Vol 15, No 4 (2020)

The purpose of the research was to determine the water regime and identify the nature of dust retention capacity of assimilation apparatus in artificial birch stands in green zone of Nur-Sultan (Northern Kazakhstan). The objects of the research were 16-year-old Betula pendula Roth. forest crops, some of which were transplanted at the age of 8 into the interrow space. Some water regime features of forest crops were considered to determine their adaptive ability to soil and climatic conditions. The intensity of leaf transpiration, relative water content in leaves, and water deficiency were studied. When making observations, it was found that there was no reliable difference between the water regime indicators in the sample areas in transplanted and non-transplanted crops. So, the results of the research are presented without taking into account peculiarities of the sample area location. A high water-holding capacity of the plant leaves was revealed, it amounted 96.98 %. The average transpiration rate during the growing season was 176 mg/g ∙ h, with the highest average transpiration rate (229 mg/g ∙ h) detected in July, and the lowest in August (162 mg/g ∙ h). The data obtained showed weak intensity of moisture evaporation by leaves. This indicates a low water deficit of the plants, which was 8.96 % after leaf was fully saturated with moisture. Ratio of retained dust and leaf area of silver birch showed that 1 cm2 of assimilation apparatus accumulated on average 0.1 mg of particulate matter. The amount of dust revealed that at a high location, more particulate matter is accumulated per unit area of assimilation apparatus than at a low location. The largest amount of dust (0.117 mg cm2) was deposited at a distance of 1000 meters from the highway, and the smallest amount (0.091 mg/cm2) - at a distance of 200 meters. Topographic features and presence of protective birch strip influenced this fact. The research revealed that a large leaf area is not a guarantee of high dust retention capacity.

Abstract. World soybean acreage increases by 3 million hectares annually with average yield of 2.7 t/ha. Significant growth of soybean production in Russia is constrained by increased climate aridization and a declining yield of up to 1.5 t/ha. An important factor in intensification of soybean production is to expand its crops under irrigation. Introduction of adapted and high-yielding varieties of regional selection, followed by improvement of crop water supply, increases yields up to 3…4 t/ha. Soybean varieties selected by Russian Research Institute of Irrigated Agriculture and admitted to production in the Lower Volga region: VNIIOZ 86 (since 2002), VNIIOZ 31 (since 2011), Volgogradka 2 (since 2020) were studied. The experiments were conducted at Russian Research Institute of Irrigated Agriculture in 2013-2015. The experiment included two factors: factor A - varieties, factor B - irrigation regime (70-80-70 % of FMC, 80-80-70 % of FMC and control - 80-80-80 % of FMC). Plots of the 1st (600 m2) and 2nd (200 m2) order were sown in 4-fold replication by a wide-row method (0.7 m) in mid-May with a planned yield of 2.5…3.5 t/ha (N90P90K60 a. i./ha). Soybean varieties differed in peculiarities of crop structure formation. Differentiated irrigation regime resulted in more cost-efficient water consumption followed by yield increase compared to the control. The highest yields were formed by Volgogradka 2 variety (2.87…3.23 t/ha) and VNIIOZ 31 (2.82…3.19 t/ha), which was significantly higher than in VNIIOZ 86 variety (2.17…2.51 t/ha). The variable irrigation regime led to yield increase in all soybean varieties, especially in Volgogradka 2 - by 0.31…0.36 t/ha (10.8…12.5 %) as compared to the control. It was due to grain increase to 30.9…36.2 % in the total biomass compared to the control values - 26.6…27.5 %. The highest amount of post-harvest plant residues (stems, leaves and roots) remained after harvesting Volgogradka 2 (6.39…7.63 t/ha) and VNIIOZ 31(6.73…7.9 t/ha), which improved soil fertility well, and the smallest amount was after VNIIOZ 86 variety (4.41…5.66 t/ha). Differentiated irrigation regime led to decrease in vegetative mass in soil - 4.41…7.42 t/ha compared to the control (5.66…7.9 t/ha). Thus, Volgogradka 2 and VNIIOZ 31 can be recommended for irrigated agriculture in the Lower Volga region, as they provide high yields under differentiated (relatively cost-efficient) irrigation regime and improve soil fertility due to large biomass remained in soil after harvesting.

During an investigation of nematodes in the Moscow region of Russia in 2019, a known species Ditylenchus destructor was recovered from tubers of potato plants. The genus Destructor is one of the most problematic genera of plant-parasitic nematodes. The numerous species reported for this genus have been cited from various sources. Due to the morphological similarity of many species and the lack of separation characteristics, the identification of D. destructor is difficult. Molecular taxonomy and phylogeny were used to confirm the identification. In the current study, PCR-RFLP illustrative models for the amplification of the ITS-rRNA gene were provided with two enzymes that could recognize D. destructor in potato tubers. Analysis of the rDNA sequences spanning both ITS1-ITS2 regions was carried out on the collected populations. The digestion of the PCR product of the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region with the enzyme TaqI produced three fragments; 100, 190, 550, and with Tru1I, two fragments were produced; 300 and 480 bp. The obtained DNA sequences were compared with those DNA sequences deposited in GenBank of populations isolated in other countries. The results showed no distinction between populations isolated from different host plant species, including populations found in the Russian Federation. New sequences from ITS-rRNA were deposited in the GenBank under accession number MN122076, MN658597, MN658599, MN658637, MN658638.

