North American apple-tree species: sources of useful agronomic traits for breeding

The results of studying the collection of North American apple-tree species are presented. Forms with a whole set of traits interesting for breeding are highlighted, including such features as late flowering schedule, disease resistance, long shelf life of fruits, etc. In addition, the small-fruited ornamental apple-tree (crab apple) accessions obtained from North American species are briefly described, and the most valuable of them are recommended for practical uses

Biodiversity of East Asian apple-tree species and their use in breeding

Maikop Experiment Station of VIR maintains and studies the richest genetic diversity of primitive East Asian apple-tree species, including the sections Docyniopsis C.C. Schneid. and Sorbomalus Zabel. In addition, the research covers species of the Gymnomeles Koehne section, more advanced in evolutionary development, which, in addition to Siberia and the Far East, are also spread in China, Mongolia and other regions of East Asia. The collection is studied according to VIR’s guidelines.The Docyniopsis section is represented by one of the oldest Malus spp. in the collection – M. sikkimensis (Wenz.) Koehne, inhabiting the Eastern Himalayas. Accession k-2412 is characterized by high yield, disease resistance, and late flowering. The collection contains 5 main species and 6 hybrid ones, belonging to various series of the Sorbomalus section. The Toringonae series (Rehd.) Lang. includes M. sieboldii (Regel) Rehd., spread in Japan, China, and Korea. Of the two accessions of this species, the most promising is k-43201, with a high annual yield, early start of fruiting, and high resistance to diseases. The same series also includes several hybrid species obtained with the participation of M. sieboldii. The most well-known of them is M. × floribunda Sieb. Great prospects for breeding are observed in M. × sargentii Rehd. Accession k-2428 is characterized by a short stem, early start of fruiting, high yield, ornamental traits and, according to long-term data, stable immunity to diseases. The collection harbors a broad diversity of species from the Gymnomeles section. Among them, there are species with a set of valuable traits, including disease resistance, high yield, etc. The most promising is M. hupehensis (Pamp.) Rehd. (k-14945): in addition to disease immunity, it demonstrates high annual yields, exceptional ornamental qualities, and late flowering, in contrast to other species of the Gymnomeles section

Superbroad Component in Emission Lines of SS 433

We have detected new components in stationary emission lines of SS 433; these are the superbroad components that are low-contrast substrates with a width of 2000--2500 km s-1 in He I $\lambda4922$ and H$\beta$ and 4000--5000 km s-1 in He II $\lambda4686$. Based on 44 spectra taken during four years of observations from 2003 to 2007, we have found that these components in the He II and He I lines are eclipsed by the donor star; their behavior with precessional and orbital phases is regular and similar to the behavior of the optical brightness of SS 433. The same component in H$\beta$ shows neither eclipses nor precessional variability. We conclude that the superbroad components in the helium and hydrogen lines are different in origin. Electron scattering is shown to reproduce well the superbroad component of H$\beta$ at a gas temperature of 20--35 kK and an optical depth for Thomson scattering $\tau \approx$ 0.25--0.35. The superbroad components of the helium lines are probably formed in the wind from the supercritical accretion disk. We have computed a wind model based on the concept of Shakura-Sunyaev supercritical disk accretion. The main patterns of the He II line profiles are well reproduced in this model: not only the appearance of the superbroad component but also the evolution of the central two-component part of the profile of this line during its eclipse by the donor star can be explained.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, 2 tables, published in Astronomy Letters, 2013, vol. 39, N 12, pp. 826 - 84

Niedzwetzky’s apple (Malus niedzwetzkyana Dieck): evaluation and breeding prospects

