Svetla Gateva

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences | BAS · Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research

Rosa centifolia L. and Rosa gallica L. (Rosaceae) are grown as raw materials for valuable essential oils and hydrosols. There are scarce data about the biological activities and the genoprotective potential of the hydrosols of these roses. The aim of the study was to provide information on their cytotoxic/genotoxic activity and anti-cytotoxic/anti-...

Bulgarian Rosa damascena Mill. is has been known since ancient times for its high-quality oil, hydrosol, and other aromatic products. Rose hydrosol has various biological activities, but no research on its anticytotoxic/antigenotoxic effects exists. This study aimed to assess its defense potential against the genotoxin N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosogu...

The highest peak on Rila Mountain is Moussala (2925 m a. s. l.). Its climate conditions depend on the geographic location, peculiarities of relief, and atmospheric circulation, and a specific microclimate is formed. In alpine regions, conditions become extremely variable with the increase in altitude. Plants that are growing in alpine conditions...

A considerable amount of wastewater is produced during water-steam distillation of rose oil. This represents an environmental problem that should not be neglected. However, since this wastewater contains many bioactive substances, other targeted uses should be considered. Indeed, it should be checked whether this wastewater is harmless. In this sen...

The Rosa alba L. and Rosa damascena Mill. growing in Bulgaria are known for their extremely fine essential oil and valuable hydrosols. Irrespectively of its wide use in human life, little research exists on the cytotoxic and genotoxic activity of the hydrosols. This set our goal to conduct cytogenetic analyses to study these effects. A complex of c...

The steam distillation of valuable rose essential oil from R. damascena Mill. and R. alba L. generates large volumes of wastewaters. Although such wastewaters are bio-pollutants, they contain valuable bioactive compounds. In this study we investigated the cytotoxic/genotoxic and anti-cytotoxic/anti-genotoxic potential of these products. We used cyt...

Abstract. Rila Mountain is the highest mountain on the Balkan Peninsula and is characterized with specific microclimate. It has been revealed that with the increase of the altitude, the differences in environmental conditions change at a great extent. In mountain conditions plants have to cope with combined environmental factors such as altitude...

Heterocyclic compounds are widely distributed in nature and, along with their synthetic analogues, play an important role in agriculture and pharmacy. The general strategy of our studies was to design new bioactive compounds based on the combination of two or three types of active structural units: a 5-or 6-heterocyclic nucleus, a urea/thiourea bri...

Plants in natural ecosystems are exposed to a combination of UV radiation, ionizing radiation (IR) and other abiotic factors. These factors change with the altitude. We investigated DNA alterations of some wild plants of different plant families in natural ecosystems at three altitudes in Rila Mountain, Bulgaria (1500, 1782, and 2925 m above sea le...

Bulgaria is known as one of the main producers of high quality rose oil from Rosa damascena Mill. and Rosa alba L., valued on the world market for fragrances with the rating "Royal Class". Wastewater is one of the wastes discarded in the environment as result of water steam distillation applied in rose oil production. Does this waste harm the soil...

Bulgarian Rosa alba L. essential oil is widely used in perfumery, cosmetics and pharmacy. The scarce data about its cytotoxic/genotoxic effect and anti-cytotoxic/anti-genotoxic potential gave us a reason to set our aim: i) to study its cytotoxic/genotoxic activities, iii) to explore its cytoprotective/genoprotective potential against the experiment...

Plants from the Rosacea family are rich in natural molecules with beneficial biological properties, and they are widely appreciated and used in the food industry, perfumery, and cosmetics. In this review, we are considering Rosa damascena Mill., Rosa alba L., Rosa centifolia L., and Rosa gallica L. as raw materials important for producing commercia...

The aim of this study is to assess the potential of prolonged UV irradiation to induce genotoxic alteration in Poaceae species cultivated in laboratory and in mountain conditions. Changes in natural environment increase to a great extent with altitude. In natural ecosystems plants are exposed to UV and other environmental factors for more than one...

Genotoxic activities of geraniol and its anti-cytotoxic/anti-genotoxic potential against genotoxin N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) were studied in two types of test-systems using test for induction of chromosome aberrations. The phytochemical possesses a clearly expressed defense potential against MNNG. The anti-cytotoxic/anti-genotoxic...

Roundup (RP) is a nonselective and broad spectrum herbicide widely used in agriculture. Although it is considered nontoxic there are some contradictory results in reference to RP cytotoxic and genotoxic potential. It is important to know does RP accumulate in barley seeds (Hordeum vulgare). This gave as a reason to formulate the aim of the study: t...

It is well known that UV radiation is harmful for living organisms and could cause damages of important molecules and cell structures (DNA, lipids, proteins and membranes). As photo-synthetic organisms plants use sunlight and cannot avoid exposure to increased levels of UV irradiation, so they are at higher risk. This study aims to assess the poten...

Climate changes and anthropogenic factors are the main factors contributing to the destruction of natural ecosystems. The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which wild plants adapt to UV, gamma background, and gross beta activity, as well as the possible damage that can be recorded in plants growing at different altitudes in Rila Mo...

