In this short communication describing experiments carried out on the larvae of two insects, Unaspis euonymi Comstock (feeding on Euonymus japonicus Thunb.) and Dynaspidiotus britannicus Newstead (feeding on Laurus nobilis L.), we evaluate for the first time the efficiency of using DNA insecticides in the control of sap-sucking insects, including armored scale insects. Over a period of 10 days, high insect mortality was detected in both U. euonymi and D. britannicus, accompanied by a significant decrease in the concentration of target RNAs. At the same time, no visible changes were observed when the leaves of the host plants were subjected to treatment with DNA insecticides for one month. The results show the high efficiency of DNA insecticides used against hemipteran insect pests. It is noteworthy that the high efficiency of DNA insecticides and their low cost in comparison with RNA preparations provides a safe and extremely promising potential vehicle for the control of sap-sucking insects.

Insects vastly outnumber us in terms of species and total biomass, and are among the most efficient and voracious consumers of plants on the planet. As a result, to preserve crops, one of the primary tasks in agriculture has always been the need to control and reduce the number of insect pests. The current use of chemical insecticides leads to the accumulation of xenobiotics in ecosystems and a decreased number of species in those ecosystems, including insects. Sustainable development of human society is impossible without useful insects, so the control of insect pests must be effective and selective at the same time. In this article, we show for the first time a natural way to regulate the number of insect pests based on the use of extracellular double-stranded DNA secreted by the plant Pittosporum tobira. Using a principle similar to one found in nature, we show that the topical application of artificially synthesized short antisense oligonucleotide insecticides (olinscides, DNA insecticides) is an effective and selective way to control the insect Coccus hesperidum. Using contact oligonucleotide insecticide Coccus-11 at a concentration of 100 ng/μL on C. hesperidum larvae resulted in a mortality of 95.59 ± 1.63% within 12 days. Green oligonucleotide insecticides, created by nature and later discovered by humans, demonstrate a new method to control insect pests that is beneficial and safe for macromolecular insect pest management.

The scientific discussion concerning the development of the promising approaches for phyto-diversity conservation and the rational use of plant resources in Russian Federation was held at the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences in December 2019. After the reports of leading scientists from biological institutes, a resolution No. 195 dated December 10, 2019 «Global changes in terrestrial ecosystems of Russia in the 21st century: challenges and opportunities» was adopted. The resolution includes a set of priority scientific aims including the development and application of modern technologies for inventory of the plant communities and the development of vegetation classification in Russia. As a result of the opinion exchange between phytocoenologists from different regions, the Concept of Russian Vegetation Classification was proposed. It is based on the following principles. 1. The use of the ecological-floristic approach and the hierarchy of the main syntaxonomic categories applied for the Classification of Vegetation of Europe. 2. Development of the Russian archive of geobotanical relevés and syntaxa in accordance with international standards and with the remote access functions. 3. Application of strict rules for syntaxon names formulated in the International Code of Phytosociological Nomenclature. The Concept assumes the development of a special program «Russian Vegetation Classification» with the justification of the necessity for targeted funding of the program in Research Institutions and Universities involved for solving this scientific problem on the principle of network collaboration. The final results of this program will be represented in the multi-volume publication «Vegetation of Russia». A shortened version of the Concept (English version was kindly revised by Dr. Andrew Gillison, Center for Biodiversity Management, Cairns, Queensand, Australia) is below. Vegetation classification of Russia Research Program Concept Systematic classification and inventory of plant communities (phytocoenoses) is fundamental to the study and forecasting of contemporary complex processes in the biosphere, controlled among other factors, by global climate change. Vegetation classification serves as a common language that enables professionals in various fields of science to communicate and interact with each other in the process of studying and formulating practical ecosystem-related management decisions. Because plant community types can carry a great deal of information about the environment, nearly all approaches to simulation of changes in global biota are based inevitably on vegetation categories. Phytocoenosis is a keystone element when assessing the biodiversity genetic potential, formulating decisions in biological resource management and in sustaining development across Russian territories. Among the world’s vegetation classification systems, phytosociology is a system in which the concept of plant association (basic syntaxon) is the basic element in the classification of phytocoenoses. The phytosociological approach as applied in this concept proposal, has its origins in the Brussels Botanical Congress in 1910. However, despite the broad acceptance of phytocoenotic diversity as a fundamental methodological tool for understanding biosphere processes and managing biological resources nowadays, we still lack a unified approach as to its systematization at both global and country levels with the consequence that, there is no a single classification system. The results obtained by vegetation scientists working under European Vegetation Survey led by L. Mucina became the effective reference for international cooperation in vegetation classification. In the last 17 years they have produced a system of vegetation classification of Europe, including the European part of Russia (Mucina et al., 2016. «Vegetation of Europe: hierarchical floristic classification system of vascular plant, bryophyte, lichen, and algal communities»). Despite the fact that «Vegetation of Europe» is based on ecological and floristic principles, it nevertheless represents an example of the synthesis of one of the most effective approaches to systematizing vegetation diversity by different vegetation science schools. The synthetic approach implemented in this study assumes full accounting of the ecological indicative significance of the floristic composition and structure of plant community and habitat attributes. The approach has already demonstrated its high efficiency for understanding and forecast modeling both natural and anthropogenic processes in the biosphere, as well as in assessment of the environmental and resource significance of vegetation (ref). The demand for this approach is supported by its implementation in a number of pan-European and national projects: NATURE 2000, CORINE, CarHAB, funded at the state and pan-European levels. Currently, one of the main systems for the study and protection of habitats within the framework of environmental programs of the European Union (Davies, Moss, 1999; Rodwell et al., 2002; Moss, 2008; Linking..., 2015; Evans et al., 2018) is EUNIS (European Nature Information System), the framework of which is a multilevel classification of habitats in Europe has been established. EUNIS was used as the basis for the preparation and establishment of the Red List of European Habitats (Rodwell et al., 2013). It is approved by the Commission of the European Union (EU) (Habitats Directive 92/43 / EEC, Commission of the European Communities) for use in environmental activities of EU countries. In its Resolution of 10.12.2019, the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) expressed the need in a modern vegetation classification for the assessment of the ecosystem transformations under current climate changes and increasing anthropogenic impacts, as well as in development of effective measures...

