The aim of this study was to assess the genetic diversity of peach (Prunus persica (L.)) cultivars in the Nikitsky Botanical Garden collection using ddRAD-seq technology to establish molecular genetic passports and analyze the relationship between genetic structure and phenotypic traits. Leaves from 56 peach cultivars of different origin were used. DNA was isolated using the CTAB buffer method, libraries for sequencing were prepared using MspI and PstI restriction enzymes, and sequencing was performed on an Illumina NovaSeq6000 platform. Data processing included alignment to the P. persica reference genome and SNP filtering using the Stacks2, bowtie2, and R software packages. UPGMA, PCA, and DAPC methods were used to assess genetic relationships. Several thousand SNPs were obtained, allowing us to identify 14 genetic clusters reflecting the high intraspecific diversity of the collection. The genetic structure partially correlated with fruit ripening time, with a pronounced distinction between early- and late-ripening varieties. Forty informative SNP markers, localized primarily on chromosomes 1, 4, and 8, were identified, sufficient to identify all studied genotypes. The ddRAD sequencing method has proven effective for mass genotyping of peach varieties. The obtained results provide the basis for developing a SNP panel suitable for cultivar certification, varietal purity monitoring, and optimization of breeding programs.

A novel idaeovirus was discovered in stinging nettles (Urtica dioica) with yellow mosaics on the leaves. The virus was initially detected in the Main Botanical Garden, Moscow, Russia, using high-throughput sequencing and was tentatively named “nettle idaeovirus” (NIdV). The complete NIdV genomes from two symptomatic plants (designated as YM and VB) consisted of two RNAs of 5424 and 2195 nucleotides (nt) that were predicted to encode typical idaeovirus proteins. NIdV-YM and NIdV-VB isolates shared 98.6

The spectacled cormorant, Pallas cormorant (Urile perspicillatus (Suliformes: Phalacrocoracidae)), played an important role as a source of animal protein for sailors, fur traders, and the permanent population of the Commander Islands, Russia. This endemic bird species was hunted to extinction due to human activity in the mid-19th century. Currently, there is no published genetic information available about the spectacled cormorant, and its phylogenetic relationships are primarily based on morphological traits. This study aims to address this knowledge gap by presenting two complete mitochondrial genomes from two historical specimens of this extinct species, dating back to 1510 − 1220 cal BP and 500 − 230 cal BP years, respectively. We sequenced the ancient DNA of the extinct spectacled cormorant from Bering Island in order to reconstruct its complete mitochondrial genome and determine its phylogenetic position among other extant species in the Phalacrocoracidae family. The mtDNA of the spectacled cormorant was assembled and annotated, revealing that its mitogenome is 16,895 base pairs long. It contains 13 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNA genes, and 22 transfer RNA genes, with an overall base composition of 32.3

More than ten species of the Actinidia Lindl. genus bear edible fruits rich in biologically active compounds, which are essential and beneficial for human health. The most popular cultivars today are the large-fruited Actinidia species, A. deliciosa and A. chinensis, commonly known as kiwi. However, small-fruited kiwi cultivars are gaining prominence due to their high nutritional value, superior cold resistance, and suitability for temperate climates. In Russia, these are represented by Far Eastern species: A. arguta, A. kolomikta, and A. polygama. Despite increasing consumer interest, Russian Actinidia cultivars remain little studied, with fragmented genetic data available for breeding purposes. Our objective was to analyze the Actinidia collection at the Federal Horticultural Center for Breeding, Agrotechnology, and Nursery and the N.V. Tsitsin Main Botanical Garden (MBG RAS, Moscow), which includes samples from four species, A. kolomikta, A. arguta, A. polygama, A. purpurea, interspecific hybrids, and derived varieties, using RAD sequencing. We assessed the genetic variability of all species, identified population groups within A. kolomikta and A. arguta based on origin, determined ploidy levels across the collection, and identified a set of SNP markers associated with valuable agronomic traits.

