Contemporary methods of plant biotechnology have a wide application in the commercial production of ornamental plants worldwide. The culture in vitro, findings about physiological roles of phytohormones and molecular cloning techniques are the main elements of plant biotechnology which is focused on the improvement of agricultural production. This project refers to development and application of modern biotechnological methods in the production of ornamental plants. Along with classical research related to study of morphogenesis in vitro, the transformation with Agrobacterium vectors will be conducted in view of producing plants with improved characteristics, while special attention will be paid to development and application of cryobiological methods. Nutritive and hormonal factors of morphogenesis in vitro will be studied for the purpose of the efficient regeneration. These researches would standardize the protocols for micropropagation in Chrysanthemum, Impatiens, Iris and Viola, as well as somatic embryogenesis in the cultures Allium and Iris. The emergence of various viral diseases is a major problem in the conventional production of ornamental plants. For this reason, special attention in this project will be paid to the application of modern cryobiological methods and genetic transformations with aim of producing healthy planting material. Since viral infections increase respiration, causing oxidative stress, the project will focus on the clarification of the mechanism of induced resistance of plants to this type of biotic stress. The development of the methods for regeneration, genetic transformation, cryopreservation, as well as studying stress and other physiological processes will contribute to the improvement of protocols for obtaining healthy planting material of ornamental plants.
Heat stress (HS) represents one of the most important limiting factors to crop productivity worldwide. As a result of global warming, potato yield losses of 10-26% are predicted for region of Southeast Europe, including Serbia, in the next 30 years. These losses can be reduced on 5-11% with adaptation in production methods concerning use of heat tolerant cultivars. The scope of proposed project comprises development and application of protein markers for fast and efficient heat tolerance screening of potato cultivars. Our project proposes utilization of stress proteins related to HS-tolerance and heat-labile proteins as a protein markers. Results of protein marker quantitative analysis will be correlated with morphometric parameters and yield parameters under HS for each of examined genotypes using adequate statistical methods and an optimal combination of protein markets will be selected. Our expectations are that proposed project will result in biotechnological solution for protein marker assisted screening for heat tolerance in potato and identification of HS tolerant potato cultivars suitable for growing in Serbia under changed climate conditions.
The specific area of research represents investigation of regulation of oxidant-induced changes of aerobic organisms and we develop three various areas of investigation: 1) biomonitoring of aquatic organisms, 2) toxicology and 3) biomarkers and pathophysiological states.
1) Biomonitoring of aquatic organisms. Molecular and physiological biomonitoring based on the antioxidant defense enzyme activities as biochemical biomarkers: superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, glutathione-S-transferase and the concentrations of vitamin E, vitamin C, glutathione.
2) Toxicology. Prooxidative effects of cadmium and cisplatin in acute and chronic treatment and protective role of antioxidants on alteration of oxidative stress biochemical biomarkers in the blood and tissues of mail Wistar albino rats will be investigated.
3) Biomarkers and pathophysiological states. The study of estradiol and its role inpreeclampsia, the assessment of oxidative damage and antioxidative capacity of healthy tissues in response to therapeutic doses of radiation in the treatment of breast cancer and the pathogenesis of gastrointestinal disorders will be investigated.
The aim of the project is to assess the influence of heterogenity of abiotic and biotic environment at molecular, citological and morphological on variability, as well as variability of life history traits and behaviour, population structure and evolution processes (genetic specialisation, phenotype plasticity, speciation) of different organisms (vertebrates, invertebrates and plants). Achieved results will enable assessment of appropriate indicators of environmental devastation and will be included in phylogeographic analyses and ecological status evaluation of the ecosystems in region and Europe.
The amphibians and reptiles of the Balkan Peninsula included in the scope of the proposed research represent a "natural laboratory" and excellent model-system for both evolutionary and conservation studies. These vertebrates are characterised by low dispersal abilities and mostly strict ecological requirements, resulting in high evolutionary differentiation and intraspecific variation in their morphology, genetics, life history and ecology. The specificity of the Balkans with its complex paleogeographic history, heterogeneous landscapes, topographic diversity and climatic variation, resulted in a complex picture of amphibian and reptile diversity. Moreover, the Balkans are the origin of numerous taxa, an area of high endemicity, high rate of allopatric and parapatric speciation, and numerous hybridization zones. By combining data from natural populations and experimental studies, we propose to examine the following issues in evolutionary biology: (1) the evolution of complex morphological entities, (2) the evolution of life-history traits, (3) phylogeographic patterns of evolutionary lineages, and (4) the relation between eco-geographical and environmental variables as a function of the distribution of species, phylogenetic lineages and hybrid zones. Conservation research studies will be related to the recognition of evolutionary significant units, and to population ecology studies as a basis for further conservation strategies of autochthonous populations and species.
In modern biology there are two alternative experimental approaches for the study of different phenomena, which impact the evolution of living being – laboratory evolution and investigations in the wild.
LABORATORY EVOLUTION
Laboratory evolution allows the study of populations across multiple generations under strictly defined and reproducible conditions, but without the direct choice of reproducing individuals by the experimenter, in contrast to natural populations, where environmental conditions can be an efficient evolutionary factor that produces adaptations.
By employing "laboratory natural selection" as a tool to investigate determinants of life-history evolution, four types of laboratory populations of the seed beetle, Acanthoscelides obtectus, have been established (each type was replicated four times and observed over 200 generations): populations selected at high (K) and low (r) larval densities (density-dependent selection), and populations in which selection was imposed on either early (E) or late (L) reproduction (age-specific selection). Using these populations, the future investigations will focus on the following topics: 1. The evolutionary outcomes of density-dependent and age–specific selection, 2. The quantitative-genetic basis of the life-history traits that respond to these two selection types, 3. The evolution of ageing and late life, 4. The evolution of pre-zygotic and post-zygotic reproductive isolation between populations within each selection regime.
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