Gills are associated with a gland known as the cervical gill slit gland. Little is known regarding the composition, function, and nature of the secretion from the gill slit glands.The current work used semi-thin sections and transmission electron microscopy to analyze the morphological aspects of the gill or brachial gland in the apparently, three healthy silver carp (H. molitrix). The oil cells' basal zone had a flattened profile, a prominent nucleus with euchromatin and distinct nucleuses, and cytoplasm with relatively few lipid droplets and an indistinguishable smooth endoplasmic reticulum. The maturation zone takes on a polyhedral form, has pronounced SER, and accumulates various lipid droplets. They have a dilated smooth nuclear membrane and a dilated SER. Lipid droplets may be associated with the SER. The pyknotic nucleus identified damaged oil cells that had empty spaces and were involved in different stages of making lipids connected to the formation of small sacs. More studies should be done to explore the chemical properties of the secretion, and the tissue features of the secretory epithelium to gain a clearer understanding of the signal produced by the gill slit gland.

Large interstitial telomeric regions are considered remnants and markers of chromosomal rearrangements or a result of several suggested molecular mechanisms of telomere repeats accumulation. More rare are cases when large interstitial repeats are found not close to, but at a distance from the centromere. However, synapsis, recombination, and effects on chromatin near these regions during meiotic prophase I have not been sufficiently studied. Using the model of three snake species of the genus Vipera: V. berus, V. nikolskii, V. renardi, we studied interstitial telomere sites (ITSs) in the pachytene nuclei of primary spermatocytes. We discovered an unusual composite chromosome in the species under study with two ITSs located far from the centromere. In V. berus, two very large adjacent ITS blocks were found on bivalent 5. In the other two species, V. nikolskii and V. renardi, two ITSs are also present on bivalent 5, but they are significantly smaller and barely distinguishable by FISH on pachytene bivalents. The possibility of forming crossing-over sites is shown between the two ITSs. Apparently, the three studied viper species received this complex structure of chromosome 5 from their common ancestor. However, the transformation of these telomeric repeat regions during evolution in the species under study occurred differently. Possible mechanisms of modifications of the telomeric regions are discussed.

Humic acid (HA) is a redox-active organic compound that can regulate cell metabolism to produce antioxidant metabolites against oxidative stress. Haematococcus lacustrisis a green microalga and is found to be a rich source of astaxanthin. In this research, the impact of HA was studied on the growth mechanisms and production of antioxidant metabolites through dynamic responses of pigments, proteins, carbohydrates, secondary messengers of H2O2 and Ca2+, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and enzyme activities in H. lacustris. Results revealed that HA at 80µM concentration is a suitable treatment to induce astaxanthin production and cell growth. Cell numbers increased significantly under HA80, and the trend was to enter the red aplanosporephase at the stationary growth phase. High HA concentration (120µM) increased astaxanthin content but considerably reduced cell number and size. HA80 enhanced astaxanthin (5.39mg L-1), flavonoid (15.64mgg-1 DW), and phenolic (55.64mgg-1 DW) contents after 9days of induction time, which was accompanied by a significant reduction in the chlorophyll pigments, proteins, and carbohydrate contents. The increase in total phenolic content was associated with enhanced phenylalanineammonia-lyase activity. H2O2 accumulation decreased by HA80 at the late stationary growth phase. Putrescine and spermidine contents were promoted under HA80, while gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and Ca2+ contents were reduced from the logarithmic phase to the early stationary growth phase. Succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) activity was promoted in the TCA cycle, and the GABA shunt was activated to regulate the ROS level. Findings indicate that the impact of HA on cell growth and astaxanthin production is associated with HA concentration and cell growth phase. HA can regulate ROS levels at the stationary growth phase by inducing polyamine metabolism and an antioxidant defense system.

