Biological Communications最新文献

{"title":"The braincase of Bissektipelta archibaldi — new insights into endocranial osteology, vasculature, and paleoneurobiology of ankylosaurian dinosaurs","authors":"I. Kuzmin, I. Petrov, A. Averianov, E. Boitsova, P. Skutschas, H. Sues","doi":"10.21638/spbu03.2020.201","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu03.2020.201","url":null,"abstract":"We describe in detail three braincases of the ankylosaur Bissektipelta archibaldi from the Late Cretaceous (Turonian) of Uzbekistan with the aid of computed tomography, segmentation, and 3D modeling. Bissektipelta archibaldi is confirmed as a valid taxon and attributed to Ankylosaurinae based on the results of a phylogenetic analysis. The topographic relationships between the elements forming the braincase are determined using a newly referred specimen with preserved sutures, which is an exceedingly rare condition for ankylosaurs. The mesethmoid appears to be a separate ossification in the newly referred specimen ZIN PH 281/16. We revise and discuss features of the neurocranial osteology in Ankylosauria and propose new diagnostic characters for a number of its subclades. We present a 3D model of the braincase vasculature of Bissektipelta and comment on vascular patterns of armored dinosaurs. A complex vascular network piercing the skull roof and the wall of the braincase is reported for ankylosaurs for the first time. We imply the presence of a lepidosaur-like dorsal head vein and the venous parietal sinus in the adductor cavity of Bissektipelta. We suggest that the presence of the dorsal head vein in dinosaurs is a plesiomorphic diapsid trait, and extant archosaur groups independently lost the vessel. A study of two complete endocranial casts of Bissektipelta allowed us to compare endocranial anatomy within Ankylosauria and infer an extremely developed sense of smell, a keen sense of hearing at lower frequencies (100–3000 Hz), and the presence of physiological mechanisms for precise temperature control of neurosensory tissues at least in derived ankylosaurids.","PeriodicalId":8998,"journal":{"name":"Biological Communications","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48705361","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Publication-based analysis of miR-210 dependent biomarkers of pre-eclampsia","authors":"A. Tkachenko, R. Illarionov, E. Vashukova, A. Glotov","doi":"10.21638/spbu03.2020.203","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu03.2020.203","url":null,"abstract":"MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are potential biomarkers of most pregnancy complications. In recent years, miR-210 has been shown as one of the main biomarkers, detected at different stages of pregnancy and associated with various diseases, including pre-eclampsia (PE). However, miR-210 is not reported as a marker of PE in about half of the studies. We filtered available published RNA-seq data and miRNAs associated with PE, including or excluding miR-210, obtained from the PregMiR database. For further analysis we only considered miRNAs appearing in at least four different studies. We observed that miR-152, miR-1 and miR-193b were only detected in studies with a changed miR-210 level, whereas miR-27a, miR-29a, miR-130a and miR-519b were detected in studies without miRNA-210 differential expression. Common biomarkers of PE are miR-182, miR-126, miR-155, miR-181a, miR-18a, miR-195, miR-21, miR-223, miR-335, miR-517c, miR-518b, miR-518e and let-7f. Based on the obtained data and taking into account the direction of differential miRNA expression, it can be assumed that the most likely mechanisms of PE development in the early pregnancy stage are either upregulation of miR-210, miR-152, miR-518b and downregulation of miR-126; or upregulation of miR-126 and downregulation of miR-182 and miR-518b. Late stages of PE are determined by miR-210, miR-152, miR-518b, miR-21, miR-155, miR-181a, miR-182, miR-193b-3p, miR-517c, miR-518e (upregulation) and miR-126, miR-18a, miR-195, miR-223, let-7f (downregulation); or miR-27a, miR-29a, miR-130a and miR-519d, miR-517c, miR-518e miR-155, miR-126, miR-181a, miR-195 (upregulation) and miR-223, miR-18a, miR-182 (downregulation). The presented results allow speculation about the influence of certain miRNAs on PE development in the context of the presence or absence of miR-210 differential expression, but additional experimental studies are required to evaluate the findings.","PeriodicalId":8998,"journal":{"name":"Biological Communications","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41612836","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Soil microbiome in chronosequence of spoil heaps of Kursk Magnetic Anomaly","authors":"E. Ivanova, E. Pershina, D. Karpova, O. Rogova, E. Abakumov, E. Andronov","doi":"10.21638/spbu03.2019.306","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu03.2019.306","url":null,"abstract":"The