К ЭВОЛЮЦИИ ЭСТЕТИЧЕСКИХ ДОСТОИНСТВ КУЛЬТУРНЫХ ЛАНДШАФТОВ

The goal is to substantiate the change in the social significance of the cultural landscape in the development of new aspects of human activity (the development of the tourism cluster), leading to the formation of a new kind of aesthetic potential of the cultural landscape. Materials and methods. The objects of study were artificial waterways (canals and dams) of the islands of the Solovki archipelago in northern Russia, Longji rice terraces in China and lupine fields in the floodplains of New Zealand rivers. For a quantitative assessment of the aesthetic properties of landscapes, a scale of assessments of the landscape-aesthetic value of cultural landscapes was used. Discussion. The aesthetic functions of the landscape, the integrative connections between the aesthetic potential of the landscape and a comfortable favorable habitat, the role of the historical and cultural landscape in preserving the historical memory of society are considered. The quantitative and qualitative assessments of the aesthetic functions of landscapes are proposed, allowing to argue the organization of the economic system of their preservation, maintenance and restoration. It is shown that the preservation and development of the aesthetic potential of cultural landscapes can lead to a change in their development, a change in the method of nature management and the formation of a completely new type of aesthetic perception of the landscape. Conclusion. Currently, the aesthetic component of cultural landscapes has become a more significant factor than the economic functions for which they were created.El objetivo es corroborar el cambio en la importancia social del paisaje cultural en el desarrollo de nuevos aspectos de la actividad humana (el desarrollo del grupo turístico), lo que lleva a la formación de un nuevo tipo de potencial estético del paisaje cultural. Materiales y métodos. Los objetos de estudio fueron vías fluviales artificiales (canales y presas) de las islas del archipiélago Solovki en el norte de Rusia, terrazas de arroz Longji en China y campos de altramuces en las llanuras aluviales de los ríos de Nueva Zelanda. Para una evaluación cuantitativa de las propiedades estéticas de los paisajes, se utilizó una escala de evaluaciones del valor paisajístico-estético de los paisajes culturales. Discusión. Se consideran las funciones estéticas del paisaje, las conexiones integradoras entre el potencial estético del paisaje y un hábitat cómodo y favorable, el papel del paisaje histórico y cultural en la preservación de la memoria histórica de la sociedad. Se proponen las evaluaciones cuantitativas y cualitativas de las funciones estéticas de los paisajes, lo que permite argumentar la organización del sistema económico de su preservación, mantenimiento y restauración. Se muestra que la preservación y el desarrollo del potencial estético de los paisajes culturales puede conducir a un cambio en su desarrollo, un cambio en el método de gestión de la naturaleza y la formación de un tipo completamente nuevo de percepción estética del paisaje. Conclusión. Actualmente, el componente estético de los paisajes culturales se ha convertido en un factor más significativo que las funciones económicas para las que fueron creados.Целью является обоснование смены общественной значимости культурного ландшафта при развитии новых сторон деятельности человека (развитие туристического кластера), приводящее к формированию нового вида эстетического потенциала культурного ландшафта. Материалы и методы. Объектами исследования были искусственные водные пути (каналы и дамбы) островов Соловецкого архипелага на севере России, рисовые террасы Лунцзи в Китае и люпиновые поля в поймах рек Новой Зеландии. Для количественной оценки эстетических свойств ландшафтов использована шкала оценок пейзажно-эстетической ценности культурных ландшафтов. Обсуждение. Рассмотрены эстетические функции ландшафта, интегративные связи между эстетическим потенциалом ландшафта и комфортной, благоприятной среды обитания, роль историко-культурного ландшафта в сохранении исторической памяти общества. Предложены количественная и качественная оценки эстетических функций ландшафтов, позволяющие аргументировать организацию экономической системы их сохранения, поддержания и восстановления. Показано, что сохранение и развитие эстетического потенциала культурных ландшафтов может приводить к изменению их освоения, смене способа природопользования и к формированию совершенно нового типа эстетического восприятия ландшафта. Заключение. В настоящее время эстетическая составляющая культурных ландшафтов стала более значимым фактором, чем те хозяйственные функции, ради которых они создавались

Methods of combating

The possibility of using chemical and mechanical methods to control the undesirable growth of the invasive species Acer negundo L. at the expositions of the Main Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which has the status of a specially protected natural area, was studied. It was found that treatment of freshly cut stumps of A. negundo with glyphosphate in concentration of 7.2 g/l causes death of 65% of plants. In the rest of the specimens of A. negundo from this option the amount of growing epicormic sprouts decreased by 5.2 times in comparison with the usual cutting (control)