Jasmonates are important plant hormones widely involved in processes such as plant growth and stress responses. However, the effects of jasmonic acid on the growth, development, and quality formation in carrots (Daucus carota L.) are less frequently reported. In this study, treatments of 100 µmol/L methyl jasmonate (MeJA), 200 µmol/L MeJA, and 10 mmol/L sodium diethyldithiocarbamate (DIECA) were established, with water serving as the control group, to investigate the effects of different concentrations of MeJA and its inhibitor DIECA on carrot growth and development, fleshy root structure, and the accumulation of lignin and carotenoids. Compared to the control, MeJA treatment significantly increased the number of xylem vessels in the carrot fleshy root, with thickened cell walls, enhanced lignin-related enzyme activities, and well-developed xylem. Different concentrations of MeJA promoted the accumulation of both lignin and carotenoids in carrots, whereas DIECA treatment did the opposite. Gene expression analysis indicated that MeJA altered the transcript levels of genes in carotenoid and lignin metabolism. The research findings in this paper would provide new insights into jasmonic acid-mediated carrot root development and quality formation.

Physcomitrium patens (formerly Physcomitrella patens), a model moss species, has emerged as an invaluable system for studying autophagy in plants. This review highlights the unique advantages of P. patens for autophagy research, including its efficient homologous recombination in mitotic cells, simple body plan, haploid-presiding life cycle, and accessibility to microscopic observation. I discuss recent advances in understanding autophagy mechanisms in P. patens, particularly focusing on the role of core autophagy-related (ATG) genes in growth, development, stress responses, and cell death. The characterization of autophagy-deficient mutants revealed unexpected roles of autophagy in promoting cell death under oxidative stress and desiccation, in contrast with classical survival functions. I also examine the conservation and divergence of the autophagy machinery between mosses and vascular plants, emphasizing how P. patens bridges evolutionary gaps in our understanding of plant autophagy. Finally, I outline future perspectives on the use of this model system to address fundamental questions about selective autophagy, autophagosome dynamics, and the integration of autophagy with developmental programs.

The paper presents unknown ultrastructure observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) of aedeagus, spermatheca and body morphology of Psylliodes valida Weise, 1889 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae) from Türkiye. This species, which belongs to one of the genera that is very important in biological control, is a new record for Çorum province and the Central Anatolia Region, where it was collected in August 2023.The genus Psylliodes Latreille includes 200 species in the worldwide, while it is represented by 42 species in Türkiye. As known, aedeagus, spermatheca and body morphology are taxonomically important structures. However, before the present study, the structural morphology of these features in Psylliodes Latreille had not been addressed in any previous research, leaving a notable gap in the literature For this reason, ultrastructural and detailed investigations of aedeagus, spermatheca and body morphology of Psylliodes Latreille from Türkiye were firstly studied with SEM to contain male and female genital descriptions of Psylliodes valida Weise, 1889. Photos in SEM are also given in the text.

Understanding protein-protein interactions (PPIs) in planta is essential for deciphering the molecular mechanisms underlying plant development and responses to environmental stresses. Here, we demonstrate the application of the split firefly luciferase complementation assay (SplitLUC) using a cooled charge-coupled device (CCD)-based plant imaging system and a microplate reader to detect and quantify PPIs in planta. As an example, we investigated the previously reported interaction between DET1- and DDB1-ASSOCIATED 1 (DDA1), a component of the CULLIN4 (CUL4)-E3 ubiquitin ligase complex, and PYR1-like 8 (PYL8), a known substrate of the same complex. Co-infiltration of Agrobacterium strains carrying DDA1-nLUC and cLUC-PYL8 constructs resulted in a robust luminescent signal upon addition of D-luciferin, which was visualised and quantified using the NightSHADE evo Plant Imaging System. Control combinations lacking either fusion partner or containing only empty vectors did not produce detectable luminescence, confirming the specificity of the interaction. To account for infiltration efficiency and variability in transgene expression, the luminescence values were normalised against fluorescence from co-infiltrated TagRFP, measured using a Tecan Spark microplate reader. This normalisation strategy effectively mitigated leaf-to-leaf variation in luminescence signals and demonstrated that the SplitLUC assay, when combined with fluorescence-based normalisation, provides a robust and reliable quantitative method for studying PPIs in planta. We propose that this approach is well-suited for investigating weaker interactions, assessing the influence of additional (bridge) proteins, and mapping interaction domains within the proteins of interest.