Development and investigation of common wheat lines of winter cultivar Bezostaya 1 with combinations of dominant alleles of VRN-1 loci

VRN genes, determining wheat sensitivity to vernalization, are the main genetic system that defnes the duration of the entire growing period and the durations of the main organogenesis phases. To date, several alleles have been described for VRN-1 loci, and allele­specifc primers have been developed that allow rapid identifcation of allelic spectra in common wheat varieties and lines. The unequal influence of different alleles of VRN-1 loci on the duration of the growing period has also been shown; however, there is little information on the effect of the combination of different alleles on heading time. In developing genotypes having different alleles of dominant VRN genes on the base of the same genetic background, it is necessary to study the genetic effects of VRN genes on the duration of the growing season and the individual developmental phases, as well as on productivity. Most varieties presently grown in Russia carry the dominant alleles of two VRN-1 genes: Vrn-A1a and Vrn-B1a or Vrn-B1c; thus, the task was to create lines combining the dominant alleles of Vrn-A1a with Vrn-B1a and Vrn-B1c against the genetic background of the winter variety Bezostaya 1 (Bez1 Vrn-A1a/Vrn-B1a and Bez1 Vrn-A1a/Vrn-B1c). Homozygous plants were isolated in the F2 generation by using known allele­specifc primers for the Vrn-A1 and Vrn-B1 loci. The durations of the tillering–frst node period, which is the key stage determining growing duration, and the period from shoots to heading were signifcantly reduced in lines with a combination of two dominant alleles of VRN-1 loci compared to isogenic lines of Bezostaya 1 with the dominant alleles Vrn-B1a and Vrn-B1c. The duration of these developmental phases also decreased in the obtained lines as compared to the isogenic line containing the dominant Vrn-A1a allele, but the differences were not signifcant. No substantial differences were found in the duration of other growing phases in lines with two dominant alleles of the VRN-1 loci as compared to isogenic lines of Bezostaya 1

Биохимические, молекулярно-генетические и клинические аспекты COVID-2019

 The 2020 coronavirus infection pandemic has potentiated a large number of studies in the world on the etiopathogenesis, clinical and morphological manifestations of COVID-2019 infection. This review presents biochemical, molecular genetic and clinical aspects of COVID-2019.  Пандемия коронавирусной инфекции в 2020 г. потенцировала проведение большого числа исследований в мире в области этиопатогенеза и клинико-морфологических проявлений  COVID-2019. Представлены биохимические, молекулярно-генетические и клинические аспекты COVID-2019.

Ontogenetic Development of Neurophysiological Mechanisms Underlying Language Processing

During the last 20 years, new data on the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying different types of cognitive activity, especially speech and its ontogenetic formation, were obtained in the Laboratory of Children’s Neurophysiology headed by Prof. M.N. Tsitseroshin. Using the analysis of the spatial-temporal structure of regional interactions of cortical bioelectric potentials (so-called functional connectivity), we investigated how specific language levels, such as phonology, grammar, and semantics, are represented in the brain. The data obtained in children vs. adults indicate that the speech perception and production require joint and extremely coordinated activities of both hemispheres, along with the obligatory and differentiated involvement of “classic” speech centers in the left hemisphere, especially Wernicke’s area. Another line of our research is to explore the differences, which arise during verbal processing in adults and children with impaired vs. non-impaired speech, particularly with alalia, dysarthria and stuttering, using behavioral and EEG data. Our data obtained in children vs. adults allow assessing the degree of maturity in the organization of the central processes of maintaining the studied types of verbal activity in children of different ages. These data allow expanding modern concepts about the brain mechanisms of verbal activity in children in the norm and pathology

Earliness and morphotypes of common wheat cultivars of Western and Eastern Siberia

