ABSTRACT INVESTIGATON OF CHEMOPREVENTIVE PROPERTIES OF URTICA DIOICA L., IN MCF-7 AND MDA231 BREAST CANCER CELL LINES. G&uuml / ler, Elif Ph.D., Biological Sciences Department Supervisor : Prof. Dr. Mesude

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-19T12:56:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ALDEMIR DA GUIA SCHALCHER PEREIRA.pdf: 1311452 bytes, checksum: 0fd0611a7b0994a9b9fdde98431599f5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-09-15 / In the search for alternative chemical control against Aedes aegypti L., various studies are developed and encouraged in order to find new substances insecticidal plant and in this context essential oils have been shown to be very promising. Extracted from the essential oils of species Lindl Pimenta dioica (leaves) and Aniba duckei Kostermans (stems) by means of hydrodistillation using a Clevenger system and promoted its mixture of equal parts. In this study, the larvicidal effect of the mixture of essential oils extracted from leaves of Pimenta dioica species Lindl and branches of Aniba duckei Kostermans were evaluated against the mosquito Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus, 1792). The blend of essential oils obtained were carried out analysis of constant physical and chemical density (0.904 g mL-1), refractive index (ND 25 = 1.379), solubility in 70% ethanol (1:2), color (yellow) and appearance (clear). Its components were identified by Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). We identified and quantified by the method of standard components, myrcene (2.36%), limonene (1.00%), linalool (63.04%), myrcenol (1.13%), alilfenol (1, 40%) and eugenol (31.07%). The blend of essential oils and patterns of eugenol and linalool were tested in five concentrations: 20, 50, 70, 90 and 100 μg mL-1. The LC50 of the mixture of essential oils and the limits of confidence at 95% probability were calculated by the methods of Reed-Muench and Pizzi, respectively. The larvicidal activity was observed based on the percentage of dead larvae, the action was assessed 24h after treatment. The blend of essential oils had larvicidal activity with LC50 of 113,95 (±2.11) μg mL-1 and the patterns of eugenol 90,86 (±0,03) μg mL-1 and linalool 305,42 (±0,03) μg mL-1. The results indicate that the mixture of essential oils evaluated, is composed of substances that together with the major components eugenol and linalool provided greater larvicidal effect against the mosquito Aedes aegypti L. / Na procura pelo controle químico alternativo contra Aedes aegypti L., diversas pesquisas são desenvolvidas e estimuladas no intuito de se descobrirem novas substâncias inseticidas de origem vegetal e neste contexto os óleos essenciais têm se mostrado bastantes promissores. Extraiu-se os óleos essenciais das espécies Pimenta dioica Lindl (folhas) e da Aniba duckei Kostermans (galhos), pelo método de hidrodestilação, utilizando um sistema Clevenger e promoveu-se sua mistura em partes iguais. Neste trabalho, o efeito larvicida da mistura dos óleos essenciais extraídos das folhas da espécie Pimenta dioica Lindl e dos galhos de Aniba duckei Kostermans foram avaliados frente ao mosquito Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus, 1792). Da mistura de óleos essenciais obtida foram realizadas análises das constantes físico-químicas de densidade (0,904 g mL-1), índice de refração (ND 25º = 1,379), solubilidade em etanol a 70% (1:2), cor (amarela) e aparência (límpido). Os seus componentes foram identificados por Cromatografia Gasosa acoplada a Espectrometria de Massa (CG-EM). Identificou-se e quantificou-se pelo método da normalização os componentes, mirceno (2,36%), limoneno (1,00%), linalol (63,04%), mircenol (1,13%), alilfenol (1,40%) e eugenol (31,07%). A mistura dos óleos essenciais e os padrões de eugenol e linalol foram testados em cinco concentrações: 50, 70, 100, 130 e 150 μg mL-1. A CL50 da mistura de óleos essenciais e os limites de confiança a 95% de probabilidade foram calculados pelos métodos de Reed-Muench e Pizzi, respectivamente. A atividade larvicida foi verificada baseada na percentagem de larvas mortas; a ação foi avaliada 24h após o tratamento. A mistura de óleos essenciais tiveram atividade larvicida, com CL50 de 113,95 (±2,11) μg mL-1 e os padrões de eugenol 90,86 (±0,03) μg mL-1 e linalol 305,42 (±0,03) μg mL-1. Os resultados indicam que a mistura dos óleos essenciais avaliada é composta por substâncias que juntamente com os componentes majoritários eugenol e linalol propiciaram maior efeito larvicida frente ao mosquito Aedes aegypti L.

