence the physiology of lichens, and thus their secondary metabolism. The thalli of the same lichen species from different environments exhibit variation in t...

Atranorin (ATR) is one of lichens’ many known secondary metabolites. Most current studies have investigated the various effects of ATR in vitro and only sporadically in vivo. The latest data indicate that ATR may have anxiolytic/antidepressive effects. This study aimed to analyze the potential of ATR in a depression-like state in male Wistar rats....

Natural products include a diverse set of compounds of drug discovery that are currently being actively used to target tumor angiogenesis. In the present study, we evaluated the anti-angiogenic activities of secondary metabolite usnic acid isolated from Usena antarctica. We investigated the in vitro effects on proliferation, migration, and tube for...

Free radicals play a critical role in the chemical processes that occur in all cells. Pharmaceutical companies manufacture a variety of synthetically prepared antioxidants, but it is known that many of these can be carcinogenic. As a result, efforts are being made to find natural antioxidants that do not have these side effects. Lichens may be suit...

Arabidopsis thaliana SYNAPTOTAGMIN 1 (AtSYT1) was shown to be involved in responses to different environmental and biotic stresses. We investigated gas exchange and chlorophyll a fluorescence in Arabidopsis wild-type (WT, ecotype Col-0) and atsyt1 mutant plants irrigated for 48 h with 150 mM NaCl. We found that salt stress significantly decreases n...

Selected locations in four Balkan countries (Serbia, Albania, North Macedonia and Greece) were visited. One hundred and twenty one lichen species were recorded in fourteen locations. Cladonia cervicornis is reported new to Serbia, as well as Cladonia squamosa, Pertusaria leioplaca, Xanthoparmelia angustiphylla and Polycau-liona polycarpa to Albania...

Lichens comprise a number of unique secondary metabolites with remarkable biological activities and have become an interesting research topic for cancer therapy. However, only a few of these metabolites have been assessed for their effectiveness against various in vitro models. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to assess the effect of ext...

Lichens dispose a wide spectrum of bioactive compounds known as secondary metabolites. Their biological effects like antioxidant and antibacterial activities are widely studied. Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) is a novel method where the compounds/substances present in plants are used for reduction of AgNO3instead of toxic chemicals...

Available at selected Slovak libraries. ---- Lichens are symbiotic organisms composed of fungi and algae or cyanobacteria. The individual components thus form unique ecosystem that have no parallel in nature. Presented Handbook of Lichens of Slovakia offers an up-to-date view of lichens occurring in Slovakia. The first volume is devoted to epiphyt...

A completely solid-state mechanochemical approach overcoming the problem with water insolubility of lichen metabolites hampering its classical green synthesis in water is shown herein. Four lichen species (Xanthoria elegans, Cetraria islandica, Usnea antarctica and Leptogium puberulum) and AgNO3 were used as reducing agents and Ag(0) precursor, res...

It is widely accepted that allelopathy among mosses and lichens do exist due to its similar ecological needs, though it is rarely documented. With an aim to test whether there is an effect of allelochemicals to mosses, we grow axenically two moss species (namely Physcomitrella patens and Pohlia drummondii) in controlled conditions and use them to t...

Xanthoria parietina is a common lichen that is widespread around the world. Tolerance of heavy metal pollution in this lichen is well known. Xanthoria parietina contains the secondary metabolite parietin, which protects the photobiont from high UV- radiation. Secondary metabolites of lichens have been found to form complexes with metal cations. In...

Background: Lichens produce a huge diversity of bioactive compounds with several biological effects. Gyrophoric acid (GA) is found in high concentrations in the common lichen Umbilicaria hirsuta, however evidence for biological activity was limited to anti-proliferative activity described on several cancer cell lines. Methods: We developed and v...

Lichens, symbiotic organisms consisting from mycobionts (fungi) and photobionts (algae and/or cyanobacteria), play a substantial role in boreal coniferous forests. They may form thick mat that significantly interferes with young plants, mosses and rest of understory vegetation. Lichens synthesize more than one thousand of secondary metabolites, fro...

Ellis L.T., Almeida L.A., Peralta D.F., Bačkor M., Baisheva E.Z., Bednarek-Ochyra H., Burghardt M., Czernyadjeva I.V., Kholod S.S., Potemkin A.D., Erdağ A., Kırmacı M., Fedosov V.E., Ignatov M.S., Koltysheva D.E., Flores J.R., Fuertes E., Goga M., Guo S.-L., Hofbauer W.K., Kurzthaler M., Kürschner H., Kuznetsova O.I., Lebouvier M., Long D.G., Mamon...