The global and local climate changes determine the producing of highly-adaptive common (bread) wheat commercial cultivars of a new generation whose optimal earliness matches the climatic features of the territory where the cultivars are farmed. Principal component analysis involving our own and published data has been applied to investigate 98 commercial common wheat cultivars from Western and Eastern Siberia comparing their morphotypes; cultivar zoning time; length of the vegetation period; 1000-grain weight, and inheritance of spring growth habit. It demonstrated that the dominant Vrn gene polymorphism determining the spring growth habit of the Siberian cultivars was minimally polymorphic. In 75 % of the tested cultivars, the spring growth habit was controlled by digenic, namely dominant Vrn-A1 and Vrn-B1 genes. In 25 % of them (24 cultivars), spring growth habit is controlled by a single gene. In 19 and 5 of these cultivars spring growth habit is controlled by only one dominant gene, Vrn-B1 or Vrn-A1, respectively. In cv. Tulun 15, a trigenic control was identified. A conclusion about the optimality of the digenic control for the climatic conditions of both Western and Eastern Siberia has been confirmed. However, since none of the tested cultivars had the dominant Vrn-D1 gene typical of the regions of China and Central Asia bordering Siberia, it can be considered as an additional argument in favor of the European origin of Siberian common wheat cultivars. The revealed high frequency of the Vrn-B1c allele in the Western Siberian cultivars and the Vrn-B1a allele in the Eastern Siberian cultivars suggests their selectivity. The analysis also confirmed the dominance of red glume (ferrugineum, milturum) and awned spike (ferrugineum, erythrospermum) varieties in the Eastern Siberian cultivars, and white glume and awnedless spike (lutescens and albidum) ones in the Western Siberian cultivars. Small grain size cultivars are more typical of Eastern than Western Siberia. The retrospective analysis based on the cultivars’ zoning time included in the “State Register for Selection Achievements Admitted for Usage” brought us to the conclusion that the earliness/lateness of modern Siberian commercial cultivars was not regionally but rather zonally-associated (taiga, subtaiga, forest-steppe and steppe zones)

NEW ASPECTS OF THE USE OF PROTEIN TISSUE-SPECIFIC MARKERS IN THE ESTIMATION OF SEVERITY OF COMMUNITY-ACQUIRED PNEUMONIA

The purpose of the study was to assess the associations of proteins of pulmonary surfactants A (SP-A) and D (SP-D) with the severity of community-acquired pneumonia. Material and methods. A survey of 188 patients diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). The average age of the examined patients was 54.3 ± 16.5 years (M ± SD). In 102 patients (54.3 %) severe CAP was verified. All patients underwent clinical, functional, diagnostic and laboratory studies. Results and discussion. It was determined that SP-A and SP-D content was significantly higher in patients with severe CAP compared to patients with a mild course of this disease. The direct association of severe CAP with an elevated SP-AP level, directly associated with an increase in the concentration of C-reactive protein in the blood and erythrocyte sedimentation rate, have been confirmed in early studies. Using partial correlation analysis, it was established that the severe course of CAP is directly related to SP-A (r = 0.221; p = 0.003) and SP-D content (r = 0.262; p < 0.001) regardless of age, smoking, and body weight. Thus, direct associations of SP-A and SP-D with a severe course of CAP reflect the high pathogenetic significance of these protective factors in infectious lung damage

Automatic morphology phenotyping of tetra- and hexaploid wheat spike using computer vision methods

Intraspecific classification of cultivated plants is necessary for the conservation of biological diversity, study of their origin and their phylogeny. The modern cultivated wheat species originated from three wild diploid ancestors as a result of several rounds of genome doubling and are represented by di-, tetra- and hexaploid species. The identification of wheat ploidy level is one of the main stages of their taxonomy. Such classification is possible based on visual analysis of the wheat spike traits. The aim of this study is to investigate the morphological characteristics of spikes for hexa- and tetraploid wheat species based on the method of high-performance phenotyping. Phenotyping of the quantitative characteristics of the spike of 17 wheat species (595 plants, 3348 images), including eight tetraploids (Triticum aethiopicum, T. dicoccoides, T. dicoccum, T. durum, T. militinae, T. polonicum, T. timopheevii, and T. turgidum) and nine hexaploids (T. compactum, T. aestivum, i:ANK-23 (near-isogenic line of T. aestivum cv. Novosibirskaya 67), T. antiquorum, T. spelta (including cv. Rother Sommer Kolben), T. petropavlovskyi, T. yunnanense, T. macha, T. sphaerococcum, and T. vavilovii), was performed. Wheat spike morphology was described on the basis of nine quantitative traits including shape, size and awns area of the spike. The traits were obtained as a result of image analysis using the WERecognizer program. A cluster analysis of plants according to the characteristics of the spike shape and comparison of their distributions in tetraploid and hexaploid species showed a higher variability of traits in hexaploid species compared to tetraploid ones. At the same time, the species themselves form two clusters in the visual characteristics of the spike. One type is predominantly hexaploid species (with the exception of one tetraploid, T. dicoccoides). The other group includes tetraploid ones (with the exception of three hexaploid ones, T. compactum, T. antiquorum, T. sphaerococcum, and i:ANK-23). Thus, it has been shown that the morphological characteristics of spikes for hexaploid and tetraploid wheat species, obtained on the basis of computer analysis of images, include differences, which are further used to develop methods for plant classifications by ploidy level and their species in an automatic mode

