Korkmaz, Mustafa; Özçelik, Hasan

Gypsophila L. is the third biggest genus of Caryophyllaceae family in Turkey. The genus has 55 species in the country. 33 species are endemics and total number of the taxa is 58. Ankyropetalum Fenzl is a small genus with 3 species and 1 of them is endemic. Saponaria L. has 20 taxa of 18 species and 10 taxa of them are endemics to Turkey. Turkey is the gene center of all the genera. All of the genera are known as coven, female coven and halva root and developed roots or rhizomes are economically very important. Extract produced from the roots are known as fire extinguisher, gold polishing, cleaner and softener of delicate fabrics and crispness giving to halva. The extracts are often used for making liqueur, herbal cheese, ice cream and some foods. Some taxa are Boron (B) hyperacumulators, so they can be planted and used for destroyed agriculture to control erosion. Gypsophila paniculata L. is very important in horticulture. Gypsophila bicolor, Gypsophila arrostii, Gypsophila perfoliata, Ankyropetalum gypsophiloides and Saponaria officinalis L. are very important because of their saponin contents. In this paper, economic importance of the plants in the light of our observations and literatures was given.

Kiliçgün, Hasan; Olgun, Abdullah; Köksal, Zeynep

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of Vitamin C (Vit. C), iron, the iron chelating agent desferrioxamine (DF) and their most effective dose combinations on thermotolerance of Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). Due to the fact that studies on aging and lifespan take long time, thermotolerance was used as a first step analysis for using the time more effectively. The data of this study showed that when compared with the control group, the use of vitamin C, DF and iron alone or their combinations were associated with an increase in the survival of C. elegans under heat shock. However, the treatment with DF and its combinations resulted in a survival rate significantly higher than the other combinations. The results of our study suggested that under conditions of heat stress, treatment of DF has the most significant beneficial effect on survival of C. elegans, suggesting some possible pleiotropic mechanisms other than iron chelation.