Endozoochory is an important part of plant-animal relationship. In model area of the Doupov Mountains large herbivore mammals, such as red deer, sika deer and wild boar, act as effective seed dispersers. Out of 282 dung samples 29 719 seedlings of 91 species emerged. The most common species was Urtica dioica (80 % of all seedlings). The amount of seeds in dung as well as species composition were highly dependent on dispersing animal, both showed strong seasonality and differences between two studied localities. Frequency of species in dung did not correspond to their frequency in vegetation suggesting strong preferences of herbivores as predators. However more research is needed to test this hypothesis. Given very high time demands for samples processing beforehand the emergence experiment, the influence of concentration by washing through on seedling emergence and species composition was tested. According to preliminary results more seedlings and species emerge from concentrated samples. However, concentration has no effect on emergence of U. dioica as the most common species. Concentration of samples by running water is recommended for faster emergence in greenhouse conditions. Preliminary results also suggest that the approximation of number of seedlings/species on weight of dry mass is not...

The dynamics of a plant-pathogen interaction vary both within and among species. Both spatial structuring and specific genetic and life-history characteristics will affect the interaction and the outcome of a potential co-evolution between the two organisms. In this thesis I have studied the interaction between the wild perennial herb Silene dioica and its automictic, obligate anther smut Microbotryum violaceum MvSd. From the plant perspective, I have examined different aspects of biochemical resistance in S. dioica to M. violaceum MvSd. From the pathogen perspective, I have focused on the breeding system of M. violaceum MvSd and its connection to fitness and distribution of genetic diversity. I have used varying methods; glasshouse trails involving inoculation of plants with the pathogen, classical Mendelian analysis involving controlled crosses between plants, microscopic studies of spores and molecular DNA-analysis. With the results I demonstrate that resistance to M. violaceum MvSd in S. dioica can be specific to the attacking pathogen strain and also spatially highly diverse both within and among populations within a metapopulation. Together, these factors are likely to delay the establishment of the disease within host populations and reduce the spread and amount of disease, once it has been established. The results also suggest that the specific resistance expressed against two different M. violaceum MvSd strains were determined by separate gene systems and that, in both cases, the resistance was simply inherited. This implies a potential for relatively rapid response to M. violaceum-induced selection in S. dioica populations variable for resistance. My results also show that automixis clearly is the predominating breeding system of M. violaceum MvSd, similarly to what earlier has been shown for M. violaceum MvSl. Furthermore, I found lower levels of neutral genetic diversity in M. violaceum MvSd in the northern parts of Sweden, compared to what has been found in populations in more southern Europe. This result is consistent with predictions that populations in the outer regions of a species distribution have lower levels of genetic variation. Moreover, populations were highly differentiated in northern Sweden, which could have been generated by high selfing rates, genetic drift and high population turnover rates, all factors that coincide with life-history and ecology of M. violaceum MvSd. However, despite the general low variability in neutral genetic markers, I did find variation in fitness related traits, both within and among populations, as well as differences in infection ability between strains, suggesting there is a potential for co-evolution between S. dioica and M. violaceum MvSd in the area. To summarize, this thesis reflect a plant-pathogen system that is highly influenced by constant colonisation-extinction dynamics, which is likely to have influenced both the genetics of resistance in the plant and the breeding system of the pathogen and thus also the interaction between the two organisms.

<p>U ovoj disertaciji proučavana je osmotska<br />dehidratacija lista koprive u dva različita<br />osmotska rastvora: 1. vodenom rastvoru<br />saharoze i natrijum hlorida i 2. melasi &scaron;ećerne<br />repe. Ispitivan je uticaj temperature procesa<br />(20&deg;C, 35&deg;C i 50&deg;C) i vremena imerzije (30, 60<br />i 90 min) na gubitak vode, prira&scaron;taj suve<br />materije, sadržaj suve materije, vrednosti<br />aktivnosti vode, mikrobioo&scaron;ke promene,<br />promenu mineralnog sastava (Ca, Mg, Na, K,<br />Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn, Co) i promenu antioksidativne<br />aktivnosti, tokom osmotske dehidratacije lista koprive.<br />Dokazano je da se povećanjem temperature i<br />produženjem vremena trajanja procesa<br />pospe&scaron;uje prenos mase tj. migracija molekula<br />vode iz tretiranog biljnog materijala u okolni<br />rastvor, i prodiranje molekula rastvorene<br />supstance iz osmotskog rastvora u tretirano<br />biljno tkivo.<br />Snižene aw vrednosti u svim ispitivanim<br />uzorcima ukazuju na pozitivan uticaj osmotske<br />dehidratacije na mikrobiolo&scaron;ku stabilnost<br />tretiranog lista koprive. Dobijeni rezultati su<br />pokazali značajno pobolj&scaron;anje mineralnog<br />sastava lista koprive, dehidriranih u melasi<br />&scaron;ećerne repe, dok je kod uzoraka tretiranih u<br />rastvoru saharoze i natrijumhlorida uočeno<br />smanjenje sadržaja ispitivanih mineralnih<br />materija. Nasuprot rastvoru saharoze i natrijum<br />hlorida koji je uticao na opadanje ukupne<br />antioksidativnosti osmotski dehidriranih<br />uzoraka, melasa &scaron;ećerne repe, kao bogat izvor<br />prirodnih antioksidanasa, doprinosi povećanju<br />antioksidativnosti i pobolj&scaron;anju funkcionalnog<br />kvaliteta dehidriranog produkta.