Determination of chemotypes and of their role in the polymorphism of populations is an important field in the research on secondary metabolites of plants. In the present study, by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, the composition of bark extracts from rowan S. aucuparia subsp. sibirica was determined for 16 trees growing within Akademgorodok of Novosibirsk, with bark samples collected both in winter and summer. Among 101 fully or partially identified metabolites, there are alkanes, alkenes, linear alcohols, fatty acids and their derivatives, phenols and their derivatives, prunasin and its parent and derivative compounds, polyprenes and their derivatives, cyclic diterpenes, and phytosterols. These compounds were grouped according to their biosynthesis pathways. Cluster analysis revealed two groups among the bark samples collected in winter and three groups among bark samples collected in summer. The key determinants of this clustering are the biosynthesis of metabolites via the cyanogenic pathway (especially potentially toxic prunasin) and their formation via the phytosterol pathway (especially potentially pharmacologically useful lupeol). It follows from the results that the presence of chemotypes having sharply different profiles of metabolites in a population from a small geographic area invalidates the practice of general sampling to obtain averaged data when a population is described. From the standpoint of possible industrial use or plant selection based on metabolomic data, it is possible to select specific sets of samples containing a minimal amount of potentially toxic compounds and the largest amount of potentially useful substances.

Fifty-three species of perennial grasses in the genus Elymus L. (Poaceae), which are widespread in Russia, are generally assumed to have three haplome combinations: StH, StY and StHY. The StH-genome species, endemic to Russia, remain the least studied. R. Mason-Gamer and co-authors have previously shown in a series of studies that a molecular phylogenetic analysis of the low-copy gene waxy (GBSS1) sequences significantly complements cytogenetic data on the genomic constitution and evolutionary relationships among both North American and Asian species of the genus Elymus. To determine the species’ genomic constitution and to evaluate the level of phylogenetic differentiation, we examined the GBSS1 gene in 18 species of Elymus from Siberia and the Russian Far East, including the fol- lowing 14 endemics: E. charkeviczii, E. jacutensis, E. kamczadalorum, E. komarovii, E. kronokensis, E. lenensis, E. macrourus, E. margaritae, E. subfibrosus, E. sajanensis, E. transbaicalensis, E. peschkovae, E. uralensis, and E. viridiglumis.PCR amplification products of GBSS1 gene fragments (including exons 9–14) were cloned and 6–8 clones per accession were sequenced. It appears that all the species studied have St and H subgenomic gene variations. The most significant differences between the subgenomic variants St and H were found in intron 13. The H subgenome contains a 21-bp-long deletion in intron 13 in all Elymus genotypes, probably derived from a common ancestor of the H and P genomes. Instead of this deletion, all St subgenomes have a relatively conservative sequence similar to that of the genus Pseudoroegneria, whose ancestor is considered to be the donor of the modern St subgenome for all Elymus species. Cluster phylogenetic analysis revealed differentiation in St and H subgenome sequences into two evolutionary variants: St1 vs. St2 and H1 vs. H2, respectively. Variants of the St and H subgenomes were found homologous to various modern species of the ancestral genera Pseudoroegneria and Hordeum: St1 to P. strigosa, St2 to P. spicata, H1 to H. jubatum, and H2 to H. californicum. The details of the relationships between Russian and North American species of the genus, as well as a number of microevolutionary interconnections in the group of boreal endemic species of Siberia and the Russian Far East were revealed. The new results obtained here are essential for the development of a phylogenetically oriented taxonomic system for the genus Elymus.

The most serious problem of intergeneric and interspecific hybridization is related to overcoming the reproductive isolation of different species. We assessed the efficiency of reproduction under in vitro conditions and the ex vitro growth capacity of interspecific hybrids of Vaccinium uliginosum × (V. corymbosum × V. angustifolium). The percentage of seed germination in in vitro culture was 88% for V. uliginosum, form No. 8 × (V. corymbosum × V. angustifolium), SC5-8, while it was 42% for V. uliginosum, form No. 8 × (V. corymbosum × V. angustifolium), ‘Northcountry’. The analysis of mean value showed that the multiplication rate increased and the shoot height decreased as the 2-isopentenyl adenine (2iP) concentration was increased in the nutrient medium of the studied hybrids. The maximum rate was achieved using 15 μM 2iP. A detailed analysis of the hybrids indicated that the hybrid variant reliably affected growth and development indicators. Inter simple sequence repeat analysis demonstrated that all analyzed hybrids inherited DNA fragments of the parent plants in various combinations, confirming their hybrid nature. Thus, the use of in vitro methods for the propagation and further selection of genotypes is demonstrated as being an effective approach for developing interspecific hybrids of V. uliginosum × (V. corymbosum × V. angustifolium).

The genus ElymusL., together with wheat, rye, and barley, belongs to the tribe Triticeae. Apart from its economic value, this tribe is characterized by abundance of polyploid taxa formed in the course of remote hybridization. Single-copy nuclear genes are convenient markers for identification of source genomes incorporated into polyploids. In the present work, a CAPS-marker is developed to distinguish basic St, H, and Y genomes comprising polyploid genomes of Asiatic species of the genus Elymus. The test is based on electrophoretic analysis of restriction patterns of a PCR-amplified fragment of the gene coding for beta-amylase. There are about 50 Elymusspecies in Russia, and most of them are supposed to possess one of three haplome combinations, StH, StY and StHY. Boreal StH-genomic species endemic for Russia are the least studied. On the basis of nucleotide sequences from public databases, TaqI restrictase was selected, as it produced patterns of restriction fragments specific for St, H, and Y haplomes easily recognizable in agarose gel. A sample of 68 accessions belonging to 32 species was analyzed. In 15 species, the earlier known genomic constitutions were confirmed, but in E. kamojithis assay failed to reveal the presence of H genome. This unusual H genome was suggested to originate from a different Hordeum species. In 16 species, genomic constitutions were identified for the first time. Fifteen accessions from Asian Russia possessed the genomic constitution StStHH, and E. amurensis, phylogenetically close to the StY-genomic species E. ciliaris, had the genomic constitution StStYY. It is inferred that the center of species diversity of the StH-genomic group is shifted to the north as compared to the center of origin of StY-genomic species, confined to China.

Microevolutionary relationships between the Far Eastern StY-genomic species Elymus ciliaris and E. amurensis were studied using a set of experimental methods. No relationship was found between the formal species affiliation of a particular accession and the component composition of protein spectra. The consensus neighbor-joining (NJ) dendrogram based on the variability of ISSR markers showed the features of differentiation among different morphotypes of the two species. Pubescence of leaf blades is not a marker of differences between the studied species. A level of crossability in E. ciliaris s. l. did not allow to study the inheritance of morphological traits. According to the results of sequencing of the nuclear gene GBSS1, the sequences of the St subgenome are the most informative in terms of microevolutionary differentiation. It is proposed to return to the early treatment by N.N. Tsvelev, where E. ciliaris and E. amurensis were considered as subspecies of E. ciliaris s. l.