The Priorities of Socio-economic and Financial Development of the North Caucasus Federal District in the Current Geopolitical Situation

The aim of the research is to establish the priorities of the socio-economic and financial development of the North Caucasus macro-region within the boundaries of the federal district in the current geopolitical situation. The results of the research show in details the priorities of socio-economic and financial development of the North Caucasus Federal District in terms of import substitution and finance rationalization under the current financial crisis and international sanctions against the Russian Federation. It is a well-known fact that more than 30 nations declared this territory the area of their strategic interests. The Caucasus became the subject of so-called “pipe wars”; it also became “a buffer zone” in the distribution of the Islamic state model. We have a new strategy of working with migrants in the Islamic regions of Russia (Gabdrafikov et al., 2015). Previously, the Caucasus region has been the outcome for migrants, but today it has become to develop new models for the socio-economic attractiveness of the region (Karepova et al., 2015). Statistical, monographic, sociological methods as well as logical modelling have been used in the research. Keywords: sanctions, strategy, cluster, import substitution, finance rationalization. JEL Classifications: A14, C38, G

High Doses of Pesticides Induce mtDNA Damage in Intact Mitochondria of Potato In Vitro and Do Not Impact on mtDNA Integrity of Mitochondria of Shoots and Tubers under In Vivo Exposure

It is well known that pesticides are toxic for mitochondria of animals. The effect of pesticides on plant mitochondria has not been widely studied. The goal of this research is to study the impact of metribuzin and imidacloprid on the amount of damage in the mtDNA of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) in various conditions. We developed a set of primers to estimate mtDNA damage for the fragments in three chromosomes of potato mitogenome. We showed that both metribuzin and imidacloprid considerably damage mtDNA in vitro. Imidacloprid reduces the rate of seed germination, but does not impact the rate of the growth and number of mtDNA damage in the potato shoots. Field experiments show that pesticide exposure does not induce change in aconitate hydratase activity, and can cause a decrease in the rate of H2O2 production. We can assume that the mechanism of pesticide-induced mtDNA damage in vitro is not associated with H2O2 production, and pesticides as electrophilic substances directly interact with mtDNA. The effect of pesticides on the integrity of mtDNA in green parts of plants and in crop tubers is insignificant. In general, plant mtDNA is resistant to pesticide exposure in vivo, probably due to the presence of non-coupled respiratory systems in plant mitochondria