With the expansion of urban areas, the amount of sludge produced by sewage treatment plants is increasing, raising big problems regarding the reintroduction of this sludge into nature in order to fully solve the wastewater problem. The application of sludge to agricultural surfaces or degraded land is a controversial solution since, despite the well-known benefits, sludge can, in certain cases, represent a real threat to both human health and the environment, with long-term harmful effects. The present study evaluates the potential genotoxicity of sludge using the Comet Test and three cellular bioindicators (lymphocytes, coelomocytes, and Allium cepa L.) for its quantification. To perform the tests, the soluble fraction of the sludge was used at concentrations of 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%, as well as a negative control (H₂O) and a positive control (H₂O₂). The Comet test indicated an increase in DNA damage among cells exposed for 4 h in the following order: coelomocytes, lymphocytes, and Allium cepa L. cells. Our results indicate that Allium cepa L. nuclei are more sensitive, with genotoxic effects being evident at concentrations as low as 25%. In coelomocytes, we recorded nuclear damage starting at a concentration of 75%. These results indicate the necessity of using multiple genotoxicity tests, combined in a test battery, to achieve a greater level of relevance. The concentration of the soluble fraction of the sludge has an inverse relationship with the auxin content in leaves and roots, suggesting varying levels of stress. The results of this study can contribute to the creation of a genotoxic profile of sewage sludge, facilitating decisions related to reducing its negative impact.

This study was conducted to evaluate whether the application of proline as a potential osmoprotectant at different doses could improve the genotoxic and mutagenic effects caused by plant exposure to cadmium salts. For this purpose, the Comet assay was used, which allows the rapid detection of DNA damage shortly after its occurrence, before the DNA is repaired, as well as the discrimination of the DNA damage limited to specific cells in a heterogeneous population. After treatment of Allium cepa roots with 75µM CdSO₄·H₂O (Cd sample), a DNA percentage of 35.24% was recorded in the tail. In the samples treated first with proline and then with cadmium (pre-treatment group), the percentage DNA in the tail was reduced by 24.8% compared with the Cd sample. Instead, in the post-treatment group (samples treated first with cadmium and then with proline), the percentage DNA in the tail was reduced by 69.04% compared with the Cd sample. All cadmium treatments induced chromosomal aberrations (CAs). Compared with the CAs values obtained after Cd treatment, the reduction was 75.6% in the pre-treatment group and 55.39% in the post-treatment group. The results of this study highlighted that exogenous application of proline alleviated the genotoxic effect of cadmium.

There is an increasing trend in forest production towards planting rapid-growing trees as attractive, environmentally friendly energy sources. This study aimed to establish an alternative to the traditional propagation of a number of selections of Robinia pseudoacacia L. by developing an in vitro culture protocol. This study’s topic is of great importance, and it reflects an ongoing concern at the University of Oradea’s Faculty of Environmental Protection’s sustainable research program. The explants from four forms (called S1, S2, S3, and S4), selected for their phenotypic characteristics, were inoculated on four culture media (Murashige–Skoog (MS), Anderson, Chée–Pool, and Driver and Kuniyuki Woody (DKW)) with the same phytohormonal balance. DKW medium proved to be the better support of morphogenic activity, and it was further tested under different phytohormonal balances. Different results were observed depending on the hormone content in the DKW environment. In the presence of 0.5 mg/L benzylaminopurine (BAP) and 0.04 mg/L aminoisobutyric acid (AIB), 91.5% of the explants developed an average of 4.45 ± 0.18 shoots, whereas the average upper shoot height (3.82 cm) was recorded on DKW medium with 0.5 mg/L BAP and 0.04 mg/L α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA). Auxin, 0.05 mg/L AIB, promoted root production (5.27 ± 0.15 roots/explant), while 0.1 mg/L NAA promoted root length. In conclusion, the S4 selection produced the greatest outcomes of all environmental variables in terms of both the number of shoots and their heights.

This study aims to evaluate the genetic diversity of the species Robinia pseudoacacia L. using several populations selected from places located in the Crișana Region. The first six ISSRs tested gave distinct bands, with a total of 59 loci, of which 45 were polymorphic (63.85%). The percentage of polymorphic loci varied within populations from 33.33% to 100%. The average number of observed alleles (Na) is 1.7627 and the average effective number of alleles (Ne) is 1.4926, indicating that the effective variability is lower than the observed variability. For the Nei (h) gene diversity index, we recorded an average value of 0.2795, and for allelic entropy, the average value of the Shannon index (I) was 0.4137. The study finds a significant differentiation between populations, with a Gst coefficient value of 0.43 indicating that 43% of the variability is due to interpopulation differences.

Traditional Romanian Pălincă is a protected fruit spirit obtained from fermented fruit matrices, whereas honey- and botanical-enriched Pălincă-based beverages require integrated compositional and technological characterization. This study investigated the physicochemical, chromatic, antioxidant, and ICP-MS elemental profiles of experimental beverages prepared from grape- and plum-based Pălincă distillates enriched with honey, blackthorn, rosehip, or wood-associated materials under controlled artisanal conditions. Chemometric tools were applied to evaluate ingredient- and process-related differentiation, while target hazard quotient and hazard index calculations were retained as a concise screening-level elemental safety assessment. Honey enrichment produced the strongest compositional changes, mainly reflected by increased soluble solids, conductivity, turbidity, chromatic intensity, and mineral content, together with lower final alcoholic strength. Fruit-macerated and mixed honey-botanical beverages were associated with higher phenolic content and antioxidant activity. ICP-MS profiling highlighted potassium as the dominant macroelement, while Cu, Fe, Zn, and Mn were the main technological trace elements. Potentially toxic elements remained at low concentrations, and the screening-level THQ/HI assessment indicated low non-carcinogenic elemental risk under the applied exposure scenario. Overall, the results show that ICP-MS elemental profiling can support the technological and ingredient-related differentiation of experimental Pălincă-based beverages, while toxicological interpretation should remain limited to elemental exposure screening.