Role of Plant Carbonic Anhydrases under Stress Conditions

Carbonic anhydrases (CAs) are enzymes catalyzing the reversible hydration of carbon dioxide with the generation of protons and bicarbonate. The components of the reaction are involved in almost all metabolic processes in higher plants and algae, maintaining the balance of electrolytes and pH, gluconeogenesis, lipogenesis, ethylene synthesis, and others. The CAs may take part in transmitting signals to activate cascades of protective response genes. Our findings reveal significant changes in the content of carbonic anhydrase gene transcripts in response to changes in environmental conditions. Here we discuss the functions of CAs located in the plasma membrane, chloroplast envelope, chloroplast stroma, and in thylakoids in plant protection under stress conditions, such as high illumination, low and high concentration of carbon dioxide in the environment, drought, and salinity

Innovative Activity of Financial and Industrial Groups

The creation of financial-industrial groups (FIG) is one of the most promising ways of overcoming the investment crisis in the country. FIG-like structure which can combine financial and industrial capital is established in order to ensure efficient (due to more efficient administration of financial resources) and accelerated development of science and industrial production. This is achieved by diversification into new industrial products and services to guarantee higher and sustainable profit. FIG acts as a tool for comprehensive and cost-effective capacity utilization of enterprises that have not received sufficient orders for the state needs, and targeted financial support. In modern Russia the urgency is the problem of creating in the economy competitive organizational structures. Financial-industrial groups are to become a key link in the institutional framework of the reformed economy, increase its competitiveness in both the global and domestic markets, to become promoters of the structural adjustment of the economy. The process of creation FIG requires significant assistance from the state. This poses the following challenges for public authorities: to remove all artificial obstacles to the unification of capital, to develop measures for the operational support of the process, to ensure its uniform distribution in various fields. Keywords: financial-industrial groups, innovation, enterprise economy, innovative activity JEL Classifications: G23, O14, O2

Photosynthetic Antenna Size Regulation as an Essential Mechanism of Higher Plants Acclimation to Biotic and Abiotic Factors: The Role of the Chloroplast Plastoquinone Pool and Hydrogen Peroxide

The present chapter describes the mechanisms of reactive oxygen species formation in photosynthetic reactions and the functional significance of reactive oxygen species as signal messengers in photosynthetic cells of plants. Attention is given to the acclimation mechanisms of higher plants to abiotic and biotic factors such as increased light, drought, soil salinity and colonization of plants by rhizosphere microorganisms. Special attention is paid to the reactions of reactive oxygen species with the components of the chloroplasts plastoquinone pool leading to production of hydrogen peroxide as a signal molecule, which is involved in acclimation of plants to these stress conditions. The chapter also presents the data demonstrating that regulation of the size of the light-harvesting antenna of photosystem II is one of the universal mechanisms of the structural and functional reorganization of the photosynthetic apparatus of higher plants exposed to the abiotic and biotic factors. These data were obtained for both model Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) plants as well as for agricultural barley (Hordeum vulgare) plants. It is hypothesized that hydrogen peroxide, produced with involvement of the plastoquinone pool components, plays the role of a signaling molecule for regulation of the photosystem II antenna size in higher plants when environmental conditions change

Effect of CO₂ Content in Air on the Activity of Carbonic Anhydrases in Cytoplasm, Chloroplasts, and Mitochondria and the Expression Level of Carbonic Anhydrase Genes of the α- and β-Families in <i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i> Leaves

The carbonic anhydrase (CA) activities of the preparations of cytoplasm, mitochondria, chloroplast stroma, and chloroplast thylakoids, as well as the expression levels of genes encoding αCA1, αCA2, αCA4, βCA1, βCA2, βCA3, βCA4, βCA5, and βCA6, were measured in the leaves of Arabidopsis thaliana plants, acclimated to different CO2 content in the air: low (150 ppm, lCO2), normal (450 ppm, nCO2), and high (1200 ppm, hCO2). To evaluate the photosynthetic apparatus operation, the carbon assimilation and chlorophyll a fluorescence were measured under the same conditions. It was found that the CA activities of the preparations of cytoplasm, chloroplast stroma, and chloroplast thylakoids measured after two weeks of acclimation were higher, the lower CO2 concentration in the air. That was preceded by an increase in the expression levels of genes encoding the cytoplasmic form of βCA1, and other cytoplasmic CAs, βCA2, βCA3, and βCA4, as well as of the chloroplast CAs, βCA5, and the stromal forms of βCA1 in a short-term range 1–2 days after the beginning of the acclimation. The dependence on the CO2 content in the air was most noticeable for the CA activity of the preparations of the stroma; it was two orders higher in lCO2 plants than in hCO2 plants. The CA activity of thylakoid membranes from lCO2 plants was higher than that in nCO2 and hCO2 plants; however, in these plants, a significant increase in the expression levels of the genes encoding αCA2 and αCA4 located in thylakoid membranes was not observed. The CA activity of mitochondria and the expression level of the mitochondrial βCA6 gene did not depend on the content of carbon dioxide. Taken together, the data implied that in the higher plants, the supply of inorganic carbon to carboxylation sites is carried out with the cooperative functioning of CAs located in the cytoplasm and CAs located in the chloroplasts

