[Spatial distribution of soil animals: a geostatistical approach].

Spatial distribution is one of the main parameters of populations of soil animals. Spatial soil ecology having been developing during last decades bases animal distribution estimates on the geostatistic approach. A simple principle underlying the latter's methodology is that samples placed close to each other have more similarity than those distantly placed, it is usually called autocorrelation.

[A model of enzymatic decarboxylation of glutamic acid].

Interaction of glutamate decarboxylase with its adequate substrate and some quasi-substrates was studied by spectrokinetic, quantum-chemical and some other approaches. It was shown that in the course of decarboxylation an abortive transamination of pyridoxal-5'-phosphate leading to the enzyme inactivation does occur. Identification of intermediate coenzyme-substrate complexes allowed to formulate a model of enzymatic decarboxylation taking into account both the main and abortive reactions.

[Electron spectroscopy and the electron structure of molecules].

The experimental-theoretical approach to the study of physico-chemical, in particular, spectroscopic and photochemical properties of groups of related molecules is considered. The problem of physically correct spectral decompositions of complex electronic spectra into bands corresponding to separate electronic transitions and of the information obtained therefrom is discussed. Concrete examples of revealing photo- and enzymatic reaction mechanisms by combined spectroscopic and theoretical studies of molecular electronic structure and spectra are given.

Principles of selective inactivation of viral genome. II. Influence of stirring and optical density of the layer to be irradiated upon UV-induced inactivation of viruses.

Kinetics of the UV-induced (lambda = 254 nm) inactivation of phage MS2 is studied for stirred and non-stirred solutions with optical densities ranging from 0.06 to 2.1.

[Interrelation of the electronic structure of nucleic acid components and their ability and specificity in template synthesis].

A hypotesis suggesting that the specificity of polynucleotide template synthesis is based not on complementarity but on the correspondence of the electronic structure of the precursor and the enzyme active site (EAS), the latter being formed by the template, enzyme, and, possibly, by the polynucleotide synthesized is described. Comparison of the electronic structure of natural nucleic bases and their analogs allows to suppose that the EAS discriminates between adenine and cytosine, and uracil (thymine) and guanine, by electrostatic features: sign of the potential in the region of exocyclic substituents at C(4) of pyrimidines and C(5) of purines. For adenine and cytosine this sign is positive while for uracil (thymine) and guanine it is negative.