The Griffon vulture was once a widespread species across the region of Southeast Europe, but it is now endangered and in some parts is completely extinct. In the Balkan Peninsula the largest Griffon vulture inland population inhabits the territory of Serbia. We present, for the first time, the genetic data of this valuable population that could be a source for future reintroduction programs planned in South-eastern Europe. To characterize the genetic structure of this population we used microsatellite markers from ten loci. Blood samples were collected from 57 chicks directly in the nests during the ongoing monitoring program. We performed a comparative analysis of the obtained data with the existing data from three native populations from French Pyrenees, Croatia, and Israel. We have assessed the genetic differentiation between different native populations and determined the existence of two genetic clusters that differentiate the populations from the Balkan and Iberian Peninsulas. Furthermore, we analysed whether the recent bottleneck events influenced the genetic structure of the populations studied, and we found that all native populations experienced a recent bottleneck event, and that the population of Israel was the least affected. Nevertheless, the parameters of genetic diversity suggest that all analysed populations have retained a similar level of genetic diversity and that the Griffon vulture population from Serbia exhibits the highest value for private alleles. The results of this study suggest that the Griffon vulture populations of the Balkan Peninsula are genetically differentiated from the populations of the Iberian Peninsula, which is an important information for future reintroduction strategies.

a b s t r a c tWild Meripilus giganteus Karst belongs to the order Polyporales, in which some members are known to possess a wide range of pharmacological properties. M. giganteus showed to be rich in carbohydrates (74.49 g/100 g) and proteins (15.94 g/100 g), presenting low fat content (1.51 g/100 g). Chemical composition was determined by using chromatographic techniques. Also, various bioactive compounds were detected including all four tocopherol isoforms with d-and g-tocopherols being predominant (123.35 and 77.80 mg/100 g, respectively); five organic acids (oxalic, malic, quinic, citric and fumaric acids) with predominant malic acid (3.17 g/100 g); and three phenolic acids and related compounds (phydroxybenzoic, p-coumaric and cinnamic acids; 1010, 2420 and 340 mg/100 g, respectively). M. giganteus methanolic extract exhibited antioxidant activity tested by five different assays with the strongest potential in TBARS assay (EC 50 0.31 mg/mL); and antimicrobial activities (MIC/MBC 0.0125e5 mg/mL; MIC/ MFC 0.025e0.4 mg/mL). Furthermore, treatment of cervical carcinoma cell line (HeLa) led to reduction in cell's viability in MTT assay (IC 50 0.41 mg/mL after 48 h), induced process of apoptosis and inhibited cell's migration in vitro. The analysed extract was not toxic for zebrafish embryos (at 0.5 mg/mL), indicating its biosafety and potential application as a dietary supplement in chemoprevention.

It is assumed that wild honey bees have become largely extinct across Europe since the 1980s, following the introduction of exotic ectoparasitic mite (Varroa) and the associated spillover of various pathogens. However, several recent studies reported on unmanaged colonies that survived the Varroa mite infestation. Herewith, we present another case of unmanaged, free-living population of honey bees in SE Europe, a rare case of feral bees inhabiting a large and highly populated urban area: Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. We compiled a massive data-set derived from opportunistic citizen science (>1300 records) during the 2011–2017 period and investigated whether these honey bee colonies and the high incidence of swarms could be a result of a stable, self-sustaining feral population (i.e., not of regular inflow of swarms escaping from local managed apiaries), and discussed various explanations for its existence. We also present the possibilities and challenges associated with the detection and effective monitoring of feral/wild honey bees in urban settings, and the role of citizen science in such endeavors. Our results will underpin ongoing initiatives to better understand and support naturally selected resistance mechanisms against the Varroa mite, which should contribute to alleviating current threats and risks to global apiculture and food production security.

Mycotherapy is defined as the study of the use of extracts and compounds obtained from mushrooms as medicines or health-promoting agents. The present review updates the recent findings on anticancer/antitumor agents derived from mushroom extracts and their metabolites. The increasing number of studies in the past few years revealed mushroom extracts as potent antitumor agents. Also, numerous studies were conducted on bioactive compounds isolated from mushrooms reporting the heteropolysaccharides, β-glucans, α-glucans, proteins, complexes of polysaccharides with proteins, fatty acids, nucleoside antagonists, terpenoids, sesquiterpenes, lanostanoids, sterols and phenolic acids as promising antitumor agents. Also, molecular mechanisms of cytotoxicity against different cancer cell lines are discussed in this review. Findings with Antrodia camphorata and Ganoderma lucidium extracts and isolated compounds are presented, as being the most deeply studied previously.

Local populations of Apis mellifera are rapidly changing by modern beekeeping through the introduction of nonnative queens, selection and migratory beekeeping. To assess the genetic diversity of contemporary managed honey bees in Serbia, we sequenced mitochondrial tRNAleu-cox2 intergenic region of 241 worker bees from 46 apiaries at eight localities. Nine haplotypes were observed in our samples, with C2d being the most common and widespread. To evaluate genetic diversity patterns, we compared our data with 1696 sequences from the NCBI GenBank from neighbouring countries and Serbia. All 32 detected haplotypes belonged to the Southeast Europe lineage C, with two newly described haplotypes from our sample. The most frequent haplotype was C2d, followed by C2c and C1a. To distinguish A. m. carnica from A. m. macedonica, both previously reported in Serbia, PCR-RFLP analysis on the COI gene segment of mtDNA was used, and the result showed only the presence of A.m. carnica subspecies. An MDS plot constructed on pairwise FST values showed significant geographical stratification. Our samples are grouped together, but distant from the Serbian dataset from the GenBank. This, with the absence of A. m. macedonica subspecies from its historic range of distribution in southern Serbia, indicates that honey bee populations are changing rapidly due to the anthropogenic influence.