GRACE monthly satellite data for the period from 2002 to 2016 were used to analyze the longterm dynamics of the terrestrial water storage in the Belgorod region of Russia. The correlation of satellite data with climatic water balance with a lag varying on the territory from 2 to 4 months was revealed. There was found a stable tendency to decrease in terrestrial water storage, and predominance of negative values on the territory of the Belgorod region since 2008. The minimum attains the lowest values in comparison with the whole studied period. However, seasonality of the changes is maintained throughout the entire analyzed time series. The frequency of changes in the terrestrial water storage throughout the entire area is not very clear: only the long-term maximum of the terrestrial water storage of the territory in 2006 is well expressed. Another, less pronounced local maximum was observed in 2013. Local long-term minima of the terrestrial water storage of the territory were in 2002, 2009 and 2015. There is a positive trend in the amplitude of seasonal fluctuations in the terrestrial water storage of the territory: the amplitude has been constantly increasing in recent years. The territory of the Belgorod region has negative long-term trend of terrestrial water storage with their rather large spatial variation. The angle of inclination of the trend decreases from north-west to south-east in the region. GRACE satellite data can serve as a fairly reliable detection indicator of the trend of terrestrial water storage in large areas.

We studied dynamics of live weight and morphological composition of carcasses in Ross 308 chickens at 1-, 21-, 28-, 34-, 38- and 42-day ages when SUB-PRO probiotic was included in the diet instead of Maxus G feed antibiotic in amount of 100 g/ton of feed. By the age of 42, chickens in the control group (I) reached a live weight of 2234 ± 28.4 g, chickens in the experimental group (II) - 2329 ± 27.3 g, and chickens who took feed antibiotic (III) - 2320 ± 33.4 g. Live weight of chickens of the II group by the age of 42 days exceeded the I group by 95 g or 4.25 % (P ≤ 0.05), the III group - by 86 g or 3.85 %. In terms of carcass weight, the experimental group exceeded the control group by 4.60 % (P ≤ 0.05), group III - by 4.53 %. The meat productivity of chickens taking antibiotic was not studied further, since that had no practical significance. Over the entire period of rearing, the average daily gain in live weight in control chickens was 52.20 g, in the experimental chickens - 54.46 g. The relative muscle weight in broiler carcasses of the experimental group increased from 55.34 to 66.37 %v from 1 to 42 days of age, while the relative bone weight decreased from 33.23 to 16.78 %. By the age of 42, absolute muscle and bone weight had 123.47- and 51.91-fold increase, respectively, in comparison with diurnal weight. The data of anatomical cutting of chicken carcasses showed that, in terms of muscle and bone content, the most valuable were: breast - 84.63 and 8.25 %, thigh - 75.66 and 12.54 %, respectively; less valuable: drumstick - 67.86 and 20.98 %, wing - 50.58 and 33.53 %, respectively. Diameter of muscle fibers of superficial pectoralis muscle in 42-day-old broilers was 55.20 μm; water content - 75.10 %, fat - 1.60 %, protein - 22.31 %. In terms of microbiological parameters, carcass meat meets the requirements of GOST 31468-2012 interstate standard. The inclusion of SUB-PRO probiotic in chicken diet instead of antibiotic does not reduce productivity, but excludes the negative consequences of antibiotic use.

Various infectious and invasive diseases, as well as individual metabolic disorders caused by poisoning and non-infectious diseases lead to multiple organ pathologies. The pathogenesis of combined lesions in parenchymal organs is due to their anatomical and functional relationship. The aim of the research was to study the nosological forms of non-infectious diseases of liver, kidneys and pancreas in domestic cats, to establish the proportion of multiple organ pathologies and to compare their clinical indicators. The article presents the results of multiple organ pathologies spreading in domestic cats, describes the main nosological forms of diseases, their clinical picture, biochemical and ultrasound indicators. 234 animals of different sexes and different ages were studied in the experiment. Diseased animals were diagnosed based on the results of clinical, biochemical and ultrasound studies. Liver diseases were diagnosed in 18.3 % of cats, kidney - 16.3 %, pancreas - 11.5 % of cats. Multiple organ pathologies were established in 28.7 % of animals, including hepatonephritis in 16.7 %, hepatopancreatitis - 9.0 %, hepatopancreonephritis - 3.0 %. Among nosological forms of diseases in sick cats, hepatonephritis, chronic glomerulonephritis, chronic hepatitis, and fatty degeneration of liver were more common, and only in one case - cirrhosis.