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The Mirambel woodland on the margins of the Millevaches plateau (Massif Central) is one of the few ancient broad-leaved woodlands in France. Historical sources show that it has occupied the same surface area for the past 250 years, despite being in a region that underwent considerable anthropogenic changes during this period. We explored the Mirambel's Holocene history and ancientness by means of soil charcoal analysis, chosen because of its high accuracy on a local scale. We excavated five pedoanthracological pits in the woodland and its open marginal spaces. The 29 radiocarbon dates ranged from the Atlantic (8700–5500 cal yr. BP) – Subboreal transition to the Subboreal (5500–2800 cal yr. BP) and Subatlantic (2800–0 cal yr. BP, i.e. AD 1950) periods, revealing the existence of fire events corresponding to six contemporaneous cultural periods: Neolithic (ca. 3877–2991 cal yr BC), Neolithic-Chalcolithic transition (ca. 2528–2525 cal yr BC), Protohistory (ca. 147 cal yr BC), Roman period (ca. 326–579 cal AD), Middle Ages (ca. 732–1187 cal AD), and contemporary times (ca. 1781 cal AD to present day). Three Tilia charcoal fragments dating from ca. 3717–2919 cal yr BC indicated the presence of a diversified Mid-Holocene deciduous woodland featuring Tilia and Acer nowadays-absent taxa in this area. Deciduous Quercus and Fagus sylvatica dominated most of the soil profiles, as they do nowadays in the woodlands. Other taxa (Salix, Corylus avellana, Betula) were identified, as well as in the current vegetation. The occurrence of Cytisus-type (Fabaceae) and Calluna vulgaris suggested that there were forest clearing phases at all the points sampled. Widely varying levels of abundances may reflect differences in the duration of these open phases.

Silver linden (Tilia tomentosa Moench, TtM) flowers possess several health-promoting properties, especially at the neurological level, such as intestinal relaxation activity associated with specific flavonols, particularly quercetin and kaempferol derivatives. However, such molecules are susceptible to degradation upon different triggers like heat, light and extreme pH values. To overcome the scarce stability of TtM flowers bioactive molecules and make them suitable for developing functional food and supplements, we applied microencapsulation. Spray-drying microencapsulation of TtM flowers extract was performed using three starch-derived wall materials: maltodextrin 12 DE (MD12) and 19 DE (MD19), and OSA-modified starch (OSA-S). The stability of total phenols, flavanols, and antioxidant capacity was monitored for 70 days under accelerated stress conditions (40 °C/70% RH) by HPLC and spectrophotometric methods, and the intestinal contractile activity was tested in a murine model. In comparison to MD12 and MD19, OSA-S stood out for the higher encapsulation efficiency of quercetin and kaempferol glycosides (+ 36–47% compared to MD12 and + 18–24% compared to MD19) and stability thereof (half-life on average + 30% compared to MD12 and + 51% compared to MD19). The intestinal contractile activity of OAS-S powders resulted comparable to the original extract, indicating that flavonols were biologically active and accessible. Our results underly the potential advantages of OSA-S encapsulated formulation as a functional ingredient for the development of nutraceutical products.

1. Linden trees (Tilia spp.) have for a long time been associated with bumblebee (Bombus spp.) mortality in Europe and North America. Several explanations have been suggested for this phenomenon. This study aimed to explore to which extent the factors of predation, ageing, starvation, and poisonous nectar serve as explanations for bumblebee mortality in association with linden trees. 2. Starvation, ageing, and predation all contributed to mortality of bumblebees found under flowering linden trees. The mean weight of a dead wild bumblebee found under linden trees was found to be close to the weight of a starved bumblebee of the same size. This indicated that starvation was the main driver for many of the deaths. 3. A significant proportion of the dead bumblebees collected under linden trees had injuries indicating predation. The authors suggest that predation may serve as a secondary explanation for the bumblebee mortality, after weakening by starvation or other factors. 4. A small proportion of the bumblebees may have died from physical degradation or age. The present study did not support the poisonous nectar hypothesis. It is necessary to explore the covariation between the suggested hypotheses more closely, to better understand the interplay between the different factors. In addition, there is a need to investigate alternative hypotheses for the association between bumblebees and linden trees. ageing, Bombus, predation, starvation, Tilia

This study aimed to investigate the impact of the replanting of basswood Ganoderma lingzhi on the soil bacterial community and reveal the obstacle phenomenon of replanting basswood G. lingzhi. In this study, the soil bacterial community of wild 20 cm (N0a) and 40 cm deep soil (N0b), cultivated once (N1a, N1b) and twice (N2a, N2b), were investigated by Illumina MiSeq sequencing. The predominant bacterial phyla at the phylum classification level were Acidobacteria, Chloracidobacteria, Nitrospira, Spartobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, Acidobacteria-6. Still, only the relative abundance of Chloracidobacteria and Acidobacteriia increased after two years of replanting of basswood G. lingzhi. At the genus level, the dominant genus included many unclassified bacteria. Among the known genera, the best genus was DA101, which showed a decreasing trend after two years of replanting. Network analysis showed that more connections of bacterial communities were observed in soil samples of the group "a," indicating that the replanting of basswood G. lingzhi can affect the relationship between soil bacterial communities at depths. The phylogenetic investigation of communities by reconstruction of unobserved states (PICRUSt) analysis showed that the gene metabolism function of soil bacteria was quite different after one year of replanting basswood G. lingzhi. The replanting of basswood G. lingzhi changed the composition and function of the soil bacterial community, and also affected the bacterial community diversity in the soil at different depths.

Key message Plants use multiple mechanisms to deal with salt stress. Salt stress increases the content of polyprenols inTilia’s leaves, which may mitigate stress. Abstract De-icing salt has been used on streets and pavements in most northern countries since the 1960s. Salt stress limits all vital functions of trees. Tilia × euchlora is planted in many cities given its unique decorative qualities. The aim of this study was to determine the tree strategy to mitigate salt stress due to the synthesis of polyprenols in leaves. Many years of observations have demonstrated that trees of the same species growing in the same street conditions may have extremely different health statuses. The study consisted of two experiments: a field experiment with urban street trees growing in saline soils and a controlled pot experiment with young trees exposed to increasing doses of salt. The differences between the young trees from the pot experiment and older trees from the field experiment were expressed in their ability to synthesize polyprenols. In urban conditions, the tree leaves with less damage contained significantly more polyprenols than did those with more damage. The salt stress mitigation strategy may be related to the ability to synthesize polyprenols. This ability can be acquired through adaptation by older trees. The mechanism involves limiting the transport of Cl− and Na+ to leaves. In the pot experiment, the young trees did not exhibit this ability.

Honey is a natural product widely used by humans due to its sweet taste and health benefits produced by bees from nectar and honey dew of various plants. To establish and increase the production of honey one must know the plants that take part in the production of honey. In this study pollen analysis of forest honey samples from northern part of Malaysia was carried out to determine the botanical sources playing role in the production of honey in that region. The pollen samples were acetolyzed and identified microscopically. Out of the three samples studied Baling sample was unifloral having Mimosa scabrella as predominant pollen while Jeli and Gerik samples are multifloral containing Tipo myrcia and Elais guineensis as major secondary pollen. Fabaceae family represented four pollen types and accounted 80% of pollen in Baling sample and 34 % in Gerik sample while completely absent in Jeli sample. These results showed the dominance of plants from Fabaceae family in honey production. All the samples analysed have Albizia falcataria, Eupatorium sp., Sparganium typha, Tilia sp. and Tipo myrcia in common indicating that these plants are present in all the three places and these results also can be used as a tool in geographical identification of North Malaysian honey from others.

