PHYTOSANITARY STATE OF KAZAN CENTER GREEN PLANTATIONS

The impact of urban ecosystem factors leads to the weakening of introduced and wild-growing tree and shrub plants, which makes them more accessible to diseases and can eventually lead to the loss of decorativeness, fragility and even plant death. Phytopathological monitoring was carried out using routing research methods. They examined the urban plantings of 5 categories, which differ in the degree of anthropogenic change. During the research, they determined the type and the nature of specific species diseases, the pathogen causing it, and the intensity and the prevalence of a number of diseases. An ocular 5-point scale was used to take into account the intensity of diseases: 0 points - the absence of lesions; 1 point - up to 10% of the surface is damaged; 2 points - 11 - 25% is damaged; 3 points - 26 - 50% is damaged; 4 points - more than 50% of the surface is damaged. The prevalence of the disease was calculated in %, to the total number of inspected plants. The result of research showed that trees and shrubs were affected by three groups of diseases most often: spotting, rust and powdery mildew. The most affected species in the urban environment under study: Tilia córdata Mill., Malus domestica Borkh., Acer platanoides L. Key words: plant diseases, green plantations, pathogens

The unexplored diversity of pleolipoviruses: the surprising case of two viruses with identical major structural modules

Extremely halophilic Archaea are the only known hosts for pleolipoviruses which are pleomorphic non-lytic viruses resembling cellular membrane vesicles. Recently, pleolipoviruses have been acknowledged by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) as the first virus family that contains related viruses with different DNA genomes. Genomic diversity of pleolipoviruses includes single-stranded and double-stranded DNA molecules and their combinations as linear or circular molecules. To date, only eight viruses belong to the family Pleolipoviridae. In order to obtain more information about the diversity of pleolipoviruses, further isolates are needed. Here we describe the characterization of a new halophilic virus isolate, Haloarcula hispanica pleomorphic virus 4 (HHPV4). All pleolipoviruses and related proviruses contain a conserved core of approximately five genes designating this virus family, but the sequence similarity among different isolates is low. We demonstrate that over half of HHPV4 genome is identical to the genome of pleomorphic virus HHPV3. The genomic regions encoding known virion components are identical between the two viruses, but HHPV4 includes unique genetic elements, e.g., a putative integrase gene. The co-evolution of these two viruses demonstrates the presence of high recombination frequency in halophilic microbiota and can provide new insights considering links between viruses, membrane vesicles, and plasmids.Peer reviewe

Extremely halophilic pleomorphic archaeal virus HRPV9 extends the diversity of pleolipoviruses with integrases

Certain pleomorphic archaeal viruses are highly infectious even at saturated salt. These viruses belong to the genus Betapleolipovirus of the recently described archaeal virus family Pleolipoviridae. Pleolipoviruses comprise single-stranded or double-stranded, circular or linear DNA genomes that share countless homologues among various archaeal genetic elements. Here we describe a new extremely halophilic betapleolipovirus, Halorubrum pleomorphic virus 9 (HRPV9), which has an integrase gene. We also identified new genes encoding minor pleolipoviral structural proteins. The studies on HRPV9 enhance our knowledge on pleolipoviruses, especially their reciprocal relatedness and relation to certain archaeal plasmids, proviruses and membrane vesicles. (C) 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS on behalf of Institut Pasteur.Peer reviewe

HCIV-1 and other tailless icosahedral internal membrane-containing viruses of the family Sphaerolipoviridae

Members of the virus family Sphaerolipoviridae include both archaeal viruses and bacteriophages that possess a tailless icosahedral capsid with an internal membrane. The genera Alpha-and Betasphaerolipovirus comprise viruses that infect halophilic euryarchaea, whereas viruses of thermophilic Thermus bacteria belong to the genus Gammasphaerolipovirus. Both sequence-based and structural clustering of the major capsid proteins and ATPases of sphaerolipoviruses yield three distinct clades corresponding to these three genera. Conserved virion architectural principles observed in sphaerolipoviruses suggest that these viruses belong to the PRD1-adenovirus structural lineage. Here we focus on archaeal alphasphaerolipoviruses and their related putative proviruses. The highest sequence similarities among alphasphaerolipoviruses are observed in the core structural elements of their virions: the two major capsid proteins, the major membrane protein, and a putative packaging ATPase. A recently described tailless icosahedral haloarchaeal virus, Haloarcula californiae icosahedral virus 1 (HCIV-1), has a double-stranded DNA genome and an internal membrane lining the capsid. HCIV-1 shares significant similarities with the other tailless icosahedral internal membrane-containing haloarchaeal viruses of the family Sphaerolipoviridae. The proposal to include a new virus species, Haloarcula virus HCIV1, into the genus Alphasphaerolipovirus was submitted to the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) in 2016.Peer reviewe

