Browse Our Biology and Life Sciences Journals
Biology is a study of living objects and their life processes. It examines all aspects of living organisms such as their occurrence, classification, internal and external structure, nutrition, reproduction, inheritance, etc. The term “biology” is commonly replaced by the terms “life sciences” and “biological sciences.” There are dozens of branches of biology. Some of the major ones include:
Biology and Life Sciences
Abstract
Pochazia shantungensis (Chou & Lu, 1977), an alien species of Asian origin is reported from Hungary as well as from the Carpathian Basin for the first time as the first representative of the family Ricaniidae. The current distribution of the species is provided. The species may pose a potentially serious phytosanitary risk in the countries where it had been established. The Hungarian status of the species is dubious; however, it can possibly become established in the Hungarian fauna.
Abstract
Allium is a plant genus with high medicinal and dietary value, which encompasses commonly used culinary herbs such as scallion, garlic, and onion. In this study, we investigated whether Allium extracts exert protective effects on radiation-induced chromosomal damage in BALB/c mice. The mice were orally administered 200 mg kg−1 Allium extracts (scallion, garlic, and onion) for 6 weeks and exposed to 2 Gy gamma radiation 1 day after the final feeding. Haematological parameters and the number of micronucleated bone marrow polychromatic erythrocytes (MnPCEs) were evaluated. Additionally, we analysed the effects of Allium extracts on inflammasome activation in lipopolysaccharide-primed murine bone marrow-derived macrophages. The Allium extracts increased the numbers of peripheral white blood cells, lymphocytes, neutrophils, and red blood cells; significantly decreased the number of MnPCEs; and suppressed the maturation of interleukin-1β by blocking activation of the NLRP3 and AIM2 inflammasomes.
In conclusion, Allium extracts protected the hematopoietic function of bone marrow, reduced radiation-induced formation of micronuclei, and suppressed activation of the NLRP3 and AIM2 inflammasomes. Further research is needed to explore the molecular mechanisms of these effects of Allium.
Abstract
The aims of this study were to formulate 2% and 3% (w/v) hemp seed beverages and to evaluate chemical composition, colloidal stability, safety, and sensory profiles after roasting the seeds (150 °C, 15 min). Beverages with 2% and 3% roasted hemp seeds evidenced acceptable sensory attributes and nutritious profile, containing 0.6–1% protein, 0.4–0.6% dietary fibre, and 0.5–0.8% lipids –mainly unsaturated fatty acids–, respectively. The roasting treatment significantly increased the phenolic content by 49–55% and the antioxidant capacity by 15%, and improved the sensory attributes of the beverages. Low peroxide levels (<1 meq O2/kg) in roasted hemp seed beverages were detected up to five days in cold storage, with better capacity against oxidation at 2% seed content. The use of 0.03% gellan gum improved the physical stability of suspensions contributing to their overall acceptability. Roasted hemp seed beverages showed no cannabinoid and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content. The advantages observed after roasting the seeds on phenolic content, antioxidant activity, sensorial acceptability and safety provided better attributes for the feasibility of beverages formulated with hemp seeds. The results showed a formulation suitable for the development of potential industrial roasted hemp seeds beverages with promising compositional profiles.
Abstract
The automated system for enhancing plant growth presents an innovative approach to optimize quality of sugarcane cultivation for four main sugarcane growing zones. It includes issues like recommendation of crops based on soil nutrients, diagnosis of disease in the leaf and stem images of sugarcane, weed detection and harvesting time prediction. The research work proposed in the article presents an innovative two-stage approach for object detection and classification in agricultural imagery. Initially, YOLOv8 (You Only Look Once) is employed to accurately detect objects within images, delineating them with precise boundary boxes. Subsequently, the focus of hybrid model integrating Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks, known as Contextual Long Short-Term Memory (CLSTM), is employed. This dual-stage methodology harnesses the speed and accuracy of YOLOv8 for robust object localization, while the CLSTM model ensures nuanced classification, contributing to comprehensive and accurate approach for object detection and crop-weed differentiation in agricultural scenarios. The proposed approach is compared with the four DL algorithms for identifying weeds in sugarcane crops and subsequently assessed their accuracy and F1 score performance. At a learning rate of 0.002, the findings of CLSTM showcase superior precision at 98.5%, recall at 97.8%, F1 score at 98.1%, and an overall accuracy of 97.7%. The subsequent task is harvesting time prediction, which entails identifying the best time to harvest sugarcane based on the planting period, weather predictions, and sugarcane brix value. The implementation of this automated system not only enhances the productivity of sugarcane cultivation but also serves as a model for sustainable and resource-efficient agriculture.