The genetic diversity, structure, and differentiation of relict lime plantations in Krasnoyarsk krai (considered as a separate species Tilia nasczokinii Stepanov) were for the first time studied on the basis of the analysis of variability of 12 microsatellite markers of the nuclear genome. In addition, six T. cordata Mill. populations from the European and West Siberian parts of its range and the T. sibirica Bayer population from Kemerovo oblast were included in the study. It was found that lime plantations in the vicinity of Krasnoyarsk (Manskoye Zaymishche and Kashtak) have a similar genetic structure and are in a state close to equilibrium. The level of genetic variability of T. nasczokinii populations is comparable to the level of variability of the T. sibirica population, but was significantly lower than in T. cordata populations. Estimation of the degree of genetic differentiation of lime populations according to interpopulation paired Fst values and Nei’s genetic distances (DN72) detected significant differences of the T. nasczokinii populations from the T. cordata and T. sibirica populations. The analysis of genetic differentiation (by the PCoA method) of paired Fst values and individual genetic distances (D), as well as clustering in STRUCTURE, demonstrated the separation of the studied populations into three groups according to their species affiliation. Moreover, the T. nasczokinii populations are genetically removed from the T. sibirica population to a greater extent than from T. cordata populations.

The global floriculture market is expected to reach US$41.1 billion by 2027 at a CAGR of 5% over the analysis period 2020-2027; on the year 2020, the recorded market value in this trade was US$29.2 billion. The florists mainly use Anthurium andraeanum flowers in fashionable bouquets and floral arrangements because of their beautiful, attractive bright colored eye-catching spathe, candle-like spadix, prolonged vase life, etc. The cut flower industry always seeks elite cultivars and new hybrids of A. andraeanum, that in turn depend on the availability of large numbers of clonal planting propagules. In vitro somatic embryogenesis is an important technique for large-scale clonal propagation, development of transgenic plants, creation of new variety by somaclonal variation, mutagenesis on in vitro plants, and germplasm preservation for future use. Here, we describe the protocol of somatic embryogenesis of Anthurium andraeanum cv. Cancan, an important commercial cultivated variety. The protocol has been optimized by using 4 different types of culture media which are used during embryogenic callus induction, multiplication of callus, induction of somatic embryogenesis, and maturation plus conversion of embryos into plantlets. The protocol outlines the detailed methods from mother plant procurement to hardening of micro plants that is ready to transfer in the field and it can be used for large-scale commercial propagation.

In order to determine the resource potential of the natural phytocenoses of the Republic of Abkhazia, the study of medicinal plants of the flora of the Ritsa Relict National Park - a unique natural complex that occupies an important place all over the Caucasus and the entire chain of mountains of Eurasia, part of Colchis. The diversity of the geological structure, topography, soils, climate and hydrological conditions caused the formation of a unique natural complex with endemic and relict (West Abkhazian) plant species and their communities on the territory. Today, the RRNP flora includes 1201 species, among which 179 plant species from 64 families are classified in various categories of rarity. Medicinal plants used in official and folk medicine are represented by 115 species from 93 genera and 48 families, which is 10% of the species diversity of the park. Among the medicinal plant of the RRNP, there are 17 relicts and endemic species ( Alnus barbata C.A. Mey., Chiastophyllum oppositifolium (Ledeb.) Berger, Convallaria transcaucasica Utkin, Cyclamen abchasicum (Medw.) Kolak., Daphne pontica L., Digitalis schischkinii Ivanina, Dioscorea caucasica Lipsky, Erythronium caucasicum Woronow, Hedera colchica (K. Koch) K. Koch, Hypericum xylosteifolium (Spach) N. Robson, Ilex colchica Pojark., Laurocerasus officinalis Roem., Sanicula europaea L., Solanum persicum Willd., Swertia iberica Fisch. & Mey., Tamus communis L., Tilia caucasica Rupr.). This report provides their ecological and biological characteristics, morphological description and medicinal use.

Tilia cordata Mill. is a valuable tree species enriching the ecological values of the coniferous‐dominated boreal forests in Europe. Following the historical decline, spreading of Tilia sp. is challenged by the elevated inbreeding and habitat fragmentation. We studied the geographical distribution of genetic diversity of Tilia cordata populations in Lithuania. We used 14 genomic microsatellite markers to genotype 543 individuals from 23 wild‐growing populations. We found that Tilia cordata retained high levels of genetic diversity (population F IS = 0–0.15, H o = 0.53–0.69, H e = 0.56–0.75). AMOVA, Bayesian clustering, and Monmonier's barrier detection indicate weak but significant differentiation among the populations (F ST = 0.037***) into geographically interpretable clusters of (a) western Lithuania with high genetic heterogeneity but low genetic diversity, bottleneck effects, (b) relatively higher genetic diversity of Tilia cordata on rich and most soils of midland lowland, and (c) the most differentiated populations on poor soils of the coolest northeastern highland possessing the highest rare allele frequency but elevated inbreeding and bottleneck effects. Weak genetic differentiation among the Tilia cordata populations in Lithuania implies common ancestry, absence of strong adaptive gradients, and effective genetic exchange possible mediated via the riparian networks. A hypothesis on riparian networks as gene flow mediators in Tilia cordata was raised based on results of this study., Gene pool of Tilia cordata in Lithuania contains the autochthonous populations of high genetic diversity representing the pre‐historical gene pools, that can be promoted, and the escapes from urban sources of low diversity, that must be contained.

Volatile profiles of unifloral honeys and meads prepared in different ways (boiled-saturated, not boiled-unsaturated) were investigated by headspace solid-phase micro extraction (HS-SPME) and dehydration homogeneous liquid–liquid extraction (DHLLE) followed by GC-FID/MS analyses. The obtained data were analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA) to evaluate the differences between the investigated products. The volatile profiles of honey as well as the boiled and the not boiled meads prepared from it showed significant discrepancies. The meads contained more aliphatic acids and esters but fewer monoterpenes and aliphatic hydrocarbons than the honey. Significant/substantial differences were found between the boiled (more aliphatic alcohols and acids) and the not boiled meads (more aliphatic hydrocarbons and esters). Some compounds related to yeast metabolism, such as tryptophol, may be considered markers of honey fermentation. This research allowed us to identify chemical markers of botanical origin, retained and detectable in the meads: 4-isopropenylcyclohexa-1,3-diene-1-carboxylic acid and 4-(1-hydroxy-2-propanyl)cyclohexa-1,3-diene-1-carboxylic acid for linden; valeric acid, γ-valerolactone, p-hydroxybenzoic acid for buckwheat; 4-hydroxybenzeneacetic acid, homovanillic acid and trans-coniferyl alcohol for honeydew; and methyl syringate for canola.