<br />Statističkom obradom rezultata, uočeno je da<br />su optimalni procesni parametri u pogledu<br />efikasnosti procesa, kao i mikrobiolo&scaron;kog,<br />nutritivnog i funkcionalnog kvaliteta osmotski<br />dehidriranog lista koprive, vreme trajanja<br />procesa od 60 min, na temperaturi od 50&deg;C, u<br />melasi &scaron;ećerne repe kao osmotskom rastvoru.</p> / <p>The osmotic dehydration of the nettle leaf into<br />two different osmotic media was studied in this<br />dissertation: 1. Aqueous solution of sucrose and<br />sodium chloride and 2. Sugar beet molasses.<br />The effects of the process temperature (20 &deg;C,<br />35 &deg;C and 50 &deg;C) and the immersion time (30,<br />60 and 90 min) on water loss, solid gain, dry<br />matter content, water activity, microbial<br />changes, mineral composition (Ca, Mg, Na, K,<br />Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn, Co) and the change in the antioxidant activity during osmotic dehydration<br />of the nettle leaf were studied in this<br />investigation.<br />It has been proved that the increase in<br />temperature and the prolonging of process time,<br />accelerate the mass transfer, i. e., the migration<br />of the water molecules from the treated plant<br />material to the surrounding osmotic solution,<br />and also the penetration of the molecules from<br />the osmotic solution into the treated plant tissue.<br />The reduced aw values in all tested samples<br />indicate the positive effect of osmotic<br />dehydration on the microbiological stability of<br />the treated nettle leaf. The obtained results<br />showed a significant improvement in the<br />mineral composition of the nettle leaf<br />dehydrated in sugar beet molasses, while the<br />decrease in the mineral content was observed in<br />the samples treated with sucrose and sodium<br />chloride solution. Contrary to the sucrose and<br />sodium chloride solution, which negatively<br />affected the overall antioxidative effect of<br />osmotically dehydrated samples, sugar beet<br />molasses contributed to an increase in<br />antioxidantity, being a rich source of natural<br />antioxidants, and it also improves the functional<br />quality of the dehydrated product.<br />Statistical analysis of the obtained experimental<br />results showed that optimal process parameters<br />in terms of process efficiency, as well as<br />microbiological, nutritive and functional quality<br />of the osmotically dehydrated leaf net, could be<br />reached after 60 min of osmotic treatment, at a<br />temperature of 50 &deg;C, using sugar beet molasses<br />as an osmotic solution.</p>

About 6% of all angiosperms are dioecious. This separation of sexual function to male and female individuals, and the fundamentally different patterns of reproductive resource allocation that follows that separation, are thought to have important ecological and evolutionary consequences for plant enemy interactions.  I have studied whether intersexual differences in susceptibility to natural enemies can be explained by intersexual differences in resource allocation. In cases when sexual dimorphic traits form the target resource of a particular enemy I expected the enemy to select the best resource. The study system is the perennial dioecious herb, Silene dioica (Caryophyllaceae) and three of its specialist natural enemies, two insect herbivores the fly Delia criniventris (Anthomyiidae) and the twirler moth Caryocolum viscariella (Gelechiidae) and one systemic anther smut fungus Microbotryum violaceum. All three share the same food recourse, the floral stems, of their host plant. I studied the interaction on nine islands in a rising Bothinan archipelago over seven consecutive years. Both herbivores attacked female plants more than male plants (D. criniventris, 32.8% females, 30.7% males; C. viscariella, 4% females, 2% males). This attack pattern was consistent over years and islands and also correlated with a number of sexually dimorphic traits suggesting that females offer the better resource. Herbivore attack had no effect on plant survival but a significant effect on re-flowering the following year. Non-attacked females had an estimated mean re-flowering rate of 30.2%, and non-attacked males of 31%. Herbivore-attacked females had an estimated re-flowering rate of 46% compared with 38.4% for males. Females showed a stronger compensatory response to attack and tended to re-flower more often than males. Attack rates differed markedly in the different stages of primary succession. They were consistently higher in the youngest zone and decreased in parallel to progressing succession. This zonal pattern of decreasing attack rates correlated with several plant attributes, a decrease in plant size and nitrogen content, and an increased content of secondary compounds, but not to host plant density. We failed to come up with a simple explanation for the spatial structure with chronic high attack rates in the younger zones. However, the consistent patterns in attack rate suggest that a suite of abiotic and biotic factors interact and reinforce the strength and direction of selection. In general females were more frequently diseased by the anther smut Microbotryum violaceum than males with two exceptions. Disease frequencies were male biased on islands with low disease levels and in one of the seven study years. The change in disease frequencies from male to female bias confirm earlier studies suggesting that the relative contribution of the two components of infection risk, disease encounter and per contact infection probability can vary with population disease level. The change in the proportions of diseased males and females that was observed in one of the study years, followed a year of extreme weather conditions (prolonged drought). Both sexes showed a similar decline in flowering but diseased females decreased more than diseased males. This difference in response can be explained if considering that disease is more resource demanding in females than in males. Except for resources needed for mycelial growth and spore production, in females resources are also needed to restructure their sex expression and produce anthers. My study shows (i) that in dioecious species traits that are sexually dimorphic are of great importance for understanding the outcome of interactions with natural enemies, (ii) that the strengths and directions of enemy-host plant interactions are strongly shaped by both biotic and abiotic conditions.

