Evaluation of aluminum tolerance diversity in <i>Avena sativa</i> L. from the VIR collection

Background. Oat is an important food and feed cereal crop in Russia. The area under oats is 10 million ha worldwide, and 3 million ha in Russia. Acid soils with excessive content of exchangeable aluminum occupy almost every third hectare in the ex-USSR territory. Oats are relatively resistant to unfavorable soil factors. Among cereal crops, oat is second only to rye and triticale in terms of resistance to exchangeable Al forms. Despite the crop’s high environmental plasticity, an important condition for obtaining sustainable oat yields is the development of new cultivars with resistance to adverse environmental factors, including metal toxicity and high soil acidity.The objective of this work was to search for oat cultivars resistant to soil stressors (excess of Н+ and Al3+) for use in breeding for edaphic resistance.Materials and methods. The research material included 687 oat accessions from the VIR global plant genetic resources collection. The accessions underwent laboratory evaluation of their aluminum tolerance at the initial growth and development stages using the method of measuring radicle growth after the exposure to aluminum stress. Reproducibility of the used modification of the method was mathematically proved.Results and discussion. Significant variation in the resistance to the studied stressor was observed among the accessions. The regions acting as sources of valuable aluminum resistance genes were identified for the crop. The accessions selected for their high resistance to exchangeable aluminum can be used in breeding programs to develop high-yielding oat cultivars with edaphic resistance

Aluminum tolerance and micronutrient content in the grain of oat cultivars with different levels of breeding improvement from the VIR collection

Background. Soil toxicity of Al is associated with severe changes in plant root morphology that limit the uptake of water and mineral nutrients. Long-term exposure to Al results in deficiencies in some important nutrients, such as phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and iron. Thus, the joint study of plant resistance to the effects of Al and the accumulation of micronutrients in the oat grain is relevant.Materials and methods. Thirty oat accessions of Russian and French origin from the VIR collection served as the research material. They were represented by cultivars with different levels of breeding improvement: landraces (early 1920s), cultivars developed by primitive breeding (1920–1930s), and modern improved cultivars.Results. Oat cultivars with different breeding improvement levels demonstrated significant differences in the content of micronutrients and aluminum tolerance. Among the studied accessions, landraces and modern improved cultivars showed a tendency towards medium or high Al tolerance, the group of primitive cultivars from Russia had the lowest Al tolerance, while primitive cultivars from France demonstrated the highest average resistance (0.5–1.9).Conclusion. The content of Fe and Zn was influenced by the geographic origin of genotypes. The concentrations of different micronutrients positively correlated with each other. Strong correlations were recorded between the contents of Zn and Fe (r = 0.81), and between Zn and Mg (r = 0.75). There was a positive correlation between the content of micronutrients and the resistance to crown rust (0.38 to 0.50). High content of the studied set of micronutrients was registered in such improved cultivars from France as the naked ‘Avoine Nue Renne’, ‘Chantilly’, ‘Negrita’ and ‘Noire de Michamps’, plus the Russian improved naked cultivar ‘Gavrosh’. Among them, ‘Chantilly’ was distinguished for its yield, and the naked ‘Gavrosh ‘for its high tolerance to aluminum

Selectivity control of dicaffeoylquinic acids separation in reversed-phase hplc with β-cyclodextrine in a mobile phase

The paper investigates the change in the separation selectivity of the chlorogenic (mono- and dicaffeoylquinic) acids under conditions of reverse-phase HPLC with the addition of β-cyclodextrin into the mobile phas

The valuable characteristics of oats genotypes and resistance to Fusarium disease

A comprehensive field- and laboratory-based assessment of the eco-geographical and intraspecific diversity of oats helps determine the parameters, on the basis of which it is possible to select genotypes that may serve as genetic sources for breeding. The study aims to analyze the relationship of agronomic traits of oat genotypes from the VIR collection with resistance to Fusarium disease. The agronomic characters and disease resistance of 340 genotypes of hulled and naked oats belonging to the cultivated species Avena sativa L., A. byzantina C. Koch, A. abyssinica Hoch. and A. strigosa Schreb. of different geographical origin have been tested in field and laboratory conditions in 2007–2009 and in 2014. The artificial infection with Fusarium sporotrichioides Sherb. was used to evaluate bacterial loads and mycotoxin contamination in the oat genotypes. An integral analysis has shown that the duration of the second half of the vegetation period, resistance to lodging and pathogen infection, plant height and panicle elongation facilitate grain infection. It has been found that A. strigosa and A. sativa are less susceptible to Fusarium than A. byzantina and A. abyssinica. Naked oats are more resistant to Fusarium disease if compared to the hulled ones. A comparison of evaluation results for the local and bred genotypes has shown that local accessions with the unilateral panicle and dark-colored floral glumes are more resistant to Fusarium disease. When considering the geographical origin, a higher degree of resistance was discovered in local varieties from China as well as in some accessions from Russia and USA and bred cultivars from Belarus. In total, the characters studied made it possible to identify oat genotypes with high yield and resistance to Fusarium disease