Lichens are globally widespread organisms playing an important role in diverse ecosystems. They produce secondary metabolites, unique compounds, which play many important ecological and biological roles, including their effects on other plants, through allelopathy. Usnic acid is one of the most frequent secondary compounds in thalli of lichens form...

How long does it take a lichen to respond to changes (worsening or improvement) of atmospheric conditions is still discussed. We selected and removed lichen thalli (Flavoparmelia caperata) from sites subject to different intensities of pollution around a landfill in Central Italy and exposed them in a remote unpolluted area for 12 months. The conte...

New national and regional bryophyte records, 55 L. T. Ellis1, O. M. Afonina2, M. Aleffi3, R. L. Andriamiarisoa4, M. Bačkor5, M. Goga5, H. Bednarek-Ochyra6, D. A. Callaghan7, P. Campisi8, M. G. Dia8, M. L. Marino8, J. Enroth9, P. Erzberger10, V. Hugonnot11, E. A. Ignatova12, T. Kiebacher13, J. Kučera14, M. Lebouvier15, G. M. Maria16, S. S¸ tefănut¸1...

Formation of algal or cyanobacterial biofilm is possible on any moist and illuminated surface, usually in streams or nearby humid environment. In Slovakia, there are multiple travertine springs still active. However, only limited information is available. Three of which (Sivá Brada, Bešeňová and Močiar Stankovany) were selected for this work. This...

Availability of water may influence activities of all living organisms, including cyano-bacterial communities. Filamentous cyanobacterium Nostoc commune is well adapted to wide spectrum of ecosystems. For this reason, N. commune had to develop diverse protection strategies due to exposition to regular rewetting and drying processes. Few studies hav...

The interest in distribution of bryophytes in Antarctica has increased in view of global climate warming and its effects in Antarctica. The moss flora of Antarctica is relatively rich, since only a small area (up to 1%) of this continent is not covered by ice. An immense space remains completely bryologically under-recorded. In this paper, we prese...

This study investigated the occurrence of toxicity, expressed as damage to the photosynthetic apparatus, in the aquatic fern Azolla filiculoides and the lichen Xanthoria parietina following treatments with diclofenac at different concentrations (0.1, 1, 10 and 100 mg/L) and different exposure times (24, 48, 72 and 240 h). Measurements of photosynth...

Lichens and mosses often share the same environmental conditions where they compete for substrate and other essential factors. Lichens use secondary metabolites as allelochemicals to repel surrounding plants and potential rivals. In mosses, endoreduplication leads to the occurrence of various ploidy levels in the same individual and has been sugges...

Lišajníky patria medzi organizmy, ktoré často prichádzajú do kontaktu s radiačným stresom. UV-B žiarenie má negatívny dopad na viaceré fyziologické funkcie týchto organizmov. Preto sa u lišajníkov vyvinuli adaptačné mechanizmy, ktorými sa pôsobením škodlivého UV-B žiarenia bránia. Medzi tieto ochranné mechanizmy patri tvorba sekundárnych metabolito...

Lichens present a symbiotic association between two or more organisms. These unique organisms produce many chemical compounds, known as secondary metabolites or lichen acids. Most of them are localized in the cortex and form specific crystals on the surface of the fungal hyphae. Approximately 1000 secondary metabolites were discovered so far and mo...

Lichens are symbiotic organisms that are very sensitive to heavy metal pollution. However, there is little evidence of how heavy metal pollution affects the physiological status, ultrastructural changes and distribution of elements in the layers of lichen thalli. For this purpose we simulated metal pollution to lichens and studied its impact on Xan...

Mosses and lichens usually share the same environmental conditions, where compete for substrate and other essential factors. Lichens exclude secondary metabolites to the substrate to disadvantage their competitors. These secondary metabolites present allelochemicals. However, there is rather few studies and documented relationship between moss and...

Lichens produce many unique chemical compounds, known also as secondary metabolites. They play an important role in photobiont as well as mycoboint defense of, e. g. photoprotection, antiherbivoral, antiviral, antibacterial, cytotoxic, antitumor activities. They can be used also as allelochemicals, antipyretics or analgetics. Secondary metabolites...

Lichen secondary metabolites can function as allelochemicals and affect the development and growth of neighboring bryophytes, fungi, vascular plants, microorganisms, and even other lichens. Lichen overgrowth on bryophytes is frequently observed in nature even though mosses grow faster than lichens, but there is still little information on the inter...

