卷 45, 编号 2 (2018)

In this study, we investigated the cytogenetic effects of single and quadruple exposure of spermatogenic cells and hepatocytes of 129 mice, which have a mutation in the gene that encodes DNA polymerase iota, to ultrasmall gold nanoparticles (GNPs). The combined effects of GNPs and chemical mutagen dipin were evaluated. In all cases, except for the experiment with the quadruple GNP injection, we observed a slight, statistically nonsignificant increase in the frequency of round spermatids with micronuclei compared to the negative control (saline). It is established that, in the intact liver of 129 mice, in all variants of the experiment, GNPs behaved as a potentially cytotoxic agent, as evidenced by the decrease in the frequency of the micronucleated hepatocytes.

The fatty acid status of the total lipids was studied in smolts of the brown trout and the Atlantic salmon collected in summer in the Indera River (White Sea basin). Higher 18:3ω-3/18:2ω-6, ω-3/ω-6, and 20:4ω-6/18:2ω-6 ratios were found in smolts of the Atlantic salmon in comparison to smolts of the brown trout. A higher amount of essential fatty acid 18:2ω-6 and an increased ratio of the sum of polyunsaturated fatty acids to the sum of saturated fatty acids in smolts of brown trout were observed. We have registered the differences in the ratios of the fatty acids, including physiologically active ones, which indicated species-specific physiological and biochemical processes during smoltification.

As a result of allozyme analysis, Nei’s genetic distances were determined between the phylogeographic group of seven populations of Pinus sylvestris L. in the “glacial” zone of the range in Central Yakutia and 25 populations of its hypothetical Pleistocene refugia of the southern nonglacial zone within the entire range of the species in Northern Eurasia. The location of the most likely “avant-garde” refugium of the modern yakutian populations of the Scots pine is Northern Priamur’e (Tynda), as well as less likely Siberian (Romanovka, Irkutsk), South Ural (Kryktytau), and Central European (the Czech Republic) refugia.

Strains of lactic acid and propionic acid bacteria and the A-5 bacterial association composed of the Lactobacillus brevis B-3/A-26, L. plantarum 2v/А-6, L. plantarum 14d/I, and Propionibacterium shermanii 2/10 cultures in equal proportion exhibiting high antitumor activity have been selected using the fungus Fusarium bulbigenum var. blasticola tumorlike growth model. L. acidophilus 27w, L. plantarum 2v/I, 2v/A-6, and 22A-310, L. fermentum 127A-4, L. cellobiosus 7n, L. salivarius 39n, P. shermanii 2/10, and the А-5 association were shown to inhibit completely the tumorlike growth of the fungus when present as 2% native cultures in the nutrient medium. The high antitumor activity of the A-5 association comparable with that of the therapeutic agents doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide was confirmed using human tumor cell lines originating from different organs (HepG2, RD, and H9). It has been demonstrated that the bacterial strains comprising the A-5 association were resistant to doxorubicin and methotrexate, the antitumor drugs tested.

Plants of buckwheat Fagopyrum esculentum possessing diploid and tetraploid genotypes were studied at the initial ontogenetic stages. They were compared in their morphophysiological characteristics, accumulation of phenolic compounds (including their main classes—phenylpropanoids and flavonoids), and activity of L-phenylalanine ammonia-lyase. An apparent resemblance in morphophysiological characteristics of seedlings was found between the two specimens, but diploid plants tended to faster linear growth than tetraploid ones. Differences in the accumulation of phenolic compounds in the hypocotyl and cotyledonous leaves were revealed. In most cases, in the course of seedling growth, the changes in phenylalanine ammonialyase activity did not correlate with the changes in the levels of these secondary metabolites. The effects of gene dosage were established towards accumulation of phenylpropanoids and anthocyanins in hypocotyls of seedlings and flavonoid accumulation in cotyledonous leaves. It is concluded that buckwheat seedlings with a tetraploid genotype have higher capacity than diploid seedlings for biosynthesis of phenolics.

The effect of pup cross-fostering by the house mouse Mus musculus and the mound-building mouse M. spicilegus on the odor preferences of sexually mature individuals has been studied for the first time. House and mound-building mice reared by females of a closely related species did not prefer any of the odors, in contrast to intact individuals of these species. Some individuals reared by females of a closely related species preferred the odor of foster species to conspecific odor. Early olfactory experience has been shown to alter the response of house mice and mound-building mice to odors of their own species and foster species.

Alterations in the expression of genes encoding interleukins IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were studied in the rat brain in a model of a depressive disorder. We found that the signs of a depressionlike condition in rats, subjected to eight weeks of chronic mild unpredictable stress, were accompanied by increased IL-1α and IL-1β mRNAs levels in the neocortex, hippocampus, and brainstem and a decreased IL-6 mRNA level in the brainstem as compared to those observed in the control animals. We did not find any changes in the level of TNF-α mRNA. We suggest that region-specific alterations in the expression of cytokine genes, specifically, the most prominent increase in IL-1β expression, reflects greater vulnerability of chronically stressed animals to neuroinflammatory processes.

Long-term data on the morphological anomalies of four anuran species (family Ranidae) and two tailed amphibian species (families Hynobiidae and Salamandridae), inhabiting forest and urbanized areas in the eastern slope of the Middle Urals, have been studied. The morphological deviations of amphibians were investigated in terms of the module principle, which predetermines the similarity of evolutionary transformations in different taxa and limit the number of possible directions of diversification in morphogenesis. The definitive spectra and frequencies of morphological anomalies in juvenile and adult individuals are compared in the urbanization gradient. Original methodological and methodical approaches to using the potential and implemented spectra of deviation are proposed for assessing the role of the ecological component in their formation. The possibility of using deviant forms of variability for assessing the evolutionary and adaptive potentials of the species is discussed.

The results of studies of the vegetative cover and ontogenetic composition of the cenopopulations of Picea obovata Ledeb. and Larix sibirica Ledeb. in the Gorno-Khadytinskii Forest Reserve, which is the refugium of the northern taiga forests of Western Siberia, have been summarized. According to the Brown–Blanke system, two associations of forests were identified and described, as well as two tundra associations, for comparison. The unique association of the Aconito septentrionalis–Piceetum obovatae taiga forests Zaugolnova et Morozova 2009 were analyzed in detail, and a comparison of these associations was carried out in the Gorno-Khadytinskii and Pechoro-Ilychskii reserves, where these forests are the reference standards of the zonal-type forests. An estimate of the ontogenetic composition of the cenopopulations of P. obovata Ledeb. and L. sibirica Ledeb. is given, as well as the absolute age of the trees of these species.