Antik çağlardan beri enginar [Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus (L.) Fiori] mutfak ve tıbbi özellikleri nedeniyle büyük değer kazanmıştır. Son yıllarda küresel iklim değişikliğinin kötüleşen etkileri sonucunda hem çevre hem de ekonomi konusunda endişeler artmaktadır. Küresel ölçekte ele alındığında abiyotik stresler, özellikle de tuzluluk, bitkilerin büyüme ve gelişmesini etkilemekte, bitkisel üretimi ve gıda talebinin karşılanmasını sınırlamakta ve gıda güvenliği açısından potansiyel bir tehdit oluşturmaktadır. Bu çalışmada enginar tohumları öncelikle üç farklı sodyum klorür (NaCl) konsantrasyonunda (50, 100 ve 250 mg L-1) sekiz saat bekletilmiş ve gelişen fideler 15 gün aralıklarla aynı NaCl konsantrasyonlarına maruz bırakılmıştır. Daha sonra tuzluluk stresi altında üç enginar çeşidi (Sakız, Bayrampaşa ve Olympus F1) yaprak sayısı, kök uzunluğu, gövde yüksekliği, bitki boyu, klorofil, prolin, yaprakla ilgili su içerikleri ve toplam fenol-antioksidan içerikleri bakımından incelenmiştir. Çalışmadan elde edilen sonuçlar değerlendirildiğinde enginar tohumlarına ve fidelerine uygulanan farklı konsantrasyonlarda NaCl’nin çeşitler arasında farklı etkilere sahip olduğu tespit edilmiştir.

The aim was to examine the structural features and biosecurity practices of sheep farms operating in Niğde province. For this purpose, 75 farms operating in the region were classified according to size (number of animals) and production system (extensive and intensive) and, they were compared in terms of typology and biosafety. In this context, a face-to-face survey was conducted with the owners or authorized persons of the small, medium and large size farms and the data collected from the farms about technical, sanitation-hygiene and health protection were comparatively presented. According to the findings obtained from the study, manure and wastes produced in 24% of farms were seen randomly throwing into the environment, and the differences observed between farms depending on the farm size were found significant (P<0.05). These farms can become a potential source of environmental and odor pollution. In addition, it was determined that disinfection was not applied to a large extent (97.30%) as a preventive measure at farm and shelter entrances (P>0.05). At the end of the study, it has been concluded that the typology and biosafety practices could be an important support for future strategic programs against disease and other factors which affects the production of the Niğde region.

Böcekler, birçok farklı habitata uyum sağlayabilen en başarılı türlerden biridir. Böceklerin bu özelliği onların evrimsel açıdan güçlü becerilerini göstermektedir. Şimdiye kadar tanımlanan türlerin yaklaşık %80’inden fazlası Insecta’ya aittir. DNA dizisi teknolojisindeki gelişmeler ve düşük maliyet, araştırmacıların birçok böcek türünün tüm genomlarını dizilemesine izin verdi. Karşılaştırmalı genomik yaklaşımı, böceklerin hızlı ve başarılı adaptasyonunun altında yatan moleküler ve evrimsel mekanizmaları ortaya çıkarmak için güçlü araçlardan biridir. Protein aileleri ve kopya sayıları, türlerin evrimsel ihtiyaçlarını ortaya çıkarmak için kilit faktörlerden biridir. Farklı böcek taksonları kullanılarak böcek evrimi üzerine çeşitli çalışmalar yapılmıştır. Bununla birlikte, bu çalışmalar gen ailesinin evrimi ve filogenetik ilişkilere odaklandı. Bu çalışmada, protein familyalarını ve bunların kopya sayılarını ve böceklerdeki varyasyonlarını belirlemek için yirmi böcek türünün genomları incelenmiştir. Sonuçlar, böceklerin temel protein ailelerini (Reseptör proteinleri, Pkinaz, Tripsin) temel yaşam görevlerini yerine getirmek için benzer kopya numaralarıyla paylaştığını gösterdi. Ek olarak, birkaç protein ailesinin bazı türlerde farklı kopya sayılarına sahip olduğu bulundu, bu da her türün adaptasyon ihtiyacının farklı olduğunu gösterdi. Bu çalışma aynı zamanda böceklerdeki birkaç proteinin varyasyonunu da vurguladı.