Although differential sensitivity of lichens to calcium excess has been documented previously at the community level, ecophysiological studies, which would shed light on the calcifuge or calcicole nature of lichens, are virtually absent. In the present study, we compared physiological responses of two morphologically similar foliose lichens, Dermat...

In this study we focused on the comparison of the physiological responses to excess nitrogen (N) comparing Cladonia arbuscula subsp. mitis and Cladonia furcata. Both lichens were exposed to increased amounts of nitrogen (NH4NO3) for five weeks. Different concentrations of nitrogen were applied by spraying the lichen thalli during this period. After...

Lichens are characterized by a great variety of secondary metabolites. The function of these substances remains partly unknown. In the present study, we propose that some of these metabolites may expel insect herbivores. To test this hypothesis, we reared larvae of the lichenivorous moth Cleorodes lichenaria on three selected lichens, Cladonia arbu...

Green algae of the genus Cladophora have been reported as being bioindicators of metal contamination all over the world. The degree of total as well as intracellular copper (Cu) uptakes by the alga after 24-h prolonged exposure with 0 (control), 50 and 500 µM Cu doses, was compared with selected physiological markers. Increased intracellular Cu con...

Lichens are characterized by a great variety of secondary metabolites. The function of these substances remains partly unknown. In this study, we propose that some of these metabolites may expel insect herbivores. To test this hypothesis, we reared larvae of the lichenivorous moth Cleorodes lichenaria on three selected lichens, Cladonia arbuscula s...

A stimuli-responsive drug delivery system consisting of mesoporous silica with its surface modified by p-coumaric acid derivatives (CA) as photo-switchable ligands was studied for the delivery of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) naproxen. For this purpose, MCM-41 mesoporous silica material was prepared and post-synthetically modifie...

V súčasnosti patrí biomonitoring medzi popredné metódy na určovanie znečistenia prostredia. Viaceré vedecké štúdie, ktoré boli realizované za posledné desaťročia poukázali na efektívnosť využitia lišajníkov pri monitorovaní a hodnotení kvality ovzdušia. Táto štúdia bola zrealizovaná za účelom doplnenia a porovnania výsledkov znečistenia ovzdušia Vý...

Populations of mosses and lichens can often be found growing on similar substrates (trees, soils, rocks), which leads to competition for substrate space, water, nutrients and light. It has been observed in lichen communities that epiphytic lichens and mosses compete using chemical interference. As such, secondary metabolites of lichen play an impor...

Cladina arbuscula subsp. mitis grows on the surfaces of historical Cu-mine spoil heaps rich in Cu, as well as on the surfaces of substrata that are not metal contaminated. This lichen contains the extracellular secondary metabolite, usnic acid (UA), which was previously found to form complexes with metal cations, including Cu. As UA can be experime...

Lichens are sensitive to the presence of ammonia (NH3) in the environment. However, in order to use them as reliable indicators in biomonitoring studies, it is necessary to establish unequivocally the occurrence of certain symptoms following the exposure to NH3 in the environment. In this paper, we simulated an episode of acute air pollution due to...

This study investigated if treatment of the lichen Xanthoria parietina (L.) Th. Fr. with glyphosate caused uptake of this herbicide as well as physiological alterations. Samples were treated with Glifene SL®, a common commercial glyphosate-based herbicide, at the lowest recommended doses (3.6g/L) as well as with doses slightly higher than the highe...

Lichens absorb water, gases, dissolved substances , and especially pollutants by the entire surface, and they are considered to be the indicators of air quality. In our experiment, a sensitivity of Cladonia arbuscula subsp. mitis and Cladonia furcata lichens with the same photobiont Trebouxia was tested to nitrogen excess through a sensitivity of b...

Epiphytic lichens have been used as indicators of environmental quality around a municipal solid waste landfill in C Italy. An integrated approach, using the diversity of epiphytic lichens, as well as element bioaccumulation and physiological parameters in the lichen Flavoparmelia caperata (L.) Hale was applied along a transect from the facility. T...

Goals: The information explosion about the impact of an alkaline diet on cancer increased in a few years; up to 4 million web sites are found via the Internet. One of the most popular ways to get more alkaline is to drink alkaline water (pH 8–10). However, there is no credible evidence in scientific literature to support claims that alkaline water...