physicochemical parameters, vegetation and biodiversity of microbiomes inhabiting 10-, 35- and 50-year-old embryonic soils (technozems) formed in the mining areas of the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly (Russia) were analyzed in the current study. Analysis of taxonomic diversity was carried out by 454-pyrosequencing of the V4 variable region of the 16S rRNA gene. All points of the chronosequence were characterized by microbiomes reliably differing in taxonomic composition. The older the dump, the higher the proportion of bacteria from the phyla Actinobacteria (mostly representatives of the Solirubrobacteriaceae family), Chloroflexi and Acidobacteria in the community. In 10-year-old dumps, bacteria from the phyla Proteobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes and Bacteroides prevailed. The most pronounced changes in the community structure at the early and middle stages of microbiological succession were demonstrated by bacteria from the genus Delftia, which may indicate their active role in the processes of soil formation in this ecosystem.","PeriodicalId":8998,"journal":{"name":"Biological Communications","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45309748","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Algae of terrestrial biotopes near the Russian Antarctic scientific station Bellingshausen, King George Island","authors":"A. Burdo, V. Nikitina, E. Abakumov","doi":"10.21638/spbu03.2019.303","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu03.2019.303","url":null,"abstract":"The biodiversity of algae of anthropogenically and technogenically disturbed terrestrial biotopes at the Bellingshausen Station of King George Island has been revealed. Fifty-three species of algae from five divisions were detected. Representatives of the cyanobacteria division dominated in the biotope studied. Almost all species belong to benthic forms, which corresponds well with the nature and origin of the biotopes. Differences in the composition of algocoenoses which developed on ornithogenic, mineral or anthropogenically polluted substrates were noted and characterized. The features of participation of different morphological types of algae in the process of organic mat formation have been emphasized. The biotopes of polar station surroundings were characterized by the dominance of cyanobacteria. Endemic species were not found.","PeriodicalId":8998,"journal":{"name":"Biological Communications","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45146389","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Claw tuft setae of tarantulas (Araneae, Mygalomorphae, Theraphosidae) and the production of fibrous materials. Do tarantulas eject silk from their feet?","authors":"J. Hajer, Dana Řeháková","doi":"10.21638/spbu03.2019.301","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu03.2019.301","url":null,"abstract":"The study focused on the specialised tarsal setae of tarantulas Avicularia metallica and Heteroscodra maculata, and the fibrous and non-fibrous material produced by them. When irritated spiders moved along smooth, perpendicularly-oriented glass walls not covered in silk, the claw tuft setae, located at the tips of the tarsal segments, left behind footprints containing two types of fibrous material. Using electron scanning microscopy, it was discovered that these represent fragments of parallelly oriented bundles of hollow fibres forming the shafts of the setae and their lateral branches (1), as well as clusters of contracted nanofibrils which aggregated at the ends of these fibres (2). During climbing, this fibrous material was detected both on the substratum on which the spiders were moving, and also on their claw tuft setae. The climbing activity of irritated tarantulas is also associated with the secretion of a fluid which dries on contact with air. This secretion acts as an adhesive and facilitates the movement of tarantulas on smooth surfaces, but while doing so it also glues together the distal, lamellar parts of the groups of setae which are in contact with the substratum during climbing. There are no such claw tuft setae morphological changes observed in undisturbed tarantulas, moving freely around their tube-like shelters and on the surfaces of objects covered with silk which they have produced. The sources of the air-drying secretion are probably the tubular fibres forming the shafts of pretarsal setae. The bundles of hollow fibres are an example of a system that produces secretions via a surficial pathway. The spinnerets and silk-producing glands associated with them, located in the opisthosoma, represent a system that produces silk via a systemic pathway. However, the results of observational studies have not confirmed the