Forage variety development for diversified environmental conditions may benefit from the use of genomic-based breeding procedures. In today's conditions, molecular markers are used by researchers in this field to track loci and genome regions in crop breeding studies. Although earlier characterization efforts yielded useful information, morphological traits and RAPD markers have limitations when used together for genetic diversity research. Different combinations of methodologies are required for diversified aims to study different forage species at the genetic level and to connect micro level traitsto macro level traits.

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of incorporating hydrosoluble Opuntia ficus indica seeds extract in unpasteurized prickly pear juice and monitoring its stability. For this purpose, titratable acidity (TA), total soluble solids (TSS), browning index (BI), total phenolic compounds (TPC), total flavonoids (TF), antiradical activity (DPPH), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and microbial analysis were monitored for both enriched and controlled juices during different time and temperature storage. Before storage, the enriched juice values were respectively 0.096±0.001%, 14.1±0.01%, 0.756±0.01, 133.3±3.4mgGAE/100ml, 5.58±0.07mgQE/100ml, 95.89±14.27mgGAE/100ml and 59.34±5.52mgGAE/100ml for TA, TSS, BI, TPC, TF, DPPH and FRAP; while  0.16±0%, 14.1 ±0.001%, 1.2±0.01, 88.39±4.2mgGAE/100ml, 3.98±1.003mgQE/100ml, 51.08±14.27 mgGAE/100ml and 50.33±5.16mgGAE/100ml for the control juice. The microbial analysis revealed the absence of microorganisms even the juices were unpasteurized. Moreover, the results revealed that the enrichment attenuated significantly the effect of storage; indeed, the use of the prickly pear seeds extract in combination with the juices can be a good alternative to enhance the shelf life of unpasteurized prickly pear juice, and improve their quality attributes as well as to minimize the unwanted changes in the nutritional and organoleptic properties.

The study aimed to evaluate the pH, water activity (aw), residual nitrite, lactic acid bacteria, Micrococcus/Staphylococcus, Enterobacteriaceae and yeast-mould in fermented sausage samples from different firms. A total of 30 sucuk and 30 heat-treated sucuk samples were taken from 10 different brands with different batch numbers. According to analysis results, all samples, with the exception of some heat-treated sucuk samples from one brand, provided pH values that were within the permitted limit of regulation. For sucuk, mean aw value of only one brand was below 0.90, while aw values for heat-treated sucuk were in the range of 0.928 to 0.957. All samples had residual nitrite levels less than 15 mg/kg (in the range of 7.84-14.80 mg/kg). Yeast-mould and Enterobacteriaceae numbers were often below <2 log cfu/g. The number of Staphylococcus and Micrococcus showed a wide variation in both products which was <2 - 5.96 log cfu/g for sucuk and <2 - 7.85 log cfu/g for heat-treated sucuk. Lactic acid bacteria counts varied between 2-<4.0 log cfu/g in 40% of heat-treated sucuk samples. In sucuk, the number of lactic acid bacteria was <6 log cfu/g in 23.33% of the samples, and 6-<8 log cfu/g in 50% of the samples.

This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between the recent increase in the frequency of drought conditions and Root-Crown Rot (Fusarium pseudograminearum, Fusarium culmorum) in rainfed wheat growing areas of Central Anatolia. In 2018, the experiment was established in the greenhouse of Konya Bahri Dağdaş International Agricultural Research Institute using 25 registered wheat varieties in a randomised block split-plot experimental design with 4 replications. Irrigation levels (100% field capacity and 50% field capacity) were designed as main plots, inoculation (+ and -) as subplots and varieties as sub-subplots. In the study, the response of the cultivars to inoculation under artificial drought conditions was evaluated by measuring Crown Score (CR), Lesion Length (LL), Number of Diseased Leaves from outside to inside (NDL) and Plant Height (PH) from five plants in each pot. Statistically, the differences between inoculation, irrigation, NDL and LL were found to be significant at P<0.0001 level, while the differences between varieties were found to be significant at P<0.001 level for the CR parameter. On the other hand, when the interactions were evaluated for the NDL parameter, the differences were found to be significant at P<0.0001 level for all three interactions of cultivar*inoculation, cultivar*irrigation and cultivar*inoculation*irrigation. When the effect of reduced water application intended to be used in resistance breeding was evaluated for 25 different varieties under Fusarium culmorum inoculation, there was an increase in CR from 41,7% (Gerek-79) to 487,5% (Altay-2000), NDL from 7,14% (Kirgiz-95) to 200% (Alpu-2001), LL from -36,84% (Karahan-99) to 283,33% (Altay-2000) and in PH reduction from 12,41% (Seval) to 32,22% (Kirgiz-95). The results showed that drought-stressed plants were already weakened and therefore more easily and severely infected by pathogens. According to these results, it has been determined that it is very important for the region to obtain resistance to drought and crown rot diseases, which have such an obvious relationship, in breeding studies.

