The effect of LED illumination with different proportions of blue light (BL, 20 and 60 %) and different durations on the functionality of photosystems (PS) in healthy and infected with the fungus Fusarium oxysporum (Fus. oxy.) cucumber leaves was studied. Long-term exposure (25 days) to a light regime with a high share of BL, 60 % and subsequent infection with Fus. oxy., suppressed the functional activity of PSII relative to white light (WL), which was reflected in a significant decrease in the maximum fluorescence of temporarily closed PSII reaction centers (F_m), the effective quantum yield of photochemical reactions (F_v/F_m), the maximum quantum efficiency of PSII (Y(II)), as well as in changes to the nature of the redistribution of absorbed light energy. This resulted in a decline in the intensity of photochemical conversion (qP), the number of open PSII reaction centers (qL) and the rate of electron transport through PSII (ETR(II)). During a 7-day exposure of plants to different light conditions, the main changes in PSII parameters were observed only in infected leaves formed in the BL, 60 %.

Growing on WL and BL, 20 % only slightly changed the contribution of the electron flow on the donor and acceptor sides of PSI in infected cucumber leaves, without affecting the level of P700 oxidation and the quantum yield of photochemical reactions. Infection of plants grown for a long time on BL, 60 % caused a 10-fold decrease in the quantum yield of photochemical reactions of PSI and a significant increase in non-photochemical energy dissipation on the donor and acceptor sides of PSI. The stress effect of the pathogen also enhanced the suppressive effect of BL, 60 % at short exposure, which was reflected in a significant decrease of such parameters as the quantum yield of PSI (Y(I)) and the efficiency of electron transfer in the electron transport chain of PSI (ETR(I)).

The results obtained can be used as a methodological basis for the development of energy-saving LED light sources optimized for growing cucumber plants in closed soil, as well as for monitoring the degree of infection of plants in the early stages of Fusarium infection.

The influence of elicitors (chitosan lactate, succinic acid, extract of Abies sp.) on the physiological and biochemical indexes of the Vaccinium vitis idaea L. cv. ‘Red Pearl’ was studied. The content of biologically active substances, pigments of photosynthesis, antioxidant activity during the adaptation process after treatment with elicitors was determined. For the first time in Belarus by the 2-D electrolysis method the PR-proteins of stress response after elicitors treatment were revealed. It was shown that during the Vaccinium vitis idaea L. adaptation the succinic acid and chitosan treatment are the most effective. It was confirmed that elicitors are perspective for the Vaccinium vitis idaea L. adaptation in the technologies of a planting material production.

The issue of substantial labor and time demands for monitoring bird species diversity and range changes, especially in developing countries, invites novel technological solutions. The recent advancements in machine learning (ML) have led to breakthroughs in AI-based data processing, including tools for automated passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) that utilize on-site bird vocalizations. Here we describe our preliminary results and difficulties encountered when developing an EfficientNetB3-based model for a PAM system to monitor bird diversity in the forested areas of interest in Belarus. A novel dataset of bird vocalizations from Eastern Europe, processed and converted into mel-spectrograms allowed us to achieve a respectable f1-scores (>0.9) in tests for certain species such as nightjar and nutcracker. However, the overall score (0.52) for the 116 species of interest was unacceptably low. Further testing with a more specialized dataset allowed us to determine that the problem lies with the peculiarities of species, and is not limited to species with complex vocalizations. We hypothesize that model overfitting to specific vocalization signals may be one of the main causes. Additionally, certain species require a thorough coverage of their vocalization diversity in the dataset.

In Belarus, the wolf is classified as an unregulated hunting species, and hunting is permitted throughout the year. For many years, the wolf population has been under hunting pressure, yet a moderate proportion persists. However, the disruption of the territorial and sexual structure of the wolf population in the context of a high numbers of stray dogs and free-ranging dogs, can lead to a number of negative consequences, one of which is hybridization. The paper presents the results of molecular genetic identification of wolf-dog hybrids based on STR analysis and the first data on the prevalence of such animals in Belarus. The obtained data confirm the presence of hybridization of wolves with stray dogs in Belarus, while no data are shown on any geographical conditionality or the concentration of hybrid individuals in the regions of the country.