Understanding the transcriptional responses of plants under cold stress conditions is critical for olive cultivation, particularly in regions prone to extreme weather fluctuations and especially with increasing threats from climate change. In controlled experiments, we subjected leaves of three cold-tolerant and three cold-susceptible cultivars to moderate (−7 °C) and severe (−12 °C) freezing stress, followed by recovery at baseline temperatures. The study measured photosynthetic efficiency and enzymatic activity and showed physiological and gene expression changes using different methods. Distinct transcriptomic adaptations were revealed. Cultivars displayed enhanced differential expression associated with photosynthetic recovery and gene regulation in metabolic pathways. Two overlapping DEGs with increased expression were found in all cultivars during initial freezing.

Phlox are ornamentals of great decorative value, grown throughout the world for their attractive flowers. Phlox cultivar collections at the Tsitsin Main Botanical Garden and the Botanical Garden of Lomonosov Moscow State University (both Moscow, Russia) were surveyed for virus diseases. Tobacco streak ilarvirus (TSV), beet ringspot nepovirus (BRSV), and BRSV satellite RNA (satRNA) were first detected in phlox when viromes of symptomatic Phlox paniculata plants were studied using high-throughput sequencing. The nearly complete genomes of three TSV and BRSV isolates and two BRSV satRNAs were assembled and characterized. TSV isolates shared 96.9–99.7% nucleotide sequence identity and were 82.2–89.1% identical to their closest relatives from broad bean, dahlia, and echinacea. BRSV isolates were distantly related to each other (83.7–89.3% identity) and were closest to those from oxalis and potato. BRSV satRNAs shared 90.6% identity and were 87.8–94.1% identical to satRNAs associated with tomato black ring virus L and S serotypes. Thus, TSV, BRSV, and BRSV satRNA were for the first time detected in a new natural host P. paniculata in Russia, adding to the list of known phlox viruses and expanding information on the host range, geographic distribution, and genetic diversity of these viruses.

High-grade B-cell lymphoma (HGBL), not otherwise specified (NOS), is a rare entity within the spectrum of B-cell lymphomas. HGBL, NOS remains a diagnosis of exclusion with limited data available on the optimal clinical approach. We report a case of a 67-year-old man with HGBL, NOS with a germinal center B-cell (GCB) immunophenotype. The disease was characterized by an aggressive clinical course, refractory to multiple lines of cytotoxic chemotherapy, immunotargeted treatment, therapy with a PD-1 inhibitor, and haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (haplo-HSCT). Ultimately, the disease progression led to the patient’s death nine months post-diagnosis. A FISH assay identified a sole genetic rearrangement: BCL2/IGH. Whole-exome sequencing revealed a number of significant somatic mutations, such as TP53 p.C238G, B2M p.L12R, STAT6 p.D419G, STAT3 p.S614R, TREX1 p.T49fs, and CREBBP p.C367Ter, as well as a high focal amplification of the MUC3A gene and the deletion of the short arm of chromosome 17 (del(17p)). An inactivating somatic mutation in the TREX1 gene (p.T49fs) has not been previously described in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphomas. Additionally, our analysis uncovered a key cancer hallmark: tumor genomic instability, manifested as a high tumor mutational burden, which likely contributed to the aggressive disease course.

The brown bear (Ursus arctos L., 1758) is a widespread bear species inhabiting the forest zone of Eurasia, including the Republic of Yakutia. The association with forest habitats explains why the Pleistocene findings of U. arctos fossils are rare in the northern part of Eastern Siberia, where open steppe-tundra and steppefied landscapes prevailed during the Pleistocene. Fossils of U. arctos that have been found on the territory of Yakutia are dated since the beginning of the Middle Pleistocene. These are mainly the skulls and bones of the postcranial skeleton. In the present study, using comparative morphological analysis, computed tomography, and DNA sequencing, we describe a first mummified carcass of a brown bear individual that inhabited the New Siberian Islands (Northeast Siberia) in the Middle Holocene, approximately 3,500 years BP, which was found in the permafrost of Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island, Russia, in 2020.