There are many studies that compare the quality and biological characteristics of honey with distinct geographical and botanical origins. However, the physico-chemical and biological properties of different types of honey in the same production regions are rarely mentioned. The honey used in this study: sunflower honey, rapeseed honey, manna honey and polyflora honey, came from GT “Malai C” in Taraclia village, Causeni district in the southern part of the Republic of Moldova and belonged to the flowering season of year 2020. Following the polynecological analysis, it was found that two types of honey are monofloral with a dominant pollen content of Helianthus spp. (49.15% - 93.12%) in sunflower honey and Brassica spp. (52.17% - 70.11%) in rapeseed honey. Mana honey and polyflora contain several types of pollen. Thus, four types were identified in manna honey, including: Acer platanoides (29.11% - 30.11%), Quercus robur (28.67% - 29.99%), Rubus idaeus (21.55% - 28.78%), Taraxacum officinale (22.21% - 28.76%). Polyflora honey contains: Helianthus annuus (24.91% - 31.11%), Brassica napus (23.45% - 29.18%), Tilia (28.95% - 31.92%). Based on a Pfund scale, it was found that the color of the honey varied from a lighter shade for rapeseed honey (water amber 7.66 ± 3.002 mm) to a darker color for sunflower honey and polyflora (extra light amber 34.366 ± 21.01 mm and 36.04 ± 1.115 mm respectively). Spectrophotometric determination of phenolic compounds in honey samples showed that their content ranged from 38.18 mg GAE/kg honey for rapeseed honey to 831.09 mg GAE/kg honey for manna honey. At the same time, the flavonoid content ranged from 28.41 mg QUE/kg honey for rapeseed honey to 151.72 mg QUE/kg honey for manna honey. Mana honey showed a better antioxidant activity than the other honey samples in the study (72.03%). The reported results suggest that manna honey has the best potential and its consumption in the human diet as food with valuable biological properties can be encouraged, despite the fact that in the Republic of Moldova it is in a small amount.

Tilia platyphyllos Scop. is a popular broad-leaved tree, native to Central and Southern Europe. Hydroethanolic extracts rich in phenolic compounds obtained from T. platyphyllos Scop. have shown in vitro antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antitumor properties. The aim of this work was to evaluate the therapeutic properties of a hydroethanolic extract obtained from T. platyphyllos in HPV16-transgenic mice. The animals were divided into eight groups according to their sex and phenotype. Four groups of female: HPV+ exposed to linden (HPV linden; n = 6), HPV+ (HPV water; n = 4), HPV- exposed to linden (WT linden; n = 5) and HPV- (WT water; n = 4) and four groups of male: HPV+ exposed to linden (HPV linden; n = 5), HPV+ (HPV water; n = 5), HPV- exposed to linden (WT linden; n = 5) and HPV- (WT water; n = 7). The linden (Tilia platyphyllos Scop.) extract was orally administered at a dose of 4.5 mg/10 mL per animal (dissolved in water) and changed daily for 33 days. The hydroethanolic extract of T. platyphyllos consisted of protocatechuic acid and (-)-epicatechin as the most abundant phenolic acid and flavonoid, respectively, and was found to be stable during the studied period. In two male groups a significant positive weight gain was observed but without association with the linden extract. Histological, biochemical, and oxidative stress analyses for the evaluation of kidney and liver damage support the hypothesis that the linden extract is safe and well-tolerated under the present experimental conditions. Skin histopathology does not demonstrate the chemopreventive effect of the linden extract against HPV16-induced lesions. The linden extract has revealed a favourable toxicological profile; however, additional studies are required to determine the chemopreventive potential of the linden extract. This journal is This work was supported by the project IBERPHENOL, project number 0377_IBERPHENOL_6_E; Interact R&D project, operation number NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000017, National Funds by FCT – Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under the project UIDB/04033/2020 (CITAB), and project UIDB/ CVT/00772/2020 (CECAV) and the post-graduation grant SFRH/ BD/136747/2018 and 2020.04789.BD; the authors are also grateful to FCT, Portugal and FEDER under programme PT2020 for financial support to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020) and L. Barros acknowledges the national funding by FCT, P. I., through the institutional scientific employment program-contract. The authors would like to thank Cantinho das Aromáticas organic farmers from Vila Nova de Gaia (Portugal) for providing the samples. This work was financially supported by: Base Funding - UIDB/00511/2020 of the Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy – LEPABE - funded by national funds through the FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC). info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Highly host-specific eriophyoid gall- and erineum-forming mites infest a limited range of broadleaf species, with the mites from the genus Eriophyes particularly widespread on Alnus spp. and Tilia spp. Once infected, the infections can be massive, covering a large part of leaf area and spreading through the plant canopy, but the effects of Eriophyes mite gall formation on the performance of host leaves are poorly understood. We studied the influence of three frequent Eriophyes infections, E. inangulis gall-forming mites on Alnus glutinosa, and E. tiliae gall-forming and E. exilis erineum-forming mites on Tilia cordata, on foliage morphology, chemistry, photosynthetic characteristics, and constitutive and induced volatile emissions. For all types of infections, leaf dry mass per unit area, net assimilation rate per area and stomatal conductance strongly decreased with increasing severity of infection. Mite infections resulted in enhancement or elicitation of emissions of fatty acid-derived volatiles, isoprene, benzenoids and carotenoid breakdown products in an infection severity-dependent manner for all different infections. Monoterpene emissions were strongly elicited in T. cordata mite infections, but these emissions were suppressed in E. inangulis-infected A. glutinosa. Although the overall level of mite-induced emissions was surprisingly low, these results highlight the uniqueness of the volatile profiles and offer opportunities for using volatile fingerprints and overall emission rates to diagnose infections by Eriophyes gall- and erineum-forming mites on temperate trees and assess their impact on the physiology of the affected trees.

Kimyasal reaksiyonlarla sentezlenen nanopartiküllerin çeşitli omurgalılarda ve omurgasızlarda geniş bir toksisite yelpazesi sergilese de antifungal aktivitelerinden yararlanmak üzere büyük miktarlarda üretilmektedir. Klasik kimyasal yöntemlerin dikkat çekici dezavantajları nedeniyle, metalik nanopartiküllerin yeşil sentezi son yıllarda büyük ilgi görmeye başlamıştır. Bu yöntem düşük maliyetli, çevre dostu ve basit yaklaşımları ile klasik kimyasal yöntemlere bir alternatif olarak önerilmektedir. Bu çalışmada amacımız, gümüş nanopartiküllerin hücre dışı sentezinde Tilia rubra DC. ekstraktının uygunluğunu belirlemek ve elde edilen materyali karakterize etmektir. Bunun yanısıra biyosentezlenmiş gümüş nanopartiküllerinin antifungal etkisi değerlendirilmiştir. T. rubra ekstraktı, gümüş nanopartiküllerin biyosentezi için ilk kez çalışılmış olup UV-Vis spektrofotometresinde 427 nm'de yüzey plazmon rezonansı oluşturdu. Ayrıca geçirimli elektron mikroskop (TEM) görüntüleri nanopartiküllerin küresel morfolojiye sahip olduğunu gösterdi. TEM görüntülerine göre nanopartiküllerin boyutlarının 5-15 nm arasında olduğu bulundu. X-ışını kırınımı (XRD) analizi ise partiküllerin yüz merkezli kübik geometriye sahip kristal yapıda olduğunu belirledi. Gümüş iyonlarının biyo-indirgenmesinden sorumlu olası biyomolekülleri tanımlamak için Fourier dönüşümlü kızılötesi spektroskopisi (FTIR) analizi yapıldı. Biyosentezlenmiş gümüş nanopartiküllerin patojen bir maya olan Candida albicans üzerindeki antifungal etkisi agar difüzyon metodu ile incelendi ve sonuç olarak sentezlenen gümüş nanopartiküllerinin, Candida albicans üzerinde önemli inhibe edici etki gösterdi. Biyosentezlenmiş gümüş nanopartiküllerin çevre dostu sentez prosedürü gelecekte endüstriyel ve biyomedikal uygulamalar için kullanılma potansiyeline sahip olduğunu desteklemektedir.