Sorbitol is an important source of abiotic stress that is used to increase osmolality in cell cultures. It increases the antioxidant enzymes of defense catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the stress state of cells. Sorbitol plays an important role in stimulating these enzymes in cells and increasing phenylalanine ammonium lyase (PAL) activity. The aim of this study was to apply increasing doses of sorbitol elicitor to cell suspension cultures to determine the changes in cell number, viability, dry weight, and camphor content. In vitro plantlets were obtained from plant seeds and stem segments of these plants were used as explant source. Cell cultures were established after callus formation. Then, 0 (control), 5, 25, and 50 g L-1 sorbitol was dissolved in distilled water and cultured. Samples were taken three times in total, starting from day 1 to day 3. The content of camphor was detected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Cell number, viability,dry weight, and camphor content increased significantly with increasing doses of sorbitol compared to sampling times. Compared to the initial culture, the amount of camphor increased by 40% at the 5 g L-1 dose, 82% at the 25 g L-1 dose, and 154% at the 50 g L-1 dose. In A. gypsicola cell cultures, increasing doses of sorbitol have clearly demonstrated the secondary metabolite accumulation and its positive effect on cell growth.

The aim of this study is to examine the socio-economic characteristics of producers who sell wheat to the Turkish Grain Board (TGB), which is an interventionist organization in the purchase and sale of grain in Türkiye, as well as some of their behaviors regarding production, marketing preferences, and their relations with TGB. The sample of the study consisted of 100 wheat producers in the Mucur district of Kırşehir province. The obtained data were interpreted by converting them into tables, cross-tabulations, and graphs. The data in the cross tables were statistically interpreted using Chi-square analysis. It can be said that producers are not satisfied with TGBs’ purchasing practices for some reasons. The most important reason for this is that quality-based purchasing practices have an extremely negative impact on prices. It was determined that they were not satisfied, and this resulted in high price reductions in quality-based purchasing, and as a result, there was distrust in analysis practices. Quality-based purchasing policy is a method that allows wheat quality characteristics to be determined with various devices in a short time. This method, which is decisive in quality classification and product pricing scale, must be explained correctly to producers. Otherwise, the producer ’s trust in the TGB may gradually decrease. This can be achieved through initiatives taken by the institution or through various publications and training activities. One of the most important results of this study is that TGBs and decision-makers are more sensitive to local producers. For decision-makers to maintain their influence on the producer, they must carefully examine the details of the processes with an inductive approach, starting from the bottom up. This situation is considered critical in terms of food security.

Changes in temperature and precipitation due to global climate change negatively affect plant species' growth, development, and adaptation to new places. However, genetic structure is the most critical criterion for determining a species's potential to adapt to changing environmental conditions. Monitoring gas exchange parameters in plants is the simplest way to monitor physiological changes in plants under changing environmental factors. Among species, the Anatolian chestnut (Castanea sativa) is native and economically important tree species (fruit and wood production). It is naturally distributed from the north side of Turkey, Marmara, and Western Anatolia. However, the Anatolian chestnut is one of the most affected tree species by global climate change. In this study, numerous Anatolian chestnut populations (3 years old) were used to determine leaf gas exchange parameters at the end of the growing season in Düzce. Stomatal conductance (gs), transpiration rate (E), net photosynthetic rate (Anet), and other parameters were measured. As a result, the leaf gas exchange parameters of chestnut populations changed significantly based on the populations. Marigoule population seedlings had 2-fold Anet values compared to the Ibradı population. Regarding gs, the differences between populations (Erfelek and Ibradı) changed approximately 2.5 folds and the differences (Erfelek and Ibradı) increased more than 3 folds in terms of E values. It can be said that Marigoule and Erfelek populations can adapt more to Düzce climate conditions than other populations. In contrast, Ibradi population seedlings have a low adaptation mechanism in terms of gas exchange traits.