There is much evidence that herbivory is a key innovation for the tremendous success of insect. In this thesis I have investigated different aspects of host plant utilization and phenotypic plasticity using the polyphagous comma butterfly, Polygonia c-album. Even though external conditions affect a phenotypic plastic response, the outcome is often influenced by a genetic background which may differ among populations. In Paper I we suspected the genetic background to seasonal polymorphism to be X-linked. However, results from interspecific hybridization between two populations suggested that diapause response is instead inherited in a mainly autosomally additive fashion, with a possible influence of sexual antagonism on males. In Paper II we showed that female oviposition preference is not a plastic response influenced by larval experience, but has a genetic background coupled to host plant suitability. Further, there is a strong individual correlation between larval host plant acceptance and female host plant specificity (Paper III). We believe this to be a larval feed-back genetically linked to female host specificity: offspring to ‘choosy’ specialist mothers benefit by remaining on the original host while offspring to less discriminating generalist mothers should risk inspecting the surroundings, thus compensating for potential poor female choice. In the larval mid-gut, genes are differentially expressed depending on host plant diet (Paper IV). Therefore, we expected to find fitness consequences of host plant switch. However, although growth rate was affected in a few treatments, larvae were generally surprisingly good at adjusting to new diets (Paper V). To conclude, host plant choice in both female and larval life stage is connected to performance. Combined with increased understanding about the plastic response to diet intake and seasonal polymorphism we have gained further insights into the processes of local adaptations and speciation in the Lepidoptera. / At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Submitted Manuscript; Paper 5: Manuscript

Selection and genetic drift are often competing forces in shaping genetic structure in populations. Genetic drift will often effectively cancel out the effect of selection when population sizes are small, such as in colonizing island populations. On a small island in the Skeppsvik Archipelago in northern Sweden, a newly founded population of Silene dioica has been monitored since it first established around 1993. Though inhabiting an area of merely 173 m2, the population has been shown to exhibit a genetically differentiated patch structure where closely related individuals are tightly grouped, distanced from other family groups. In this study, the effect of selection was evaluated as compared to that of genetic drift. Variation in phenotypic traits in flowers, leaves and stalks were compared to that of neutral markers, in the form of PST and FST measures, to assess a measure of what proportion of differentiation among patches in phenotypic traits could not be attributed to genetic drift. Males and females were analysed separately to obtain measures of sex specific selection. Signs of divergent and stabilizing selection were found in several traits in both males and females despite the small spatial scale and short time since colonization. Further analysis is needed to assess explanations for trait divergence among patches and direction of selection.