Bu çalışma, Türkiye’nin Doğu Karadeniz Bölgesi’nin kıyı kesiminde yetişen ıhlamur ağacı [Tilia rubra subsp. caucasica (Rupr.) V. Engl.] yapraklarının yem değeri potansiyelinin belirlenmesi amacıyla yürütülmüştür. Bu amaçla, Temmuz ayının başında bitkinin tam çiçeklenme döneminde 35 farklı ıhlamur ağacından yaprak örnekleri alınmıştır. Yaprak örneklerinde; ham protein (HP), asit deterjanda çözünmeyen lif (ADF), nötral deterjanda çözünmeyen lif (NDF), toplam fosfor (P), potasyum (K), kalsiyum (Ca) ve magnezyum (Mg) analizleri yapılmış, yaprağın Ca/P ve K/(Ca+Mg) oranları saptanmıştır. Araştırma sonucuna göre, ıhlamur ağacı yapraklarının HP, ADF, NDF, P, K, Ca ve Mg içerikleri sırasıyla; % 13.52-23.82, % 21.25-35.73, % 31.58-57.03, % 0.23-0.80, % 0.04-1.75, % 1.80-2.97 ve % 0.21-0.71 arasında değişkenlik göstermiştir. Çalışmada, ıhlamur yaprağının K/(Ca+Mg) oranı 2.2’den düşük çıkmış; Ca/P oranı ise hayvan sağlığı açısından riskli bulunmuştur. Ham protein bakımından zengin olan ıhlamur ağacı yapraklarının kaba yem olarak kullanılması durumunda, yem rasyonlarına P ve K kaynakları eklenmelidir.

It is recommended that browse should be an important part of diets for browsing and intermediate feeding type ruminants. However, provision of browse in winter time is problematic for many zoos located in the temperate climate. Drying or freezing of branches are commonly practiced solutions to this problem, but ensiling of tree leaves could also be an attractive option. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of drying and ensiling of different tree leaves on preference of their intake by nyala antelope (Tragelaphus angasii), an intermediate feeding type ruminant. A study was conducted on five nyala fed a standard diet (meadow hay, dehydrated chopped lucerne and limited concentrates) before and during the study. Preference of intake of five feeds was tested: dried maple (A. platanoides), oak (Q. robur), willow (S. alba), and ensiled maple and lime (T. cordata) leaves. Each day two tested feeds were offered to each animal. After 4 h of presentation, feed refusals were weighed and preference ratio for each tested feed and animal was calculated. Then, preferences were ranked using a pairwise comparison chart. Dried maple and oak leaves were preferred more than other leaves whereas ensiled lime leaves were the least preferred. On the other hand, ensiled and dried maple leaves were equally preferred. Results of this study showed that palatability of ensiled tree leaves should not be a concern when feeding nyala, and likely also other browsing or intermediate feeding type ruminants, but palatability of silage may depend on the species of tree.

Polyherbal medicines are composed of multiple herbs and have traditionally been used in East Asian countries for the remedy of physiological symptoms. Although the effects of polyherbal formulations have been investigated at the molecular and behavioral levels, less is known about whether and how medicinal herbs affect the central nervous system in terms of neurophysiology. We introduced a novel blended herbal formulation that consisted of 35% linden, 21% mulberry, 20% lavandin, 20% butterfly pea, and 4% tulsi. After intraperitoneal administration of this formulation or saline, we simultaneously recorded epidural electrocorticograms (ECoGs) from the olfactory bulb (OB), primary somatosensory cortex (S1), and primary motor cortex (M1), along with electromyograms (EMGs) and electrocardiograms (ECGs), of rats exploring an open field arena. Using the EMGs and OB ECoGs, we segmented the behavioral states of rats into active awake, quiet awake, and sleeping states. Compared to saline, herbal medicine significantly shortened the total sleep time. Moreover, we converted the ECoG signal into a frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT) and calculated the powers at various ECoG oscillation frequencies. In the sleeping state, a slow component (0.5-3 Hz) of S1 ECoGs was significantly enhanced following the administration of the formulation, which suggests a region- and frequency-specific modulation of extracellular field oscillations by the polyherbal medicine.

Palynological investigations of Toll Cave, a carnivore and archaeological cave site in northeastern Spain, are presented. The inferred vegetation reveals the long-term permanence of mixed pine-oak forests through a long period of environmental changes within the interval MIS 4 to MIS 1, and probably before. A relatively high diversity of woody taxa is found, including conifers, mesophytic angiosperms, Mediterranean forest, and xerothermic scrub. The most outstanding findings include the abundance of Pinus, evergreen Quercus, and Juniperus; the continuous occurrences of deciduous Quercus, Acer, Castanea, Betula, Fraxinus, Buxus, Olea, Salix, and Erica, and the presence of Abies, Taxus, Carpinus betulus, Tilia, Populus, Celtis, Juglans, Ulmus, Calicotome, Cistus, Ephedra fragilis, Myrtus, Pistacia, Rhamnus and Viburnum. Together with the pollen record of the nearby Teixoneres Cave, this new data suggest the existence of woodland refugia during the coldest and most arid stages of the upper Pleistocene across this relatively high-latitude region within the Iberian Peninsula. This study also supports the occurrence of forest ecosystems within the Mediterranean-Eurosiberian ecotone of the Iberian Peninsula in the vicinity of Homo habitats, including Neanderthals.

This article presents the results of a study of forest territories of the Yanaul forestry of the Republic of Bashkortostan for 2019. Of particular interest is the study of largeleaved Linden formations in the North of the Republic, since the forested lands of this region have long had the status of operational territories-they were subject to development and all types of use. Over the decades, the ongoing development activities on the forests much damage has been caused to the formation of large leaved lime. Until the 1980s, all types of lime cutting were banned here due to the fact that it is a honey crop. But after the removal of this ban in the Yanaul forestry, plantations were subjected to continuous and selective logging for the purpose of harvesting wood. After 35 years of continuous exploitation of Linden forests in the North of the Republic, they led to a sharp decrease in the natural renewal of the studied woody plant species, led to a large number of mechanical damage to the stand and diseases. At the moment, these activities have been discontinued due to the closure of the leading timber processing plant, which was engaged in harvesting and deep processing of wood, in particular Linden. Therefore, studies of annual changes in sanitary and phytosanitary conditions, as well as analysis of the dynamics of natural renewal of forest-forming species are necessary, which determines the relevance of this work. Continuous deforestation and lack of high-quality reforestation measures in the valuable Linden forest have led to severe disruption of the natural ecosystem. As a result of the violation of its integrity, pests entered the Linden tree formation, as well as other existing plantings, and a large number of diseases of woody plants appeared, which a few years ago almost completely destroyed such a unique forest ecosystem. At the time of the study, the aim of the work was to study the phytosanitary condition of wood plants in the Yanaul forest district after the termination of operational activities. The tasks included the proposal of measures for the restoration of valuable forest areas, in particular the large-leaved Linden formation.

