Pseudophoxinus firati was described from one spring in the upper Euphrates River drainage in Turkey. Here we record this species from seven additional sites, three in the upper Euphrates drainage, one in the upper Seyhan and three in the upper Ceyhan River drainages. These findings largely expand the distribution area of the species and its habitats are discussed.

Salmonids are extremely important economically and scientifically; therefore, dynamic developments in their research have occurred and will continue occurring in the future. At the same time, their complex phylogeny and taxonomy are challenging for traditional approaches in research. Here, we first provide discoveries regarding the hitherto completely unknown cytogenetic characteristics of the Anatolian endemic flathead trout, Salmo platycephalus, and summarize the presently known, albeit highly complicated, situation in the genus Salmo. Secondly, by outlining future directions of salmonid cytogenomics, we have produced a prototypical virtual karyotype of Salmo trutta, the closest relative of S. platycephalus. This production is now possible thanks to the high-quality genome assembled to the chromosome level in S. trutta via soft-masking, including a direct labelling of repetitive sequences along the chromosome sequence. Repetitive sequences were crucial for traditional fish cytogenetics and hence should also be utilized in fish cytogenomics. As such virtual karyotypes become increasingly available in the very near future, it is necessary to integrate both present and future approaches to maximize their respective benefits. Finally, we show how the presumably repetitive sequences in salmonids can change the understanding of the overall relationship between genome size and G+C content, creating another outstanding question in salmonid cytogenomics waiting to be resolved.

Introduction: Comparative cytogenetics is a vital approach for diagnosing chromosome abnormalities and identifying species-specific patterns. In this study, chromosomal analysis of three Anatolian endemic Cobitis species was performed: Cobitis bilseli, C. fahireae, and C. turcica. Methods: Conventional cytogenetic techniques such as Giemsa staining, C-banding, and Ag-NOR staining were applied, followed by measurements of chromosome arm lengths including analysis of the measured data. Results: The diploid chromosome number, 2n = 50, was determined for all three species. The karyotype formulas were as follows: four pairs of metacentric, 5 pairs of submetacentric, and 16 pairs of subtelo-telocentric chromosomes in C. bilseli; 11 pairs of metacentric, 7 pairs of submetacentric, and 7 pairs of subtelo-telocentric chromosomes in C. fahireae; and 4 pairs of metacentric, 4 pairs of submetacentric, and 17 pairs of subtelo-telocentric chromosomes in C. turcica. Dark C-bands were observed on the pericentromeres of nearly all chromosomes in C. bilseli and C. turcica, whereas light C-bands appeared on the pericentromeres of some chromosomes in C. fahireae. Silver-stained metaphases revealed signals on the short arm of a submetacentric chromosome pair in C. fahireae (each homologous chromosome carries one signal), while in C. bilseli and C. turcica, Ag-NOR signals were detected on the long arm of a single metacentric chromosome (only one homologous chromosome carries the signal, and the signal-carrying chromosome is the largest chromosome in the karyotype). Conclusion: This study provides new cytogenetic data consistent with the phylogenetic distances between the studied species, indicating that pericentric inversions and/or translocations govern the formation of Cobitis karyotypes.

Cancer, which is the second most common cause of death after cardiovascular diseases, is one of the most important health problems of today. Discovery of effective treatments and drugs are important in cancer treatment. The COVID-19 epidemic, which broke out in Wuhan province of China in December 2019 and is considered as a pandemic worldwide, affected millions of people. The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes this epidemic, affects the lungs, heart, brain, kidneys, gastrointestinal system, ovaries and testicles and various drugs are used in the treatment. In this study, we aimed to determine the cytotoxic effect of favipiravir, dornase alfa and ivermectin, which are drugs used in the treatment of COVID-19, on human lung cancer cell line (A549). Favipiravir, dornase alfa and ivermectin concentrations were prepared in doubly increasing doses (0.5-64 µg/mL). The prepared concentrations were tested on human A549 cells. After 24 hours of incubation, the cytotoxic effects of the drugs on cancer cells were detected by the MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) method. The results were given as % viability. It was determined that favipiravir, dornase alfa and ivermectin significantly decreased the cell viability in lung cancer cell line with increasing application doses (p<0.05).

The genus Pseudophoxinus Bleeker, 1860 is found in a wide range of habitats in central Anatolia, but it is not well known from a cytogenetic aspect. In this study the first karyotypic description of the spring minnows Pseudophoxinuscrassus (Ladiges, 1960) and Pseudophoxinushittitorum Freyhof & Özulug, 2010 by means of conventional methods (Giemsa staining, C-banding, silver nitrate impregnation (Ag-NORs)) was performed. Both species are endemic and have restricted distributions in Central Anatolia. Pseudophoxinuscrassus and Pseudophoxinushittitorum have the same diploid chromosome number, 2n = 50, patterns of distribution of constitutive heterochromatin (CH), and localization of nucleolus organizer regions (NORs), but differ in their karyotypic formulae (KFs). The C-banding technique revealed clear pericentromeric blocks of CH in many chromosomes; Ag-NORs treatment revealed consistent positive signals at the end of the short arms of a submetacentric chromosome pair, likely homologous in both species. The karyotypic differences found between these species can be used for their taxonomical study.