The North Caucasus played a key role during the ancient colonization of Eurasia and the formation of its cultural and genetic ancestry. Previous archeogenetic studies described a relative genetic and cultural continuity of ancient Caucasus societies, since the Eneolithic period. The Koban culture, which formed in the Late Bronze Age on the North Caucasian highlands, is considered as a cultural “bridge” between the ancient and modern autochthonous peoples of the Caucasus. Here, we discuss the place of this archeological culture and its representatives in the genetic orbit of Caucasian cultures using genome-wide SNP data from five individuals of the Koban culture and one individual of the early Alanic culture as well as previously published genomic data of ancient and modern North Caucasus individuals. Ancient DNA analysis shows that an ancient individual from Klin-Yar III, who was previously described as male, was in fact a female. Additional studies on well-preserved ancient human specimens are necessary to determine the level of local mobility and kinship between individuals in ancient societies of North Caucasus. Further studies with a larger sample size will allow us gain a deeper understanding of this topic.

Actinidia Lindl. is a genus of plants, some species of which are of great economic importance. Varieties of large-fruited Actinidia, known as kiwi (A. deliciosa and A. chinensis), are widely distributed on the world market, however, recently attempts have been made to domesticate small-fruited Actinidia, which in Russia are represented by several far-eastern species. The genomics and genetics of Actinidia are developing in different directions, often in accordance with the needs of breeders. The review describes genomic and genetic studies related to the most important agricultural traits of Actinidia: genetic diversity, chemical composition of fruits, sex coding, response to frost, storage, and transportation of crops.

This study is the first attempt to analyze the genetic diversity of the Central Ciscaucasia population during the Late Bronze Age – Early Iron Age and Early Middle Ages. The authors analyzed 120 samples from 10 burial grounds of the Koban and Alan archaeological cultures, as well as representatives of the Middle Sarmatian culture and the North Caucasian population of the Sarmatian period. Data on the variability of mitochondrial DNA (m-tDNA) of 71 individuals were obtained. An analysis of the previously collected and published information allows concluding that the analyzed populations are characterized by a significant diversity of mtDNA with a predominance of West Eurasian mitochondrial haplogroups. East Eurasian lines of inheritance can be traced in small numbers among the population of the Koban culture (5%), as well as among the Sarmatian (14%) and Alanian populations (11%). The most common lines of Western Eurasian origin are different variants of haplogroups H, U and N. At the same time, a significant diversity of mtDNA haplogroups is observed at all burial sites, except for the Kich-Malka II burial ground, where during the 7th century BC – the early 6th century AD the succession of individuals on the maternal line was recorded, represented by haplogroup H2a2a1. Study in the latter requires a more detailed approach using whole genome sequencing. Comparison of the analyzed sample with previously published data on the genetic portrait of the North Caucasus population in the Early and Middle Bronze Age makes it possible to conclude that representatives of the East Eurasian cluster of mtDNA haplogroups arrived in the Central Ciscaucasia rather late, it was probably associated with contacts between the Koban culture carriers and the nomadic steppe population.

We conducted a survey of the phytosanitary status of the Prunus germplasm collection in the Nikita Botanical Gardens, Yalta, Russia. The virome of plants displaying virus-like symptoms was studied using Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing. Reads related to prunus necrotic ringspot virus (PNRSV), prune dwarf virus (PDV), and ourmia-like virus 1 (OuLV1) were generated in a number of samples. Near complete genomes of two divergent PNRSV isolates, PDV isolate, and a contig partly covered OuLV1 genome were assembled de novo using the metaSPAdes program. The structure of the genomic RNA1, RNA2, and RNA3 of the new ilarvirus isolates was shown to be typical of PNRSV and PDV. This is the first report and characterization of the PNRSV and PDV full-length genomes from Russia, expanding the information on their geographical distribution and genetic diversity. An open reading frames (ORF)-based phylogeny of all full-length PNRSV and PDV genomes available in GenBank divided each ORF into two or three main clusters. A number of isolates migrated from one cluster to another cluster, depending on the analyzed genome segment. The different branching order may indicate reassortment in the evolutionary history of some PDV and PNRSV isolates.