Annual pollen accumulation rates of the main tree and shrub taxa of European Russia (Picea, Pinus, Betula, Alnus, Quercus, Tilia, Fraxinus, Ulmus and Corylus), as well as several herbaceous taxa (Poaceae, Cyperaceae, Chenopodiaceae and Artemisia), were obtained using Tauber pollen traps which were placed along a northwest to southeast transect in European Russia. The work was carried out within the framework of the Pollen Monitoring Programme (PMP). The data were analysed using both traditional interpretations of PAR (pollen accumulation rate) values and numerical methods (linear regressions and canonical correspondence analysis, CCA). The various vegetation zones: broadleaved-coniferous forest, broadleaved forest and forest-steppe, differ from each other by the absolute pollen values (PARs) of forest-forming taxa and several wind-pollinated herbs. However, no statistical support for zonal differentiation based on these PARs has been found. The only obvious difference was observed between the forest zone and the forest-steppe. The climatic gradient along the NW–SE transect is reflected by changes in pollen values, but is smoothed due to human influence during past centuries and as a consequence of the dominance of secondary vegetation formations. The highest total PAR, as well as PARs of all the forest-forming taxa, was observed in the southern part of the mixed broadleaved-coniferous forest zone (RU-ZV). The PARs of thermophilic taxa (Tilia, Fraxinus, Acer, Ulmus, Quercus and Corylus), as well as of Picea correspond to warmth availability which is under the influence of a combination of latitude, continentality of climate and microclimatic conditions. According to linear regressions, Picea, Tilia, Quercus and Corylus PARs correspond to Tjul, the July temperature of the previous season. Canonical correspondence analysis indicates that temperature, in particular Tjul, is the main climatic parameter controlling the variation of modern pollen rain.

Premise of research. Tree species typically have high levels of genetic and morphological variation that make the detection of species boundaries difficult. The genus Tilia in eastern North America...

Water is the key resource in fulfilling the cooling function of plants in urban environments and needs to be supplied reliably and adequately, especially during dry periods. To avoid an unsustainable use of high-quality drinking water for irrigation, the reuse of greywater should be implemented for Green Infrastructure irrigation in the sense of the circular economy. In this study, the influence of greywater irrigation on vitality of two trees species, Tilia cordata and Acer pseudoplatanus, was determined by investigating the effect of irrigation with raw or treated greywater in comparison to municipal tap water. Plant growth parameters were measured, including leaf area, number of leaves, average leaf area and annual growth. In addition, the relative chlorophyll content was determined and image analysis was used to identify vital and necrotic leaf parts. While treatment did not affect growth after one growing season A. pseudoplatanus had significantly higher leaf necrosis (34.8%) when irrigated with raw greywater compared to treated greywater (15.5%) and tap water (5.8%). Relative chlorophyll content of T. cordata irrigated with tap water decreased over time until it was significantly lower (28.5) then the greywater treatments (34.5 and 35). Image analysis of leaves to quantify necrosis proved to be a sensitive method to quantify plant health and showed negative effects earlier than an analysis of growth. Anionic surfactants and electrical conductivity had a significant influence on plant vitality. Therefore, plant selection should take these parameters into account, when planning green infrastructure irrigated with greywater.

Medicinal plants contain a large variety of chemical compounds in highly variable concentrations, so the quality control of these materials is especially complex. With this purpose, regulatory institutions have accepted chromatographic fingerprints as a valid tool to perform the analyses. In order to improve the results, separation conditions that maximise the number of detected peaks in these chromatograms are needed. This work reports the extension of a simulation strategy, based on global retention models previously developed for selected compounds, to all detected peaks in the full chromatogram. Global models contain characteristic parameters for each component in the sample, while other parameters are common to all components and describe the combined effects of column and solvent. The approach begins by detecting and measuring automatically the position of all peaks in a chromatogram, obtained preferably with the slowest gradient. Then, the retention time for each detected component is fitted to find the corresponding solute parameter in the global model, which leads to the best agreement with the measured experimental value. The process is completed by developing bandwidth models for the selected compounds used to build the global retention model based on gradient data, which are applied to all peaks in the chromatogram. The usefulness of the simulation approach is demonstrated by predicting chromatographic fingerprints for three medicinal plants with specific separation problems (green tea, lemon balm and linden), using several multi-linear gradients that lead to problematic predictions.

It is hypothesized that grafting zwitterionic nanohydrogel (ZNG) helps to achieve anti-asphaltene properties on cellulosic substrates, thus overcoming the fouling issue of natural cellulosic materials for treating oily emulsions. It is also hypothesized that ZNG coatings enhance the water-binding affinity of the substrates, resulting in an outstanding water-removal performance on asphaltene-stabilized emulsions with long-term stability.A cellulosic substrate was derived from nature basswood via a sequence of delignification and carboxylation processes. The ZNG-DBS composite was then developed by esterification to covalently graft ZNGs on the inner channels of the substrate. The water-binding affinity, wettability, water-removal performance for treating water in asphaltene-stabilized emulsions were evaluated via characterizing the filtration/absorption, and anti-fouling mechanism of the ZNG-DBS.ZNG coatings enhance the hydration capability of the basswood substrate, allowing it to absorb water emulsion droplets protected by asphaltenes in the oil medium without being contaminated. Moreover, superior and stable removal capabilities were achieved by using this unique material to treat asphaltenes-stabilized water-in-oil emulsions with the water residue content of1.0 and ∼0.065 wt% via cyclic filtration and absorption tests, respectively. Our results demonstrate the successful conversion of widely accessible wood resources to functional materials with great potential in the practical treatment of oily wastewater.

Historical herbaria are valuable sources of data in invasion biology. Here we study the invasion history of the lime leaf-miner, Phyllonorycter issikii, by surveying over 15 thousand herbarium specimens of limes (Tilia spp.) collected in the Palearctic during last 253 years (1764–2016). The majority of herbarium specimens with the pest’s mines (89%) originated from East Asia (1859–2015), whereas remaining 11% of specimens with the mines came from Europe, European Russia and Western Siberia (1987–2015). These results support the hypothesis of a recent Ph. issikii invasion from Eastern to Western Palearctic.Single molecule real-time sequencing of the COI barcode region of 93 archival larvae and pupae (7–162 years old) dissected from the mines on historical herbaria allowed to distinguish between Ph. issikii and Ph. messaniella, a polyphagous species rarely feeding on Tilia, which mines were found in herbarium from Europe dated by 1915–1942. We discovered 25 haplotypes of Ph. issikii, of which 16 haplotypes were present solely in East Asia, and revealed wide distribution of the species in China. Six haplotypes shared between Eastern and Western Palearctic suggest the contribution of Ph. issikii populations from the Russian Far East, China and Japan to the westward invasion.

