Vol 59, No 2 (2023)

The effectiveness of cattle selection for quantitative and qualitative traits that are of economic importance in dairy cattle breeding largely depends on the identification of the genes that control these traits, as well as their allelic polymorphism. One such gene is the gene LGB encoding the protein beta-lactoglobulin. The review provides brief information about the structure and biological role of this protein, gene polymorphism. An analysis of the literature data of various studies was carried out, which made it possible to identify and evaluate the effect of the two most common alleles of the gene LGB (A and B) on the efficiency indicators of dairy production.

Transposable elements, DNA transposons and retrotransposons are DNA sequences capable of movement within the genome. It is assumed that they play one of their key roles in adaptive and evolutionary processes. One of the most studied groups of DNA transposons is the infraclass ITm, and in particular the superfamily Tc1/mariner. In this work, we considered the representation, structure, and evolution of Tc1/mariner DNA transposons in the jellyfish Aurelia aurita. It was found that the predominant proportion of Tc1/mariner elements of the jellyfish is represented by the TLE family. A new subfamily of TLE elements called Aurum has been identified. In addition, two groups of elements VS-aura and VS-beplau were found in the Visitor family, which are probably also separate subfamilies. Analysis of the structure and diversity of Tc1/mariner elements showed that at the moment Tc1/mariner transposons in the jellyfish genome are at the stage of degradation and elimination. Almost all elements are deleted or have structural changes, and, accordingly, do not have potentially functional copies.

As a result of the control region mtl DNA analysis for the Evoron vole, a high haplotype (97%) and nucleotide (1.53%) diversity was found. The data obtained indicate a low level of genetic differentiation populations. At the same time, populations geographically located closer are subdivided more strongly than remote ones. In general, there is agreement between the data on the variability of the mitochondrial DNA control region and chromosome races. However, if the data of chromosomal analysis indicate the preservation of the karyotype more ancient variants in the Evoron-Chukchagir lowland (“evoron” chromosomal race), then the data of molecular genetic analysis testify in favor of the preservation of the most ancient mt haplotype (106-19) in the upper Bureya depression population (“argi” chromosomal race).

The assessment of the level of genetic variability from 1974 to 2020 in the population of the malaria mosquito Anopheles messeae Fall. in the village of Kolarovo (Tomsk region) was carried out on the basis of cytogenetic analysis of polytene chromosomes. Analysis of the dynamics of inversion polymorphism of the malaria mosquito Anopheles messeae Fall. in the period from 1974 to 2020, according to the frequencies of inversion variants of chromosomes and gametes in the population village Kolarovo showed the replacement of “northern” variants in the period of the 90s of the last century with “southern” variants and the stabilization of these changes until 2020. The correlation of the frequency distribution of chromosomal inversions from 1972 to 2020 was revealed with an annual temperature including a semi-annual average April–September and semi-annual average October–March temperature. The results obtained made it possible to reveal the nature of dynamic processes associated with the modification of a specific ecological niche during a long period due to climate warming. The spatiotemporal stationarity (dynamic stability) of adaptive inversion polymorphism is evidence of high population-genetic (or rather species-specific) homeostasis and the absence of tendencies to speciation.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a complex lung disease characterized by progressive airflow limitation and abnormal inflammatory response of the lungs to inhaled noxious particles or gases. COPD pathogenesis was linked to oxidative stress and systemic inflammation. We aimed to assess the association of cytokines and inflammatory genes polymorphisms and their combinations with COPD. SNPs of inflammatory genes FASLG (rs763110), IL19 (rs2243193), IL20 (rs2981573), IL24 (rs291107), PPBP (rs352010), IL4 (rs2243250), IL4 (rs2070874), С5 (rs17611), FAS (rs1800682), IL4RA (rs1805010), TGFb1 (rs1800469) was genotyped by the real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) among 601 COPD patients and 617 controls. Significant associations with COPD in the study group under additive genetic model were identified for IL19 (rs2243193) (P = 0.00001, OR = 0.73), IL4 (rs2243250) (P = 0.024, OR = 1.27), IL4 (rs2070874) (P = 0.00001, OR = 0.62), and for PPBP (rs352010) under the recessive model (P = 0.00001, OR = 2.34). Using the APSampler algorithm, we obtained gene-gene combinations that remained significantly associated with COPD; A allele of IL19 (rs2243193) and C allele of PPBP (rs352010) were the core element of the majority of protective patterns associated with COPD. The highest risk of COPD was conferred by combination of alleles: G of IL12A (rs2243115) with A of IL13 (rs20541) and C of IL4 (rs2070874) (OR = 2.72). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis resulted in an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.895 (95%CI 0.874–0.916) for model including SNPs: A allele of IL19 (rs2243193) and AA genotype of IL20 (rs2981573) combination, IL19 (rs2243193), IL12A (rs2243115), PPBP (rs352010), IL4 (rs2070874) together with age and smoking pack years, indicating a high ability of the model to correctly classify individuals with and without COPD.

Neurological and mental diseases, such as schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, bipolar disorder, Parkinson’s disease, have complex phenotypes with cognitive impairment. These diseases are socially significant pathologies and serious problems for world health and are distinguished by the multilevel nature of the implementation of genetic information. A number of active genes are involved in the formation of the final phenotype. Thereby, it is necessary to apply the analysis of biological networks aimed at identifying the interacting genes and proteins that lead to the pathogenesis of the disease, in order to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the studied pathology. In this study, various online resources and databases were used to implement this approach: WebGestalt, Gene Ontology, STRING. The protein-protein interaction network was obtained, where two subnets are distinguished, one of which is involved in the risk of developing schizophrenia, and the other in the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

Research suggests that, in contrast to circulating C-reactive protein (CRP), genetic variants conferring higher CRP levels have protective effects against schizophrenia and moderate influences of season of birth on the development of the disease. This study aimed to explore whether the CRP gene also moderates the relations between childhood adversity and clinical characteristics of schizophrenia. The relations between childhood adversity, genotypes at rs2794521within the CRP locus, syndromes measured as five factors and two negative subfactors of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, and history of suicide attempts were analyzed in 921 schizophrenia patients using analyses of covariances, Pearson’s chi-squared test, and logistic regression. A significant effect of genotype on suicide attempts in patients exposed to childhood adversity was found. The result suggests a moderating role of genetic determinants of inflammation in translating early life psychological stress effects into risk of suicide attempts in schizophrenia.