Allelopathic activity of

The article shows the results of the influence of different concentrations of allelochemicals of Acer negundo L. leaf litter, germination energy, absolute germination of seeds and plant growth. The seeds of Raphanus sativus L. and Avena sativa L. were used as model objects. Active substances contained in leaf litter A. negundo, have a selective inhibitory effect on the germination of seeds and the growth of seedlings of monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants. The allelopathic effect of the fall is not a limiting factor for the germination of seeds of herbaceous plants of the above-ground cover of the studied plantation

Molecular Phylogeny and Phylogeography of Potentilla multifida L. agg. (Rosaceae) in Northern Eurasia with Special Focus on Two Rare and Critically Endangered Endemic Species, P. volgarica and P. eversmanniana

The results of a molecular genetic study of Potentilla multifida agg. using two plastid markers (ndhC-trnV and psbA-trnH) and a nuclear ITS marker suggested that this group comprises a number of relatively young and incompletely differentiated species widely distributed in Northern Eurasia. The sequences were analyzed using tree-based (maximum likelihood) and network-based (statistical parsimony network) approaches. The plastid data suggested incomplete lineage sorting, characteristic of the group as a whole. The nuclear ITS results demonstrated quite a different pattern, with mostly conspecific accessions shaping monophyletic clades. The majority of the Potentilla sect. Multifidae species studied possess few, usually closely related plastid haplotypes, or are even monomorphic. In contrast, P. volgarica, a narrow endemic from the Volga River valley, presents plastid haplotypes belonging to two distantly related groups. Such a pattern of genetic diversity in P. volgarica may be explained by a long persistence of the species within an extremely small distribution range, on the right bank of the Volga River, most likely representing a contemporary refugium. The genealogy of plastid markers in P. volgarica suggests that this species is ancestral to P.eversmanniana, another narrow endemic from the S Urals

Leaf Extracts of Invasive Woody Species Demonstrate Allelopathic Effects on the Growth of a Lawn Grass Mixture

Biochemical composition was studied in the leaf litter of alien woody species included in the 100 most aggressive invasive species of Europe: Ailanthus altissima, Quercus rubra, Acer negundo, Robinia pseudoacacia, and Elaeagnus angustifolia. Using GC-MS, we detected 187 metabolites in the leaf litter, which are phenolic acids and their derivatives, carbohydrates and their derivatives, polyphenolic compounds, cyclic esters, glycosides, and amino acids and their derivatives. Species-specific metabolites were identified for each species. The main allelochemicals in the leaf litter extract of Q. rubra are determined mainly by the relative abundance of phenolic and fatty acids and their esters, whereas those in the leaf litter extract of R. pseudoacacia are determined by carbohydrates and their derivatives and ester of fatty acid, and those in the leaf litter extract of A. altissima are determined by glycosides. Profiles of macro- and microelements were characterized. It was found that aqueous extracts of leaf litter from all the invasive woody plants under study have a negative effect on the seed germination and initial growth of Vicia cracca and Avena strigosa used for the reclamation of disturbed urban and industrial lands. At the same time, V. cracca is potentially more sensitive

pH-Sensitive Glycyrrhizin Based Vesicles for Nifedipine Delivery

Glycyrrhizic acid, or glycyrrhizin (GA), a major active component of licorice root, has been widely used in traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine since ancient times. However, only in the last decades has a novel and unusual property of the GA been discovered to form water-soluble, supramolecular complexes with a variety of lipophilic drugs. These complexes show significant advantages over other known delivery systems, in particular, due to strong pH sensitivity, the properties of GA self-associates. In the present study, a supramolecular complex formation of the hypotensive and antiarrhythmic drug nifedipine with GA has been studied at different pH values, corresponding to the different degrees of GA dissociation, including a fully dissociated state of GA. Both NMR experiments and molecular dynamics simulations demonstrate the existence of the nifedipine complex with GA at all dissociation states of GA. However, optical absorption experiments show the decrease of complex stability and solubility at pH > 6 when the GA molecule is fully deprotonated. It means the higher release rate of the drug in a neutral and basic environment compared with acid media. These results could form the basis of follow-up studies of GA self-associates as pH-controlled drug delivery systems

