The aim of our study was to reveal the peculiarities of the adaptation of rhodococci to hydrophobic hydrocarbon degradation at low temperatures when the substrate was in solid states. The ability of actinobacteria Rhodococcus erythropolis (strains X5 and S67) to degrade hexadecane at 10 °C (solid hydrophobic substrate) and 26 °C (liquid hydrophobic substrate) is described. Despite the solid state of the hydrophobic substrate at 10 °C, bacteria demonstrate a high level of its degradation (30–40%) within 18 days. For the first time, we show that specialized cellular structures are formed during the degradation of solid hexadecane by Rhodococcus at low temperatures: intracellular multimembrane structures and surface vesicles connected to the cell by fibers. The formation of specialized cellular structures when Rhodococcus bacteria are grown on solid hexadecane is an important adaptive trait, thereby contributing to the enlargement of a contact area between membrane-bound enzymes and a hydrophobic substrate.

A new filovirus named Měnglà virus was found in bats in southern China in 2015. This species has been assigned to the new genus Dianlovirus and has only been detected in China. In this article, we report the detection of filoviruses in bats captured in Vietnam. We studied 248 bats of 15 species caught in the provinces of Lai Chau and Son La in northern Vietnam and in the province of Dong Thap in the southern part of the country. Filovirus RNA was found in four Rousettus leschenaultii and one Rousettus amplexicaudatus from Lai Chau Province. Phylogenetic analysis of the polymerase gene fragment showed that three positive samples belong to Dianlovirus, and two samples form a separate clade closer to Orthomarburgvirus. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay showed that 9% of Rousettus, 13% of Eonycteris, and 10% of Cynopterus bats had antibodies to the glycoprotein of marburgviruses.

Dioxins and dioxin-like compounds are persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and technogenic ecotoxicants, the most dangerous of which is 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). A peculiar feature of the considered genotoxicants that distinguishes them from other POPs is hormone-like activity, which is realized through binding to a special cellular protein, the Aryl hydrocarbon Receptor (AhR). In the present study, the phenomenological aspects of DNA methylation changes induced by dioxins and dioxin-like compounds and revealed in the studies in vitro and in vivo are considered. In animal models, multigenerational and transgenerational effects of dioxin-induced locus-specific DNA methylation changes and their association with reproductive dysfunctions and congenital malformations were firmly established. The importance of investigations of the long-term epigenetic consequences of human exposure to dioxins and the potential value of such studies for preventive diagnostics of somatic and reproductive pathologies are discussed.

Objective of the study is to detect circulation of plague agent and agents of other zoonotic infections (tularemia, pseudotuberculosis, leptospirosis, West Nile fever, Lassa fever, Dengue fever, Chikungunya fever, CrimeanCongo hemorrhagic fever, Q fever, Hantaviruses, tick-borne encephalitis, human monocytic ehrlichiosis, granulocytic anaplasmosis, and borreliosis) among small mammals and their ectoparasites in the territory of seven northern provinces of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Materials and methods. We have carried out epizootiological survey of seven northern provinces of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Dien Bien, Lai Chau, Lào Cai, Hà Giang, Lạng Sơn, Cao Bằng, and Quảng Ninh). Over the period of the study, 3400 trap/nights were accumulated, 179 specimens of small mammals caught, belonging to 10 species, 213 fleas of seven different species – collected, and 143 specimens of gamaside ticks falling under two species. The material gathered was investigated using enzyme immunoassay and polymerase chain reaction at the premises of mobile laboratory for monitoring and diagnostics. Results and discussion. Two-fold testing of 136 blood samples from small mammals revealed antibodies to F1 of Y. pestis in 14 (10.3 %) of them. Investigation of 158 samples of lung and kidney suspensions of small mammals showed that 22 (13.9 %) samples contained 16S rRNA of pathogenic leptospira, Leptospira spp. Analysis of 60 brain samples for the presence of Leptospira spp. revealed three (5.0 %) positive ones. 25 samples of gamaside ticks were tested for the presence of the DNA of Q fever, plague, tularemia and granulocytic anaplasmosis agents, and for the RNA of tick-borne encephalitis, human monocytic ehrlichiosis, and borreliosis agents. One sample (4 %) of gamaside ticks, Laelaps echidninus, contained RNA of Borrelia.