BACKGROUND Tilia amurensis (Malvaceae) is a deciduous broad-leaved tree distributed in Korea, China, and Japan. T. amurensis is used as a honey tree and also as a material for furniture, carving, and pulp. This study aimed to develop and characterize novel microsatellite markers using next-generation sequencing (NGS) of T. amurensis. METHODS AND RESULTS NGS analysis using GS-FLX Titanium obtained 629,273 reads, of which 15,795 contigs were assembled with an average length of 830 bp. A total of 4774 microsatellite regions were detected in 3602 of 15,795 contigs. In total, 360 primer sets were designed based on the microsatellite regions. Among them, 15 primer sets were selected as reproducible polymorphic markers and were characterized for three populations of T. amurensis in Korea. The average number of alleles (NA) was 3.5 in Mt. Hambaek (HB), 3.7 in Mt. Odae (OD), and 3.8 in Mt. Sobaek (SB). The average observed heterozygosity (HO) and expected heterozygosity (HE) values were 0.497 and 0.370 in the HB population, 0.470 and 0.372 in the OD population, and 0.524 and 0.410 in the SB population, respectively. The average polymorphic information content (PIC) value of the 15 microsatellite markers was 0.686. CONCLUSIONS The novel microsatellite markers will be useful for further studies on genetic diversity evaluation to conserve the genetic resources and natural populations of T. amurensis.

紫椴是东北东部地区原始针阔混交林中优势种或共优种之一,是优质的用材树种,更是重要的蜜源植物。本文研究长白山地区紫椴从单株到种群(林分)的泌蜜量,建立单株泌蜜量回归模型,并估计林分尺度泌蜜量,分析紫椴泌蜜量与胸高断面积以及材积或蓄积之间的关系。结果表明: 紫椴单花开花时间为6～8 d,泌蜜时间为5 d,平均每朵花总泌蜜量为8.58 mg。花蜜的糖浓度在一天中有变化,中午高于早晨和傍晚,平均糖浓度为37.7%。样地紫椴的平均胸径为40 cm,单株开花量为18万个,泌蜜量为1.56 kg(或纯糖0.588 kg)。每公顷紫椴的泌蜜量为79～147 kg(或0.0686～0.1285 m

Tilia miqueliana produces woody seeds that exhibit deep dormancy. In this study, we used cell biology methods, including Paraffin section determination and Coomassie brilliant blue staining, as well as proteomics-based methods, including two-dimensional electrophoresis with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation tandem time-of-flight mass spectrometry (2DE-MALDI-TOF/TOF), to examine the effects of H

The protein precipitation (PP) of bovine serum albumin (BSA), lysozyme (LYS), and alfalfa leaf protein (ALF) by four procyanidin-rich condensed tannin (CT) samples in both 2-[N-morpholino]ethanesulfonic acid (MES) and a modified Goering-Van Soest (GVS) buffer is described. Purified CT samples examined included Vitis vinifera seed (mean degree of polymerization [mDP] 4.1, 16.5% galloylated), Tilia sp. flowers (B-type linkages, mDP 5.9), Vaccinium macrocarpon berries (mDP 8.7, 31.7% A-type linkages). and Trifolium pratense flowers (B-type linkages, mDP 12.3) and were characterized by 2D NMR (>90% purity). In general, CTs precipitated ALF > LYS ≥ BSA. PP in GVS buffer was 1 to 2.25 times greater than that in MES buffer (25 °C). The GVS buffer system better reflects the results/conclusions from the literature on the impacts mDP, galloylation, and A-type linkages have on PP. Determinations of PP using the MES buffer at 37 °C indicated that some of these differences may be attributed to the temperature at which GVS buffer determinations are conducted. In vitro PP studies using the GVS buffer may offer better guidance when selecting CT-containing forages and amendments for ruminant feeding studies.

The objective of this work was to compare the extraction of phenolic compounds from Tilia argentea flowers and bracts by using conventional (solvent extraction) and novel (ultrasound assisted) extraction methods. Ethanol (70 %) extracts were analyzed for their antioxidant activities. Total phenolic content was determined using Folin-Ciocalteu method and the antioxidant potential was determined by DPPH radical scavenging and Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) assays. To determine the effect of ultrasound treatment on the extraction, same extraction parameters were applied in both methods. The results showed that extracts obtained by ultrasound assisted extraction have higher total phenolic content and antioxidant activity.

The study was aimed to analyze the complexes of phyllophagous insect species with different ways of feeding on woody plants of certain genera. In 2017–2019, the research was carried out in street, park, and forest park plantations of Kharkiv on the material of woody plants of 13 genera: Tilia, Acer, Quercus, Ulmus, Populus, Aesculus, Robinia, Fraxinus, Betula, Sorbus, Salix, Alnus and Corylus. A total of 159 species of phyllophagous insects from 94 genera of 27 families of six orders were identified there. Representatives of Lepidoptera constitute 50.3% by the number of species, 50 and 51.9% by the number of genera and families, respectively, and Coleoptera – 35.8% of species, 28.7 and 22.2% of genera and families, respectively. The identified species of phyllophagous insects were divided into four groups based on the lifestyle and structure of the feeding apparatus of larvae: chewers, miners, galleries, and suckers. It was found that chewers and miners represent the orders Lepidoptera, Coleoptera and Hymenoptera, gallers – Hymenoptera and Diptera, suckers – Homoptera and Hemiptera. The suckers dominate by the number of species. The adventive species were found among the lepidopterous miners: Cameraria ohridella (Deschka & Dimic, 1986); Macrosaccus robiniella (Clemens, 1859); Phyllonorycter issikii (Kumata, 1963) and Parectopa robiniella (Clemens, 1863), as well as among the dipterous gallers, Obolodiplosis robiniae (Haldeman, 1847) was revealed. More than 30 similar species of phyllophagous insects were identified at typical forest plants, the most of them at the hazel (Corylus) and oak (Quercus) – 77 and 73 species (48.4 and 45.9% of all identified species), respectively. The similarity of the complexes of chewers from leaf beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) at plants of certain genera is less than that of lepidopterous chewers, which is due to the biological characteristics of these insects. Thus, the polyphagia of lepidopterous chewers is explained by the limited ability of caterpillars to migrate in search of food at high population densities and severe defoliation of preferred plant species. Unlike lepidopterous caterpillars, the adults of leaf beetles are able to fly long distances in search of preferred plant species.

