Efficacy of Slow-Release Formulations of Metribuzin and Tribenuron Methyl Herbicides for Controlling Weeds of Various Species in Wheat and Barley Stands.

The herbicidal activity of long-acting formulations of metribuzin and tribenuron methyl herbicides embedded in granules prepared from a mixture of degradable poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) and birch wood flour was studied in laboratory-grown weeds of various species and in wheat and barley stands infested by weeds. The constructed formulations effectively suppressed all species of weeds studied. The biological effectiveness of herbicide formulations toward intact plants in wheat and barley stands infested with weeds was close to 100%, which was significantly higher than the effect of their free forms.

A noninvasive and qualitative bioluminescent assay for express diagnostics of athletes' responses to physical exertion.

Upcoming professional sports authorities seek rapid noninvasive biosensing tools for regular monitoring of athletes' physiological states. The analysis of saliva through luminescence-based biosensors has been perceived as a suitable candidate for such purposes. The present study reports a qualitative bioluminescence assay based on a coupled enzyme system that consists of bacterial luciferase (BLuc) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH):flavin mononucleotide (FMN) oxidoreductase (Red), BLuc-Red, for the express diagnostics of athletes' stress levels before and after physical exertion.

Humic Substances Mitigate the Impact of Tritium on Luminous Marine Bacteria. Involvement of Reactive Oxygen Species.

The paper studies the combined effects of beta-emitting radionuclide tritium and Humic Substances (HS) on the marine unicellular microorganism-luminous bacteria-under conditions of low-dose radiation exposures (<0.04 Gy). Tritium was used as a component of tritiated water.

Recent atmospheric drying in Siberia is not unprecedented over the last 1,500 years.

Newly developed millennial δC larch tree-ring chronology from Siberia allows reconstruction of summer (July) vapor pressure deficit (VPD) changes in a temperature-limited environment. VPD increased recently, but does not yet exceed the maximum values reconstructed during the Medieval Warm Anomaly. The most humid conditions in the Siberian North were recorded in the Early Medieval Period and during the Little Ice Age.

Production of Porous Films Based on Biodegradable Polyesters by the Casting Solution Technique Using a Co-Soluble Porogen (Camphor).

Porous films have been prepared from degradable polymers-poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB), poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) and a blend of these polymers (1:3)-by adding porogen (camphor) to the polymer solution at 10%, 30% or 50% of the total mass of the polymer and porogen, and leaching it out afterwards. After the rinse, camphor content in films decreased to about 0.025%.

Reporter-recruiting bifunctional aptasensor for bioluminescent analytical assays.

We report a novel bioluminescent aptasensor, which consists of 2'-F-RNA aptamer modules joined into a bi-specific aptamer construct. One aptamer module binds the analyte, then after structural rearrangement the second module recruits non-covalently Ca-dependent photoprotein obelin from the solution, thus providing a bioluminescent signal. This concept allows using free protein as a reporter, which brings such advantages as no need for aptamer-protein conjugation, a possibility of thermal re-folding of aptamer component with no harm to a protein, and simpler detection protocol.

Efficacy of embedded metribuzin and tribenuron-methyl herbicides in field-grown vegetable crops infested by weeds.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the efficacy of the experimental formulations of the metribuzin (MET) and tribenuron-methyl (TBM) herbicides embedded in the matrix of degradable poly-3-hydroxybutyrate blended with wood flour in field-grown tomato and beet crops infested by weeds. There is a necessity to develop environmentally friendly and effective means to protect plants because of the shortcomings of the free herbicide forms such as the environmentally unsafe spray application of solutions and suspensions of the widespread metribuzin and tribenuron-methyl herbicides, removal from soil during watering events and rains, and transport to natural aquatic environments, where the herbicides accumulate in the trophic chains of biota. Free TBM is also rapidly inactivated in soil and metabolized to nontoxic products in plants.

Biological effects of the free and embedded metribuzin and tribenuron-methyl herbicides on various cultivated weed species.

The present study addresses the herbicidal activity and biological effects of the metribuzin (MET) and tribenuron-methyl (TBM) herbicides used to control various weed species ( and ). The effects of the free herbicides and the herbicides embedded in granules of degradable polymer poly-3-hydroxybutyrate [P(3HB)] blended with birch wood flour were compared. Metribuzin, regardless of the form, caused 100% mortality of the three weeds by day 21.

Bioluminescent Properties of Semi-Synthetic Obelin and Aequorin Activated by Coelenterazine Analogues with Modifications of C-2, C-6, and C-8 Substituents.