Enhanced UV-B irradiation is one of the most important abiotic stresses that can influence various aspects of plant morphology, biochemistry and physiology. Silicon as a beneficial element can increase the plant’s tolerance against different abiotic stresses, including UV-B stress. In this work, the effect of silicon supplementation on the sensitiv...

Accumulation of heavy metals due to pollution of the environment, particularly in agricultural ecosystems, can cause serious deterioration of crop yield and quality. In this study, we assessed the effect of silicon on physiological, photosynthetic and stress-related aspects of cadmium toxicity in hydroponically grown maize plants (Zea mays L., hybr...

In the present work, the phytotoxic effects of secondary metabolites extracted from five lichen species (Cladonia arbuscula var. mitis, Cladonia furcata, Hypogymnia physodes, Evernia prunastri and Ramalina farinacea) on cultures of the aposymbiotically grown lichen photobiont Trebouxia erici were evaluated. Toxicity of single secondary metabolites,...

Effect of nitric oxide donor (sodium nitroprusside, SNP, 500 μM) or hydrogen peroxide scavenger (dithiothreitol, DTT, 500 μM) on cadmium (Cd) or copper (Cu) uptake (150 μM solutions) and toxicity using Scenedesmus quadricauda was studied. Combined treatments (Cd or Cu + DTT or SNP) usually ameliorated metal-induced toxicity at the level of pigments...

The epiphytic lichen Evernia prunastri is sensitive to air pollution and reacted by total retreat to the worsening of air quality during the peak of SO2 pollution in Central Europe (1950s–1990). Since 1990, after a significant decrease in air pollution, epiphytic lichens recolonized previously polluted areas, including E. prunastri. We investigated...

Atranorin, gyrophoric acid and parietin were isolated from the lichens: Psudevernia furfuracea, Umbilicaria hirsuta and Xanthoria parietina to compare their phytotoxicity on cultures of aposymbiotically grown lichen photobiont Trebouxia erici. The cortical didepside atranorin had strong phytotoxic effects on the photobiont cells. Application of atr...

a b s t r a c t The vibrational characterization of the anthraquinone pigment and drug parietin was carried out by means of infrared spectroscopy, Raman and Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) at different laser excitation lines. The vibrational spectra obtained experimentally were analysed using DFT calculations at the B3LYP/6-31+G** level. T...

Lichens are a known source of approximately 800 unique secondary metabolites, many of which play important ecological roles, including regulating the equilibrium between symbionts. However, only a few of these compounds have been assessed for their effectiveness against various in vitro cancer models. Moreover, the mechanisms of biological activity...

The lichen Evernia prunastri is very frequently employed in lichen biomonitoring studies and its sensitivity to air pollution has been confirmed at the community level many times. However, studies focused on the physiological responses of this lichen to pollutants are underrepresented. The degree of total as well as intracellular Cu uptake by the l...

Effect of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) in the concentrations of 10 or 100 μM on selected physiological parameters in Scenedesmus quadricauda (Turp.) Bréb. after 24 h of exposure was studied. Results were compared with the application of general toxic metal (cadmium, Cd) to identify MeJA-specific responses. Accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS; h...

Many lichens can cope with heavy-metal stress, however, the mechanisms of lichen tolerance are still not fully understood. Some lichen secondary metabolites (depsides and depsidones), produced in lichens by the fungal symbiont and accumulated on the outer surface of its hyphae, are supposed to play an important role in the extracellular immobliliza...

Selected physiological responses of Tillandsia albida (Bromeliaceae) and two lichens (Hypogymnia physodes and Xanthoria parietina) exposed to simulated acid rain (AR) over 3 months were studied. Pigments were depressed in all species being affected the most in Tillandsia. Amounts of hydrogen peroxide and superoxide were elevated and soluble protein...

One of the ways for searching for potentially new anti-cancer drugs is the testing of various naturally synthesized compounds. Lichens are a source of unique chemical agents of which some have already been proved to be effective against various cancer in vitro models. Our study reports on the sensitivity of up to nine human cancer cell lines (A2780...

This study aimed at investigating the cellular distribution of Hg in the lichens Cladonia arbuscula subsp. mitis and Peltigera rufescens treated with Hg²(+) and at testing if Hg treatment affects selected physiological parameters. In both species, increasing Hg accumulation under increasing Hg supply in the treatment solutions was found. P. rufesce...