<p>U okviru ove doktorske disertacije ispitan je hemijski sastav i biolo&scaron;ke aktivnosti metanolnih i vodenih ekstrakata odabranih samoniklih vrsta tribusa Urticeae, rod&nbsp; Urtica:&nbsp; U. <em>dioica</em>&nbsp; subsp.&nbsp; <em>dioica</em>&nbsp; var.&nbsp;<em> pubescens</em>, U.<em>&nbsp; dioica&nbsp;</em> subsp.&nbsp; <em>dioica&nbsp; </em>var.&nbsp; <em>dioica</em>&nbsp; i&nbsp; U. <em>kioviensis</em>&nbsp; i tribusa Parietarieae, rod&nbsp; Parietaria:<em>&nbsp; P. officinalis</em>,&nbsp; <em>P.</em><br /><em>lusitanica</em> L. subsp<em>. lusitanica</em>,<em> P. judaica</em> L. subsp. <em>judaica</em> i<em> P. serbica</em>. Cilj rada bio je da se odredi sadrţaj biolo&scaron;ki aktivnih jedinjenja u ovim, do sada veoma malo ispitanim vrstama famijije Urticaceae, i utvrdi njihov potencijal primene kao pomoćnih lekovitih sredstava i dodataka ishrani.<br />Hemijski sastav ekstrakata ispitivanih vrsta određen je primenom: tečnohromatografskih tehnika (LC-DAD-MS i LC-MS-MS) za kvalitativnu analizu metanolnih ekstrakata, dok je za kvantitativnu analizu odabranih fenolnih jedinjenja primenjena LC-MS-MS tehnika. Spektrofotometrijskim metodama je određen sadržaj<br />ukupnih fenolnih komponenti i flavonoida. Ispitivanja biolo&scaron;kih aktivnosti ekstrakata obuhvatila su: određivanje antioksidantne i antiinflamatorne aktivnosti kao i sposobnost ekstrakata da inhibiraju acetilholinesterazu.&nbsp; Određen je uticaj odabranih metanolnih ekstrakata na imuni odgovor i proliferaciju intestinalnih ćelijskih linija pacova (IEC18) i ĉoveka (Caco2).<br />Dobijeni rezultati ukazuju da odabrane vrste tribusa Urticeae i Parietarieae, odnosno rodova&nbsp; Urtica&nbsp; i Parietaria&nbsp; predstavljaju bogate izvore biolo&scaron;ki aktivnih jedinjenja koja ispoljavaju raznovrsne biolo&scaron;ke aktivnosti. Sa hemotaksonomskog aspekta izdvajaju se sledeća jedinjenja kao potencijalni taksonomski markeri: vi&scaron;i sadržaj 5-O-kafeoilhinske kiseline u ekstraktima herbi vrsta roda&nbsp; Urtica, i visok sadrţaj<br />epikatehina u ekstraktima korena vrsta roda&nbsp; Parietaria. Ekstrakt herbe vrste&nbsp; U. kioviensis&nbsp; se od ostalih izdvaja po tome &scaron;to ne sadrži rutin a sadrži&nbsp; C-glikozide, u najvećoj meri viteksin. Od svih ispitivanih ekstrakata, ekstrakti korena&nbsp; Parietaria&nbsp; vrsta su ispoljili najbolji antioksidantni potencijal u većini izvr&scaron;enih testova. Najsnažniji antiinflamatorni potencijal je ispoljio ekstrakt korena vrste&nbsp; P. officinalis&nbsp; a prate ga ekstrakti korena vrsta roda&nbsp; Urtica.&nbsp; Veoma dobar antiinflamatorni potencijal su ispoljili infuzi herbi vrste U.<em> dioica</em>&nbsp; (čajevi od koprive). Svi ispitani metanolni ekstrakti su ispoljili odličnu inhibiciju enzima acetilholinesteraze a kao najbolji se izdvajaju ekstrakti korena&nbsp; Parietaria&nbsp; vrsta i vrste&nbsp; U.<em> kioviensis</em>. Povećanu sekreciju citokina rat MCP1 i GRO&alpha;&nbsp; izazivaju ekstrakti korena vrsta&nbsp; P. officinalis&nbsp; i&nbsp; P. judaica&nbsp; u<br />bazalnim uslovima i uslovima LPS-stimulisane inlamacije, dok ekstrakti vrste&nbsp; U. dioica&nbsp; povećavaju bazalnu a smanjuju LPS-stimulisanu sekreciju. Stimulaciju sekrecije ova dva citokina, ispitivani ekstrakti vr&scaron;e interakcijom sa adapternim proteinom MyD88 (ali ne intereaguju sa TLR4 receptorom) i NF -&kappa;B signalnim<br />putem. Ekstrakt korena vrste&nbsp; P. <em>officinalis</em>&nbsp; povećava LPS-om indukovanu ekspresiju enzima COX-2 u IEC18 ćelijama, dok je ekstrakt korena vrste&nbsp; U.<em> dioica</em>&nbsp; smanjuje. Efekat epitelizacije ili zarastanja rane na monosloju IEC18 ćelija ispoljavaju ekstrakti herbe i korena vrste&nbsp; P. <em>officinalis</em>. Ispitivani ekstrakti ne menjaju značajno seksreciju citokina hMCP1 i IL-8 u Caco2 ćelijama niti ispoljavaju značajan uticaj na &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; njihovu proliferaciju.</p> / <p>Within this doctoral thesis the chemical composition and biological activity of methanol and aqueous extracts of the selected plant species belonging to the Urticeae and Parietarieae tribe, more specifically to the&nbsp; Urtica&nbsp; and&nbsp; Parietaria&nbsp; genuses was evaluated (Urtica:&nbsp; U.<em> dioica</em>&nbsp; subsp.<em> dioica</em>&nbsp; var.&nbsp; <em>pubescens</em>,&nbsp; U.&nbsp; <em>dioica</em>&nbsp; subsp.&nbsp;<em> dioica</em>&nbsp; var.&nbsp; <em>dioica</em>&nbsp; and&nbsp; U.<em> kioviensis</em>;&nbsp; Parietaria:&nbsp; P<em>. officinalis</em>,&nbsp; P.<em> lusitanica</em>&nbsp; subsp.&nbsp; <em>lusitanica,</em>&nbsp; P. <em>judaica&nbsp;</em> subsp.<em>&nbsp; judaica&nbsp;</em> and<em>&nbsp; P. serbica</em>). The principal aim was to determine the content of biologically active&nbsp; compounds in this, poorly<br />examined species of the Urticaceae family, and determine their potential as additional remedy and dietary supplements.