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This bachelor thesis is devoted to the phytoextraction of the anxiolytic buspirone from a cultivation medium and to the study of the effect of plant stress on the plant metabolism. Two experiments were carried out with maize (Zea mays) grown hydroponically in a sterile medium for 10 and 14 days. After the addition of a solution of medium containing buspirone at concentrations of 10 and 5 mg · L-1 , samples of medium were collected at 1-day intervals from all experimental plants. The decreasing concentration of buspirone in the medium was monitored by reversed phase HPLC/UV at a wavelength of 240 nm. In the first experiment with 10 mg · L-1 as the initial concentration of buspirone in the medium, a 65 % decrease was observed over the 96 hours during which the phytoextraction was carried out. The overall decrease in buspirone concentration was 53 % in 144 hours of phytoextraction in the second experiment with an initial concentration of 5 mg · L-1 in the medium. After the completion of the phytoextraction experiments, the activities of total peroxidases, membrane-bound peroxidases, guaiacol peroxidase and ABTS-peroxidase were determined in the leaves and roots of the plants. Furthermore, the content of phenolic substances, which belong to the group of so-called secondary metabolites and their effects...

Charles University Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové Department of Biochemical Sciences Candidate Mgr. Eliška SYSLOVÁ Supervisor prof. Ing. Barbora SZOTÁKOVÁ, Ph.D. Consultant RNDr. Radka PODLIPNÁ, Ph.D. Title of Doctoral Thesis: Anthelmintics in Plants - Uptake, Biotransformation and Transcriptional Response The use of anthelmintics, drugs against parasitic worms, is almost necessary in veterinary medicine today. However, anthelmintics may enter the environment with the excrements of treated animals, and influence non-target organisms there. Plants which can receive, biotransform or accumulate these substances, are an integral part of the environment. Biotransformation of anthelmintics may affect the capacity of the antioxidant system, interfere with endogenous plant metabolism or polyphenol biosynthesis where plants use the same detoxifying enzymes. The aim of this thesis is to study the influence of the most commonly used anthelmintics albendazole (ABZ), fenbendazole (FBZ), flubendazole (FLU) and ivermectin (IVM) on plants. To study their uptake by plants, their biotransformation in plants and transcriptional response of plant cells to their presence. The results of the dissertation include the finding that model systems of cell suspensions and in vitro regenerants of Plantago lanceolata...

Pharmaceutically Active Compounds include metformin, the most often prescripted drug for a treatment of the diabetes mellitus type 2. Metformin is used in high daily doses (up to 3000 mg per day) and it is eliminated by kidneys in its original non - metabolized form. Metformin is degraded in the wastewater treatment plants to guanylurea. The wastewater treatment plants aren't able to clean the waste water, so metformin and guanylurea enter the environment, especially surface water. This diploma thesis deals with the ability to remove metformin and its environmental metabolite guanylurea via phytoextraction technologies. First experiment was focused on phytoextraction of metformin using 5 plant species - Zea mays L., Pisum sativum L., Avena sativa L., Alternanthera reineckii Mini L. and Staurogyne repens L. Second experiment studied phytoextraction of guanylurea using Zea mays L. and Pisum sativum L. The third experiment deals with the phytoextraction of metformin and guanylurea together using Zea mays L. The media of all plants were contaminated by metformin or guanylurea at different concentration levels. The samples of media were taken in 24 hours intervals during the plant cultivation and the decrease of its concentration were studied by HPLC with UV detection at 233 nm for metformin and 210 nm...

The aim of this bachelor thesis was to determine the possibility of phytoextraction of benzodiazepine bromazepam as a widely used drug with anxiolytic effects. Benzodiazepines are compounds with high biological activity and together with their metabolites are excreted into urine. These substances then get into municipal wastewater treatment plant, whereas efficiency of removal in wastewater treatment plants is not high and compounds enter into surface water. Afterwards, the entire ecosystem including food chains is contaminated. A long-term exposure to trace concentrations can have a great effect on aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Maize (Zea mays) was used to study the phytoextraction. The Murashige and Skoog medium was enriched by 10 mg · L-1 bromazepam and samples of medium were taken at 24 hour intervals. After that, samples were analysed in reverse phase at 233 nm by HPLC/UV. Time dependence of bromazepam concentrations in medium was evaluated, which showed decrease of ca. 40 % during 168 hours of cultivation. Ability of corn cultivar to extract bromazepam from aqueous solutions was clearly demonstrated. The amount of extracted bromazepam corresponds to 0.03 milligrams per 1 gram of plant fresh weight. Although the tested concentrations of the xenobiotic used are substantially higher than the actual...

key words Fluvoxamine is one of the most used psychoactive drugs nowadays. In human body at least nine metabolites are formed and only 4 % is excreted unmetabolised by urine. This substance can be harmful for the environment at very low concentrations already. The aim of this Bachelor thesis is to find out whether we can use phytoremediation to remove the fluvoxamine from the environment. Phytoextraction of the fluvoxamine was tested on in vitro cultivated Zea mays and Pisum sativum plants. Murashige-Skoog medium contaminated with the fluvoxamine was added to cultivations. Samples were collected every 24 hours and the concentration of the drug was determined by HPLC with UV detection at 235 nm. The average concentration decrease was 54,6 % for Zea mays and 37,6 % for Pisum sativum within 72 hours. In the case of Pisum sativum, the decrease of fluvoxamine showed a linear pattern. Key words: phytoremediation, phytoextraction, psychoactive drugs, fluvoxamine, HPLC.