Efficiency Analysis of the Technology of Roller Formation of Finely-grained Concrete Products

Efficiency of using the roller forming technology with forced rotation of the working body (roller or sector) was disclosed. The results of development of an advanced technology of roller formation were presented. This technology features absence of slippage and jamming of the working body relative to the surface of the concrete mixture being formed. Slippage and jamming arise because of growth of inertial forces of freely rotating rollers.Advantages of this technology over the vibrational technology were indicated, namely:– the possibility of combining in one unit the processes of spreading, compacting and smoothing the concrete mixture to enable, first of all, development of highly mechanized and automated technological lines, and increase their productivity:– the possibility of efficient compaction of very hard fine concrete mixtures which in turn creates prerequisites for obtaining durable products, reduced cycles of heat treatment and smaller specific quantity of metal in production;– the possibility of using fine concrete mixtures with scarce cement slurry that do not exceed normative values for a concrete with a coarse aggregate;– the possibility of effective improvement of sanitary conditions for the personnel due to absence of vibration and significant noise reduction;– refuse expensive and in some cases scarce coarse aggregates which ensures significant savings.These dependences characterize and demonstrate increase in the level of pressure of working bodies on the surface of the formed product. As a result, the coefficient of mixture compaction increases from 0.983 for free rotation of rollers to 0.998 for forced rotation

ВдосконаленнЯ емісійноЇ складовоЇ дІяльностІ банківськоЇ сИстемИ яК фАкторА активізаціЇ інвестиційниХ процесіВ

Об'єктом дослідження є банківська система, спрямована на підтримку інвестиційних процесів національної економіки України. Перспективним постає проведення дослідження щодо розробки пропозицій скорішого реформування банківської системи. Ця система повинна забезпечити національну економіку необхідним обсягом внутрішніх інвестицій, спрямованими на стимулювання розвитку високотехнологічних галузей та значне збільшення випуску продукції з високою доданою вартістю, здійснення розвитку імпортозамінних виробництв, підвищення зайнятості населення тощо.В ході дослідження використовувався міждисциплінарний підхід до вивчення зовнішніх факторів впливу та інститутів здійснення емісійної політики з боку банківської системи на засадах організації змішаного типу економічної системи, спрямованих на:стимулювання розвитку реального сектора економіки;підвищення якості цільового використання кредитних коштів;оптимізацію міжбюджетних відносин;зміцнення фінансової спроможності підприємств;перехід роботи банківської системи до інноваційних форм функціонування;залагодження зовнішніх та внутрішніх викликів;активізацію інвестиційних процесів на підприємствах національної економіки України.Запропоновані заходи щодо вдосконалення емісійної політики з боку Національного банку (рефінансування) та комерційних банків (кредитування), орієнтовані на цільове фінансування інвестицій в реальний сектор національної економіки. Має відбутися кардинальна зміна інституційної ролі банківської системи України. Гроші, емітовані банківською системою, під пильним керівництвом держави мають спрямовуватися на реалізацію інвестиційних проектів народного господарства, де вони матеріалізуються і підкріплюються новоствореною виробленою продукцією. Завдяки цьому забезпечується широка підтримка власного сучасного виробництва, що спрямована на виробництво продукції з високою доданою вартістю та має забезпечити населення гідними робочими місцями та заробітною платою. Все це надасть можливість підвищити суверенність держави, максимально мобілізують наявний ресурсний потенціал економіки, сприятиме скорішому переходу на новий техніко-економічний уклад, заснований на інноваційно-інвестиційному суспільному відтворенні

Features of Photosynthesis in <i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i> Plants with Knocked Out Gene of Alpha Carbonic Anhydrase 2

The knockout of the At2g28210 gene encoding α-carbonic anhydrase 2 (α-CA2) in Arabidopsis thaliana (Columbia) led to alterations in photosynthetic processes. The effective quantum yields of both photosystem II (PSII) and photosystem I (PSI) were higher in α-carbonic anhydrase 2 knockout plants (α-CA2-KO), and the reduction state of plastoquinone pool was lower than in wild type (WT). The electron transport rate in the isolated thylakoids measured with methyl viologen was higher in α-CA2-KO plants. The amounts of reaction centers of PSII and PSI were similar in WT and α-CA2-KO plants. The non-photochemical quenching of chlorophyll a fluorescence in α-CA2-KO leaves was lower at the beginning of illumination, but became slightly higher than in WT leaves when the steady state was achieved. The degree of state transitions in the leaves was lower in α-CA2-KO than in WT plants. Measurements of the electrochromic carotenoid absorbance shift (ECS) revealed that the light-dependent pH gradient (ΔpH) across the thylakoid membrane was lower in the leaves of α-CA2-KO plants than in WT plants. The starch content in α-CA2-KO leaves was lower than in WT plants. The expression levels of the genes encoding chloroplast CAs in α-CA2-KO changed noticeably, whereas the expression levels of genes of cytoplasmic CAs remained almost the same. It is proposed that α-CA2 may be situated in the chloroplasts