Paleoclimatic changes during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition is suggested as a main factor that led to species extinction, including the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) and the Don-hare (Lepus tanaiticus). These species inhabited the territory of Eurasia during the Holocene, but eventually went extinct. The Don-hare is an extinct species of the genus Lepus (Leporidae, Lagomorpha), which lived in the Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. For a long time, the Don-hare was considered a separate species, but at the same time, its species status was disputed, taking into account both morphological data and mitochondrial DNA. In this study, mitochondrial genomes of five Don-hares, whose remains were found on the territory of Northeastern Eurasia were reconstructed. Firstly, we confirm the phylogenetic proximity of the "young" specimens of Don-hare and mountain or white hare, and secondly, that samples older than 39 Kya form a completely distinct mitochondrial clade.

In this study, we report the complete chloroplast genome of Actinidia arguta var. purpurea. The chloroplast genome is 157,369 bp long as the circular (GC ratio is 37.22%). It has four subregions: a large single-copy (LSC) region of 88,609 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) region of 20,470 bp, and two inverted repeat regions (IRs) of 24,145 bp in each. The chloroplast genome of A. arguta var. purpurea contains a total of 113 unique genes, which are 79 protein-coding genes, 4 rRNA genes, and 30 tRNA genes. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that A. arguta var. purpurea has the most genetic similarity to A. kolomikta. These findings can be used to identify Actinidia species.

The ardA genes are present in a wide variety of conjugative plasmids and play an important role in overcoming the restriction barrier. To date, there is no information on the chromosomal ardA genes. It is still unclear whether they keep their antirestriction activity and why bacterial chromosomes contain these genes. In the present study, we confirmed the antirestriction function of the ardA gene from the Bifidobacterium bifidum chromosome. Transcriptome analysis in Escherichia coli showed that the range of regulated genes varies significantly for ardA from conjugative plasmid pKM101 and from the B. bifidum chromosome. Moreover, if the targets for both ardA genes match, they often show an opposite effect on regulated gene expression. The results obtained indicate two seemingly mutually exclusive conclusions. On the one hand, the pleiotropic effect of ardA genes was shown not only on restriction-modification system, but also on expression of a number of other genes. On the other hand, the range of affected genes varies significally for ardA genes from different sources, which indicates the specificity of ardA to inhibited targets.Author Summary. Conjugative plasmids, bacteriophages, as well as transposons, are capable to transfer various genes, including antibiotic resistance genes, among bacterial cells. However, many of those genes pose a threat to the bacterial cells, therefore bacterial cells have special restriction systems that limit such transfer.Antirestriction genes have previously been described as a part of conjugative plasmids, and bacteriophages and transposons. Those plasmids are able to overcome bacterial cell protection in the presence of antirestriction genes, which inhibit bacterial restriction systems.This work unveils the antirestriction mechanisms, which play an important role in the bacterial life cycle. Here, we clearly show that antirestriction genes, which are able to inhibit cell protection, exist not only in plasmids but also in the bacterial chromosomes themselves.Moreover, antirestrictases have not only an inhibitory function but also participate in the regulation of other bacterial genes. The regulatory function of plasmid antirestriction genes also helps them to overcome the bacterial cell protection against gene transfer, whereas the regulatory function of genomic antirestrictases has no such effect.