Heavy metals are part of us life for many centuries. Some of them are for living organism neccessary, but in large amount they have toxic effects. So we should decrease amount of heavy metals in the Environment. We have many way to do it. A relatively new way are the phytoremediation. If we would use the phytoremediation, we should know, what they do in plants. We must use specific plants, which are tolerant to certain heavy metal. If we would select a suitable plant, we have to try, how heavy metals in soil solution are toxic to plants. Zinc is no expection, although it is important part of many proteins. In plants it make rusty leaves and reduct aboveground and root biomass production. In hydroponic experiment I investigated that mallow Malva verticillata was very sensitive to low additon of Zn(NO3)2. The toxic efect appeared in 2 weeks. In sorghum Sorghum bicolor zinc show expressive toxic effect at concentration 1 mmol/l. I studied six cultivars of Sorghum bicolor, DSM 14-535, Expres, Honey Graze BMR, Nutri Honey, Sucrosorgho 506 and Sweet Virginia. According EC50 I as- sessed that the most sensitive was Sucrosorgho 506 and very tolerant were Nutri Honey and Sweet Virginia. Cultivar Nutri Honey was characteristic. It had the highest ratio concentration in shoot to concentration in root. I studied...

Environmental contamination with radionuclides is a growing problem in many places all over the world. Phytoremediation works as a safety alternative for some energy demanding and expensive methods of soil cleaning. Phytoremediation uses various abilities of plants and microorganisms to change the mobility of contaminants in soil as well as soil properties. The uptake and transport of radionuclides to plants is affected by their chemical form. Radionuclides in soil are taken up by plants and can thus enter the food chain. The number of nuclear accidents such as Chernobyl and Fukushima operation of nuclear power plants, mining and processing of uranium ores and testing of nuclear weapons result in global contamination of our planet by artificial radionuclides.

Cadmium is heavy metal toxic for plants and animals and environmental contaminant which must be removed from natural environment. In recent years a new method phytoremediation is getting more attention. This method uses plants called hyperaccumulators for extraction of heavy metals from soils. Hyperaccumulators have, however, after accumulation of heavy metals no other use. Therefore new possibilities are discussed in last few years. Energy plants, in this thesis sorghum and malva, could be used for accumulation of heavy metals from soils and after that these plants could be used as energy source. This thesis wants to find out if sorgum and malva are able to grow in cadmium contaminated environment and if these plants will accumulate cadmium. It also compares different cultivars of sorghum in toxicity tests and compares ability of these cultivars to grow in cadmium contaminated environment and to accumulate this heavy metal. Further it focuses on affection of uptake of kadmium ions by sorhum in presence of glutathione or ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid.

The ability of the accumulation of thorium and study of the stress responses on his presence was tested on a selected cultivar of tobacco, La Burley 21. Plants were cultivated in Hoagland's hydroponic medium under artificial light. Except to the ability of accumulation and distribution of thorium in the all parts of plant was investigated the effect of selected organic and inorganic additions on accumulation. Among organic substances included citric acid, tartaric and oxalic acid in their presence was observed the increase of thorium in all parts of the plant. Were also tested products from the diamine and polyamines (putrescine, cadaverine, spermine and spermidin). These substances, also known for their antioxidant activity in plants, had an impact on reducing the accumulation of thorium, especially in the root system of plants. The most important factor influencing the accumulation of thorium was the absence of phosphate ions in a hydroponic medium, which caused the rise of the concentration of thorium about several levels in all parts of the plants. The initial decrease of pH after additions of organic acids or addition of high concentrations of thorium and the gradual increase of pH during cultivation had proved significant. It was also compared the uptake of accumulation and distribution of...

All known isotopes of thorium are radioactive, 6 of them occur in nature decay chains. Thorium forms mainly cation Th4+ . Because thorium behaves like REE, Ce, Zr, Hf, Sc and U, it is a problem with thorium separation. There is requested leach thorium from ore for production of thorium. Monazite is mostly used for industrial production of Thorium. Electrolysis or chemical reduction are the most spread technologies for metal thorium production. For determination of thorium can be used many methods. Currently there is are usualy used radio-spectrometry or mass-spectrometry for determination of Thorium. Thorium occurs in small amounts in all parts of environment. Most of naturally occuring thorium are in the solid part of environment. Radioactive decay of thorium are using in geochronology. Thorium could be use in future as nuclear reactors fuel. Some other usage of thorium are catalyst in organic synthesis, Welsbach lamps or non-silicate glass. Thorium have also some chemical toxic efects for all organism, but more serious problem is its radioactivity. Final product of radioactive decay is lead. Non-stable products are radium, radon, bismuth, thalium and polonium. All products of radioactive decay have some specific chemical toxicity. 1

Heavy metals and organic compounds represent a great problem for environment. Therefore, attention is paid to the development of techniques for removing these pollutants from the sites of pollution. One of the possibilities is that heavy metals and organic compounds are removed from soil by using fytoremediation. Fytoremediation uses the ability of some plant species to uptake toxic compounds from soil and accumulate these compounds in its tissues. These plants are able to tolerate higher amounts of toxic compounds than it's usual because of the broad range of detoxification mechanisms, which are taking place in these plants. After the root uptake, heavy metals may be chelated by phytochelatins, metallothioneins or other chelators and subsequently stored in vacuoles. Transport of metal ions and metal complexes between cells compartments is mediated by many specific transport proteins. Detoxification mechanisms of organic compounds involve transfomation, conjugation and store of these compounds in plant tissues.