<br />Qualitative analysis of methanol extracts was performed by LC-DAD-MS i LC-MS/MS analysis, and LC-MS/MS for quantitative analysis of selected phenolic compounds. Total phenolics and flavonoids were determined spectrophotometrically. In order to assess the biological potential, the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of the extracts were studied as well as&nbsp; their ability to inhibit acetylcholinesterase. The immuno-modulatory effects of the selected methanol extract on the immune response and proliferation of intestinal epithelial cells (IEC18 and Caco2)<br />was determined.<br />The obtained results suggest that the examined species of the Urticeae and Parietarieae tribe (genuses&nbsp; Urtica&nbsp; and&nbsp; Parietaria) are abundant with the biologically active compounds that express a broad spectrum of biological activities. As a potential chemotaxonomic markers stand out the following&nbsp; compounds: 5-O-caffeoilquinic acid (highly abundant in the herb extracts of the&nbsp; Urtica&nbsp; spp.) and epicatechin (highly abundant in the root extracts of the&nbsp; Parietaria&nbsp; spp.).&nbsp; U.<br />kioviensis&nbsp; herb extracts differs from the rest by high content of vitexin and total lack of rutin. The best antioxidant potential have exhibited the root extracts of the&nbsp; Parietaria&nbsp; species. The strongest anti-inflammatory potential had the root extract of the&nbsp; P. officinalis, followed by root extracts of the&nbsp; Urtica&nbsp; spp. Excellent anti-inflammatory activity have exhibited the aqueous&nbsp; extracts of&nbsp; U.<em> dioica</em>&nbsp; herbs&nbsp; &ndash;&nbsp; stinging nettle teas. All tested methanol extracts have inhibited enzyme acetylcholinesterase, the best inhibitors being root extracts of&nbsp; U.<em> kioviensis&nbsp;</em> and Parietaria&nbsp; species. Root extracts of&nbsp; P<em>. officinalis</em>&nbsp; and&nbsp; P.<em> judaica</em>&nbsp; have increased the basal and LPS-stimulated secretion of rat MCP1 and GRO&alpha;, while&nbsp; U. <em>dioica&nbsp;</em> extracts increased the basal but decreased the LPS-stimulated secretion. The examined extracts interact with the MyD88 (but not the TLR4) and NF-&kappa;B signaling pathway. The root extract of&nbsp; P<em>. officinalis&nbsp; </em>increase LPS-stimulated expression of COX-2 in IEC18 cells, while the root extract of&nbsp; U<em>. dioica</em>&nbsp; decreases it.<br />The herb and root extract of P. <em>officinalis</em>&nbsp; exhibit the wound healing effect. Investigated extracts do not significantly alter the secretion of hMCP1 and IL-8 in Caco2 cells and exhibit no significant effect to their proliferation.</p> / null

Rising archipelagos provide unique settings for the study of the temporal and spatial dynamics of their biota. This offers the possibility to study the ecology and genetics of early successional processes; both between islands that differ in age and within islands when already established organisms have to keep pace with the changing environment. I have worked in the Skeppsvik Archipelago housing about 100 islands that due to land uplift vary in age, thus representing various stages of primary succession. I have utilized a naturally created metapopulation of Silene dioica, which in this archipelago is a dominant plant of the deciduous border, offering the possibility to study subpopulations on islands of different ages and in different phases of primary succession. Many plant species exist as metapopulations, which consists of many local populations which may differ in size and degree of connectivity. Metapopulations are further characterized by recurrent colorizations and extinctions of local populations, meaning that a species continually must disperse and relocate to allow for persistence in this system. For a dioecious plant species, gene flow is in the shape of seeds and pollen and to allow for the persistence of populations, it is necessary that levels of seed dispersal and pollen gene flow are enough to ensure both colonisation, establishment and subsequent population growth. Levels of seed dispersal and pollen gene flow is in turn influenced by how the two sexes partition resources between reproduction, growth and survival. In paper I, I combined a field survey, a common garden experiment and a nine-year demographic study to assess the demographic consequences of sex-specific resource allocation and to investigate if differential costs of reproduction may be a driver in the evolution of sexual dimorphism in dioecious Silene dioica. Significant somatic intersexual dimorphism was found with females being the larger sex, both in terms of above – and belowground biomass. Furthermore, the reproductive effort of females exceeds that of males across a growing season which largely confirms what has been observed earlier in dioecious, herbaceous