Ca-regulated photoproteins responsible for bioluminescence of a variety of marine organisms are single-chain globular proteins within the inner cavity of which the oxygenated coelenterazine, 2-hydroperoxycoelenterazine, is tightly bound. Alongside with native coelenterazine, photoproteins can also use its synthetic analogues as substrates to produce flash-type bioluminescence. However, information on the effect of modifications of various groups of coelenterazine and amino acid environment of the protein active site on the bioluminescent properties of the corresponding semi-synthetic photoproteins is fragmentary and often controversial.

The effect of supplementation of the soil-like substrate with wheat straw mineralized to different degrees on wheat productivity in closed ecosystems.

Successful incorporation of soil-like substrate (SLS) into biotechnical life support systems is often complicated by the necessity to maintain the balance between flows of mineral elements taken up from the substrate by growing plants and mineral elements added to the SLS as components of mineralized plant inedible biomass. An imbalance between these two flows can be caused by the addition of recalcitrant plant waste such as wheat straw. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the availability of essential nutrients to be taken up by the roots of the wheat plants grown on the SLS could be enhanced by supplementing the SLS with the products derived from wheat straw subjected to different levels of physicochemical mineralization in the aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide.

Cupriavidus necator B-10646 growth and polyhydroxyalkanoates production on different plant oils.

The study addresses the growth of the wild-type strain Cupriavidus necator B-10646 and synthesis of polyhydroxyalkanoates by this strain on media containing plant oils with different compositions of fatty acids: palm, Siberian oilseed, and refined and unrefined sunflower seed oils. The study showed that the best carbon substrate was palm oil. Comparison of fatty acid compositions of the starting oils and unutilized residual substrates showed that C.

The Smallest Isoform of Luciferase as a Fusion Partner for Hybrid Proteins.

Bioluminescent proteins are widely used as reporter molecules in various in vitro and in vivo assays. The smallest isoform of Metridia luciferase (MLuc7) is a highly active, naturally secreted enzyme which, along with other luciferase isoforms, is responsible for the bright bioluminescence of marine copepod . In this study, we report the construction of two variants of a hybrid protein consisting of MLuc7 and 14D5a single-chain antibody to the surface glycoprotein E of tick-borne encephalitis virus as a model fusion partner.

Unidimensional Approximation of the Diffuse Electrical Layer in the Inner Volume of Solid Electrolyte Grains in the Absence of Background Ions.

In this paper we continue working on our theory of electrical double layers resulting exclusively from dissociation of a solid electrolyte, which we previously proposed as a medium for catalytic interaction between solid cellulose and solid acid catalysts of hydrolysis. Two theoretical unidimensional models of the inner grain volume are considered: an infinitely long cylindrical pore, and a gel electrolyte near a grain outer surface. Despite the model simplicity, the predictions for the cylindrical pore case are in semi-quantitative agreement with literature data on electroosmotic experiments, adequately explaining high proton selectivity of sulfonic membranes, and decline of such selectivity at high background acid concentration.

Determination of binding constants for strong complexation by affinity capillary electrophoresis: the example of complexes of ester betulin derivatives with (2-hydroxypropyl)-γ-cyclodextrin.

Complexation plays an important role in many biological phenomena, the analysis of different samples, optimization of separation processes, and increasing the pharmacological activity of drugs. This paper discusses the features of using mobility shift affinity capillary electrophoresis for studying strong complexation. Electrophoretic peaks for this case are often triangular.

Solvolysis of Bituminous Coal in Coal- and Petroleum-Derived Commercial Solvents.

The solvolytic conversion of softening bituminous coal at 380 °C in solvents derived from the commercial hydrocarbon byproducts and residues from coal and petroleum processing was studied. Hydrogen-donor tetrahydronaphthalene (THN) and nondonor 1-methylnaphthalene (MN) were also used for comparison. The high-boiling solvents of different chemical classes (highly aromatic coal tar, its anthracene fraction, and low-aromatic heavy gas oil of catalytic cracking of the oil residue) and the H-donor THN solvent were found to exhibit high efficiency for coal conversion into quinoline-soluble products.

Accumulation of elements by submerged (Stuckenia pectinata (L.) Börner) and emergent (Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud.) macrophytes under different salinity levels.

Accumulation of essential/beneficial and non-essential chemical elements by submerged (Stuckenia pectinata (L.) Börner) and emergent (Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin.

Study of the immunogenicity of the VP2 protein of canine parvovirus produced using an improved Baculovirus expression system.

Background: Canine parvovirus (CPV) is now recognized as a serious threat to the dog breeding industry worldwide. Currently used CPV vaccines all have their specific drawbacks, prompting a search for alternative safe and effective vaccination strategies such as subunit vaccine. VP2 protein is the major antigen targeted for developing CPV subunit vaccine, however, its production in baculovirus expression system remains challenging due to the insufficient yield.

