In search of pathogenic Leptospira species in Myotis and other vesper bats, Russia.

Various bat species worldwide have been identified as Leptospira carriers, especially in tropical regions. In this study, we investigated the infection of Vespertilionidae bats by pathogenic Leptospira in north-west Russia. Out of 264 bats from 13 species, the urine of 24 specimens tested positive according to a polymerase chain reaction test.

Signals of positive selection in genomes of palearctic Myotis-bats coexisting with a fungal pathogen.

Disease can act as a driving force in shaping genetic makeup across populations, even species, if the impacts influence a particularly sensitive part of their life cycles. White-nose disease is caused by a fungal pathogen infecting bats during hibernation. The mycosis has caused massive population declines of susceptible species in North America, particularly in the genus Myotis.

Effect of Long-Term Light Deprivation on α-Tocopherol Content in Rats during Ontogeny.

We studied the effect of long-term light deprivation which began at different stages of ontogeny on the content of α-tocopherol in rats during the first 3 months of postnatal development. In the offspring postnatally exposed to constant darkness, the level of α-tocopherol in the liver, kidneys, heart, skeletal muscles, and lungs was significantly decreased at the early stages of postnatal ontogeny (2 weeks and 1 month). In rats kept under constant darkness after birth, the content of α-tocopherol in the lungs was also reduced at the age of 1 month.

[Absence of photoperiodism and digestive enzymes in rats: the role of the age and endogenous melatonin level.].

We studied the effect of prolonged absence of a photoperiodic signal (constant lighting and constant darkness) on the changes of digestive enzymes' activity in late postnatal ontogenesis of rats. Age-related alterations are characterized as a change in activity of enzymes, as well as a redistribution of the functional activity between the amylo- and lipolytic links, the upper and lower divisions of the gastrointestinal tract. It was shown that along with age, the activity of enzymes is affected both by the absence of photoperiodism and by the level of melatonin associated with the light regime.

[The influence of light deprivation and luzindol on ovulatory function of rats].

The age dynamics of ovulatory function of rats which were kept in conditions of light deprivation and receiving luzindol (a blocker the melatonin receptors) is investigated in this research. Cytological research of an estrous cycle was conducted quarterly within two years. It is defined that the age changes of an ovulatory cycle in the mode of light deprivation came later and were less expressed in comparison with similar changes at control rat females kept in the conditions of standard lightning.