Young fronds of ferns are consumed as a vegetable in many countries. The aim of this study was to analyze three fern species that are available for sale in the Russian Far East as dietary sources in terms of fatty acids that are important for human physiology: arachidonic acid (20:4n-6, ARA), eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n-3, EPA) and other valuable long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids. The content of ARA and EPA was 5.5 and 0.5 mg/g dry weight, respectively, in Pteridium aquilinum, 4.1 and 1.1 in Matteuccia struthiopteris, and 2.2 and 0.8 in Osmundastrum asiaticum. Salted fronds of P. aquilinum contained less these fatty acids than the raw fronds, with a decrease of up to 49% for ARA and 65% for EPA. These losses were less pronounced or even insignificant in dried fronds. Cooked ferns preserved significant portions of the long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids: cooked P. aquilinum contained 4.4 mg/g dry weight ARA and 0.3 mg/g dry weight EPA. The ferns may provide a supplemental dietary source of these valuable long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, especially for vegetarian diets.

Prunus mandshurica is a rare species of the Russian Far East; it is cultivated for fruits and as an ornamental tree. The objective was to determine the fungi associated with young shoots of the Manchurian apricot, which is an important biotic factor for plant viability and productivity. Fungi were isolated by incubation of shoot fragments (unsterilized or surface-sterilized) on a growth medium and identified according to their cultural and morphological characteristics. Diaporthe eres and Nothophoma quercina isolates were identified by multilocus phylogenetic analysis (apn2, cal, tef1-α, tub2 for D. eres, and ITS, rpb2, tub2 for N. quercina). In total, 12 species (Alternaria alternata, A. tenuissima, Aureobasidium pullulans, Cladosporium cladosporioides, C. herbarum, D. eres, Epicoccum nigrum, Fusarium graminearum, F. oxysporum, N. quercina, Sarocladium strictum, and Tripospermum myrti) and one genus (Gliocladium sp.) were found. Alternaria alternata, N. quercina, and D. eres were the most frequent species of the shoots. Alternaria tenuissima and F. oxysporum were also frequent in some collections, while all other species were rare or occasional in occurrence. Molecular analysis of D. eres and N. quercina revealed redundancy of some species within the D. eres species complex and the genus Nothophoma. This is the first report on the fungal inhabitants of asymptomatic shoots of P. mandshurica. Nothophoma quercina was identified in Russia for the first time.

Based on the experimental research on determining the role of functional groups of the cell wall in the microfungus Penicillium canescensin the process of Pd(II) biogenic precipitation, it...

Своевременное выявление фитопатогена и его идентификация является важным этапом в успешной борьбе с болезнями растений. Увядание (вилт) было одной из основных причин гибели саженцев при выращивании укорененных микропобегов сливы, полученных методом клонального микроразмножения, в почвенном субстрате. Целью исследования было выявление фитопатогена, вызывающего увядание саженцев сливы ( Prunus salicina Lindl.), полученных в условиях in vitro , на этапе адаптации к нестерильным условиям. В результате микробиологического анализа вегетативных органов больных саженцев сливы было выделено 23 штамма 4 родов микроскопических грибов. Более 60 % грибов от общего числа выделенных изолятов были идентифицированы как Gibellulopsis nigrescens (Pethybr.) Zare, W. Gamset Summerb. (базионим Verticillium nigrescens Pethybr.) на основании культурально-морфологических признаков. Сопутствующая микофлора включала грибы рода Acremonium spр., Cladosporium cladosporioides (Fresen.) G. A. de Vries и Akanthomyces lecanii (Zimm.). Gibellulopsis nigrescens является наиболее вероятным патогеном, вызывающим вертициллезное увядание саженцев сливы, хотя для окончательного установления вирулентности G. nigrescens в отношении P. salicina требуются дополнительные фитопатологические...

This study aims at identifying prostaglandin D (PGD) involvement in osmotic airway hyperresponsiveness of asthmatics. PGD primary plasma metabolite, 11β-PGF , was analyzed in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) in response to ultrasonically nebulized distilled water (UNDW) and in serum in asthmatics with different airway response to the hypoosmotic stimulus. The total group of asthmatics (n=27) had a lower basal level of 11β-PGF (0.38±0.13 pg/ml, mean±SEM) in EBC compared to a group of healthy subjects (0.86±0.31 pg/ml, n=5), which decreased following the UNDW challenge to 0.30±0.09 and 0.53±0.12, respectively. The group of asthmatics with airway hyperresponsiveness to UNDW (≥10% FEV drop from baseline, n=14) had a lower concentration of the metabolite (0.28±0.14 pg/ml) as compared to the group without hyperresponsiveness (0.49±0.31 pg/ml, n=10). The 11β-PGF concentration decreased in the both groups after the challenge: 0.20±0.04 and 0.23±0.07 pg/ml in the groups with and without hyperresponsiveness to UNDW, respectively. Serum content of 11β-PGF was ranging from 0 to 61 pg/ml in asthmatics (n=17) and from 7.3 to 85.4 pg/ml in healthy subjects (n=8). It was lower in the group with airway hyperresponsiveness to UNDW (8.4±1.7 pg/ml, n=9) than in the group without the hyperresponsiveness (21.0±8.8 pg/ml, n=8). The obtained results do not support the involvement of PGD in the pathophysiology of asthma with airway hyperresponsiveness to a hypoosmotic stimulus unless other conversions of the prostaglandin occur in the airway under these conditions with formation of metabolites different from 11β-PGF .