Amazing Discoveries of Benthic Fauna from the Abyssal Zone of Lake Baikal.

Lake Baikal is a natural laboratory for the study of species diversity and evolution, as a unique freshwater ecosystem meeting the all of the main criteria of the World Heritage Convention. However, despite many years of research, the true biodiversity of the lake is clearly insufficiently studied, especially that of deep-water benthic sessile organisms. For the first time, plastic waste was raised from depths of 110 to 190 m of Lake Baikal.

The Phylogenetic Position of Spironucleus sp. (Diplomonadida: Hexamitidae) from the Intestine of Chinese Sleeper Perccottus glenii Dybowski, 1877 (Actinopterygii: Odontobutidae).

Introduction: The Chinese (Amur) sleeper (Perccottus glenii Dybowski, 1877) (Actinopterygii: Odontobutidae) is a freshwater fish species with high invasive potential. Diplomonads have been detected in the intestines of Chinese sleepers using light microscopy.

Aim: The aim of this study was to identify the diplomonads in Chinese sleepers using molecular-genetic methods.

Genetic diversity of Diplomonadida in fish of the genus Coregonus from Southeastern Siberia.

Diplomonadida are primitive flagellate protozoa, among which both commensals and pathogens have been recorded. To date, members of the genera Hexamita and Spironucleus have been reported in the digestive system of fish in the Baikal region. We determined the genetic diversity of Diplomonadida in fish of the genus Coregonus from south-eastern Siberia using molecular-genetic methods.

[Study of the Microbiome of the Intestine of the Comephorus dybowski Korotneff, 1904].

Data on metagenomic analysis of the microbial community of the intestine of the Comephorus dybowski are presented for the first time. It was established that the bacterial community is characterized by a significant species diversity. In its composition 301 phylotypes (OTU) belonging to 23 phyla (out of which six are candidate, including the Thermobaculum, Gracilibacteria, Candidatus Saccharibacteria, TM6, Latescibacteria, and Parcubacteria) were detected.

Long-term cultivation of primmorphs from freshwater Baikal sponges Lubomirskia baikalensis.

The work was aimed at performing long-term cultivation of primmorphs in vitro from freshwater sponge Lubomirskia baikalensis (Pallas 1776), collected from Lake Baikal, obtaining its long-term primmorph culture in both natural (NBW) and artificial (ABW) Baikal water and at identifying the impact of different environmental factors on formation and growth of primmorphs. The first fine aggregates of L. baikalensis are formed in vitro 10-15 min after dissociation of sponge cells.

Canine distemper virus diversity in Lake Baikal seal (Phoca sibirica) population.

Morbillivirus epizootics in marine mammals have been found in a variety of marine mammal species throughout the world over the past 20 years. The virus epizootic which resulted in significant mortality of Siberian seals (Phoca sibirica) in Lake Baikal during 1987-1988 was caused by the canine distemper virus (CDV). In our previous papers we provided evidence that the CDV similar to strain, identified in 1988, continued to circulate in Lake Baikal seals after 1988.

[Molecular-genetic comparison of morbilliviruses which caused epizooty in Baikal (Phoca siberica) and Caspian (Phoca caspica) seals].

The nucleotide sequences were determined for a phosphoprotein gene fragment of canine distemper virus (CDV) by using the RT-PCR method with the subsequent sequencing of amplicons from total RNA isolated from 2 samples of Caspian seals, 15 samples of Baikal seals and from samples of dog's and sea-lion's brains. The above materials were phylogenetically analyzed. The heterogeneity of the virus circulating in the Baikal-seal population was demonstrated.

[Estimation of the efficiency of ERIC-PCR typing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis for evaluation of the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant strains].

Twenty-four antibiotic-resistant and sensitive strains of M. tuberculosis isolated from different territories of the Irkutsk region (East Siberia) were studied using PCR genotyping by enterobacterial repetitive intergeneric consensus (ERIC). Evolution relationships are illustrated by phylogenetic trees as a result of analysis by UPGMA and ML approaches.

Canine distemper virus in Lake Baikal seals (Phoca sibirica).

The virus epizootic which resulted in significant mortality in Siberian seals (Phoca sibirica) in Lake Baikal during 1987/88 was caused by canine distemper virus. Sequence analysis of the virus glycoprotein genes revealed that it was most closely related to recent European field isolates of canine distemper virus. This paper presents evidence that the same virus continued to circulate in seals in Lake Baikal after the initial epizootic.

Characterisation of morbilliviruses isolated from Lake Baikal seals (Phoca sibirica).

Sequence analysis of the haemagglutinin protein (H) gene of the morbillivirus (PDV-2) isolated from a Siberian seal (Phoca sibirica) during the 1987/1988 epizootic in Lake Baikal revealed that it was most closely related to two recent isolates of canine distemper virus (CDV) from Germany and different from CDV vaccines currently in use in that region. The virus continued to circulate in seals in Lake Baikal after the 1987/1988 epizootic since sera collected from culled seals in the spring of 1992 were positive in morbillivirus ELISA tests, reacting most strongly with the CDV antigen.