Biology Bulletin Reviews

Digitalization (development of the information society) affects all aspects of our life, having an increasingly noticeable (both positive and negative) impact on the environment. Some information technologies in the field of ecology, directions, goals, and objectives of digitalization of environmental knowledge and nature management in Russia are discussed.

Bài báo xem xét các khái niệm hiện đại về tầm quan trọng và cơ chế của sự định cư và sự trôi dạt bổ sung trong họ cá hồi. Định cư là một đặc điểm cơ bản và thích nghi cao của hành vi cá hồi. Cấu trúc quần thể trong loài phát sinh trong cá hồi dựa trên điều này, bao gồm một số lượng lớn các quần thể sinh sản cách biệt, trong đó một quá trình di cư quy mô nhỏ có thể xảy ra thông qua sự trôi dạt. Sự trôi dạt cho phép cá hồi định cư ở các môi trường sống mới và tái định cư ở các môi trường sống trống rỗng sau khi quần thể địa phương bị tuyệt chủng. Khả năng định cư đã trở thành cơ sở cho việc sinh sản cá hồi nhân tạo quy mô lớn. Các cơ chế sinh lý sau đây của sự định cư được xem xét: vai trò chính của khứu giác và quá trình in khắc thứ tự của các kích thích khứu giác từ một dòng sông nơi chúng sinh ra, xảy ra ở loài cá non, chủ yếu trong giai đoạn biến đổi thành cá trưởng thành (smoltification), cũng như ở các giai đoạn đầu tiên của cuộc đời và trong quá trình di cư hạ lưu; việc sử dụng "ký ức" khứu giác bởi cá trưởng thành quay trở lại để sinh sản; vai trò của việc điều chỉnh hormone trong quá trình in khắc ở loài cá non và di cư định cư của cá trưởng thành. Dữ liệu về căn cứ phân tử và di truyền của cảm nhận hóa học khứu giác được trình bày. Đã chỉ ra rằng tỷ lệ định cư (và trôi dạt) khác nhau giữa các loài và giữa các quần thể của cùng một loài, tùy thuộc vào các đặc điểm sinh học và sinh thái của chúng, vào một loạt các yếu tố và điều kiện môi trường, cùng với tác động nhân sinh. Những tác động xấu của việc trôi dạt của cá hồi nuôi và cá hồi từ trại giống vào các quần thể tự nhiên được thảo luận.

The study is focused on the differentiation morphoecological and genetic analysis of the morphs of the whitefish Coregonus lavaretus L. sensu lato (Teleostei: Salmoniformes: Coregoninae) from Lake Kuetsjärvi, located in the lower reaches of one of the largest lake-river systems in the north of Europe, Pasvik-Inari (Barents Sea basin). Four morphs of whitefish have been identified: slow and fast growing medium rakered and slow and fast growing sparsely rakered. It was shown that there is practically no differentiation in the frequencies of allozyme loci at pronounced and stable differences in the number of gill rakers, head shape, growth rate and trophic features. The results confirm the analysis of multilocus allozyme genotypes using Bayesian clustering in the Structure program, which did not reveal any differences in the proportion of initial clusters between the morphs. We consider the recent and incomplete isolation of the described morphs, the phenotypic differences of which can be determined by epigenetic features, as an explanation for the observed picture.

Human vector-borne diseases caused by parasites, viruses, bacteria and transmitted by mosquitoes and other blood-sucking insects are a priority public health topic around the world. The absence of effective vaccines for highly dangerous infections and the resistance of the most competent vectors to insecticides have determined the need for effective innovative strategies to minimize these diseases. This review is the generalization of scientific and practical advances in the modification of mosquitoes using the intracellular symbiotic bacterium Wolbachia to reduce the spread of pathogens and will serve as an initiative to create domestic strategies for vector control in Russia.

This review considers the potential mechanisms of radiomitigative effect of radioprotective drugs in interaction with pathophysiological processes accompanying radiation injury to tissues at the earliest stages of its development. Radiomitigators affect bodily systems throughout the development of primary radiation stress and inflammatory process upon the realization of radiation injury during the primary radiation reaction. Inflammation as a protective body reaction to pathogens represents a self-organized system that commits support and limits the intensity of its manifestation. For this reason, the implementation of the radioprotective effect of radiomitigators, including immunogens, proinflammatory cytokines, steroid hormones, biogenic amines, and purine nucleosides and their synthetic and natural analogs, which stimulate native immunity, depends on its initial state and the severity of radiation injury of the body. The inverse negative relation in response to the action of proinflammatory cytokines, which is manifested as induction of the synthesis of anti-inflammatory cytokines and hematopoietic growth factors (primarily, granulocyte colony–stimulating factor), promotes the activation of myelopoiesis and their antiapoptotic action. The interaction of the immunogen effect and radiation stress depends on pharmacodynamics and features of the realization of the radioprotective properties of drugs. The implementation of the action of radiomitigators depends on the functioning of the antioxidant system of the body, because it can be exhausted under the influence of inflammation. In this case, postradiation oxidative toxemia induces injuries to vital parenchymatous organs. This is observed under the influence of proinflammatory cytokines at combined radiation injuries. All of the listed groups of radiomitigators have identical radioprotective activity (DRF = 1.2–1.3). The absence of expressed side effects, good tolerance of radiomitigators by humans, and the duration of their possible effective application after irradiation are the key indices for assessment of their prospects in radiation accidents.

An analysis of the published and his own data on the social behavior of rodents has allowed the author to conclude that the most social species among rodents are those with a family-group mode of life. The direct effect of ecological factors on the establishment of a complex social organization in rodents remains disputable. Presumably, the driving factor that determines the evolution of sociality in rodents is cooperation, which is promoted by proximate mechanisms of socialization. A complex social organization can be formed under any ecological conditions when families are more competitive than solitary individuals due to cooperation in various types of activities. The proximate mechanisms of socialization, especially early experience of tactile stimulation, create the preconditions for strengthening the pair bonds and elevating the level of parental care in the individuals of both sexes, which is necessary for establishment of extended family groups. The research into these mechanisms is most promising for a deeper insight into the processes associated with the evolution of sociality in rodents, and the relevant results should be integrated into the current socioecological concept.

Factors that influence the species diversity of plant communities are discussed, including abiotic factors (altitude above sea level and soil moistening, fertility, pH, and salinization), biotic factors (dominants, competition intensity, positive interactions, seed banks, phytophages, and pathogens), and the succession status (influence of grazing, fires, and invasive species). The species diversity in different plant communities is shown to be formed by a combination of different factors. The main approaches in the restoration ecology are analyzed, including the restoration successions and the introduction of species from natural communities into disturbed communities characterized by a poor species composition.

The dependence of descendants’ weight on the weight of females in invertebrates and vertebrates can be described by equations of the power function with an exponent close to unity. The specific fecundity of animals decreases with increasing weight in females. A concept of the fecundity rate as the number of offspring produced by one female per year and the fecundity rate coefficient as the fecundity of a female with a weight of 1 g per year are proposed. The fecundity coefficient value is reduced in the course of evolution.