In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of diseases caused by bacterial, fungal, and viral infections. Infections affect plants at different stages of agricultural production. Depending on weather conditions and the phytosanitary condition of crops, the prevalence of diseases can reach 7080% of the total plant population, and the yield can decrease in some cases down to 8098%. Plants have innate cellular immunity, but specific phytopathogens have an ability to evade that immunity. This article examined phytopathogens of viral, fungal, and bacterial nature and explored the concepts of modern plant protection, methods of chemical, biological, and agrotechnical control, as well as modern methods used for identifying phytopathogens.

This current article was dedicated to the determination of the composition of phenolic compounds in extracts of four species of the genus Filipendula in order to establish a connection between the composition of polyphenols and biological effects. A chemical analysis revealed that the composition of the extracts studied depended both on the plant species and its part (leaf or flower) and on the extractant used. All four species of Filipendula were rich sources of phenolic compounds and contained hydrolyzable tannins, condensed tannins, phenolic acids and their derivatives, and flavonoids. The activities included data on those that are most important for creating functional foods with Filipendula plant components: the influence on blood coagulation measured by prothrombin and activated partial thromboplastin time, and on the activity of the digestive enzymes (pancreatic amylase and lipase). It was established that plant species, their parts, and extraction methods contribute meaningfully to biological activity. The most prominent result is as follows: the plant organ determines the selective inhibition of either amylase or lipase; thus, the anticoagulant activities of F. camtschatica and F. stepposa hold promise for health-promoting food formulations associated with general metabolic disorders.

This review discusses the main methods of breeding material development, the current state, problems and prospects for medicinal and essential oil plants breeding. The relevance of this area has especially increased due to the sanctions, the resulting shortage of medicinal plants and their low quality, which does not meet the requirements of the pharmaceutical industry. To produce a stable plant raw material base, it is necessary to actively develop a breeding process to create new highly productive varieties of medicinal plants resistant to biotic and abiotic environments. In breeding with the use of modern molecular biological methods, related species and generic complexes of the All-Russian Research Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (VILAR) collection can be involved, where there is extensive original genetic material of medicinal, essential oil, rare and endangered species. In the breeding of medicinal and essential oil crops, traditional methods of individual and individual-family selection, polyploidy, chemical mutagenesis and a combination of methods to obtain original breeding material are still promising. VILAR has created more than 90 varieties of medicinal and essential oil crops, most of which have been approved for use throughout the Russian Federation.

Calendula officinalis L. is a well-known plant widely used in traditional medicine due to the presence of various biologically active compounds. The main raw material for the production of medicinal preparations is the inflorescence, which consists of ligulate and tubular flowers. However, the characteristics of the metabolome of these flowers are not fully understood. This study identified and compared the levels of major metabolites in the ligulate and tubular flowers of two C. officinalis cultivars, ‘Golden Sea’ (GS) and ‘Paradise Garden’ (PG). The metabolome was analysed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection and a Q Exactive Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometer. It was found that the tubular flowers of both PG and GS cultivars had higher levels of lipids, phenolamides and caffeoylquinic acids and lower levels of triterpenoid glycosides than the ligulate flowers. It was also shown that the inflorescences of the GS, which had a 35% higher proportion of tubular flowers, contained 30% more phenolic compounds and 50% more lipids than the PG. Thus, the results obtained extend our understanding of the features in the metabolomes of ligulate and tubular flowers and suggest that the quality of inflorescences of C. officinalis cultivars, as a source of medicinal preparations, is strongly influenced by the proportion of ligulate and tubular flowers.

The main aims of this study were (1) to identify and compare the major biologically active compounds in the metabolome of ligulate and tubular flowers of two C. officinalis cultivars, ‘Golden Sea’ (GS) and ‘Paradise Garden’ (PG), and (2) to investigate the effect of different proportions of ligulate and tubular flowers in the inflorescences on their metabolome. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection and a Q Exactive Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometer were used to analyse the flower metabolome. Analysis of the metabolomics data revealed that polar lipids showed the most significant differences between flowers. Tubular flowers of PG and GS cultivars contained higher levels of 31 and 34 out of 36 lipids, respectively. Furthermore, tubular flowers of both cultivars contained significantly higher levels of phenolamides and caffeoylquinic acids, but lower levels of triterpenoids. To compare the metabolite content of the two C. officinalis cultivars, we analysed the data for their inflorescences. The study showed that GS inflorescences contained significantly higher levels of phenolic compounds and lipids than PG inflorescences. This GS advantage was due to two factors: firstly, the higher content of these metabolites in tubular flowers and, secondly, the higher proportion of tubular flowers in GS inflorescences.

Фенольные соединения растительного происхождения широко используются во многих областях медицины и сельского хозяйства. Изучение механизмов их образования и накопления представляет собой сложную задачу и включает определение активности ключевых ферментов их синтеза, одним из которых является шикиматдегидрогеназа. При этом выделение белков и ферментов из растительного сырья осложнено присутствием фенольных соединений и пигментов. Целью исследования было изучение применимости метода ацетонового осаждения белка из грубых экстрактов листьев облепихи крушиновидной (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) и свидины шелковистой (Cornus sericea L.) для определения активности ферментов на примере шикиматдегидрогеназы. Объектом исследования были листья облепихи крушиновидной (H. rhamnoides) и свидины шелковистой (C. sericea). Выделение белка из грубого экстракта проводили охлажденным ацетоном с различным насыщением и трехкратной отмывкой осадка, после чего он растворялся в буфере. Активность шикиматдегидрогеназы определяли при рН=10.0 и выражали в нкат на мг белка. Были выделены фракции белка с различной активностью шикиматдегидрогеназы из листьев облепихи крушиновидной (H. rhamnoides) и свидины шелковистой (C. sericea). Показано, что фракция белка, полученная при соотношении 1 : 1.5 (экстракт : ацетон, 60% насыщения), наиболее удобна в работе, имеет высокую активность фермента и не содержит окрашенных примесей. Данный способ выделения и предварительной очистки белка является быстрым, требует малого количества образца и подходит для скрининговых исследований активности различных ферментов в лекарственных растениях.