The environment significantly impacts the lives of bees and their feeding. This study aimed to investigate bee foraging using melissopalynological analysis and DNA metabarcoding in intensive farming, reserved, and urbanized areas. The highest alpha diversity was observed in the reserved and intensive farming areas. The urbanized area had less diversity. In the intensive farming area, Sinapis, Helianthus, and Fagopyrum predominated; in the reserved area, Melilotus, Helianthus, and Brassica predominated. In the urbanized area, garden plants, namely radish (Raphanus sativus) and cucumber (Cucumis hystrix), and agricultural plants, namely soybean (Glycine max) and melon (Cucumis melo), were often found. The most significant agreement was between the rbcL and the melissopalynological analysis. The ITS2 revealed equal matches with both rbcL and melissopalynology, but this marker missed or underestimated some genera. Trifolium pretense and Brassica nigra were identified simultaneously by the melissopalinology method and two genetic markers in DNA metabarcoding. The species Convolvulus arvensis, Melilotus officinalis, Echium vulgare, Brassica rapa, Helianthus divaricatus, and Onobrychis viciifolia were found in all ecological areas. Imperfect databases impose some limits in the identification of some taxa using metabarcoding. The further research and expansion of plant databases is needed. Studying the food preferences of bees in different environmental conditions and landscapes is necessary to develop measures to preserve their populations.

The environment significantly impacts the life of bees and their feeding. This study aimed to investigate bee foraging using melissopalynological analysis and DNA metabarcoding in ​​intensive farming, reserved, and urbanized areas. The highest alpha diversity was observed in the reserved and in the intensive farming areas. The urbanized area has less diversity. In the intensive farming area predominated: Sinapis, Helianthus, and Fagopyrum; in the reserved area: Melilotus, Helianthus, and Brassica. In the urbanized area garden plants: radish (Raphanus sativus) and cucumber (Cucumis hystrix) and agricultural plants: soybean (Glycine max) and melon (Cucumis melo) were often found. The most significant agreement was between the rbcL and the melissopalynological analysis. The ITS2 revealed equal matches with both rbcL and melissopalynology but this marker missed or underestimated some genera. Trifolium pretense and Brassica nigra, were identified simultaneously by three analyses. Species Convolvulus arvensis, Melilotus officinalis, Echium vulgare, Brassica rapa, Helianthus divaricatus, and Onobrychis viciifolia were found in all ecological areas. Imperfect databases put some limits for identification of some taxa using metabarcoding. Further research and expansion of plant databases is needed. Studying the food preferences of bees in different environmental conditions and landscapes is necessary to develop measures to preserve their population.

This article presents the results of a comprehensive study of clinical, hematological, and morphological changes observed in dogs affected by canine transmissible venereal tumor (CTVT). The study was conducted in 2024–2025 at a veterinary diagnostic center in Astana. The aim of the research was to assess the prevalence of CTVT among dogs, identify risk factors for disease development, and characterize the main diagnostic features of the tumor. A total of 2,500 dogs of various breeds, age groups, and housing conditions underwent clinical examination. Among the examined animals, oncological pathology was identified in 425 cases, of which 23 dogs (5.4%) were diagnosed with CTVT. Analysis of anamnestic data demonstrated that the incidence of CTVT depends on sex, age, breed, and housing conditions. The disease was predominantly recorded in male dogs, which accounted for 73.9% of cases, likely due to transmission mechanisms and behavioral factors. Clinical investigations revealed that the main clinical signs of the disease included bloody or purulent discharge from the external genital organs and the formation of tumor-like masses in the genital area. In complicated cases, signs of general intoxication were observed, including increased body temperature, general weakness, and decreased appetite. Hematological studies revealed the development of anemia and leukocytosis in severe forms of the disease. Cytological examination identified characteristic morphological features of tumor cells, fully confirming the diagnosis. The obtained results expand current knowledge of CTVT pathogenesis and may be used to improve early diagnostic approaches and enhance the effectiveness of veterinary oncological practice.