Background. Niedzwetzky’s apple (Malus niedzwetzkyana Dieck), native to Central Asia, has excellent prospects in the development of new cultivars with high anthocyanin content and hybrids that could be widely used in ornamental horticulture.Materials and methods. The collection maintained at Maikop Experiment Station of VIR currently contains 17 different forms of Niedzwetzky’s apple. Most of them were introduced in 1968 from the pomological garden in Talgar, Kazakhstan. Evaluation of their phenological patterns, yield, precocity of bearing, disease resistance, fruit quality, ornamentality, etc. was based on the guidelines developed at VIR.Results and conclusion. Characteristics and specific features for all accessions of Niedzwetzky’s apple are formatted into a table. As a result of testing, the following accessions were identified: k-2389, k-29429, k-29428, k-29430 and k-29422 for their high yield; k-29429 and k-29426 for a large fruit size; k-29429, k-29430 and k-29422 for fruiting precocity; k-29431, k-29423, k-29427 and k-2389 for a pleasant sour-sweet fruit flavor, and a number of forms with medium resistance to apple leaf and fruit scab. Of special interest are the accessions with red and dark red fruit flesh color (k-14948, k-2389 and k-13279): they are most impressive in their flowering and fruiting phases. Niedzwetzky’s apple accessions with red pigmentation are promising for the development of cultivars with higher anthocyanin content in fruit. Besides, M. niedzwetzkyana and its hybrids have good prospects as ornamental plants

THE COLLECTION OF <i> MALUS ORIENTALS </i> (UGLITZ.) JUZ. AS A SOURCE OF VALUABLE FORMS FOR BREEDING

Maikop Experiment Station of VIR holds a unique apple-tree collection of Malus orientalis (Uglitz.) Juz., currently containing 105 forms from various areas of the Caucasus. It has a great potential for supplying breeders with diverse sources of valuable traits, including high productivity, disease resistance, late flowering, and other qualities. In addition to the wild forms, of great interest are also the local Caucasian varieties sharing many biological and economic characteristics with M. orientalis. A brief description of selected accessions possessing a set of valuable traits for breeding is presented

Magneto-optical response enhanced by Mie resonances in nanoantennas

Control of light by an external magnetic field is one of the important methods for modulation of its intensity and polarisation. Magneto-optical effects at the nanoscale are usually observed in magnetophotonic crystals, nanostructured hybrid materials or magnetoplasmonic crystals. An indirect action of an external magnetic field (e.g. through the Faraday effect) is explained by the fact that natural materials exhibit negligible magnetism at optical frequencies. However, the concept of metamaterials overcome this limitation imposed by nature by designing artificial subwavelength meta-atoms that support a strong magnetic response, usually termed as optical magnetism, even when they are made of nonmagnetic materials. The fundamental question is what would be the effect of the interaction between an external magnetic field and an optically-induced magnetic response of metamaterial structures. Here we make the first step toward answering this fundamental question and demonstrate the multifold enhancement of the magneto-optical response of nanoantenna lattices due to the optical magnetism.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Shelf life extension of minimally processed vegetables using combinations of bacterial bioprotection and modified atmosphere packaging

The objective of the work: to study the effect of combination of bacterial bioprotective cultures and modified atmosphere packaging for prolonging the refrigerated storage period of minimally processed vegetables. Sweet pepper, zucchini, eggplant, celery stalks were used for preparation of minimally processed vegetables. SafePro® bio-products from Chr. Hansen (Denmark) containing strains of Lactobacillus sakei, Pediococcus acidilactici, Lactobacillus сurvatus, Leuconostoc carnosum were used as bioconservatives. For packaging minimally processed vegetables, the bags made of flat multilayer PA/adhesive/PE films and composite PET/A1/PE film material were used. The bags were filled with gas mixtures including nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Storage of packaged minimally processed vegetables was carried out in a refrigerator at a temperature of (4 ± 2) °C for 16 days. The viability of cultures Lactobacillus sakei, Pediococcus acidilactici, Lactobacillus curvatus, Leuconostoc carnosum in modified atmosphere packaging was studied. It was revealed that the gas mixture of 60% nitrogen and 40% carbon dioxide and the culture of Lactobacillus sakei contribute to the preservation of the quality of fresh-cutsweet pepper, eggplant and zucchini, and Leuconostoc carnosum is the more effective for celery storing. In the process of refrigerated storage for 14 days, the solids content in the experimental samples increased 1.3–2.1 times, the loss of organic substances was 26–50%, depending on the type of vegetables. The developed technology for the refrigeration preservation of minimally processed vegetables using bio-products treatment and in modified atmosphere packaging made it possible to increase the shelf life of fresh-cut vegetables by 2 times