Abstract
Extracts from Azadirachta indica, Lantana camara, Nerium oleander, Aegle marmelos, Allium sativum, Citrus limon were compared with two checks viz. Azadirachtin 1 EC and Acephate 95 SG for their efficacy against Nilaparvata lugens, Orseolia oryzae and natural enemies in cultivated rice during two consecutive wet seasons from 2022 to 2023. It was revealed that, mean rice yield was significantly higher in the A. indica and Acephate 95 SG treatments compared to the control. The A. indica treatment emerged as the best treatment against O. oryzae whereas, the A. marmelos treatment was found most promising against N. lugens. All the studied botanicals had less impact on natural enemies than synthetic chemical. The cost economics of major insect pests' management in rice revealed that Acephate 95 SG treatment recorded the highest Incremental Cost Benefit Ratio (1: 4.65) followed by A. indica (1: 3.74) and A. marmelos (1: 3.41).
40 accessions of Aegilops tauschii Coss. specially chosen to present as much of the species variability as possible in such sample were used to build a phylogenetic tree based on transcriptomes sequences. The tree displays subdivision of Ae. tauschii into TauL1, TauL2 and TauL3 gene-pools, and also into subsp. tauschii (TauL1) and subsp. strangulata (TauL2 + TauL3). TauL3 does not look as an outlier. Both subsp. strangulata and subsp. tauschii are highly variable. Accessions from all clades of subsp. tauschii and some clades of subsp. strangulata have disjoint patterns of geographic occurrence, while some of subsp. strangulata clades correspond to particular geographical regions. No special separate clade was formed by some accessions of Ae. tauschii subsp. tauschii from Yellow River region.
Abstract
Thirty nine species of oribatid mites (Oribatida), belonging to 29 genera and 20 families were collected from semidecayed leaves in the San Gabriel Limestone Cave, Dominican Republic. A new species of the genus Pergalumna (Galumnidae)—P. (Pergalumna) sangabrielensis n. sp.—is described.
A comprehensive lichenological survey was conducted on three Azorean islands: Faial, São Miguel, and Terceira, resulting in the documentation of 155 lichens and lichenicolous fungi species, with a total of 406 observations. Among these, 33 species are reported for the first time in the Archipelago, with four species representing new records for Europe (Lecanora subimmersa, Lecanora thysanota, Pseudosagedia cestrensis, and Traponora asterella). Additionally, 15 species and varieties are new to Portugal, including notable taxa such as Caloplaca interna, Lecanora gisleriana, Lecanora handelii, Variospora dolomiticola, and Xanthocarpia diffusa.
Salsola is one of the largest genera in the tribe Salsoleae within Amaranthaceae, with many species that share morphological characteristics, which makes it a challenging genus to study. In this study, 11 quantitative and eight qualitative morphological traits were evaluated and measured. Ward’s dendrogram showed two main clusters: one composed of S. brachiata and S. turcomanica, and the other composed of two subclusters, with populations of S. kali, S. incanescens, S. orientalis and S. dendroides. In addition, we performed molecular phylogenetic analyses conducted with sequence data from nrDNA (ITS and ETS) and cpDNA markers (psbB-psbH and atpB-rbcL) under maximum parsimony, Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood approaches. All the members were clustered into a well-supported clade (PP = 1, ML/BS = 0.89) composed of two subclades: subclade A included S. turcomanica and S. brachiata (PP = 0.90, ML/BS = 73) and subclade B (PP = 0.95, ML/BS = 81) comprised S. incanescens, S. orientalis, S. dendroides and S. kali. The current study provides novel insights at morphological and molecular levels, as well as the results of molecular studies based on nr- and cpDNA sequence data that are congruent with morphological analyses.