This article presents the results of the sequencing, molecular genetic and comparative analysis of the genome of the phytopathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas amygdali pv. lachrymans 8. The assembled genome sequence has been deposited in the GenBank database of the US National Center for Biotechnology Information (accession numbers: CP075686–CP075690). The calculation of the average nucleotide identity revealed that the genome sequence of strain 8 exhibits 99.87 and 99.79 % similarity with the genome sequences of bacteria P. amygdali pv. lachrymans 814/98 and P. amygdali pv. lachrymans M301315, respectively. The genome of strain 8 was found to be represented by a circular chromosome of 6,054,652 bp with a GC-pair content of 58.11 % and four circular plasmids: pPAL8-01 (77,748 bp, GC-pair content of 56 %), pPAL8-02 (72,398 bp, GC-pair content of 55 %), pPAL8-03 (49,000 bp, GC-pair content of 54 %) and pPAL8-04 (9,600 bp, GC-pair content of 55 %). It is suggested that the route of dissemination of the studied phytopathogen was either parallel from the Netherlands to the USA and Belarus, or first from the Netherlands to the USA and then to Belarus. A comparison of the nucleotide sequence of the strain 8 with the nucleotide sequences of the bacteria P. amygdali pv. lachrymans M301315, NM002 and YM7902 revealed significant genetic rearrangements and determined the localization of a unique region of 19,773 bp.

Intron retention is a mode of alternative splicing in which at least one intron is retained in mature RNA molecules. The inclusion of an intron sequence within the coding region of the mRNA can change the structure, properties and, in some cases, the functions of the corresponding protein. Furthermore, some of these altered proteins can be immunogenic and are considered as potential targets for the treatment of a number of diseases. In general, however, the effect of intron retention on the coding potential of RNA molecules remains poorly studied.

This paper presents the results of a combined transcriptomic-proteomic study of 3540 intron sequences retained in mature RNA molecules of genes that are active in human leukemia cells. The introns were classified according to their coding potential and seven possible ways in which intron retention can influence the subsequent translation of the corresponding transcripts were described. A total of 56 translation-capable intronic sequences were identified, and 3 of them produce previously unknown polypeptides.

The reproductive indicators of the Siberian shrimp Exopalaemon modestus (Heller) from the Kapchagay reservoir (Republic of Kazakhstan) were studied: the dynamics of embryonic development, the size and volume of eggs. Equations were calculated showing that the duration of embryogenesis depends on temperature (coefficient of determination R² = 0.879) and to a small extent on the length of the female (R² = 0.311). On average, the duration of embryonic development is 26.9 ± 7.0 days at an average temperature of 20.6 ± 4.2 °C and an average body length of females of 39.4 ± 2.2 mm. The average length and width of eggs at the initial stage of incubation (eggs without eyes) are 1.16 ± 0.10 and 0.85 ± 0.07 mm, respectively, and the volume is 0.45 ± 0.10 mm³. In the final stage of embryogenesis, the size indicators increase. The length and width of eyed eggs increase by approximately 1.2 times, with an average of 1.37 ± 0.09 and 0.98 ± 0.10 mm, respectively, and the volume increases to 0.70 ± 0.17 mm³.

Our paper describes the registration of crayfish worms on the noble crayfish Astacus astacus from the Dorgomysl River (Mstislavsky district, Mogilev region, Belarus). A total of 101 branchiobdellidans were collected from eight A. astacus individuals. Each individual was separated and identified by key morphological characters, including body size and shape, jaw apparatus structure, and the number of teeth. The found branchiobdellidans were identified as Bran- chi obdella pentadonta, which is the first record of this species in Belarus.