plant species. According to the cost of reproduction hypothesis, high reproductive investment should result in trade-offs with somatic and/or life-history traits. Somatic trade-offs were not observed, and instead I found strong, positive associations between reproductive investment and vegetative growth in both males and females. Compensation mechanisms were found in both sexes although females are generally more efficient at compensating their reproductive costs. At the end of a flowering season, after having paid the current costs of reproduction, females are better than males at provisioning perennial roots and rosettes potentially influencing the ability to set future flower buds and winter survival. Trade-offs were found between current and future reproduction and survival, but this is condition dependent and compensation through frequency of flowering plays an important role. The cost of reproduction hypothesis appears to play some role in driving the somatic and demographic sexual dimorphisms observed in this system but sexual selection acting on males will be a fruitful avenue for future research. In paper II, I investigated the population genetic consequences of metapopulation dynamics in Silene dioica. The occurrence of islands in different phases of primary succession together with successional gradients across islands, makes it possible to investigate the genetic dynamics occurring in an age-structured metapopulation across several hierarchical levels. Genetic diversity and differentiation were estimated in eight young, recently colonised populations and in ten populations of an intermediate successional stage. Young populations were less genetically diverse compared to older populations, indicating that bottlenecks, created by small founding groups derived from a limited number of source populations, reduce the genetic diversity within newly founded populations. The observation of strong genetic structure both between islands and between patches with islands, indicates that gene flow is restricted across several spatial levels in this system. However, the lack of statistically significant differences in genetic differentiation between young and intermediate populations, indicates that levels of gene flow may not be high enough to reduce the genetic differentiation that arise from the initial founder event. The patterns of sexual dimorphism and the roles of males and females in Silene dioica have evolved to allow persistence in an ecological and population context of this species. The nature of this habitat, where islands rise up from the sea creating new environments for colonisation while at the same time, autogenic primary succession processes eventually leads to extinction, means that S. dioica continuously must relocate within successional phases for its persistence. The obvious success of this dioecious plant is apparent as it is one of the few dominant species in the deciduous border. This suggests that levels of seed dispersal and gene flow are sufficient enough to allow for establishment and persistence of island populations and that the sexual dimorphisms that have evolved in this metapopulation system act to increase levels of gene flow. The "live hard – die young" strategy, with extensive flowering bouts, which we find in the males may have evolved as a way of maintaining sufficient levels of genetic diversity in the metapopulation but will only be a possible strategy if there are continuous opportunities for re-establishments. Thus, the continuous land uplift that is occurring in the northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia may very well be a prerequisite for the long-term persistence of this dioecious, perennial plant species. / Landhöjningsprocesser i skärgårdsmiljöer skapar nya habitat som gör det möjligt att studera naturliga populationer i ett rumsligt och tidsmässigt sammanhang. Detta möjliggör studier av ekologi och genetik i tidiga successionsprocesser, både mellan öar som skiljer sig åt åldersmässigt och inom öar, där redan etablerade organismer måste anpassa sig till en föränderlig miljö. Jag har utfört studier i Skeppsviks skärgård som rymmer cirka 100 öar. På grund av landhöjningen så varierar dessa öar i ålder och de representerar således olika stadier i primärsuccession. Jag har använt mig av en naturlig Silene dioica metapopulation lokaliserad i Skeppsviks skärgård. Många växtarter existerar i metapopulationer, vilket består av ett antal lokala populationer som kan skilja sig åt i storlek och grad av anknytning. Metapopulationer kännetecknas även av återkommande koloniseringar och utrotningar av lokala populationer, vilket innebär att en art kontinuerligt måste sprida sig för att garantera sin fortlevnad i detta system. Genflöde inom dioika växtarter är i form av pollen och frön, och för att populationer skall kunna överleva