Salt-Induced Autophagy and Programmed Cell Death in Wheat

The high salinity of soil salts limits plant growth. Wheat is sensitive to toxic levels of mineral salts. Salinity leads to the accumulation of toxic ions in all organs of wheat. Depending on the level of ion accumulation, wheat is defined as salt stress-tolerant or -sensitive. The wheat variety Zolotaya accumulated Cl− and Na+ ions to a greater extent than the Orenburgskaya 22 variety. The accumulation of toxic ions was accompanied by an increase in ROS and an increase in damage to root tissues up to 80% in the Zolotaya variety. The formation of autophagosomes is considered a defense mechanism against abiotic stresses in plants. At a concentration of 150 mM NaCl, an increase in the expression level of TOR, which is a negative regulator of the formation of autophagosomes, occurred. The level of TOR expression in the Zolotaya variety was 2.8 times higher in the roots and 3.8 times higher in the leaves than in the Orenburgskaya 22 variety. Under the action of salinity, homeostasis was disturbed in the root cells and ROS production accumulated. In the unstable variety Zolotaya, ROS was found in the cap zone and the root meristem in contrast to the resistant variety Orenburgskaya 22 in which ROS production was found only in the cap zone. Accumulation of ROS production triggered autophagy and PCD. PCD markers revealed DNA breaks in the nuclei and metaphase chromosomes, cells with a surface location of phosphatidylserine, and the release of cytochrome c into the cytoplasm, which indicates a mitochondrial pathway for the death of part of the root cells during salinity. Based on electron microscopy data, mitophagy induction was revealed in wheat root and leaf cells under saline conditions

Aromatic Plants Metabolic Engineering: A Review

Secondary metabolites of aromatic plants are used in many health applications as drugs, pheromones, insecticides, fragrances, and antioxidants. Due to the huge commercial demand for these secondary metabolites, the need to overcome the insufficient productivity of aromatic plants has become a significant challenge. Plant breeding is a traditional, labor-intensive, and limited method to improve the ability of aromatic plants to produce secondary metabolites. Modern methods of biotechnology, including genetic engineering and genome editing, can be useful and cost-effective in improving aromatic plants, as they can increase the efficiency of obtaining plants with high productivity and the creation of resistant forms and breeding lines. This review illustrates the importance of developing methods for the modification of aromatic plants belonging to different families, with a predictable quality, resistance to adverse factors and pests, and intensive growth and high yields and productivity of valuable essential oils. Particular attention is paid to successful examples of the modification of aromatic plants, applied methods, and principal approache

Effect of Sun Exposure of the Horse Chestnut (<i>Aesculus hippocastanum</i> L.) on the Occurrence and Number of <i>Cameraria ohridella</i> (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae)

The study of the leafmining moth of the chestnut miner (Cameraria ohridella Deschka & Dymić, 1986) was carried out through the planting of the common horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum L.) in the Main Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The effect of various degrees of insolation of horse chestnut plants on leaf morphology and the composition of secondary metabolites, as well as the relationship of these parameters with the number and density of C. ohridella populations during the growing season, was studied. The solar influence, it was noted, had a significant impact. Thus, the largest number of the pests was recorded on the leaves of the sunlit side of the tree crown, and the smallest on the leaves of the shady part of the crown. The low content of polyphenols in the pool of secondary metabolites in the tissues of the A. hippocastanum leaves did not deter C. ohridella and poorly protected the plants from this miner, while the significant content of carbohydrates in the leaves reduced the resistance of chestnut plants to damage by the Ohrid leaf miner

Chemical Components and Biological Activities of Essential Oils of Mentha × piperita L. from Field-Grown and Field-Acclimated after In Vitro Propagation Plants

In this work, we studied in vitro propagation of three cultivars of Mentha × piperita L. Murashige and Skoog medium (MS) supplemented with 0.5 mg·L−1 BAP was the most optimal medium for micropropagation of the cultivars studied. The ability of peppermint plants field-acclimated after in vitro micropropagation to produce essential oils (EOs) was investigated. EO was obtained by hydrodistillation from dried leaves and flowering shoots from control (field grown) plants and plants acclimated in field conditions after in vitro propagation. The samples were collected at the first and second year of vegetation, and their chemical composition was investigated using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Differences were observed in the yield, as well as in the quantitative and qualitative composition of the EOs extracted from the control plants and field-acclimated plants after in vitro propagation. Menthol was the main component of the EO in control plants, while pulegone and menthone were dominant in the EO pattern in field-acclimated in vitro regenerants in the first year of the growing season. However, in the second year of vegetation, the content of the main EO components in field-acclimated peppermint plants was approximately the same as in control plants. The antioxidant activity of EOs extracted from field-acclimated after in vitro micropropagation plants was found to be the same as in control field-grown M. × piperita plants