Literature reports suggest that Tilia pollen exhibits low or moderate allergenicity. The aim of the study was to compare the pollen seasons of this taxon in seven Polish cities in 2018 and 2019. The aerobiological research stations were located in Bialystok, Cracow, Lublin, Piotrkow Trybu-nalski, Sosnowiec, Szczecin, and Warsaw. Aerosol samples were collected with the volumetric method using Burkard or Lanzoni pollen samplers. The length of the pollen season was determined using the 95% method. The earliest onset of the Tilia pollen season was noted in Cracow in both years of the study. In 2018, it began already in May. The highest concentrations of lime pollen grains were recorded in Lublin, whereas the lowest values were reported from Bialystok and Cracow. The maximum daily Tilia pollen concentration was recorded in most of the measurement sites between June 6th and June 11th in 2018 and between June 16th and June 24th in 2019. The annual pollen grain sum in both study years was the highest in Lublin (971, 844), whereas the lowest values were noted in Bialystok (85, 102) and Cracow (111, 75). The concentrations of Tilia pollen in Lublin in 2018 and 2019 were several times higher than the mean values recorded in this city in 2001–2017. The allergen index calculated for Tilia trees growing in the centre of Lublin indicates a moderate allergenic threat posed by the pollen of this taxon to the residents of the city.

The characterization of modern pollen–vegetation–climate relationships forms the basis of past environmental and climatic reconstructions from fossil pollen records. Northeast China, which is located in a high-latitude temperate zone, is an ideal area for investigating the relationship between modern pollen assemblages and climate. However, a scarcity of datasets and detailed research on surface pollen in Northeast China prohibits high-resolution quantitative climate reconstructions in China. Here, a total of 43 surface moss samples from forest regions in the eastern part of Northeast China were collected and analyzed for pollen content. The pollen-vegetation-climate relationship was investigated by calculating distance-weighted vegetation abundances, cluster analysis, indicator species analysis, ordination analysis, correlation analysis and biomization. Pollen assemblages were compared with vegetation types recorded at the sampling sites on different scales. The combination of cluster analysis, indicator species analysis and biomization identified which forest types the surface pollen assemblages represented. Our results showed that: 1) Surface pollen assemblages from the forest region of Northeast China can be used to distinguish mixed forest types from coniferous forest at a regional scale. Indicator taxa of coniferous forest include Alnus and Betula, while the indicator taxa of mixed forest are the combinations of Juglans, Tilia, Ulmus, Quercus and Pinus. 2) Principal Component Analysis (PCA) indicates that the pollen assemblages are mainly controlled by temperature and precipitation, while the mean temperature of the coldest month (Mtco) is the most significant factor controlling vegetation change. 3) The Betula/Quercus ratio drops dramatically from coniferous forest to mixed forest with an increasing Mtco and can thus be used as an indicator of vegetation types at a regional scale and as an index to reconstruct temperature.

Based on the processing of literary sources, the history of the formation of green spaces of the Uman National University of Horticulture (UNUS) is investigated. The analysis of the taxonomic composition of autochthonous and introduced tree and shrub plants that are now chgrowing in this territory is carried out. It has been established that among gymnospermous plants, representatives of the genus Thuja and its shape variety predominate, the genus Picea is slightly less representative, and the genus Pinus is the third most numerous. Among shrub species of the order gymnosperms, the genera Juniperus and Taxus predominate. The order of angiosperms is represented by the tree genera Aesculus, Acer, Betula, Corylus, Juglans, Mahonia, Quercus, Ulmus, Tilia, Fraxinus, Salix and Sorbus. The largest representation of shrubs of this order are the genera Berberis, Caragana, Cornus, Philadelphus, Laburnum, Viburnum, Spiraea, Symphoricarpos, Syringa, Tamarix and Forsythia. To improve the aesthetic state of these stands, it is necessary to carry out forming pruning. The presence of a large number of fruit plants, which represent the genera Armeniaca, Cerasus, Malus, Morus, Pyrus, was noted. The total number of gymnosperms in the territory of UNUS is 28 % of the total, and angiosperms, respectively, 72 %. Behind the altitude parameters (structure), tree and shrubbery can be assigned to the group of plants of the first, second, and third tiers. As a result of a visual examination of the general condition of woody and shrubby plants growing on the territory of UNUS, proposals are made for their reconstruction, which is carried out by removing damaged and dry branches of 1-3 branching orders and pruning a certain amount of them in the lower part of the trunk – with the stem. If necessary, fertilize the plants. In order to increase the decorativeness of these stands, it is necessary to carry out additional group and single plantings of species and form diversity of the following genera: Thuja, Juniperus, Morus, Acer, Ulmus, Fagus, Berberis, Viburnum, Magnolia, Rosa, Spiraea, Weigela, Forsythia.

The study aimed to evaluate the physiological mechanisms underlying differences in metals and metalloid uptake and tolerance of two tree species cultivated in mining waste material. Two-year old Acer platanoides L. and Tilia cordata Mill. were cultivated in mining sludge characterized by high pH, salinity and an extremely high concentration of As. Both species were able to develop leaves from leafless seedlings, however, their total biomass was greatly reduced in comparison to control plants, following the severe disturbances in chlorophyll content. Phytoextraction abilities were observed for T. cordata for Ba, Nb, Rb and Se, and phytostabilisation was stated for Pd, Ru, Sc and Sm for both species, Ba and Nd for A. platonoides and Be for T. cordata only. Metal exclusion was observed for the majority of detected elements indicating an intense limitation of metal transport to photosynthetic tissue. A diversified uptake of elements was accompanied by a species-specific pattern of physiological reaction during the cultivation in sludge. Organic ligands (glutatnione and low-molecular-weight organic acids) were suppressed in A. platanoides, and enhanced biosynthesis of phenolic compounds was observed for both species, being more pronounced in T. cordata. Despite its higher accumulation of key metabolites for plant reaction to oxidative stress, such as phenolic acids, flavonoids and organic ligands, T. cordata exhibited relatively lower tolerance to sludge, probably due to the increased uptake and translocation rate of toxic metal/loids to aerial organs and/or restricted accumulation of salicylic acid which is known to play a decisive role in mechanisms of plant tolerance.

Tiliroside is one of the main flavonoid compounds responsible for a wide spectrum of biological activity of Tilia L. Up to now, several extraction techniques have been reported for extracting this compound from Tilia L. In this work for the first time supercritical carbon dioxide extraction was used for this purpose. Experiments were performed using supercritical carbon dioxide with 5% and 10% of ethanol as solvent, aiming a recovery content of tiliroside, temperature from 45 to 80°C, pressure from 100 to 220 bar and time from 20 to 60 minutes. The statistically generated optimum extraction conditions to obtain the highest content of tiliroside were established as: pressure of 200 bar, temperature 65°C and 45-50 minutes for 5% ethanol concentration and pressure of 220 bar, temperature 65°C and 15 minutes for 10% ethanol concentration.A liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry method (LC-ESI-MS/MS) was used to determine the content of tiliroside in the obtained extracts. In addition, the total phenolic (TPC) and flavonoid (TFC) content and antioxidant activity (DPPH• method) were determined.