ability of tarantulas’ feet to produce silk fibres of the same, or at least similar ultrastructure to that of the silk fibres produced by the activity of spinnerets and spinneret-associated silk glands.","PeriodicalId":8998,"journal":{"name":"Biological Communications","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42417606","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Constant darkness conditions modulate the effects of melatonin and luzindole on the antioxidant enzyme activities and levels of retinol and α-tocopherol in rats","authors":"S. Kalinina, V. Ilyukha, E. Khizhkin, I. Baishnikova, E. Antonova, A. Morozov","doi":"10.21638/spbu03.2019.305","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu03.2019.305","url":null,"abstract":"This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of both exogenous melatonin and melatonin receptor antagonist luzindole on the activities of antioxidant enzymes (AOE) (superoxide dismutase, SOD; catalase, CAT) and the level of low-molecular antioxidant vitamins (retinol, α-tocopherol) in male Wistar rats kept in normal light conditions (LD 12:12) or constant darkness (DD). In LD, while melatonin had no influence on the studied antioxidants, luzindole caused an increase in retinol and a decrease in α-tocopherol contents in the liver compared to the control. In DD, with no influence on AOE activities, both drugs exerted similar effects on the liver retinol and kidney α-tocopherol contents, increasing them in comparison with control. Exposing the animals to DD induced an increase in kidney SOD activity and in liver retinol content. Moreover, DD-mel rats had higher SOD activity in the liver and kidney and a higher retinol level in the liver compared to LD-mel ones; DD-luz rats had a higher liver retinol content compared to LD-luz ones. Liver retinol level seems to be the most sensitive to influence of DD, melatonin and luzindole; the data are probably connected with the involvement of vitamin A in the regulation of circadian rhythms.","PeriodicalId":8998,"journal":{"name":"Biological Communications","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49119816","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Genotyping pathogenic strains of genus Xanthomonas causing bacterioses in a number of plants by DDSL technique","authors":"A. M. Lazarev, V. Terletskiy, V. Chebotar","doi":"10.21638/spbu03.2019.302","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu03.2019.302","url":null,"abstract":"In the genus Xanthomonas, specialists consider a significant number of species and varieties (pathovars) of phytopathogenic bacteria that infect many agricultural and ornamental plants (about 400 species), which leads to serious economic losses. For the timely detection of these pathogens, accurate diagnosis is necessary, allowing correct and prompt identification. Molecular genetic methods are able to identify populations of Xanthomonas strains with a fairly complete characterization of their hereditary material. The proposed method of genotyping — double digest and selective label (DDSL) — is based on the use of two restriction endonucleases for the separation of bacterial genomic DNA. The DNA polymerase (Taq) present in the reaction mixture along with biotinylated deoxycytosine triphosphate (Bio–dCTP) allows for the visualization of DNA fragments. The tag only labels DNA fragments that have 3'-recessed ends formed by the first enzyme (BcuI). The second restriction endonuclease (Eco147I) produces blunt ends that are unable to incorporate the label. As a result, in the DDSL reaction, 20–50 clearly distinguishable DNA fragments are visualized on the filter. The number and distribution of fragments are characteristic for each bacterial strain of the genus Xanthomonas. Genotyping these microorganisms makes it possible to identify the specific profile of each strain, i.e., assign it a sort of “bar code” for individual specification. The strains of bacteria of the genus Xanthomonas, obtained from different species (tomato, radish, sorghum) are genetically separated from each other, showing a specific pattern in terms of the distribution of DNA fragments, despite the common geographical origin. A comparatively rare case of the identity of strains, despite their geographical and temporal unrelatedness and different cultures, has been recorded.","PeriodicalId":8998,"journal":{"name":"Biological Communications","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47925023","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Is the hormone a protease? Proteolytic properties of human recombinant anti-mullerian hormone","authors":"A. Rak, A. Trofimov, V. Stefanov, A. Ischenko","doi":"10.21638/spbu03.2019.304","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu03.2019.304","url":null,"abstract":"Anti-mullerian hormone (AMH) is a glycoprotein