This paper presents an analysis of modern methods used to determine antioxidant activity. According to research by the World Health Organization, the deficiency of such important nutrients as antioxidants leads to a decrease in body resistance and the development of chronic diseases. When it comes to diet, the inclusion of foods with a high content of antioxidants helps to increase life expectancy. As a result of this research, the mass concentration of phenolic substances and the antioxidant activity of phenolic antioxidants in young white and red table wine materials were determined using amperometric and chemiluminescent methods in order to determine antioxidant activity. Regression equations reflecting the relationship between the indicator of antioxidant activity and the value of the mass concentration of phenolic substances in young table wine materials were derived. The conversion coefficient for determining the mass concentration of phenolic substances when using Trolox-C and gallic acid as standards was established, which was—3.75. Based on a multiple linear regression model, the total antioxidant activity of the samples (F₉.₅ = 19.10 and p = 0.0023) can be fairly accurately predicted with an R² of 0.921 for the calibration data set. A neural network regression model (NNRM) was chosen for the machine-learning regression analysis of the antioxidant activity of the wine samples due to its effectiveness in predicting outcomes in various applications. The implementation was performed using the fitrnet function provided in the Statistics and Machine Learning Toolbox in MATLAB R2021b. The MSE of the calibration model was 0.056; however, the MSE for the three validation samples was much higher, at 0.272.

Obviously, the moment has come in agriculture and forestry when we must decide to gradually abandon (where possible) non-selectively acting chemical insecticides, taking into consideration the overall decrease in the total biomass of insects, especially pollinators, and the increased number of diseases and human deaths directly or indirectly associated with chemical insecticides. Yet with the world facing the rapid growth of human populations, the annual reduction of cultivated areas, and substantial losses from insect pests, most experts believe that no serious alternative to chemical insecticides exists. However, there is definitely room to create more well-tailored chemical insecticides. And there is hope, in the form of effective DNA insecticides able to provide an adequate level of safety for non-target organisms. In this short communication describing experiments carried out on the larvae of Ceroplastes japonicus Green (feeding on Ilex aquifolium Linnaeus), we show for the first time the enormous potential for the use of DNA insecticides in the control of soft scale insects and how they could replace non-selective organophosphate insecticides.