Molecular and genetic characterization of LEPTOSPIRA spp. collection strains from the St. Petersburg Pasteur institute based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing data

Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease found virtually worldwide. Microscopic Agglutination Test with live leptospira (MAT) is the reference method for the serological diagnosis of leptospirosis. MAT is based on assessing serum potential to agglutinate live reference serovar Leptospira maintained at a reference laboratory. At some laboratories having own collections of isolated and reference Leptospira strains applicable for serological diagnosis, those microorganisms are maintained for many years by repeated subculturing, that increases markedly a chance of strain cross-contamination. The lack of adequate quality control for reference strains may affect data of epidemiological studies. Control of Leptospira spp. reference strains purity and stability of their antigenic composition is very important for diagnosis of leptospirosis. The study objective was to compare the 16S rRNA gene nucleotide sequences of some Leptospira strains from the collection of the St. Petersburg Pasteur Institute to with relevant sequences uploaded to GenBank. In this study, 38 Leptospira strains were investigated. Nucleotide sequences of 36 strains were deposited in the international GenBank database, inconsistencies were revealed in two strains. The study found that the control Leptospira strains from the collection of the St. Petersburg Pasteur Institute had minimal dissimilarities from international control strains. The analysis of the resultant 16S rRNA sequences has shown the presence of point mutations, transitions, deletions and insertions, regardless of the strain species. The open leptospira pan-genome demonstrates high genomic variability in species due to the capability of leptospira for lateral gene transfer in order to adapt to changing environmental conditions. The massive acquisition and loss of genes give rise to an increased species diversity. The 16S rRNA gene is suitable for screening diagnostics; however, high level of the fragment similarity and close phylogenetic relationship between different species put bounds to its use in genotyping. The presence of point nucleotide mutations is most likely associated with the evolutionary mechanisms of leptospira, their ability to horizontal gene transfer and crossing-over, including ribosomal genes, but this assumption necessitates additional research. For specimen genotyping it is necessary to select alternative genes with high specificity and sufficient level of nucleotide divergence. The study shows a need for genetic analysis of collection strains in order to control the purity of cultures

Typing of Uncultured Isolates of <i>Coxiella burnetii</i> and <i>Coxiella</i>-Like Microorganisms Associated with Ticks Using <i>16S</i> rRNA Gene Nucleotide Sequence Analysis

The causative agent of Q fever, the intracellular pathogen Coxiella burnetii, is found almost worldwide; many types of blood-sucking ticks that are dangerous to animals and humans are involved in the circulation of the pathogen. Using molecular-genetic methods, closely related species of microorganisms of the genus Coxiella sp. have been discovered, some of which are endo-symbionts of ticks, and some can survive in the human body, causing an infectious process. The existence of species whose genes are similar in nucleotide sequence to those of C. burnetii makes it difficult to diagnose the pathogen in arthropod vectors. The aim of this work was to consider the use of PCR and sequencing of an extended 16S rRNA gene fragment for molecular diagnostics and differentiation of C. burnetii from Coxiella-like microorganisms. Materials and methods. Individual samples of blood-sucking ticks were examined to detect bacteria of the genus Coxiella sp. applying standard PCR. For positive samples, an extended fragment of the 16S rRNA gene was obtained and examined by sequencing and multiple alignment with homologous sequences. Results and discussion. Of the 96 examined ticks collected in the Ulyanovsk Region, one was positive for the presence of C. burnetii DNA and one – for the presence of Coxiella sp. The greatest similarity for the C. burnetii isolate was noted in comparison with Western European strains, for the Coxiella-like microorganism - with closely related bacteria from ticks of the same species. Unique polymorphisms for the detected microorganisms were identified. It has been established that genus-specific primers to the 16S rRNA gene fragment are able to amplify not only bacteria of the genus Coxiella sp., but also genetically distant species. Analysis of the sequence of the extended 16S rRNA gene fragment makes it possible to differentiate C. burnetii from Coxiella-like microorganisms; some gene polymorphisms appear to have arisen through microevolution in different geographic regions. In the European part of the Russian Federation, Coxiella-like bacteria have been uncovered for the first time

