The foliar feeding of soil-grown plants with essential elements such as molybdate can restore their Nitrate reductase activity. However, the activity of nitrate reductase under the foliar feeding of plants with molybdate and nitrate in hydroponic conditions has not been investigated. Thus, we wanted to investigate the effect of the foliar feeding of molybdate and nitrate on the nitrate reductase activity in the leaves of lemon balm plants under hydroponic conditions. Nitrate and molybdate solutions were applied by spraying the leaves of lemon balm plants and the nitrate reductase activity was determined by the colorimetric method. The results of our study demonstrated that the application of molybdate and KNO₃ solution enhanced the nitrate reductase activity in the leaves of lemon balm plants. Importantly, our results indicate that foliar fertilization with nitrate and molybdate can improve nitrogen metabolism and carbon fixation in the leaves of lemon balm plants under hydroponic conditions.

Bayanaul State National Nature Park (BSNNP), which was established in 1985 and is one of the biggest natural parks in the Republic of Kazakhstan, conserves and rehabilitates the natural flora and fauna of the Bayanaul mountain range. This article expands the floristic inventory of BSNNP and identifies the ecological and ethnobotanical importance of the park. The literature revealed that 681 plant species inhabited the BSNNP region but it was hypothesized that the park’s plant diversity was greater than the documented 681 plant species. Following our expedition travels to BSNNP, we extended the flora summary with an addition of 81 new plant species. Now, according to this study, the flora of BSNNP comprises 762 plant species belonging to 335 genera and 81 families. The leading families are Asteraceae Dumort., Poaceae Barnhart, Brassicaceae Burnett, Fabaceae Lindl, Rosaceae Juss., Caryophyllaceae Juss, Lamiaceae Lindl., Apiaceae Lindl., and Scrophulariaceae Juss. They comprise 57.7% of the total plant species in the national park and 58.5% of the total genera. The largest genera are wormwood, sedge, onion, cinquefoil, speedwell, and astragalus, based on which these genera can be considered polymorphic. Moreover, 16 species of endemic plants belonging to 14 genera and 7 families were also reported. The flora is characterized by high biological diversity with the participation of boreal relicts. The largest group among useful species is medicinal plants, represented by 186 species (24.4%) belonging to 83 genera, and 39 families. Our findings enhance the scientific understanding of plant diversity in BSNNP and provide the groundwork for future conservation research.

Ikromov EE, Kuchboev AE, Ikromov EF, Sümer N, Yildirimhan HS, Amirov OO, Zhumabekova B. 2023. Morphological and molecular characteristics of the species Cosmocerca commutata and C. ornata (Nematoda: Cosmocercidae) in Uzbekistan. Biodiversitas 24: 4609-4616. In studies on the helminth fauna of amphibians conducted by numerous researchers, two species of the genus Cosmocerca, namely Cosmocerca ornata (Dujardin, 1845) Diesing, 1861 and C. commutata (Diesing, 1851), have emerged as the most common and extensively studied. This paper elucidates the morphology and molecular characteristics of two nematode species, Cosmocerca commutata and C. ornata, found in the intestines of Pelophylax sp. and Bufotes pewzowi in the Ferghana Valley of Uzbekistan. The captured amphibians were individually kept in plastic bags with water and vegetation until the examination. It is the first record of B. pewzowi as a host for both species C. commutata and C. ornata. Standard methods were used for the fixation and processing of nematodes. These nematodes ?orphologically differ in body size, relative length of spicules and gubernaculum (C. commutata has twice the length of gubernaculum and spicules compared to C. ornata), shape and number of plectanes (C. commutata has 8 pairs of plectans and 4 pairs of caudal papillae, while C. ornata has 5 pairs of plectanes and 3 pairs of caudal papillae), and tail morphology and length. The morphological evidence supports that C. commutata and C. ornata commonly parasitize anurans in Uzbekistan. This study provides molecular data of both species and their sequences differed by 1.5% (6 bp) in the ITS1+5.8S+ITS2 region. Each species of them formed a well-supported clade in the phylogenetic tree. Our findings contribute to the comprehension of species and genetic diversity of the genus Cosmocerca in Uzbekistan.

The objective of this article is to investigate the impact of virtual laboratories (biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics) on students’ interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields over six months of study. The study involved 317 participants from Alkey Margulan Pavlodar Pedagogical University (Pavlodar Region, Kazakhstan), who were divided into experimental and control groups. An experimental approach was employed, wherein participants underwent training using virtual laboratories for six months. Statistical methods, specifically t-tests for paired and independent samples, were employed to analyze the results. The experiment revealed a statistically significant positive influence of virtual laboratories on students’ interest in STEM fields. Participants in the experimental group exhibited an increased interest in biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics compared to the control group. The research findings hold important practical implications for enhancing STEM education. The implementation of virtual laboratories may contribute to an increase in students’ interest in studying STEM disciplines, which is crucial for shaping the future generation of specialists in these fields. Future considerations should involve exploring various types of virtual laboratories, taking into account sociocultural context, and addressing individual differences among students. Additionally, it is essential to investigate the longer-term effects of using digital technologies in STEM education.

This article reveals the current topic of the development of cognitive activity of students during biology lessons using virtual laboratories. The results of the theoretical analysis of scientific publications and research devoted to the study of the essence and features of educational and cognitive activity of modern schoolchildren are presented. The purpose of the research was to study the influence of a virtual laboratory on the educational and cognitive activity of students in the biology subject. The criterion for the effectiveness of virtual laboratory work was a change in the success of learning and the development of cognitive motivation in the seventh grade students in their dynamics. The data of the mathematical analysis of the reliability of the obtained research results (error within p> 0.01) are presented. Significant differences were found in the relationship between knowledge quality, academic performance, motivation, and the use of virtual lab activities concerning the "knowledge quality" and "cognitive motives" parameters, as well as selfdevelopment motives. The analysis revealed a moderately high score on these scales in both the first group (control group) and the second group (experimental group) (p >0.01). This suggests that the implementation of virtual lab activities has a greater impact on students' knowledge level and academic engagement. Based on the results of the study, the necessity of using virtual laboratory work as one of the factors in the development of cognitive activity of students has been justified.

This article addresses one of the current issues in education: the use of resources in biological disciplines classes that are required for students to develop meta-subject competencies. The incorporation of natural objects into educational content can create a favorable environment for teaching biology classes and assist students in developing necessary knowledge about regional flora. The authors created a set of integrated plant tasks that require knowledge of ecology, plant physiology, and evolution. The main goal of tasks is to learn about regional plant species and to control what you have learned. Certain activities are specifically created for hands-on engagement with nearby natural entities to determine their taxonomic classification, morphological characteristics, and adaptations. This approach, according to the authors, ensures productivity in biology teaching.