Trees are considered good candidates for phytoremediation of soils contaminated with trace elements (TE), e.g. mine tailings. Using two year-old Tilia cordata plants, we demonstrated the nature and the scale of root architecture, especially root apices, as an indicator of mining sludge toxicity and plant capability to cope with these stress conditions. The novelty of our research is the analysis of the root response to substrate with extremely high concentrations of numerous toxic TE, and the 3D illustration of the disorders in root apex architecture using a clarity technique for confocal microscopy. The analysis demonstrates (1) a marked reduction in the size of the root apex zones (2) the occurrence of vascular tissues abnormally close to the root apex (3) collapse of the internal tissues in many root apices. Simultaneously, at the cellular level we observed some signs of a defensive response - such as a common increase of cell wall (CW) thickness and the formation of local CW thickenings - that enlarge the CW capacity for TE sequestration. However, we also detected harmful effects. Among others, a massive deposition of TE in the middle lamella which caused major damage - probably one of the reasons why the inner tissues of the root apex often collapsed - and the formation of incomplete CWs resulting in the occurrence of extremely large cells. Moreover, many cells of the root apex exhibited degenerated protoplasts. All these alterations indicate the harsh conditions for lime growth and survival and simultaneously, the manifestation of a defensive response. The obtained results allowed us to conclude that analysis of the nature and scale of structural alterations in roots can be useful indicators of plant ability to cope with stress conditions, e.g. in prospect of using the examined plants for reclamation of soils contaminated with TE.

The article presents the findings, regarding the comparison between the pollen spectrum of the atmosphere in the area and the species composition of pollen emitting trees within the operating range of a Hirst-type volumetric air sampler. The research has revealed how local and transported pollen influence the pollen content of the atmospheric bioaerosol. Even though only a small number of birch trees grow in the area, its pollen proved to be prevalent in the pollen spectrum, while only an insignificant amount of Quercus pollen was detected due to the remoteness of its emission sources from the air sampler. Despite the fact that the highest number of trees in the immediate vicinity of the air sampler belong to the genus Tilia (linden), its pollen made up less than 1% of the pollen spectrum due to entomophily of these trees. Locations of tree pollen emission sources in the immediate vicinity of the Burkard spore and pollen trap were mapped out.

The properties of bilaterally symmetric laminas of two types: small-leaved limes (Tiliacordata Mill.) and linden broadleaf ones (Tilia platyphyllos Scop.) were compared in the contaminated zone and in the control one (Moscow, 2016–2018). The fluctuating asymmetry (FA) depended on the year and gathering place of laminas, while the plastic variability depended on the year of gathering. The value of FA was higher in T. platyphyllos than in T. cordata. In 2017, the FA of Tilia platyphyllos in the park area (control) was lower than on a traffic highway. The reasons for the increase of the FA were: a) the cold summer of 2017, which inhibited the laminas growth and increased the plastic variability of metric traits; b) motor vehicle pollution. Thus, the climatic conditions of the year contributed to both fluctuation and plastic variability that did not mean a change in the stability of development.

The present climate in the Changbai Mountain area, NE China is warm with abundant rainfall. It is mainly affected by the wet air mass from the Sea of Japan. Local vegetation belongs to the warm temperate mixed conifer and broad-leaved forest, with a mountain cold temperate coniferous forest belt occurring at an altitude of over 1100 m. The Neogene vegetation history of this region is not yet well understood because of the lack of palaeobotanical data. Here we report a systematic palynological result of a plant-bearing diatomite sequence at Badaogou of Changbai Mountains in Jilin Province, which shows distinct vegetation and environment changes during the late Neogene. Seven palynological assemblages are recognized in the diatomite deposits from a freshly closed mine (Zones M-I and M-II), and an outcrop (Zones I–V) respectively in ascending order. Pollen data indicate a dominant woody angiosperm plants such as Ulmus, Quercus, Pterocarya and Fagus etc. at first (Zone M-I). Subsequently, gymnosperm plants mainly represented by Pinus, Tsuga, Picea and Abies show an increase (Zone M-II), and become predominant at a lowest sample in the outcrop (Zone I), distinguished by rich Picea, along with large amount of Tsuga, Pinus and Abies. Pinus increases significantly, while Picea remains higher value, and Abies and Tsuga become limited in the following assemblage (Zone II). Woody angiosperm pollen Tilia, and terrestrial herbs and shrubs including Asteraceae and Chenopodiaceae show their first sign of increase in Zone III, and become more distinguishable in Zone IV. Picea rises again in Zone V. Pollen assemblages display a successive change of vegetation between the mine (Zones M-I and M-II) and the outcrop (Zones I–V), reflecting their continuity in time. Based on the Ar–Ar dating, the outcropping deposits (Zones I–V) are the Latest Pliocene in age, approaching to the Plio-Pleistocene boundary. Consequently, pollen data in this study indicate a major turnover from the warm temperate mixed conifer and broad-leaved forest (Zones M-I and M-II) to the cold temperate coniferous forest (Zone I) during the Late Pliocene in the Changbai Mountain area. It also displays some subsequent fluctuations including the warm temperate mixed conifer and broad-leaved forest partly recovered in Zones III and IV, and decreased again in Zone V. It shows for the first time how local vegetation responses to the global climate deterioration in the Late Pliocene of NE China. The overall changing process is more or less comparable with some simultaneous vegetation changes in North China and Central Japan. The terrestrial herbs and shrubs in the assemblages are not significant comparing with other areas in North China, reflecting the influence of wet air mass from the Sea of Japan. Meanwhile, Tsuga is gradually disappearing in the upper assemblages as a result of continuous lower temperature.

For more than six decades, bumblebee death, which mainly occurs in August, has been assumed to be associated with intake of presumed toxic nectar from linden trees (Tilia spp.), a hypothesis which has been sustained by observations of a significant number of dead bumblebees under these trees during their flowering season. Several theories exist in current literature to account for these observations. The nectar has been assumed to contain compound(s) toxic to the bumblebees including the monosaccharide mannose, which cannot be metabolized by bumblebees. The presence of toxic compounds such as the alkaloid nicotine or pesticides of anthropogenic origin has also been indicated. However, none of the above suggested compounds have hitherto been properly characterized from the nectar. In the current paper we report on characterization of the composition of nectar of linden trees, under which a significant number of dead bumblebees were observed. The structure determinations were performed by selective 1D TOCSY NMR and extensive applications of 2D NMR spectroscopy. The nectar of the linden flowers was readily available in significant amounts during the entire period when dead bumblebees were observed under these trees. The nectar only contained non-toxic sugars such as α-glucopyranose, β-glucopyranose, sucrose, fructose and minor amounts of xylose. The nectar did not contain mannose, nor alkaloids or pesticides. Initial toxicity studies using brine shrimp lethality assay showed that the nectar did not exhibit any toxic effects even at concentrations higher than 1 mg/ml dry weight, providing disproving evidence against the assumption of the nectar's toxic character.

An oinochoe and an iron bracelet with many layers of a textile preserved on it and dated to the Classical Period (8th-1st century B.C), were discovered in burial №24 at the Vani Site located in the Imereti region of Western Georgia, in the southeastern part of the Colchis Lowland. Palynological analysis of the oinochoe's contents revealed that it contained honey. It was identified by a great number of taxa in a good state of preservation along with an equally well-preserved spectrum of melliferous plants. Bee hairs, their claws and epidermis in the palynological spectrum of the oinochoe's contents also represent solid evidence for honey. Palynological investigation of the material from the bracelet yielded unexpected and very interesting results. The textile glued to the bracelet was made of flax (Linum usitatissimum) and layers of the textile were saturated with honey similarly infused with pollen grains of melliferous plants, bee hairs, claws and epidermis. The honey from the textile and from the oinochoe were analogous; grains of chestnut (Castanea sativa) and lime (Tilia) were dominant in the palynological spectrum of both samples.