Some biological activities and chromosomes of Psephellus turcicus species

Some biological activities and chromosomes of Psephellus turcicus Duran & Hamzaoğlu, which is among the narrow endemic species of Turkey, are the subject of this thesis. In Turkey, this genus is represented by a total of 34 taxa, with 7 recently published taxa within 7 sections. 28 of the taxa distributed in our country are endemics of our country and show a very local distribution. According to these data, the endemism rate of the genus is 82 %. The plant material used in the biological activity and chemical content studies was obtained from the old marble extraction area of the Kazankaya canyon located in the Aydıncık district of Yozgat province, which is the only distribution locality of the species in the world. After drying, the aerial parts of the plant were extracted with 80 % methanol. The 80 % methanol extract was then fractionated with chloroform, butanol and ethyl acetate, respectively. Hexane extract was also prepared from the aerial part of the plant. Total phenol content and total flavonoid content of the extracts were determined, their antioxidant activities and cytotoxicity in A549 (human lung cancer cell line) and MDA-MB 231 (human breast cancer cell line) cell lines were studied. When the total phenol and total flavonoid contents of the extracts were examined, the richest extract was found to be the ethyl acetate fraction with values of 202.55 ± 3.01 mgGAE/extract and 44.83 ± 0.45 mgCA/extract. The ethyl acetate fraction inhibited viability more strongly in both cell lines than the other extracts and fractions, and was also found to be the strongest radical scavenging extract in antioxidant activity experiments. In the studies of chromosomes of Psephellus turcicus species, images of chromosomes were obtained, chromosomal measurements and karyotype analysis were performed. As a result, the chromosome numbers of Psephellus turcisus, which is also known as "Yurt Tülübaşı" among the people, were determined under the roof of cytogenetic characteristics of the species. The diploid chromosome numbers of our taxon examined within the scope of the study were determined as 2n = 2x = 30 and no polyploidy was found.