Abstract. Orazov A, Myrzagaliyeva A, Mukhitdinov N, Tustubayeva S. 2022. Callus induction with 6-BAP and IBA as a way to preserve Prunus ledebouriana (Rosaceae), and endemic plant of Altai and Tarbagatai, East Kazakhstan. Biodiversitas 23: 3178-3184. This article presents the results of the study of in vitro conditions for the cultivation and induction of callus tissues of a rare plant species Prunus ledebouriana(Schlecht.) Y.Y.Yao (Ledebour's almond), endemic plant to East Kazakhstan. For the first time, protocol and optimal composition of Murashige & Skoog (MS) were developed for obtaining calendemiclus tissues. The main indicator of successful introduction was the frequency of callus tissue formation in vitro. Two types of explants were used: the whole embryos and embryos with a removed root part. The removal of the root part inhibited the organogenesis of the embryonic root and the first shoot, which allowed the accumulation of nutrients for the growth of the callus mass and increased the frequency by 7.79±0.46%. Various exogenous phytohormones such as Kinetin, 6-BAP, GA, IBA were added to the MS culture medium. A decrease in Kinetin concentrations of 0.04 mg/L resulted in a lower intensity, but a higher frequency of formation (72.00±5.66%) and mass gain. The average concentration up to 0.5 mg/L of exogenous phytoregulators, such as GA and 6-BAP, resulted in frequency from 65.38±5.44% to 72.00±5.66%, the concentration of IBA up to 1 mg/L increased the frequency from 46.00±2.83 to 72.00±5.66%. The protocol for obtaining callus from an embryonic explant and the composition of the optimal nutrient medium for the induction of callusogenesis made it possible to obtain P. ledebouriana meristem tissues for further use in the development of callus cryopreservation technology.

Proso millet is an important allotetraploid cereal crop; however, it is the least studied species of the Poaceae family, as it is an under-utilized crop. Genomic resources for proso millet are very limited compared to major crops. An understanding of the genetic relationships among germplasm resources is important for future breeding endeavors. In the present study, simplesequence repeat (SSR) markers were employed to assess the polymorphism and genetic diversity of 100 millet accessions from different countries, which were tested in the dry steppe zone conditions of the Akmola region from 2020 to 2022. The use of 20 SSR markers detected a total of 47 alleles, with an average allele number of 2.35 per locus among these proso accessions. Nine of them were polymorphic among the genotypes, which suggests that these SSR markers can be used for genetic studies. The results showed a moderate level of polymorphism information content (PIC) that averaged at 0.424, ranging from 0.125 to 0.795. The markers SSR-67, SSR-82, SSR-85 and SSR-109 showed high PIC values of 0.536, 0.756, 0.795 and 0.758, respectively. Markers SSR 85 and SSR 86 significantly correlated to agronomic traits, such as productive tillering (PT) and grain yield (GY). The genetic structure, UPGMA cluster and PCoA assay indicated that the accessions that originated from Central Asia had higher genetic diversity. Based on structure (K = 3), all the accessions were divided into three groups, where the gene pool that originated from Central Asia wasdetected in all three clusters. Based on a principal component analysis (PCA), the accessions of Central Asian origin were genetically closer to the North Asian group.

This study lays the groundwork for conservation efforts and the management of genetic resources in wild almond species of Central Asia.

This article studies the morphological parameters of vegetative and generative organs of different age groups of Crataegus ambigua from four populations in Western Karatau (Mangistau region, Kazakhstan). In this study, we examined four populations: Sultan Epe, Karakozaiym, Emdikorgan, and Samal, all located in various gorges of Western Karatau. Several phylogenetic inference methods were applied, using six genetic markers to reconstruct the evolutionary relationships between these populations: atpF–atpH, internal transcribed spacer (ITS), matK, psbK–psbI, rbcL, and trnH–psbA. We also used a statistical analysis of plants’ vegetative and generative organs for three age groups (virgin, young, and adult generative). According to the age structure, Samal has a high concentration of young generative plants (42.3%) and adult generative plants (30.9%). Morphological analysis showed the significance of the parameters of the generative organs and separated the Samal population into a separate group according to the primary principal component analysis (PCoA) coordinates. The results of the floristic analysis showed that the Samal populations have a high concentration of species diversity. Comparative dendrograms using UPGMA (unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean) showed that information gleaned from genetic markers and the psbK–psbI region can be used to determine the difference between the fourth Samal population and the other three.

Colchicine is a substance used to induce mutations in order to regulate important agronomic traits. The genotypes Pavlodarskoe 4, Quartet, and PI 289324, originating from Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, and Hungary, respectively, were used as materials. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of different colchicine concentrations (0.0, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08, and 0.1%) and treatment times (6, 12, and 24 h) on the agronomic traits of proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) and to assess the genetic diversity of the M₂ generation using inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers. The experiment was conducted in 2021 for the M₁ generation and in 2022 for the M₂ generation, from May to September. The percentage of field germination decreased with increasing colchicine concentrations and exposure durations. The mean field germination percentages were 48.57% in Pavlodarskoe 4, 43.28% in Quartet, and 53.14% in PI 289324 under colchicine treatment. Chlorophyll-defective M₁-M₂ plants were obtained using various colchicine concentrations and exposure periods. The highest number of mutational modifications was attained with the 0.08–0.1% concentrations of colchicine. Based on the research results, a total of 248 plants with chlorophyll-defective mutations were selected from 2214 plants. The growing seasons of M₁ and M₂ plants were shortened by higher colchicine concentrations (0.08–0.1%) combined with soaking times of 12 and 24 h. Thus, the longest growing season (84 days) was observed with a 6 h treatment time for PI 289324, while the shortest (78 days) was recorded for 12 and 24 h treatments. The possibility of obtaining morphological mutations using colchicine has been confirmed. The ISSR primers amplified a total of 1333 fragments; 1281 bands were found to be polymorphic, and 52 bands were monomorphic. The percentage of polymorphism varied from 80 to 100%, with an average of 96.11%. Most of the different allelic bands were detected when applying the 0.08% colchicine concentration. These positive variations are a great opportunity to use colchicine as a tool for improving agronomic traits in plant breeding.

This study delves into the phytocenotic structure and biodiversity of forest ecosystems dominated by species of the family Betulaceae (Betula pendula, Betula pubescens, and Alnus glutinosa) in the Kostanay region of Kazakhstan. The research is a significant step toward understanding the influence of environmental factors, particularly hydrological regimes and soil conditions, on the formation and functioning of these forest communities. Field studies were conducted across multiple plots, where detailed geobotanical descriptions and analyses of species diversity were performed. The results underscore the significant species diversity, with 146 vascular plant species identified across various forest types, and are of great importance. Birch forests exhibit higher species diversity than alder forests, with the highest diversity observed in plots with favourable moisture conditions. The study concludes that the hydrological regime is critical in shaping these forest ecosystems’ phytocenotic structure and productivity. These conclusions underline the importance of biodiversity conservation and sustainable forest management in the region, making the implications of this research significant and far reaching.