Geraniol is a common component of essential oils of various plant species and is widely used in cosmetics, per-fumery and household products. In the present study, we investigated the cytotoxic, genotoxic and antioxidant activities of different concentrations of the monoterpenoid geraniol and its anti-cytotoxic and anti-genotoxic potential against...

Use of natural plant extracts to prevent the damage potency of various mutagens is on the rise. The aims of our study were: i) to evaluate the biological activity of Salvia officinalis (sage) water extract and its ability to reduce the zeocin-induced cytotoxic/genotoxic effects in Hordeum vulgare (barley) and human lymphocytes, ii) to obtain inform...

The aims of the present study were to apply constant field gel electrophore- sis (CFGE) protocol, developed by Chankova and Bryant for Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cells to human lymphocytes in vitro; to perform pilot experiments for comparing DNA susceptibility of human lymphocytes isolated from peripheral blood of smokers and nonsmokers to the radio...

Organisms are constantly exposed to the detrimental effect of environmental DNA-damaging agents. The harmful effects of environmental genotoxins could be decreased in a viable way by antimutagenesis. One of the modern approaches to reduce the mutagenic burden is based on exogenous natural and synthetic compounds that possess protective and antimuta...

In this paper we aimed to evaluate the cytotoxic, genotoxic and modulating potential of algal supernatants isolated from untreated cell suspension - SN(-), from algal cell suspension treated with CdCl2 10(-6), 10(-5) and 10(-4) mol/l (SN), and from untreated algal cell suspension supplemented with various concentrations of CdCl2 - 10(-6), 10(-5) an...

Application of exogenic bioactive natural plant compounds with protective, anti-mutagenic and anti-genotoxic effects against various chemical and physical agents is one of the modern approaches for reduction of the mutagenic burden of cells. Objective: The present study aims to provide data on the cytoxic and genotoxic effects of Papaver rhoeas L....

One of the promising waste removal methods involves the treatment of contaminants with microalgae. Questions we addressed in this work are: i) whether Chlamydomonas reinhardtii possesses ability to modulate the cytotoxic and genotoxic potential of CuSO4; ii) whether the products released in the nutrition medium as a result of algal normal living ac...

The sensitivity of human lymphocytes from different donors to CdCl2 using a complex of methods for determination of cytotoxicity and genotoxicity was studied. As endpoints for cytotoxicity the mitotic index (MI) and apoptosis were evaluated. To indicate genotoxicity chromosome aberrations test (CA) was used. The results indicate an individual sensi...

This work evaluated the ability of one synthetic compound 1-(4-fluorophenylthiocarbamoyl)-4-methyl-piperazine (FTMP), thiourea derivative to reduce cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of free radical inducer paraquat (PQ) in two different test systems Hordeum vulgare and human lymphocytes in vitro. The mitotic index was used as a marker for cytotoxicit...

Summary: In pot experiments, the inflence of a synthetic compound (FTMP) as a potential protector against paraquat in young barley plants was studied. Seeds with growing root meristems were used as an experimental material. Treatment with FTMP (5x10-6, 5x10-5, 5x10-4 and 10-3M) preceding paraquat (10-5M) application was performed. Pre-treatment wit...

Two phylogenetically distant types of test-systems-root tip meristems of barley (Hordeum vulgare) and human lymphocytes in vitro were used to detect genotoxicity and cytotoxicity induced by the herbicide paraquat (PQ) in the concentration range (10(-6) to 5 x 10(-4) mol/l). As an endpoint for cytotoxicity the mitotic index (MI) was evaluated. The f...

The genotoxic (clastogenic) effect of herbicide paraquat (10-6 mol/1 to 10-4 mol/1) with the connection to its ability to induce apoptosis was investigated using human lymphocytes in vitro as a test system. Dose-dependent induction of apoptosis and registered chromosomal damage by paraquat (PQ) was detected corresponding with cell cycle delay. Apop...

The main tasks of this investigation were to investigate the potential genotoxic effect of 1,1'-hexamethylenebis [3-(3,5-dichloro-4-pyridyl)] urea and to analyze its capacity to induce adaptive response (AR) against chemical mutagens in various test-systems. Microbiological, cytogenetical and biochemical end-points were used. The sensitivity of tes...

In this work we present our data about the protective effect of the newly synthesized compound 1-(4-fluorphenyltioureido)-4-methyl-piperazyne (FTMP) against high doses UV-C irradiation using human lymphocytes in vitro as a model system. The endpoint used was chromosome aberrations. The genotoxic effect of different UV-C doses in the range from 10 J...

The ability of the selective systemic herbicide devrinol (5 x 10(-5) mol/l to 10(-7) mol/l) to induce apoptosis was investigated using human lymphocytes in vitro. Dose-dependent induction of apoptosis was detected in parallel to the level of the registered chromosomal damage. The first apoptotic events happened 2 h after the signal or damage. The h...