Intermolecular hydrogen bond interactions in the thiourea/water complexes (Thio-(HO)) (n = 1, …, 5): X-ray, DFT, NBO, AIM, and RDG analyses.

This study aims to experimentally and theoretically examine the nature and energy of intermolecular bond interactions between thiourea and water molecules using natural bond orbital (NBO), non-linear optical (NLO), atoms in molecules (AIM), and reduced density gradient (RDG) analyses based on the quantum chemical approach and spectroscopic analysis on X-ray and FTIR. Geometry optimizations of Thio-(HO) complexes were carried out in the gas phase by B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level of density functional theory. The nature of the molecular interactions between the water and thiourea through hydrogen bonding has been investigated using RDG and AIM methods.

Luminescence Activity Decreases When v-coelenterazine Replaces Coelenterazine in Calcium-Regulated Photoprotein-A Theoretical and Experimental Study.

Calcium-regulated photoproteins are found in at least five phyla of organisms. The light emitted by those photoproteins can be tuned by mutating the photoprotein and/or by modifying the substrate coelenterazine (CTZ). Thirty years ago, Shimomura observed that the luminescence activity of aequorin was dramatically reduced when the substrate CTZ was replaced by its analog v-CTZ.

Effect of the Deposition Conditions on the Anion Resin Exchange Precipitation of Indium(III) Hydroxide.

A new patented method for the synthesis of nanosized powders of indium(III) hydroxide and oxide using the strong base anion exchange resin AV-17-8 as a precipitate agent was proposed. The effect of anions of the initial indium salt and the influence of the process duration, temperature, and counterions of resin such as hydroxide or carbonate on the yield of indium(III) hydroxide during the anion resin exchange precipitation were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, electrical conductivity measurement method, and atomic absorption analysis. Based on the obtained data, the mechanism of the anion resin exchange precipitation of indium(III) hydroxide was suggested.

The interaction of C-terminal Tyr208 and Tyr13 of the first α-helix ensures a closed conformation of ctenophore photoprotein berovin.

Light-sensitive Ca-regulated photoprotein berovin is responsible for the bioluminescence of the ctenophore Beroe abyssicola. It shares many properties of hydromedusan photoproteins although the degree of identity of its amino acid sequence with those of photoproteins is low. There is a hydrogen bond between C-terminal Pro and Arg situated in the N-terminal α-helix of hydromedusan photoproteins that supports a closed conformation of the internal cavity of the photoprotein molecule with bound 2-hydroperoxycoelenterazine.

A long-term study of radionuclide concentrations in mushrooms in the 30-km zone around the Mining-and-Chemical Combine (Russia).

Cs concentrations were measured in mushrooms in an area affected by radioactive discharges of the Mining-and-Chemical Combine (MCC) (Rosatom, Russia) in 2002-2017. The sources of radionuclides in the study sites were global fallouts and waterborne and airborne radioactive discharges of the MCC. The mushroom species and showed the highest Cs concentrations (140-7100 Bq kg) for this area.

The impact of permafrost on carbon dioxide and methane fluxes in Siberia: A meta-analysis.

There are serious concerns associated with greenhouse gases (GHG) fluxes in high latitude ecosystems and how the permafrost thawing may potentially affect the global climate, through the alteration of carbon (C) dioxide (CO) and methane (CH) emissions. We performed a meta-analysis of 3002 observations from 104 published studies on CO and CH fluxes in Siberia (Russian Federation). Siberia is a vast region characterized by a large C-rich permafrost region, which is already degrading due to escalating climate change, and also large wetland areas, also regarded as a source of CH.

Constructing sustained-release herbicide formulations based on poly-3-hydroxybutyrate and natural materials as a degradable matrix.

Background: The purpose of the present study was to develop ecofriendly herbicide formulations. Its main aim was to develop and investigate slow-release formulations of herbicides (metribuzin, tribenuron-methyl, and fenoxaprop-P-ethyl) of different structure, solubility, and specificity, which were loaded into a degradable matrix of poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (P(3HB)) blended with available natural materials (peat, clay, and wood flour).

Results: Differences in the structure and physicochemical properties of the formulations were studied depending on the type of the matrix.

Thermal, mechanical and biodegradation studies of biofiller based poly-3-hydroxybutyrate biocomposites.

Biodegradable poly-3-hydroxybutyrate [P(3HB)] and natural fillers - clay, peat, and birch wood flour - were used to prepare powdered composites to form pellets and granules. Pellets were produced by cold pressing of polymer and filler powder whereas granules were produced from the powders wetted with ethanol. Characterization techniques like IR spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray analysis, mechanical analysis and electron microscopy were employed to study the properties of the initial P(3HB) and fillers and the composites.