Despite the high level of interest, the population history of arctic foxes during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene remains poorly understood. Here we aimed to fill gaps in the demographic and colonization history of the arctic fox by analyzing new ancient DNA data from fossil specimens aged from 50 to 1 thousand years from the Northern and Polar Urals, historic DNA from museum specimens from the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago and the Taymyr Peninsula and supplementing these data by previously published sequences of recent and extinct arctic foxes from other regions. This dataset was used for reconstruction of a time-calibrated phylogeny and a temporal haplotype network covering four time intervals: Late Pleistocene (ranging from 30 to 13 thousand years bp), Holocene (ranging from 4 to 1 thousand years bp), historical (approximately 150 years), and modern. Our results revealed that Late Pleistocene specimens showed no genetic similarity to either modern or historical specimens, thus supporting the earlier hypothesis on local extinction rather than habitat tracking.

In different countries, interest in the commercial cultivation of the olive has recently greatly increased, which has led to the expansion of its range. The Crimean Peninsula is the northern limit of the common olive (Olea europaea L.) range. A unique collection of common olive's cultivars and hybrids has been collected in the Nikitsky Botanical Gardens (NBG). The aim of this study was to assess the genetic diversity of 151 samples (total of several biological replicates of 46 olive cultivars including 29 introduced and 11 indigenous genotypes) using the ddRAD sequencing method. Structural analysis showed that the studied samples are divided into ten groups, each of which mainly includes cultivars of the same origin. Cultivars introduced to the Crimean Peninsula from different regions formed separate groups, while local cultivars joined different groups depending on their origin. Cultivars of Crimean origin contain admixtures of mainly Italian and Caucasian cultivars' genotypes. Our study showed that the significant number of Crimean cultivars contains an admixture of the Italian cultivar "Coreggiolo". Genetic analysis confirmed the synonymy for the cv. "Otur" and "Nikitskaya 2", but not for the other four putative synonyms. Our results revealed the genetic diversity of the olive collection of NBG and provided references for future research studies, especially in selection studies for breeding programs.

About ten species of the genus Actinidia Lindl. are known as cultivated plants—alongside the most known A. chinensis var. deliciosa, there are many others, including Far-Eastern cold-hardy kiwifruits such as A. arguta, A. kolomikta, and A. polygama. Unlike most plant species, in which the chloroplast genome is maternally inherited, the family Actinidiaceae possesses a complex system of plastid inheritance with possible transmission through both maternal and paternal lines. The main aim of this work was the assembly of the plastid genomes of three species of Actinidia, their comparison with already-available sequences from databases, and evolutionary analyses. We discovered that the gene composition and gene sequences are conserved; the studied species are either subject to purifying selection or not subject to selection at all (with some exceptions, such as the ycf2 gene). However, the chloroplast chromosomes of some Actinidia species have undergone significant structural rearrangements, leading to the persistence of two main forms, both on an intrageneric and intraspecific level. These results expand our understanding of plastid genomics and genetic diversity within the genus Actinidia, providing a basis for future research in molecular marker development, phylogenetic analysis, and population studies.

A morphological description is provided for a unique find of a frozen mummified subfossil brown bear ( Ursus arctos L., 1758), found for the first time ever. The find is a well-preserved bear carcass of approximately 3500 years in age. Results of computed tomography and DNA testing are discussed.

The formation and maturation of stone fruits are complex processes that require the involvement of many genes and gene products. Early research on the peach fruit ( Prunus persica (L.) Batsch) and the differences in ripening periods of its cultivars mainly focused on the already ripe fruit. However, in the early stages of fruit formation, there may be significant differences between cultivars that have different ripening periods. We identify and analyze differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between flowers, fertilized ovaries, and fruits at the S1 stage in cultivars that have different ripening periods, both between cultivars and from stage to stage. Gene expression in peach cultivars that have different ripening periods differs even in the early stages of fruit formation. The most significantly enriched categories of DEGs in this case are photosynthesis, redox reactions, and processes associated with cell-wall modification; thus, by the time the fruit forms, hormonal reception becomes more important.