Το γένος Crocus ανήκει στην οικογένεια Iridaceae και περιλαμβάνει 84 είδη, τα οποία εξαπλώνονται από τη ΝΔ. Ευρώπη έως την Τουρκία και τη ΝΔ. Ασία. Στην Ελλάδα είναι γνωστά 23 αυτοφυή είδη, τα οποία περιλαμβάνουν 34 taxa, από τα οποία 17 taxa είναι ενδημικά της Ελλάδας. Στην Πελοπόννησο φύονται 12 taxa του γένους Crocus, εκ των οποίων τα 5 είναι ενδημικά της Πελοποννήσου. Το C. sativus είναι το πιο γνωστό και περισσότερο μελετημένο είδος του γένους. Στην παρούσα εργασία μελετήθηκαν πέντε ελληνικά ενδημικά taxa του γένους Crocus, τα C. biflorus ssp. melantherus, C. boryi ssp. boryi, C. goulimyi, C. laevigatus και C. niveus, ως προς τον καρυότυπό τους και τη μορφομετρία και χημική σύσταση των στύλων τους. Εξετάστηκαν ακόμα οι διαφορές στη μορφομετρία και χημική σύσταση των στύλων μεταξύ του C. sativus και των πέντε ελληνικών ενδημικών taxa καθώς και μεταξύ ίδιων taxa του γένους από διαφορετικές περιοχές. / The genus Crocus L. (Iridaceae) consists of 84 species worldwide, distributed from South-Western Europe through Central Europe to Turkey and South-Western parts of Asia. There are 23 native taxa in Greece and 17 taxa are endemic to it. In Peloponnese there exist 12 taxa and of these 5 are endemic to the region. Among these species, the cultivated C. sativus is the best known and studied. The present study examined five endemic taxa of the genus Crocus in Peloponnese: C. biflorus ssp. melantherus, C. boryi ssp. boryi, C. goulimyi, C. laevigatus and C. niveus. These taxa were examined concerning their cytology and the morphometry and chemical composition of their style. Moreover through this study was investigated the differences in morphometry and chemical composition of the styles between C. sativus and the five endemic taxa and among the same taxa from different regions.

Time resolved spectroscopy is one of the crucial methods used to study processes on molecular level in biological systems. It is useful especially for monitoring fast processes that take a place in photosynthetic apparatus of photosynthetic organisms, such as electron and energy transfer. The integral parts of photosynthetic apparatus are carotenoids, whose role in the photosynthetic apparatus is not as well explored as it is for chlorophylls. It was proved that carotenoids actively participate in energy transfer processes in photosynthetic antennas. They have a crucial role in protection against excess energy damage. They are also electron donors in both antennas and reaction centers. The fact that photo-physical properties of carotenoids are much different from properties of others organic pigments, complicates studies of their functions in photosynthesis as well as in other biological systems. This thesis employs advanced methods of femtosecond spectroscopy to obtain more information about carotenoid functions in some biological systems and in solution with special focus on carotenoids containing carbonyl group.