[New data on the spread of P-41-positive strains of the rabies virus in arctic and extra-arctic regions].

271 strains of rabies virus, isolated in different regions of the former USSR, were studied with the use of monoclonal antibodies P-41 (Germany). All strains isolated in the arctic regions, as well as some of the strains isolated in nonarctic regions situated 300-1700 km south of the polar circle (the Baltic countries, Central Yakutia, the eastern part of the Transbaikal region), gave positive reaction with these antibodies. Cases of hydrophobia caused by virus with the 41 (+) marker were described.

[Cloning and expression of Clostridium thermocellum F7 endoglucanase gene in gram-negative bacteria].

The endoglucanase gene of Clostridium thermocellum F7 was cloned in Escherichia coli cells using pKM4 vector. Both the physical mapping and analysis of the gene products in the E. coli mini-cells system suggest cloning of a new cel gene different from those described earlier.

[Rabies prognosis in western Siberia and the regulatory factors of the epizootic process].

In this article the regulatory factors of the epizootic process are considered and the spatial-temporal prognostication of rabies infection in the region is proposed on the basis of data on rabies morbidity among animals, the purchase of skins of carnivorous animals for 20-25 years, virological experiments on wild animals, calculation of the number of carnivores and small mammals, as meteorological observations. The study has shown that a variety of animal species serving as hosts for the virus and its population differences contribute to the stable existence of the infection. Rabies morbidity has been found to be positively linked with its preceding level, the number of wild animals, the height and hardness of the snow cover and negatively with the number of small mammals.

[The antigenic characteristics of field strains of the rabies virus from different districts of the USSR studied using antinucleocapsid monoclonal antibodies].

98 rabies virus strains isolated from different species of wild and domestic animals have been studied by means of 36 monoclonal antibodies obtained from the Wistar Institute (USA) and 3--of the Federal Research Center on Viral Diseases of Animals (FRG). The antigenic variants determined in this study have been analyzed in comparison with the data obtained in other regions of the world, thus establishing the spread of these variants and their relationship with different species of animals.

[Abortive and recurrent rabies in dogs intracerebrally infected with the rabies street virus].

In the experiments on dogs inoculated intracerebrally with the "paralytic rabies" variant of the "Yak" strain of street rabies virus we observed spontaneous recovery of 1 out of 5 sick animals. Rabies in this dog was verified by three isolations of the virus from the saliva during the disease and by an increase of antibody titres in the time course of to 6776. In another experiment, among 7 dogs developing rabies after intracerebral inoculation with the "convulsive rabies" variant of the virus one animal showed recurrent form of rabies.

[Cloning and localization of the replication and mobilization regions in the D-plasmid of Pseudomonas putida pBS286 (IncP-9) with a broad host range].

Rep-mob loci of naphthalene degradative plasmid pBS286 (IncP-9) have been cloned on the Escherichia coli vectors pUC19 and pUBR322. These loci confer to recombinant plasmids pBS952 and pBS953 the ability for effective mobilization by RP4 (IncP-1) and F plasmid, as well as constant maintenance in various gram-negative bacteria. Localization of cloned sequences in the restriction fragments of conservative part of the pBS286 genome was established.

[Biological properties of variants of the rabies street virus].

Experiments in dogs inoculated intracerebrally with biological variants of paralytic (PRV) and convulsive (CRV) rabies virus isolated from the Yak strain population of street rabies virus demonstrated distinct differences in the biological properties of the variants PRV induced in dogs paralytic rabies with a short incubation period (average 6.4 days) and CRV induced an atypical convulsive form characterized by attacks of tonic convulsions of the body, legs, and head twitching, and a longer incubation period (18.5 and 9.

[Mapping of the regions participating in the replication, maintenance and mobilization of the R-plasmid pBS222 with a wide circle of bacterial hosts].

The analysis of the deletion derivative of pBS359 obtained as a result of sodium bisulphite mutagenesis and of recombinant derivatives pBS361-pBS363 permitted to map genes of the broad-host-range pBS222 plasmid which participate in replication, maintenance and mobilization. These genes are localized within the coordinates 0.2 to 2.

Expression of E. coli genes carried by hybrids of plasmid RP4.

Hybrids of the RP4 plasmid, containing bacteriophage Mu and chromosomal genes of Escherichia coli, were transferred into Salmonella typhimurium, Pseudomonas putida, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus mirabilis. The individual genes of the arginine, histidine, leucine and threonine operons were expressed in these microorganisms.

[Results of a study of natural foci of rabies and evaluation of the risk of hydrophobia in new construction areas of Eastern Siberia and the Far East].

The tension of the rabies epidemiological situation in the regions of new constructions in Siberia and the Far East was the result of a wide spread of the infection foci and a great number of domestic animals affected by the disease. All over the territory the main-source of the infective agent for humans are dogs, and only in a few cases wild animals. In the mountainous and steppe regions of the south-eastern part of the Transbaikal territory a natural focus of rabies has been revealed.