Comparing other methods of waste water treatment, constructed wetlands are one of the most fascinating practices because being a natural process they are eco-friendly have low construction and maintenance cost and have considerable capability of wastewater treatment. The current research was focused mainly on comparison of Ranunculus muricatus and Typha latifolia as wetland plants for domestic ...

The human Y--probably because of its nonrecombining nature--has lost 97% of its genes since X and Y chromosomes started to diverge [1, 2]. There are clear signs of degeneration in the Drosophila miranda neoY chromosome (an autosome fused to the Y chromosome), with neoY genes showing faster protein evolution [3-6], accumulation of unpreferred codons [6], more insertions of transposable elements ...

The effect of the glass industry on heavy metal characterization was assessed in the sludge/sediments of 5 discharge pits (sites) for effluents of functional glass factories and/or finishing workshops in the study area. A comprehensive profile of Zn, Mn, Co, Cd, Pb, Cr, Ni,Cu and As levels in industrial sludge was obtained. Correlation coefficients for metal pairs indicate varying levels (posit...

Typha latifolia plants, commonly known as cattails, were grown in a mixture of sewage sludge compost, commercial compost and perlite. Large 6.5 L pots were used with one well developed plant in each pot, divided in five groups. Four groups were irrigated with a solution containing different concentrations of Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn for a period of 10 weeks, where the fifth was used as a blank. Ch...

Despite recent increased interest in the frequency and evolutionary consequences of generalization in plant-pollinator systems, little is known on whether plant generalization on pollinators actually is a species-level trait. This paper addresses the following questions for the insect-pollinated shrub Lavandula latifolia: (1) Are different populations of this pollinator-generalist plant similar...

BACKGROUND Recently, we reported high in vitro antibacterial efficacy of Althaea officinalis, Ziziphus jujuba, Cordia latifolia and Thymus vulgaris out of a total 21 plants against wide range of bacteria including MRSA. This study was therefore, designed to confirm efficacy of these four herbs against MRSA in an animal model. METHODS A pilot study was conducted to establish the dose of S. aur...

Compositions of true lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) and spike lavender (Lavandula latifolia) essential oils, cultivated and extracted in the Southeast of Spain, were determined by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry detection, obtaining both relative (peak area) and absolute (using standard curves) concentrations. Linalool (37-54 %), linalyl acetate (21-36 %) and (E)-β-caryophy...

The mechanics of speciation with gene flow are still unclear. Disparity among genes in population differentiation (F(ST)) between diverging species is often interpreted as evidence for semipermeable species boundaries, with selection preventing "key" genes from introgressing despite ongoing gene flow. However, F(ST) can remain high before it reaches equilibrium between the lineage sorting of sp...

The nonrecombining regions of animal Y chromosomes are known to undergo genetic degeneration, but previous work has failed to reveal large-scale gene degeneration on plant Y chromosomes. Here, we uncover rapid and extensive degeneration of Y-linked genes in a plant species, Silene latifolia, that evolved sex chromosomes de novo in the last 10 million years. Previous transcriptome-based studies ...

BACKGROUND Genome size evolution is a complex process influenced by polyploidization, satellite DNA accumulation, and expansion of retroelements. How this process could be affected by different reproductive strategies is still poorly understood. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We analyzed differences in the number and distribution of major repetitive DNA elements in two closely related species...