Data on the spider fauna (Arachnida,Aranei) at the White Sea Biological Station,Moscow State University

As a result of preliminary study, the spider fauna at the White Sea Biological Station, Moscow State University, 36 new spider species belonging to 10 families, comprising approximately 20% of the whole species diversity of this locality, have been found.     

Seventy years of the Department of Cytology and Histology, Faculty of Biology, Moscow State University

Histology, which is inseparable from cytology as a scientific discipline, has been taught at the University of Moscow for more than 130 years. In the second half of the XIX century, this discipline made a revolutionary impact on physiology and medicine in European science. The first Department (Chair) of Histology and Embryology was established at the Moscow Imperial University in 1869 at the Faculty of Medicine under Prof. A.I. Babukhin, the famous founder of Russian histology. Several outstanding scientists, such as I.F. Ognev, A.G. Gurvich, B.I. Lavrent'ev, and others, graduated from that Department.     

Lev A. Blumenfeld and spectroscopic studies of photosynthesis at the chair of biophysics, physical faculty, Moscow State University

Nowadays, spectroscopy methods are widely employed to study photosynthesis. For instance, fluorescence methods are often in use to study virtually all steps of the photosynthesis process. Theoretical models of phenomena under study are of importance for interpreting the experimental data. A decisive role of Lev A. Blumenfeld, the former Head of the Chair of Biophysics, Physical Faculty of the Moscow State University, in the study of photosynthesis is shown in this work.     

Studies of morphogenesis at the Department of Embryology, Moscow State University: Towards understanding the dynamic architecture of development

This is a review of studies on morphogenesis carried out at the Department of Embryology, Moscow State University, over the past 30 years. The main direction of studies has been to reveal and describe the properties of self-organizing fields of mechanical stresses in developing embryos.     

Teaching the cell biology of aging at the Harbin Institute of Technology and Moscow State University

Approaches to teaching the cell biology of aging (cytogerontology), within the appropriate agreements by scientists of the Biological Faculty of Moscow State University and at the Department of Life Science and Engineering of Harbin Institute of Technology (China), are described. The authors draw attention to certain differences in teaching biology between the two institutions and emphasize the significance of a system approach to teaching cytogerontology. This approach makes it absolutely necessary to introduce the course on the basics of biology of aging. It is concluded that full perception of the data from modern molecular cell cytogerontological research, by the students from both institutions, is impossible without understanding the fundamental notions and definitions used in both theoretical and experimental gerontology.     

Seventy Years of the Department of Cytology and Histology,Faculty of Biology,Moscow State University

Russian Journal of Developmental Biology -     

Fifty years later: The sequence, structure and function of lacewing cross-beta silk

Classic studies of protein structure in the 1950s and 1960s demonstrated that green lacewing egg stalk silk possesses a rare native cross-beta sheet conformation. We have identified and sequenced the silk genes expressed by adult females of a green lacewing species. The two encoded silk proteins are 109 and 67 kDa in size and rich in serine, glycine and alanine. Over 70% of each protein sequence consists of highly repetitive regions with 16-residue periodicity. The repetitive sequences can be fitted to an elegant cross-beta sheet structural model with protein chains folded into regular 8-residue long beta strands. This model is supported by wide-angle X-ray scattering data and tensile testing from both our work and the original papers. We suggest that the silk proteins assemble into stacked beta sheet crystallites bound together by a network of cystine cross-links. This hierarchical structure gives the lacewing silk high lateral stiffness nearly threefold that of silkworm silk, enabling the egg stalks to effectively suspend eggs and protect them from predators.     

Work of morphogenesis in the Department of Embryology of Moscow State University: toward understanding the dynamic architecture of development

This is a review of studies on morphogenesis carried out at the Department of Embryology, Moscow State University, over the past 30 years. The main direction of studies has been to reveal and describe the properties of self-organizing fields of mechanical stresses in developing embryos.     

Fifty million years of herbivory on coral reefs: fossils,fish and functional innovations

The evolution of ecological processes on coral reefs was examined based on Eocene fossil fishes from Monte Bolca, Italy and extant species from the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Using ecologically relevant morphological metrics, we investigated the evolution of herbivory in surgeonfishes (Acanthuridae) and rabbitfishes (Siganidae). Eocene and Recent surgeonfishes showed remarkable similarities, with grazers, browsers and even specialized, long-snouted forms having Eocene analogues. These long-snouted Eocene species were probably pair-forming, crevice-feeding forms like their Recent counterparts. Although Eocene surgeonfishes likely played a critical role as herbivores during the origins of modern coral reefs, they lacked the novel morphologies seen in modern Acanthurus and Siganus (including eyes positioned high above their low-set mouths). Today, these forms dominate coral reefs in both abundance and species richness and are associated with feeding on shallow, exposed algal turfs. The radiation of these new forms, and their expansion into new habitats in the Oligocene–Miocene, reflects the second phase in the development of fish herbivory on coral reefs that is closely associated with the exploitation of highly productive short algal turfs.     

Phototrophic picoeukaryotes of Onega Bay,the White Sea: Abundance and species composition

The abundance, biomass, and composition of phototrophic picoeukaryotes (PPE, cell size less than 3 μm) were studied in Onega Bay of the White Sea in June 2015. The highest PPE abundance and biomass were registered in the 0–5-m water layer. In the bay, in the 0–5-m water layer, the average abundance and biomass varied from 0 to 36.8 × 10⁴ cell/L and from 0 to 117 μg С/m³, respectively. The Illumina sequencing of V4 region of 18S rRNA gene revealed eight classes of PPE. Mamiellophyceae dominated both by number of reads and by operational taxonomic units. The green algae Bathycoccus prasinos, Ostreococcus tauri, and Micromonas pusila, as well as diatoms Skeletonema marinoi and Minidiscus trioculatus, were identified to the species level.     

60 years of the equilibrium theory of insular biogeography: problems of testing, results of the field studies, applied importance

A review is presented of publications dealing with analysis of species richness of island biological communities and habitat islands based on the equilibrium theory of insular biogeography by MacArthur and Wilson (1963). Principal points of the theory are considered along with its shortcomings, problems and results of its testing. Also, possibilities are appraised for using recommendations elaborated on the base of the theory in nature conservation practice. The results of island and habitat island biota studies indicate that in many cases data corroborate the equilibrium theory while in many other cases they do not. In particular, for cenoses fragmented 50-250 years ago, especially for the ones formed by long living species, there have been no conspicuous effects of species relaxation detected. At that, the theory prediction of substantial reduction in species richness of fragmented communities in the long run is hardly disputed. The results of studies conducted in the field of insular biogeography are taken as a basis for recommendations on the long-term conservation of isolated communities integrity, although mostly they are of qualitative nature.