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Salmonellosis infection is caused by bacteria of the genus Salmonella. There are many pathways for the pathogenic bacteria to spread which is through contaminated food, water, and contact with animals. The research was conducted to detect Salmonella spp. carriage in free-living aquatic turtles and zoo turtles. Turtles are frequent inhabitants of zoos and the owners of a large number of bacteria in their outer skin and shell surfaces that under adverse conditions can multiply and lead to the development of infection. However, they are known to be a frequent source of Salmonella infection without showing signs of disease. The risk of human infection exists if personal hygiene is not followed after contact with a turtle. Identification of bacteria of the genus Salmonella, the main causative agent of the disease was determined by the standard method on chromogenic Salmonella LAB-Agarᵀᴹ (BIOMAXIMA, Poland) agar. The inoculation was incubated under aerobic conditions at 37 ± 1°C for 72 h. Serotype (D serotype) was determined by serotyping in 11 from 16 (68.75%) Zoo inhabitants but not found in 25 free-living turtles. Our present research is of theoretical and practical value for the study of free-living turtles as well as from the collections of zoos under protection in Latvia and Europe. It is necessary to remember the possibility of infection with pathogenic bacteria.

In the present study, different eggs were collected and analyzed from five various animal species: European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis (Linnaeus, 1758)), giant African land snail (Achatina fulica (Bowdich, 1822)), common ostrich (Struthio camelus (Linnaeus, 1758)), white, light-brown, and dark-brown laying hen (Gallus gallus domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) and European quail (Coturnix coturnix (Linnaeus, 1758). The typical mineral shell mainly composed of the calcite polymorph of CaCO3 but the eggshell consists of membranes, that composed mainly of proteins. The shell quality also could be assigned by several external and internal factors such as oviposition time, animal genotype and age, housing system (for poultry), and mineral nutrition complex. The CaCO3 content was determined by the standard titration method, coz the titration could provide a reliable method for evaluation of CaCO3 content in different types of eggshells. The structural surface characterization of eggshells was performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with a field emission gun. In terms of chemical composition, ostrich eggshells generally did not differ much from those of laying hen, turtles, giant snails, or quail eggs, but the concentration of calcium carbonate was the highest. The average calcium carbonate content of various eggshells is between 84 and 98%. The thickness of the eggshell ranges from 0.08 to 1.89 mm, and it is not the same over the entire surface of the egg. At the sharp end of the egg, the shell is slightly thicker than at the blunt end. The purpose of this study was to study the quantitative content of calcium carbonate in various eggshells of different animals to draw further conclusions in which animals the eggshell contains the maximum amount of biological calcium carbonate.

Paper description: The influence of climate change on biochemical and physiological changes in freshwater macrophytes has been widely studied. Most studies have focused on the responses to stressors such as hypoxia, salinity and heavy metals. Less attention has been paid to heat-induced oxidative stress and the activity of the antioxidant system, despite the fact that elevated water temperature can severely affect them. This study provides new findings on the changes in oxidative processes, lipid peroxidation, membrane stability and antioxidant defence in aquatic macrophytes under high temperature treatment. The presented data expand on existing knowledge. A bstract: Global warming can negatively affect freshwater macrophytes. However, the degree to which freshwater plants can survive after long-term or short-term warming and the underlying molecular mechanisms are not fully understood. The aim of our study was to analyze the responses of an invasive plant to moderate heat stress (HS). Biochemical and physiological stress responses to experimental warming (30±1.0°C/25±1.0°C, day/night) were assessed in the invasive waterweed Elodea canadensis . The effect of the moderate HS on the macrophyte was evaluated through changes in the total protein content, catalase activity, lipid peroxidation, cellular membrane permeability by electrolyte leakage and the concentrations of carotenoids and photosynthetic pigments. Catalase activity and carotenoid concentrations increased significantly (p

The purpose of the current investigation was to evaluate the influence of antimycin A (AA) as an activator of the alternative respiratory pathway (AP) on photosynthetic pigment composition and functional activity of the photosynthetic apparatus of wheat seedlings (Triticum aestivum L.) under exposure to high temperature as well as their acclimation. Our results indicated that a significant decrease (44–74%) of photosynthetic pigment contents was caused by a long-term exposure to high temperature (42°C), while the short-term exposure resulted in 20–46% decline. However, a combined effect of AA and long-term high temperature reduced the total pigment contents by 28–41%. Our results demonstrated that the reduction of the chlorophyll a/b ratio was less significant under the combined effect of AA and high temperature than that under the stressful condition without AA. We observed that short-term and long-term high temperature modified PSII functionality of the first leaves in wheat seedlings, which was manifested by the low maximal quantum yield of PSII photochemistry, maximum fluorescence yield in the dark-adapted state, and by high minimum fluorescence yield in the dark-adapted state. The quantum yield of PSII photochemistry decreased rapidly by 16–24% under the combination of AA and high temperature. Overall, these results suggest that the activation of the alternative pathway, induced by AA, contributed to the stabilization of the photosynthetic apparatus in wheat seedlings under high temperature.

The objective of the present investigation was to identify the effect of antimycin A (AA) as an activator of the alternative pathway (AP) of respiration, on oxidative stress intensity, the level of lipid peroxidation (LPO) and activities of H 2 O 2 scavenging enzymes in functionally different organs of Triticum aestivum L. subjected to short- and long-term exposure to high temperature (HT). The level of LPO was assessed in terms of malondialdehyde (MDA), an indicator of oxidative injury. The results demonstrated increases in the total content of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and MDA production in developing and senescent organs of wheat seedlings, and significant augmentation of the activities of the antioxidant enzymes, catalase and ascorbate peroxidase, in different organs in response to exposure to HT. The activation of the AP by AA restrained ROS production in the mitochondrial electron transport chain (mETC) under exposure to HT. https://doi.org/10.2298/ABS160706134B Received: July 6, 2016; Revised: October 31, 2016; Accepted: November 30, 2016; Published online: December 15, 2016 How to cite this article: Batjuka A, Skute N. The effect of antimycin A on the intensity of oxidative stress, the level of lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzyme activities in different organs of wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) seedlings subjected to high temperature. Arch Biol Sci. 2017;69(4):743-52.

In this study we used spectrophotometry to investigate the effect of negative concentrations of sodium chloride ions on photosynthetic pigments in Elodea canadensis (Michx. 1803). The concentrations of pigments, carotenoids, chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b, in plant leaves provide information about the physiological state of plants and were determined using a spectrophotometer. Quantity and dynamics analyses of photosynthetic pigments are effective methods which allow determining changes in metabolites of plant cells even at insignificant cellular damage. During this research photosynthetic pigments in leaves were obtained at the different sodium chloride levels: 0.0, 0.025, 0.05, 0.1, 0.5 and 1.0 M. The results of this research indicate that these types of stressors at high concentrations: 0.1, 0.5 and 1.0 M after a prolonged time of impact on plant leaves lead to a decrease of photosynthetic pigments and inhibit growth and development of a plant as a whole.