The aim of this study was to test in a short term laboratory experiment the accumulation and physiological effects of As in the epiphytic lichen Xanthoria parietina. Arsenic content in treated samples increased progressively with increasing concentration in treatment solutions. Treatment of X. parietina thalli with 0.1, 1, 10 ppm As solutions cause...

In the present work, the long-term effect (14days) of copper on the levels of intracellular and total copper accumulation, growth, assimilation pigment composition, chlorophyll a fluorescence, soluble protein content and oxidative status (production of hydrogen peroxide and superoxide) in two algal species (Scenedesmus quadricauda and Trebouxia eri...

Tolerance of three Slovak populations of Silene vulgaris [from the localities "Harmanec" (total soil Cu 34.1 mg kg⁻¹), "Lubietová"; (total soil Cu 831.6 mg kg⁻¹) and "Špania dolina" (total soil Cu 1368.7 mg kg⁻¹) referred as SV1, SV2, and SV3, respectively] and Silene dioica (SD; from the locality "Špania dolina") exposed to 60 μM Cu for 7 days has...

Host use by herbivores is largely determined by host properties such as nutrient content and chemical defence against foragers. The impacts of these attributes on a herbivore may largely depend on its life cycle stage. Lichen species are known to differ in nutritional quality and level of chemical defence and, consequently, vary as fodder for herbi...

Lecanoric acid (1), orsellinic acid methyl ester (2), orcinol (3), and usnic acid (4) were isolated from the lichen Parmelia subrudecta, collected on Palma of the Canary Islands, Spain. Compounds 1, 2, 3, and 4 were purified by solvent extraction, silica gel column chromatography, and preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) consec...

The photobiont is considered as the more sensitive partner of lichen symbiosis in metal pollution. For this reason the presence of a metal tolerant photobiont in lichens may be a key factor of ecological success of lichens growing on metal polluted substrata. The photobiont inventory was examined for terricolous lichen community growing in Cu mine-...

Species of the genus Scenedesmus are frequently used in studies focused on heavy metal toxicity and phenols represent important tool for stress protection. However, deeper knowledge about accumulation of phenolic metabolites in algae still absents. We therefore studied selected metabolic responses of widely distributed green algal species Scenedesm...

The phytotoxic effects of the lichen secondary metabolite-usnic acid on cultures of free living alga-Scenedesmus quadricauda (UTEX 76) and aposymbiotically grown lichen photobiont Trebouxia erici (UTEX 911) were assessed. We found a relatively strong inhibition effect of usnic acid on the growth of alga Scenedesmus, accompanied by an increase of ce...

Despite intensive research focused on the effects of UV-B, deeper metabolic responses to UV-A and UV-C are still scarce. Besides, especially microalgal species had to develop efficient protective features in comparison with tissue structure of vascular plants. We exposed axenic cultures of Scenedesmus quadricauda (Chlorophyceae) to UV-A (366 nm) an...

Two lichen species (Peltigera rufescens and Cladina arbuscula subsp. mitis) and one moss species (Racomitrium lanuginosum) growing on a copper mine heaps (probably 200–300 yr old) in the village of Špania dolina (Slovak Republic) were assessed for selected physiological parameters, including composition of assimilation pigments, chlorophyll a fluor...

The effect of nickel (Ni) excess on selected aspects of chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) metabolism was studied. Water-soluble Ni represented 27%, 46%, and 47%, and the methanol-soluble fraction 54%, 70%, and 88% of total shoot Ni content after 10days of treatments with 3, 60, and 120μM Ni, respectively. “Intra-root” Ni content represented 72%...

Peltigera rufescens (Weis) Humb. with a prokaryotic photobiont Nostoc sp. and Cladina arbuscula subsp. mitis (Sandst.) Ruoss with a eukaryotic photobiont Trebouxia sp. were studied to determine the copper sensitivity of lichens with different algal symbionts. Samples growing on historic copper mine-spoil heaps at Ľubietová–Podlipa, Slovakia were as...

Cadmium and copper uptake and its consequence for activity of selected enzymes of phenolic metabolism, phenolic acids accumulation, quantity of mineral nutrients and stress-related parameters in Matricaria chamomilla plants exposed to 60μM and 120μM for 7days has been studied. Cu content in the above-ground biomass was ca. 10-fold lower compared to...

Owing to the abundance of phenolic metabolites in plant tissue, their accumulation represents an important tool for stress protection. However, the regulation of phenolic metabolism is still poorly known. The regulatory role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the activity of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) in nitrogen (N)-deficient chamomile roo...