of the TGFβ cytokine superfamily that regulates the development of the mammalian reproductive system, as well as the functioning of mature gonads. Recombinant AMH (rAMH) is also able to induce apoptosis of malignant cells bearing AMH type II receptors (MISRII) on the surface. Development of rAMH-based anticancer drugs is hampered by the lack of accurate information about the tissues where the AMH active form is generated and about the enzyme that activates the hormone by specific proteolysis. According to one hypothesis, the proteolytic processing of the hormone is autocatalytic. The goal of this work was to investigate the proteolytic activity of rAMH and its biologically active form — C-terminal AMH fragment (C-AMH). We showed that two forms of the hormone possess both autoproteolytic activity and the ability to influence the structure of other proteins. A full-length molecule of the hormone, as well as C-AMH, also forms complexes with aprotinin, an inhibitor of trypsin-like serine proteases. We determined that aprotinin competes for binding to C-AMH with antibodies blocking C-AMH interaction with MISRII. The obtained data suggest that AMH has protease properties and that the site of specific AMH autoproteolysis is involved in the interaction of the hormone with a specific receptor.","PeriodicalId":8998,"journal":{"name":"Biological Communications","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43140746","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Genetic control of regeneration processes of radish plants in vitro: from phenotype to genotype","authors":"L. Lutova, I. Dodueva","doi":"10.21638/spbu03.2019.204","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu03.2019.204","url":null,"abstract":"This review highlights the years of research on the genetics of in vitro regeneration in higher plants conducted at the Department of Genetics and Biotechnology of Saint Petersburg State University. The genetic collection of radish (Raphanus sativus) created at the department by selfing of individual plants from three cultivars was used as a model in these studies. Some radish inbred lines from the genetic collection form spontaneous tumors in the roots and are also used to study mechanisms of tumor growth in higher plants. It was revealed that radish lines that differed in the ability to form tumors also contrastingly differed in the reaction of their explants to auxin and cytokinin in vitro, which reflects a difference in the levels of these hormones in the tissues of related tumorous and non-tumorous radish lines. Moreover, high concentrations of cytokinins in cultural medium induced tumor formation in the regenerated plants of tumorous radish lines. The presence of meristematic zones in spontaneous tumors in radish lines, as well as in crown gall tumors induced by Agrobacterium tumefaciens and cytokinin-induced tumors made it possible to reveal the role of the main meristem regulators, such as KNOX and WOX family transcription factors and the CLAVATA system, in both the process of tumor growth and regeneration in plants. Analysis of the expression of meristem-specific genes during the development of spontaneous and induced tumors in radish as well as in regenerated radish plants confirmed this assumption.","PeriodicalId":8998,"journal":{"name":"Biological Communications","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42397957","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The 100th Anniversary of the Department of Genetics and Biotechnology, St. Petersburg State University","authors":"Сергей Георгиевич Инге-Вечтомов, Галина Анатольевна Журавлева, Елена Валерьевна Голубкова","doi":"10.21638/spbu03.2019.201","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu03.2019.201","url":null,"abstract":"At least twice in its history, the Department of Genetics of the St. Petersburg University played a key role in the development of the field of genetics in Russia: first, at the outset of the origins of genetics in the country; and then once again during its comeback after Lysenkoism. At the beginning of the 20th century, the study of genetics in Russia was lagging significantly behind Europe and the United States. The first Russian paper on genetics, “Mendelism or the Theory of Breeding,” was published by Professor Yelly Bogdanov only in 1914 (Bogdanov, 1914), years after Thomas Hunt Morgan and his students had laid the foundation for the chromosome theory of inheritance. This publication is a summary of key achievements and events in science and education that have taken place at the Department of Genetics of the St. Petersburg University over the course of the past 100 years.","PeriodicalId":8998,"journal":{"name":"Biological Communications","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47452098","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}