[Impact of ambient air pollution on the prevalence of main symptoms of asthma in children].

The impact of ambient air pollution on the prevalence of main symptoms of asthma was analyzed in children. A total of 3,506 children were interviewed using the ISAAC questionnaire. The prevalence of the abnormality was studied via continuous questioning in children aged 7-8 and 13-14 years, who lived in areas with varying aerogenic loads.

[The predictors of development of bronchial asthma in children].

The study of the predictors impacting the development of bronchial asthma in children was implemented. For each risk factor the chances ratio and its 95% confidence interval were calculated. The sample consisted of 280 children with bronchial asthma aged from 7 to 14 years and 210 healthy children of the same age.

[The role of chromosome rearrangements in evolution of mole voles of genus Ellobius (Rodentia, Mammalia)].

Modern mole voles of the genus Ellobius are characterized by species-specific features of autosomes and sex chromosomes. Owing to the use of the Zoo-FISH method, the nomenclature of chromosomes was refined and nonhomologous Robertsonian translocations indistinguishable by G-staining were identified for Ellobius tancrei, which is a species with a wide chromosome variation of the Robertsonian type. The electron-microscopic analysis of synaptonemal complexes in F1 hybrids of forms with 2n = 50 and 2n = 48 revealed the formation of a closed SC-pentavalent composed of three metacentrics with monobrachial homology and two acrocentrics.

[Dynamics of chromosome variation in mole voles Ellobius tancrei (Mammalia, Rodentia) in Pamiro-Alai in the period from 1982 to 2008].

Analysis of a new karyological material of mole voles Ellobius tancrei from a zone of high chromosome variation (Pamiro-Alai) in comparison with the data obtained 25 years ago showed a slight shift of the chromosome numbers on the western border of the Robertsonian fan due to the expansion of the area of forms with a low chromosome number. In the central part of the fan zone, the process of active hybridization of forms with different chromosome numbers, but not of the original forms, is still going on. Some problems of speciation on the basis of Robertsonian translocations are discussed.

[Phylogeny and systematics of marmots inferred from inter-SINE PCR data].

Phylogenetic and taxonomic relationships in the genus Marmota were examined using inter-SINE PCR. The primers used were complementary to the consensus sequences of two short retroposons, MIR and B1-dID. The results suggest long-term genetic isolation of Nearctic and Palearctic marmots, but do not support subgeneric subdivision because of relatively low genetic differences between the marmot groups.

[RAPD-PCR analysis of ground squirrels from the Tobol-Ishim interfluve: evidence for interspecific hybridization between ground squirrel species Spermophilus major and S. erythrogenys].

Populations of two ground squirrel species, Spermophilus major and S. erythrogenys, from the interfluvial area of the Tobol and Ishim rivers, where their ranges overlap, have been examined using RAPD-PCR. We have identified 253 loci, which included taxon-specific markers for S.

[Intrapopulation autosomal polymorphism in the common vole Microtus arvalis from the Transcaucasian region].

The broad autosomal polymorphism in form obscurus of common voles Microtus arvalis from the Transcaucasian region that is associated with the variation of subtelocentric chromosome pair 5, as well as the mechanism and evolutionary significance of this polymorphism, are discussed. Based on the morphological analysis of heterozygotes for chromosome pair 5 after differential G-, C-, and Ag-NOR-banding and on the measurements of homologues, the following conclusion has been made. The occurrence of the acrocentric chromosome 5 is the result of a double chromosomal rearrangement: a pericentric inversion and a duplication of the chromosomal material.

[Genetic connections and differentiation of ground squirrels Marmotinae Pocock, 1923 (Rodentia, Sciuridae) from Palearctics].

Genetic distances between eight species of sousliks (Spermophilus) and five species of marmots (Marmota) were estimated on the basis of 39 biochemical loci. All taxa were shown to be genetically discrete. The genetic differentiation was minimal (Pfd = 11.

[Allozyme differentiation of various chromosomal forms of the spotted suslik (Spermophilus suslicus Guld, 1770, Rodentia)].

Eleven enzyme and four nonenzyme protein systems controlled by 25 loci were electrophoretically analyzed in the allopatric karyotypic forms (2n = 34 and 2n = 36) of the spotted souslik Spermophilus suslicus. Genetic variability and differentiation for the forms with different chromosome sets were estimated. Two discriminative loci (Alb and Tf) for the studied chromosome forms were found.

[Sequencing of the mtDNA cytochrome b gene and reconstruction of the matriarchal relationships between wood and field mice of the genus Apodemus (Muridae, Rodentia)].

The primary sequence of a 402-bp part of the cytochrome b gene was determined in nine species of wood and field mice of the genus Apodemus. The majority of mutations were synonymous. The total number of transitions exceeded than of transversions.

[Genetic differentiation of Caucasian wood mice: comparison of isozymic, chromosomal and molecular divergence].

Data on the complex genetic analysis of three sympatric species of Caucasian wood mice, Apodemus ponticus, A. fulvipectus, and A. uralensis are presented.

[A rare case of chromosome mutation in the ground vole Terricola majori (Arvicolinae, Rodentia)].

A rare case of chromosome variability is described for the ground vole, Terricola majori, from the Lagodekhi Nature Reserve (Georgia). This species is characterized by a stable karyotype (2n = 54, NF = 60), but we found an animal in which 2n = 53, NF = 60. The change in the diploid number resulted from a Robertsonian translocation accompanied by a local amplification of satellite sequences in centrometric heterochromatin.

[Variability of cytogenetic characteristics of the spotted ground squirrel Guld. 1770].

Females with abnormal karyotype have been found during studies of genetic variability in the Spermophilus suslicus application of the methods of differential staining has shown that the chromosome aberration are due to deletions of heterochromatin arms. Possible causes of chromosome in the S. suslicus are discussed.

[Molecular-genetic typing of three representatives of the transpalearctic species of forest and field mice (Apodemus, Muridae, Rodentia)].

The genomes of three species of wood mouse (Apodemus falzfeini and A. ponticus from the Caucasus and A. argenteus from Japan) were compared by means of restriction analysis of nuclear DNA.

[Nucleolus organizer regions and B-chromosomes of field mice (Mammalia, Rodentia, Apodemus)].

Distribution of nucleolus organizer regions (NORs) in karyotypes was studied in 10 species of wood mice, including Apodemus flavicollis, A. sylvaticus, A. uralensis (= A.

[Karyotype evolution in the genus Ellobius (Microtinae, Rodentia)].

Comparative analysis was undertaken of the pattern of G-dyed chromosome sets of three Ellobius species: E. tancrei, E. fuscocapillus, E.

[Relationship between the study of DNA reassociation kinetics of various chromosomal forms of Ellobius and questions concerning the pathways of chromosome rearrangement during evolution].

Fifteen chromosome forms of Ellobius talpinus (from 2n = 31 to 2n = 54) were found in the small area in the Pamirs. Low-chromosome karyotypes evolved from 54-chromosomal ancestral form by Robertsonia centric fusions. The DNA reassociation kinetics of 34- and 54-chromosome forms of E.