Organization of seed breeding activities for leguminous crops and introduction of new varieties in conditions of piedmont and mountainous zones of Armenia

The article presents the results of breeding new leguminous crop varieties at the Scientific Center of Agriculture of the Republic of Armenia and the study results related to their testing and introduction in the piedmont and mountainous zones of the republic. Upon the findings of field experiments and laboratory research conducted throughout 2020-2022, it has been disclosed that the piedmont and mountainous zones of the republic are quite favorable for the growth and development of new varieties of chickpea (Stella), lentil (Erebuni), pea (Kangun) and groundnut (Arina), which were bred at the scientific center with further subjection to state varietal testing. Meanwhile, through the study results, it has been proved, that all mentioned varieties have ensured higher yield capacity and protein content as compared to other regionalized crops in those zones, and thus, it has been recommended to introduce them in a wide range of farm households for further cultivation

Mad2 Induced Aneuploidy Contributes to Eml4-Alk Driven Lung Cancer by Generating an Immunosuppressive Environment

Aneuploidy, an imbalance number of chromosomes, is frequently observed in lung cancer and inversely correlates with patient survival. Paradoxically, an aneuploid karyotype has detrimental consequences on cellular fitness, and it has been proposed that aneuploid cells, at least in vitro, generate signals for their own elimination by NK cells. However, how aneuploidy affects tumor progression as well as the interplay between aneuploid tumor cells and the tumor microenvironment is still unclear. We generated a new mouse model in which overexpression of Mad2 was almost entirely restricted to normal epithelial cells of the lung, and combined it with an oncogenic Eml4-Alk chromosome inversion. This combination resulted in a higher tumor burden and an increased number of tumor nodules compared to control Eml4-Alk mice alone. The FISH analysis detected significant differences in the aneuploidy levels in the non-tumor regions of Eml4-Alk+Mad2 compared to Eml4-Alk alone, although both tumor groups presented similar levels of aneuploidy. We further show that aneuploid cells in the non-tumor areas adjacent to lung tumors recruit immune cells, such as tumor-associated macrophages. In fact, these areas presented an increase in alveolar macrophages, neutrophils, decreased cytotoxic CD8+ T cells, and IFN-γ, suggesting that aneuploid cells in the surrounding tumor areas create an immunosuppressive signature that might contribute to lung tumor initiation and progression