Antitumor activity of the novel pyridine derivative

The study aim was to explore a toxicological property and antitumor action of the novel pyridine derivative LHT-17-19 in cell culture and on experimental models of lung cancer in mic

EFFECT OF ANTIGEN-PRIMED DENDRITIC CELL-BASED IMMUNOTHERAPY ON ANTITUMOR CELLULAR IMMUNE RESPONSE IN PATIENTS WITH COLORECTAL CANCER

The problem of treatment of oncological diseases is one of the most urgent for modern medicine. Existing treatment approaches are based on a surgical, radiation, chemotherapeutic approach, and the use of immunotherapy methods aimed at markers and / or specific antigens of tumors.Approaches based on the mechanisms of cellular and molecular regulation of a specific antitumor immune response have shown their high efficiency (for example, antibodies against HER2 in breast cancer), but these approaches have a number of side and undesirable effects that limit their application. Considering the central role of the mechanisms of recognition of tumor antigens and their presentation to cytotoxic cells in effective tumor elimination, it is important to search for and develop approaches to restore these mechanisms in cancer pathology. Because maturation, differentiation of dendritic cells and their main function are impaired in oncological diseases, scientific research is underway to obtain mature dendritic cells and restore the natural way of antigen presentation to effector cells.The work carried out limited clinical studies (13 patients with colorectal cancer), a previously developed protocol for obtaining antigen-primed dendritic cells of patients with colorectal cancer and their joint culture with autologous mononuclear cells in vitro. From the peripheral blood of cancer patients, dendritic cells primed with autologous tumor antigens (tumor cell lysate), which were co-cultured with their own mononuclear cells in the presence of immunoregulatory cytokines (IL-12 and IL-18). The resulting cell suspensions were purified from the culture medium and cytokines and used for a course of immunotherapy (weekly, 20-30 million cells intravenously, dropwise), consisting of 3-5 injections. At different periods of immunotherapy (before the start of the course of immunotherapy, 3 months and 6 months after the end of immunotherapy), immunological parameters were assessed in the peripheral blood of patients (immunogram (CD3+, CD3+CD4+, CD3+CD8+, CD19, CD16+CD56+-cells), the relative content of T-regulatory cells (CD4+CD25+FoxP3+-cells), myeloid suppressor cells (CD14+HLA-DR- cells)) and assessed the cytotoxic activity of peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients against cells of the tumor line of human colorectal cancer (Colo-320).The data obtained showed that in cancer patients, against the background of ongoing immunotherapy, the indicator of the direct cytotoxic test significantly increases, which makes it possible to judge the effective stimulation of the antitumor cellular immune response. This is also indicated by an increase in the relative number of CD16+CD56+-cells (NK-cells) 3 months after immunotherapy. The study of immunosuppressive cells in the blood of cancer patients showed the absence of significant changes in CD14+HLA-DR- -cells and T-regulatory cells.Thus, limited clinical studies of immunotherapy of patients with colorectal cancer based on autologous dendritic cells primed with lysate of autologous tumor cells demonstrated an increase in the antitumor cytotoxic immune response

Assessment of oat varieties with different levels of breeding refinement from the Vavilov Institute’s collection applying the method of metabolomic profiling

Metabolomic profiling data obtained through gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry are presented. Thirty oat accessions from the collection of the N.I. Vavilov Institute of Plant Genetic resources (VIR) served as the material for the research. Those accessions of Russian and French origin showed different degrees of breeding refinement: from local landraces (the early 1920s) and primitive cultigens (1920–1930s) to modern improved cultivars. Twenty-seven hulled and three naked oat varieties were selected for the study.The main objective of the work was to identify differences among common oat varieties with different degrees of breeding refinement at the level of metabolomic profiles. The resulting data reflected the metabolic state of oat genotypes with different ecogeographic backgrounds. They were compared to assess the content of main metabolite groups important for the formation of the crop’s stress resistance traits as well as nutritional, medicinal and dietary properties of oat grain products. The most informative indicators were identified (fucosterol, chiro-inositol, xylitol; undecylic, threonic, glutamic, ribonic and phosphoric acids; sorbose, fructose, glucose-3-phosphate, and myo-inositol), which helped to make statistically significant differentiation among oat accessions of different origin with various degrees of breeding refinement. Comparing metabolomic profiles of different oat variety groups (landraces, primitive cultigens, and modern cultivars, developed by Russian and French breeders) mirrored distinctive features of the trends followed by different plant breeding schools.This study showed that breeding efforts to improve biochemical indicators in oat grain would require the use of the genetic diversity found in landraces and primitive cultigens collected or developed in the 1920–1930s. This diversity is still preserved and maintained in the global germplasm collection at VIR