Recent developments in knowledge about the interactions between lichens and heavy metals at different levels, from populations to cells and from ecology to molecular biology are reviewed. Sources of heavy metals, mechanisms of heavy metal accumulation and detoxification by lichens are discussed. Special emphasis is placed on ultrastructural changes...

The results of a study aimed at investigating the effects of boron excess on a set of ecophysiological parameters in the lichen Xanthoria parietina, to set up a monitoring system to trace early biological effects of boron pollution in geothermal areas, are reported. To this purpose, lichen thalli have been incubated for 24 h in solutions at boron c...

We examined accumulation of phenolic acids, total soluble phenolics and flavonoids, and activities of phenolic metabolism-related enzymes (shikimate dehydrogenase (SKDH), phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD), polyphenol oxidase (PPO)) in Matricaria chamomilla plants exposed to 3, 60 and 120 microM of nickel (Ni) f...

Influence of 100 mM NaCl and 50 microM salicylic acid (SA) and their combination on the metabolism of chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) during 7 days was studied. NaCl reduced growth and selected physiological parameters and SA in combined treatment (NaCl + SA) reversed majority of these symptoms. Application of SA reduced NaCl-induced increase of...

The effect of Atropa belladonna L. (AB) aqueous extract on skin wound healing was studied in male Sprague-Dawley rats subjected to two parallel full-thickness skin incisions on the back. Specimens for histological evaluation were collected on days 2 and 5 whereas for biomechanical testing, they were collected on day 5. In the in vitro study, a diff...

This study was undertaken with the aim of investigating the effect of Cd2+ and Ni2+ containing solutions on selected physiological parameters (metal uptake, chlorophyll a fluorescence, assimilation pigment composition, thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance production, and ergosterol content) in the lichens Peltigera rufescens and Cladina arbuscula...

Influence of nickel (Ni) excess on selected physiological aspects of Matricaria chamomilla metabolism after 10 days of presence was studied. Biomass, water content, assimilation pigments and lignin contents were not affected by any of the doses tested. High Ni doses elevated root-soluble proteins. The highest Ni concentration stimulated accumulatio...

Cellulose-acetate filter disks were found convenient for the cultivation of lichen mycobionts and artificial re-synthesis of lichens, and using this method of culture we tested the effects of acidification on Cladonia cristatella Tuck. Mycobionts subjected to short-term strongly acidic conditions showed decreased formazan production compared to col...

The influence of increased copper and cadmium concentrations on membrane lipid peroxidation and photosynthetic characteristics of the lichen photobiont Trebouxia erici was assessed. Intracellular copper and cadmium uptake increased due to increased metal availability in the 5 mM HEPES buffer for 24 h. Assimilation pigments, chlorophyll a fluorescen...

The influence of salicylic acid (SA) doses of 50 and 250 microM, for a period of up to 7 days, on selected physiological aspects and the phenolic metabolism of Matricaria chamomilla plants was studied. SA exhibited both growth-promoting (50 microM) and growth-inhibiting (250 microM) properties, the latter being correlated with decrease of chlorophy...

Cadmium (Cd) and copper (Cu) uptake by the plants of Matricaria chamomilla and relation to activities of guaiacol peroxidase (GPX, EC 1.11.1.7), catalase (CAT, EC 1.11.1.6) and glutathione reductase (GR, EC 1.6.4.2) up to 7 days of exposure to 3, 60 and 120 microM Cd or Cu was studied. Cd content in rosettes was ca. 10-fold higher in comparison to...

Comparisons were made between the content of Al, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, Sb and Zn in thalli of the lichen Xanthoria parietina and selected physiological processes. Assimilation pigments, activity of photosystem II, parietin, reactive substances produced using thiobarbituric acid (TBA) and CO(2) gas exchange were measured in order to assess tolerance t...

Four-week old plants of chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) cultivated in nutrient solution were exposed to copper (3, 60 and 120 μM) for 10 days. At 120 μM, Cu decreased dry mass production, water, chlorophyll and nitrogen content in both the leaf rosettes and roots. Five phenolic acids were detected in methanol extracts of the leaf rosettes (protoc...

Physiological responses of Matricaria chamomilla plants exposed to cadmium (Cd) and copper (Cu) excess (3, 60, and 120 microM for 7 days) with special emphasis on phenolic metabolism were studied. Cu at 120 microM reduced chamomile growth, especially in the roots where it was more abundant than Cd. Notwithstanding the low leaf Cu amount (37.5 micro...