Structural and functional changes in erythrocytes associated with the development of thrombosis and disorders of hemostasis

The data of clinical and experimental studies of the last decade force us to reconsider the role of red blood cells in the development of thrombosis and disorders of the hemostasis system. This area is of particular relevance during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of the review is to present data on the structural and functional changes in erythrocytes, on changes in their number associated with the development of thrombosis and hemostasis disorders, including in patients with coronavirus infection. The article presents the results of scientific research devoted to the study of morphological and functional changes in red blood cells that affect hemostasis and thrombosis. These changes include erythrocyte number or hematocrit (which modulates blood rheology through blood viscosity) and qualitative changes such as deformability, erythrocyte aggregation, expression of adhesive proteins and phosphatidylserine, release of extracellular microvesicles, hemolysis, piezo receptor status, modulation of nitric oxide bioavailability. Changes in the parameters of erythrocytes that occur during blood storage are shown, with possible thrombotic consequences during blood transfusion. The most recent research concerns changes in red blood parameters during SARS-CoV-2 infection that are associated with the development of thrombosis: virus attachment and amplification of viral proteins in erythropoiesis progenitor cells; activation of stress erythropoiesis with an increase in nuclear erythrocyte cell percentage up to 42 %; activation of the processes of oxidation of the protein band 3 with its excessive cleavage, oxidation and cleavage of the alpha-chain of spectrin, ankyrin; changes in the lipid architecture of the membrane and a decrease in the activity of erythrocyte antioxidants, which mediate disturbances in cell deformability and impaired ATP release; reducing the ability of red blood cells to secrete nitric oxide; decrease in the level of sphingolipids of the erythrocyte membrane; excessive production of microvesicles with tissue factor; an increase in erythrocyte rigidity with impaired release of intraerythrocyte nitric oxide due to SARS-CoV-2 virus attacking the hemoglobin 1-beta chain and porphyrin capture with potential heme inhibition; an increase on the surface of erythrocytes expression of activated complement components C3b and C4d, immunoglobulin IgG, which worsens cell deformability; attachment of erythrocytes through the Toll-like receptor 9 to neutrophil extracellular traps, which contributes to thrombosis; increased presentation of phosphatidylcholine on erythrocyte membranes, which facilitates the assembly of the tenase and prothrombinase complexes, contributing to the production of thrombin, an increase in intracellular calcium levels with stimulation of the formation of microvesicles with prothrombotic potential. The presented data indicate a significant role of changes in erythrocyte parameters in the development of hemostasis disorders, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, which makes red blood cells a target for therapy and suggests a change in the emphasis of management tactics for patients with thrombosis

THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF LINGUISTICS, LITERATURE, METHODOLOGY OF TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGES

The article contains information on the International scientific conference “Theoretical and practical aspects of linguistics, literature, methodology of teaching foreign languages” (April 15, 2015) at Nizhny Novgorod Pedagogical University named after K. Minin. The conference highlighted diverse issues of language teaching. Wide coverage was given to issues of topical problems of linguistics and literary studies in the context of globalization. They discussed the problem of the relationship level of formation of social competence with the understanding of authentic texts. The conference discussed the problems of development of future teachers’ professional competence. A great attention was paid to issues related to the development of cognitive activity of students in learning English, their self-training, objective assessment of their knowledge and ability to peer-evaluation. At the same time the problems of motivation and methods of training demotivated students were highlighted