There were considered molecular, physiological-biotechnical and morphological features of R-. R-, S- and M-dissociates of Pseudomonas Aeroginosa. For all three dissociates, 100 % of the sequence similarity of the fragments of their genes encoding 16S pPNC. Using a number of methods, dissociates compared the ways of using glucose. In R-cells respiration prevailed, in M-cells – fermentation with formation of formic acid, which lead to the ability of cells to grow in the anaerobic conditions, in S-cells observed switching from one glucose pathway to another. The determination of the resistance of bacteria to the action of external factors showed that R-dissociate had selective advantage with an increase in temperature of the growth, UV irradiation and storage, M-dissociate with the lowering of the temperature of cultivation and an increase of the osmotic pressure. The use of sub inhibitory concentrations of substances used to suppress the development of biofilms leads to stimulation of growth of these biofilms increase in the proportion due to advantageous increase in the proportion of thick-walled and rapidly growing R-cells.

The R and M variants of a purple photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides 2R grown on a medium with acetate accumulate poly-ß-hydroxybutyrate (PHB). Accumulation of this polymer occurs in the cells grown either anaerobically on the light or aerobically in the dark. On the medium with C/N imbalance (C/N = 4), PHB content during the stationary growth phase under aerobic conditions in the dark was 40 and 70% of the dry biomass of the R and M variant, respectively. The Rba. sphaeroides M variant is therefore a promising culture for large-scale PHB production. Investigation of activity of the TCA cycle enzymes revealed that decreased activity of citrate synthase, the key enzyme for acetate involvement in the reactions of the tricarboxylic acid cycle, was primarily responsible for enhanced PHB synthesis by Rba. sphaeroides. Moreover, the Rba. sphaeroides M variant grown under aerobic conditions in the dark exhibited considerably lower activity of NADH oxidase, which participates in the oxidation of reduced NADH produced in the TCA cycle during acetate oxidation. The combination of these two factors increases the possibilities for acetate assimilation via an alternative mechanism of PHB synthesis.

The growth and composition of a population were studied during long-term (up to 50 days) batch cultivation of mono and mixed cultures of Pseudomonas aeruginosa S- and M-dissociants and Rhodobacter sphaeroides R- and M-dissociants without the addition of nutrients. During the cultivation of P. aeruginosa on a glucose-containing mineral medium, periodic lysis followed by polyculture growth resumption in the late stationary phase occurred on account of the M-dissociant: the change in its cell number corresponded to the change in the total cell number of the association. It was shown that the periodic occurrence of reducing sugars in the medium preceded the resumption of polyculture growth.

Growth, bacteriochlorophyll a content, electron transport chain (ETC), and activities of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle enzymes were studied in R and M phase variants of Rhodobacter sphaeroides cells grown anaerobically in the light and aerobically in the dark. Under all cultivation conditions tested, bacteriochlorophyll a content was 2–3 times lower in the cells of the M variant compared to the R variant, which therefore was predominant in the cultures grown in the light. In both variants, activity of all TCA cycle enzymes was higher for the cells grown in the dark under aerobic conditions. When grown aerobically in the dark, the R variant, unlike the M variant, did not contain cytochrome aa 3, acting as cytochrome c oxidase, in its ETC. An additional point of coupling the electron transfer to the generation of the proton gradient at the cytochrome aa 3 level provided for more efficient oxidation of organic substrates, resulting in predominance of the M variant in the cultures grown in the dark under aerobic conditions.

The main principles of the environmental standardization of hazardous impacts experienced by natural ecosystems and approaches to this standardization based on the analysis of in situ biological and physicochemical monitoring are described. The possibilities of applying standardization methods are discussed, including methods based on background and averaged values of the characteristics to be standardized, a model analysis of the effect of abiotic components on natural communities, and in situ technology of establishing local environmental standards. Some principles underlying the environmental standardization are presented. The classification of ecosystems by their environmental quality is described.

The basic systematic approaches to ecological standardization of pollutants in natural environment were described with regard to the nature conservation legislation of Russia and other countries. Some special features and shortcomings of the standards of maximum admissible concentrations (MAC) for pollutants were analyzed in comparison to the standards of admissible impacts used in Russia. The efficiency of applying standard integral indices using the values obtained in the laboratory and based on MAC was studied for their application to assessing water quality.

The ability of purple photosynthetic bacteria to form phase variants (dissociants) was discovered. The R and M phase variants were isolated from the Rhodobacter sphaeroides population, and their affiliation with the parent strain was confirmed by the PCR of their 16S rRNA gene fragments. The R and M variants were different both in colony morphology and in resistance to some physical and chemical factors. The R variant of Rhb. sphaeroides had advantages when grown in the light, at elevated temperature, under aeration, and UV irradiation, whereas the M variant had advantages when grown aerobically in the dark or at increased NaCl concentrations.

Описаны основные методические подходы к экологическому нормированию вредних воздействий в природных объектах, юридически закрепленные в природоохранном законодательстве России и зарубежных стран. Описаны особенности и недостатки применяемых в России нормативов пре- дельно допустимых концентраций (ПДК) загрязняющих веществ и базирующихся на них норма- тивов допустимых сбросов и нормативов допустимых воздействий. Обсуждена эффективность применения распространенных интегральных индексов, основанных на найденных в лаборатории ПДК, для оценки качества вод.