så är det nödvändigt att nivåerna av fröspridning och pollen-genflöde är tillräckliga för att säkerhetsställa både kolonisering, etablering och efterföljande populationstillväxt. Nivåer av fröspridning och pollen-genflöde påverkas i sin tur av hur de två könen partitionerar resurser mellan reproduktion, tillväxt och överlevnad. I den första studien har jag kombinerat en fältundersökning, ett frilandsexperiment och en nioårig demografisk studie för att undersöka de demografiska konsekvenserna av könsspecifik resursallokering och för att utreda om könsspecifika skillnader i reproduktiv kostnad kan vara en drivkraft för evolutionen av sexuell dimorfism hos den dioika växten Silene dioica. Jag upptäckte signifikant somatisk intersexuell dimorfism där honor hade betydligt mer ovanjordisk och underjordisk biomassa jämfört med hanar. Över en växtsäsong så investerar honorna mer resurser i reproduktion, vilket i stor utsträckning bekräftar vad som tidigare har observerats i örtartade, dioika växter. Enligt hypotesen för reproduktiv kostnad så bör en hög investering i reproduktion leda till trade-offs med somatiska egenskaper, t.ex. tillväxt. Jag observerade inga somatiska trade-offs och istället fann jag positiva associationer mellan reproduktion och tillväxt hos både honor och hanar. Båda könen verkar ha utvecklat kompensationsmekanismer, även om honorna generellt är mer effektiva i hur de kompenserar för sina reproduktiva kostnader. Vid slutet av en växtsäsong, efter att ha betalat för de nuvarande reproduktiva investeringarna, så är honor bättre än hanar på att allokera resurser till fleråriga strukturer, såsom bladrosetter och rötter. Detta kan potentiellt påverka hur de anlägger sina knoppanlag för nästkommande år och hur väl de överlever vintern. Trade-offs hittades mellan nuvarande reproduktion och framtida reproduktionsmöjligheter och överlevnad men detta var habitat-specifikt och kompensation med hjälp av hur ofta en växt blommar under sin livstid spelar en viktig roll. Hypotesen för reproduktiv kostnad verkar vara en del av förklaringen till den somatiska och demografiska könsdimorfism som observerats i detta system men sexuell selektion, som verkar på hanar, kan vara ett möjligt område för framtida studier. I den andra studien undersökte jag populationsgenetiska konsekvenser av metapopulationsdynamik i Silene dioica. Förekomsten av öar i olika faser av primär succession tillsammans med olika grader av succession inom öar gör det möjligt att undersöka den genetiska dynamiken som uppträder i en åldersstrukturerad metapopulation över flera hierarkiska nivåer. Genetisk mångfald och differentiering uppskattades i åtta unga, nyligen koloniserade populationer och i tio populationer av ett intermediärt successionsstadium. Unga populationer hade lägre genetisk diversitet jämfört med äldre populationer, vilket indikerar att genetiska flaskhalsar, skapade av fåtal antal koloniserande individer, s.k. founders, som härrör från ett begränsat antal källpopulationer, minskar den genetiska diversiteten inom nybildade populationer. Observationen av stark genetisk strukturering, mellan och inom öar, indikerar att genflödet är begränsat över flera rumsliga nivåer i detta system. Bristen på statistiskt signifikanta skillnader i genetisk differentiering mellan unga och intermediära populationer indikerar emellertid att nivåer av genflöde kanske inte är tillräckligt höga för att minska den genetiska differentieringen som uppstår från den ursprungliga founder-händelsen. Mönstren av sexuell dimorfism och hanarnas och honornas roll har utvecklats för att möjliggöra fortlevnad i ett ekologisk och populationsmässigt sammanhang hos Silene dioica. I denna livsmiljö, där öar stiger upp ur havet och skapar nya miljöer för kolonisering samtidigt som autogena primära successionsprocesser leder till utrotning, måste S. dioica kontinuerligt sprida sig mellan olika successionsfaser för att överleva. Den uppenbara framgången för den här dioika växten är uppenbar eftersom den är en av de få dominerande arterna i lövkanten. Detta tyder på att nivåer av fröspridning och genflöde är tillräckliga för att möjliggöra etablering och beständighet av ö-populationer och att de sexuella dimorfismer som har utvecklats i detta metapopulationssystem verkar för att öka nivåerna av genflöde. "Lev hårt – dö ung" -strategin med omfattande blomningar som vi finner hos hanarna kan ha utvecklats som ett sätt att upprätthålla tillräckliga nivåer av genetisk diversitet i metapopulationen men den kommer endast att vara en möjlig strategi om det finns kontinuerliga möjligheter för re-etableringar. Således kan den kontinuerliga landupphöjningen som förekommer i norra delen av Bottniska viken mycket väl vara en förutsättning för den långsiktiga beständigheten av denna dioika, fleråriga växtart. / <p>Felaktigt angivet "Dissertation for PhD" i kolofon.</p>