Background and Aim: Canine transmissible venereal tumor (CTVT), also known as transmissible venereal sarcoma, is a naturally occurring, contagious neoplasm primarily transmitted by the transfer of viable tumor cells during mating. Although the disease is widely distributed worldwide, epidemiological and clinicopathological data from Central Asia remain scarce. This study aimed to characterize the epizootological distribution, clinical manifestations, hematological and biochemical alterations, microbiological findings, and morphological features of CTVT in dogs presented to a Veterinary Diagnostic Center in Astana, Kazakhstan. Materials and Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted from February 2024 to February 2025. A total of 2,500 dogs were screened, and 425 dogs with tumor-like lesions underwent clinical, laboratory, cytological, histopathological, and microbiological investigations. Twenty-three dogs with confirmed CTVT were included in the final analysis. Animals were categorized according to the presence (n = 13) or absence (n = 10) of purulent complications. Clinical examination, complete blood count, serum biochemical analysis, cytological evaluation using smear-imprint and fine-needle aspiration techniques, histopathological assessment, and microbiological testing were performed. Statistical analyses included Student’s t-test, Mann–Whitney U test, Fisher’s exact test, and odds ratio estimation, with significance set at p < 0.05. Results: CTVT accounted for 23 of 425 tumor-bearing dogs (5.4%). The disease was more frequently observed in males (73.9%) and in dogs aged 1.5–5 years (65.2%). Mixed-breed dogs represented the largest affected group (47.8%). Clinically, all dogs exhibited friable genital masses accompanied by hemorrhagic discharge, while purulent exudation occurred in 56.5% of cases. Extragenital involvement was identified in 8.7% of dogs. Animals with purulent complications showed significantly elevated heart rate and respiratory rate (p < 0.001), leukocytosis, reduced hemoglobin concentration, and lower hematocrit values. Biochemical analysis revealed increased concentrations of urea, creatinine, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, bilirubin, and alkaline phosphatase in dogs with purulent lesions. Cytological examination demonstrated round tumor cells with eccentrically positioned nuclei, coarse chromatin, prominent nucleoli, abundant cytoplasmic vacuoles forming a characteristic “string-of-pearls” pattern, and marked mitotic activity. Histopathological findings confirmed the diagnosis and supported the observed cytomorphological features. Conclusion: This study provides the first comprehensive clinicopathological, epizootological, microbiological, and morphological characterization of CTVT in dogs from Kazakhstan. Male sex, reproductive age, and inadequate reproductive control were associated with disease occurrence. Cytoplasmic vacuolization and high mitotic activity were reliable morphological indicators of CTVT. The findings provide valuable baseline data to improve diagnosis, surveillance, and disease management strategies in Central Asia. Keywords: biochemistry, canine transmissible venereal tumor, cytology, dog, epidemiology, histopathology, microbiology, oncology.

Global climate change on Earth has a significant impact on various populations of living organisms. In recent years, bee populations have been declining in all countries of the world. The main reasons for this phenomenon: the use of chemicals in crop production, urbanization and sowing of vast territories with monocultures, the widespread use of GMO plants, climate change, pathogens and bee diseases. Determining the botanical composition of honey is an urgent task in the study of bee ecology. Data in the form of taxonomic characteristics of the floral composition of honey can be used to develop measures to protect bee populations, determine the medicinal value, improve the quality and production of honey. The traditional approach to studying the plant composition of honey is palynological analysis of pollen based on microscopic examination, which is labor-intensive, time-consuming and requires special palynological knowledge. The development of next-generation sequencing methods has made it possible to use the amplicon metabarcoding method to determine the floral composition of honey at the gene level. The article describes methods for determining the botanical composition of honey using the classical palynological method and using metabarcoding of environmental DNA of honey, and describes their advantages and disadvantages. Глобальное изменение климата на Земле оказывает существенное влияние на различные популяции живых организмов. В последние годы во всех странах мира наблюдается уменьшение популяции пчел. Основные причины этого явления: использование химических веществ в растениеводстве, урбанизация и засев монокультурами огромных территорий, широкое распространение ГМО растений, изменение климата, патогены и болезни пчел. Определение ботанического состава меда является актуальной задачей в изучении экологии пчел. Данные, в виде таксономической характеристики флорального состава меда могут быть использованы для разработки мероприятий по охране популяций пчел, определения лечебной ценности, повышения качества и производства меда. Традиционным подходом изучения растительного состава меда является палинологический анализ пыльцы на основе микроскопического исследования, который является трудоемким, требует много времени и специальных палинологических знаний. Развитие методов секвенирования нового поколения позволило использовать метод метабаркодирования ампликонов для определения флорального состава меда на генном уровне. В статье приводится описание методов определения ботанического состава меда классическим палинологическим методом и с помощью метабаркодирования экологической ДНК меда, описаны их преимущества и недостатки.

Honey is a natural, healthy product obtained by honey bees from flower nectar or honeydew. They collect and process it, adding specific bee substances and storing them in honeycombs in the hive. Honey is a product of both plant and animal (bee) origin. Bees produce flower honey from the nectar of flowering plants and honeydew from the sweet secretions of plants or insects. The study of honey's botanical composition allows us to determine its type and assess its quality. In addition, determining plant components bees consume allows us to judge their food preferences and the availability of food resources in a particular region. Our study aimed to determine honey's botanical composition from an ecologically clean, protected area of Northern Kazakhstan using melissopalinological analysis. In total, 1181 pollen types (41%) were found in all honey samples at the family level, 877 at the genus level (30.4%), and 824 at the species level (28.6%). The dominant plant families in the honey samples were Fabaceae (Leguminosae), Asteraceae (Compositae), Polygonaceae, and Boraginaceae. At the genus level, Helianthus, Fagopyrum, Echium, Brassica, and Onobrychis accounted for the most significant number. The main plant species found in the honey samples were Helianthus annuus L., Fagopyrum esculentum Moench, Echium vulgare L., Onobrychis arenaria, Brassica napus L., Melilotus officinalis (L.) Pall. The plant species identified by melissopalinological analysis are characteristic of the region of Northern Kazakhstan, based on climatic and geographical conditions and the use of agricultural land, which confirms the effectiveness and applicability of this method for determining the botanical composition of honey.