The considerable decrease in crop productivity associated with the expansion of saline soils is an acute problem in agriculture. Endophytic fungi positively affect plant fitness under salinity conditions. The effects of potato inoculation with the conidia of the Beauveria bassiana strain Sar-31 on growth (the weight of fresh and dry biomass, shoot and root length, numbers of stolons and leaves, and the leaf surface) and physiological indices (the concentration of pigments, free proline and malondialdehyde, and antioxidant enzymes’ activity) were evaluated under moderate chloride salinity (100 mM). The results indicated that the plant’s association with the fungus mitigated the negative impact of salinity probably because of the activation of antioxidant enzymes and accumulation of free proline in potato tissues. Moreover, under the influence of B. bassiana Sar-31, the number of stolons significantly increased, which is one of the main characteristics of potato as an agricultural crop. Thus, Sar-31 may be a promising candidate for further investigation of its ability to stimulate growth and increase the stress tolerance of potato plants.

Endophytic entomopathogenic fungi are promising agents for the promotion of plant growth, the activation of immunity, and protection against phytopathogens. However, physiological changes in plants after treatment with fungi are insufficiently studied. We investigated the effect of potato inoculation with conidia from Metarhizium robertsii and Beauveria bassiana on the growth (fresh and dry weight, length of shoots and roots, counts of stolons and leaves, and total surface area of leaves) and physiological parameters (pigment contents, free proline and malondialdehyde content, and activity of antioxidant enzymes) at the initial stage of the plant–fungus interaction (seven days) under hydroponic conditions. The results showed that the fungi could act as an immune-modulating factor for plants based on the increase in malondialdehyde and proline contents. At the same time, we observed growth retardation and a decrease in the content of photosynthetic pigments, which may be caused by a tradeoff between plant growth and the immune response.

A comparison was made of the physiological activity of brassinosteroids (BS) of different chemical structures—lactone-containing 24-epibrassinolide (EBL) and ketone-containing brassinosteroid 24-epicastasterone (ECS)—during dark aging of cut barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) leaves. The functional state of the photosynthetic apparatus, the amount of photosynthetic pigments, the content of lipid peroxidation products, and gene expression of HvS40 (senescence marker) were assessed. The separated barley leaves were incubated on solutions of EBL and ECS in the concentration range of 0.01–1 µM in Petri dishes on filter paper. Synthetic cytokinin 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) at a 10 μM concentration was used as a positive control, and distilled water was used as a negative control. Petri dishes with leaves were kept in the dark for 5 days. Measurements of the analyzed parameters were carried out on the first, third, and fifth days from the beginning of incubation, mainly in the middle part of the leaf plate. ECS at a concentration of 1 μM reduced oxidative stress by the fifth day of incubation to a greater extent than EBL at a similar concentration. Regarding maintenance of chlorophyll a (Chl a) levels, 24-epicastasterone (1 μM) was more effective than 24-epibrassinolide. It was shown that exogenous brassinosteroids showed a protective effect on the main photochemical processes of the second photosystem during aging of barley leaves. Moreover, when assessing the coefficient of nonphotochemical quenching (qN), indicators of regulated (Y(NPQ)) and nonregulated (Y(NO)) energy dissipation, the ECS showed a more pronounced protective effect for the second photosystem compared to EBL. It was found that treatment with brassinosteroids reduced the level of gene expression of HvS40, a senescence marker on the fifth day of incubation, which was especially characteristic for the ketone-containing brassinosteroid. Thus, it can be concluded that the ketone-containing brassinosteroid not only exhibits high biological activity but, in terms of a number of parameters, is also more effective than the lactone-containing brassinosteroid in reducing the damage caused by aging.

Biobanks are a valuable resource for conducting all types of studies, since they are fundamental structures which contain accessible and defined biological samples of various types and related data. Biobanking includes collection, treatment, storage and distribution of samples and allows conducting a wide range of biomedical research with a significant number of samples, thus ensuring the quality of results and compliance with standard laboratory methods. The literature search confirmed an insignificant activity in the animal biobanking sector when compared to that of human biobanking. In addition, the collection of samples associated with farm livestock is of considerable scientific and practical interest. Experimental work, which is carried out using the biological material collected and stored during large-scale studies (also involving the capabilities of citizen science), allows not only identifying the parameters characteristic of animal physiology features, but also discovering new types of biotechnologically promising microorganisms. The approach to the sampling process requires special attention, since the quality of the selected biological material is crucial in the research process. Moreover, the methods and approaches of citizen science can significantly expand the territorial and geographical coverage of sampling sites, which will enable to increase the reliability of the scientific data obtained. The biobank acts as a link connecting professional studies and "citizen science", organizes and coordinates the process of their interaction. The paper presents the experience of organizing the biobank of Tomsk State University which is aimed to store the samples of metabolic by-products of agriculturally significant animals (manure, droppings, compost, and samples of fermented dairy products). In addition, the strains of agriculturally significant microorganisms isolated while studying the collected biological material are stored in the biobank. The biobank acts as a unique structure of its kind, a "universal tool" created for implementation of large-scale research projects. When implementing major biological research projects which involve conducting large-scale studies (for example, the projects as part of the federal scientific and technical program for the development of genetic technologies for 2019-2027 approved by the Russian Federation Government Decree No 1930 as of December 28, 2019), there arises an urgent issue of obtaining biological material for the studies. As part of the project under implementation, The TSU Biobank of Agriculturally Significant Microorganisms (TSU Biobank of ASM), a bioresource collection of the samples of metabolic by-products of agriculturally significant animals and strains of agriculturally significant microorganisms isolated while studying the collected biological material was created. The biobank was created in order to ensure proper storage conditions for the samples, cultures of ASM, and genomic DNA collected during the project implementation, and provide information about the sources of samples and biological material, and their use in biotechnology. The biobank regulations – a document regulating the biobank activities – was designed, and a list of documents which guide the biobank in its activities was presented. General provisions, including general requirements for organization of the biobank's activities, its functions and powers, and the rules for reception/storage/distribution of biological material and associated information were also provided. The biobank acts as a unique link between professional science and citizen science. It is the context of biobanking where the works of professional scientists can be combined with the contribution of "citizen scientists". In this case, the biobank acts as a controlling link, a source of criteria and methods for assessing the quality of biological material entering the biobank, since the quality of the received biological material may differ significantly depending on the degree of professionalism of a person who collects samples.The article contains 2 Figures, 22 References.