Archaeal viruses multiply: temporal screening in a solar saltern

Hypersaline environments around the world are dominated by archaea and their viruses. To date, very little is known about these viruses and their interaction with the host strains when compared to bacterial and eukaryotic viruses. We performed the first culture-dependent temporal screening of haloarchaeal viruses and their hosts in the saltern of Samut Sakhon, Thailand, during two subsequent years (2009, 2010). Altogether we obtained 36 haloarchaeal virus isolates and 36 archaeal strains, significantly increasing the number of known archaeal virus isolates. Interestingly, the morphological distribution of our temporal isolates (head-tailed, pleomorphic, and icosahedral membrane-containing viruses) was similar to the outcome of our previous spatial survey supporting the observations of a global resemblance of halophilic microorganisms and their viruses. Myoviruses represented the most abundant virus morphotype with strikingly broad host ranges. The other viral morphotypes (siphoviruses, as well as pleomorphic and icosahedral internal membrane-containing viruses) were more host-specific. We also identified a group of Halorubrum strains highly susceptible to numerous different viruses (up to 26). This high virus sensitivity, the abundance of broad host range viruses, and the maintenance of infectivity over a period of one year suggest constant interplay of halophilic microorganisms and their viruses within an extreme environment.Peer reviewe

Archaeal Haloarcula californiae Icosahedral Virus 1 highlights conserved elements in icosahedral membrane-containing DNA viruses from extreme environments

Peer reviewe

Morphological variability, density and yield of Trifolium repens in different ecological and coenotic conditions

White clover (Trifolium repens L.) is a valuable melliferous, pasture and a promising species for use as a medicinal raw materials. T. repens herb contains ascorbic acid, carotene, alkaloids, glycosides and other substances. Fourteen coenopopulations of T. repens were studied on the territory of the Republic of Tatarstan. The assessment of habitats of T. repens was carried out by indicator methods using the ecological scales of G. Ellenberg. The density of coenopopulations, comparative morphometric analysis and reserves of dry aboveground biomass are analyzed in this article. It was found that the soils in the subtaiga subzone are weakly acidic, fresh in terms of moisture, with a nitrogen content above average; soils in the north of the broad-leaved subzone are dry and periodically fresh, with a slightly acidic reaction and an average content of mineral nitrogen; and the soils in the south of the broad-leaved subzone are dry and periodically fresh, predominantly neutral, with a nitrogen content above average. A comparative analysis of the scoring of soil characteristics with the content of the main nutrients in the soil has been carried out. T. repens coenopopulations in the north of the broad-leaved subzone have of low density, and high biomass shoots are formed. The yield of the studied T. repens plants is from 21-178 kg of dry weight/ha. The highest yields of dry aboveground biomass of plants was observed in the northern deciduous subzone. We recommend the highest-yielding coenopopulations of T. repens for harvesting plant material

Vesicle-like virion of Haloarcula hispanica pleomorphic virus 3 preserves high infectivity in saturated salt

Hypersaline environments that are subject to salinity changes are particularly rich in viruses. Here we report a newly isolated archaeal halovirus, Haloarcula hispanica pleomorphic virus 3 (HHPV3). Its reproduction significantly retards host growth and decreases cell viability without causing lysis. HHPV3 particles require a minimum of 3 M NaCI for stability and maintain high infectivity even in saturated salt. Notably, virions are irreversibly inactivated at similar to 1.5 M NaCl in neutral pH, but tolerate this salinity at alkaline pH. The HHPV3 virion is a pleomorphic membrane vesicle containing two major protein species and lipids acquired nonselectively from the host membrane. The circular double-stranded DNA genome contains a conserved gene block characteristic of pleolipoviruses. We propose that HHPV3 is a member of the Betapleolipovirus genus (family Pleolipoviridae). Our findings add insights into the diversity observed among the pleolipoviruses found in hypersaline environmentsPeer reviewe

The First Russian Patient with Native American Myopathy

Congenital myopathy associated with pathogenic variants in the STAC3 gene has long been considered native American myopathy (NAM). In 2017, the first case of a non-Amerindian patient with this myopathy was described. Here, we report the first Russian patient with NAM. The patient is a 17-year-old female with compound-heterozygous single nucleotide variants in the STAC3 gene: c.862A>T, p.(Lys288Ter) and c.93del, p.(Lys32ArgfsTer78). She has a milder phenotype than the earlier described patients. To our knowledge, this is the first case of a patient who had both nonsense and frameshift variants. It is assumed that the frameshift variant with premature stop codon lead to nonsense-mediated RNA decay. However, there are two additional coding isoforms of the STAC3 gene, which are not affected by this frameshift variant. We can speculate that these isoforms may partially carry out the function, and possibly explain the milder phenotype of our patient

A Two-Year Clinical Description of a Patient with a Rare Type of Low-GGT Cholestasis Caused by a Novel Variant of USP53

Here, we report a novel truncating mutation in the ubiquitin-specific peptidase gene (USP53) causing low-γ-GT (GGT) cholestasis. Genetic testing was carried out, including clinical exome sequencing for the proband and Sanger sequencing for the proband and his parents. The proband harbored a novel c.1017_1057del (p.(Cys339TrpfsTer7)) mutation in the ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase (UCH) domain of USP53; we describe the clinical and laboratory features of the patient with a rare type of low-GGT cholestasis caused by this variant. The clinical presentation was found to be similar to that of phenotypes described in previous studies. However, there was an unusual presence of liver hemangiomas observed in our patient. Thus, our report reinforces the link between USP53 mutations and cholestasis. With this report, we confirm USP53 as the gene for low-GGT cholestasis and describe liver hemangiomas as a possible additional symptom of the phenotype spectrum. The inclusion of USP53 in the OMIM database and liver gene panels can further increase the effectiveness of molecular genetic studies