Analysis of genetic diversity of Russian regional populations based on STR markers used in DNA identification

We conducted the first genetic analysis of a wide a range of rural Russian populations in European Russia with a panel of DNA markers commonly used in Human DNA identification. We examined a total of 647 samples from indigenous ethnic Russian populations in Arkhangelsk, Belgorod, Voronezh, Kursk, Rostov, Ryazan, and Orel regions. We employed a multiplex genotyping kit, COrDIS Plus, to genotype Short Tandem Repeat (STR) loci, which included markers officially recommended for DNA identification in the Russian Federation, the United States, and the European Union. In the course of our study, we created a database of allele frequencies, examined the distribution of alleles and genotypes in seven rural Russian populations, and analyzed the genetic relationships between these populations. We found that, although multidimensional analysis indicated a difference between the Northern Russian gene pool and the rest of the Russian European populations, a pairwise comparison using 19 STR markers among all populations did not reveal significant differences. This is in concordance with previous studies, which examined up to 12 STR markers in urban Russian populations. Therefore, the database of allele frequencies created in this study can be applied for forensic examinations and DNA identification among the ethnic Russian population over European Russia. We also noted a decrease in the levels of heterozygosity in the northern Russian population compared to southern and central Russian populations, which is consistent with trends identified previously using classical gene markers and analysis of mitochondrial DNA.     

Differentiation of mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosomes in Russian populations

The genetic composition of the Russian population was investigated by analyzing both mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y-chromosome loci polymorphisms that allow for the different components of a population gene pool to be studied, depending on the mode of DNA marker inheritance. mtDNA sequence variation was examined by using hypervariable segment I (HVSI) sequencing and restriction analysis of the haplogroup-specific sites in 325 individuals representing 5 Russian populations from the European part of Russia. The Y-chromosome variation was investigated in 338 individuals from 8 Russian populations (including 5 populations analyzed for mtDNA variation) using 12 binary markers. For both uniparental systems most of the observed haplogroups fell into major West Eurasian haplogroups (97.9% and 99.7% for mtDNA and Y-chromosome haplogroups, respectively). Multidimensional scaling analysis based on pairwise F(ST) values between mtDNA HVSI sequences in Russians compared to other European populations revealed a considerable heterogeneity of Russian populations; populations from the southern and western parts of Russia are separated from eastern and northern populations. Meanwhile, the multidimensional scaling analysis based on Y-chromosome haplogroup F(ST) values demonstrates that the Russian gene pool is close to central-eastern European populations, with a much higher similarity to the Baltic and Finno-Ugric male pools from northern European Russia. This discrepancy in the depth of penetration of mtDNA and Y-chromosome lineages characteristic for the most southwestern Russian populations into the east and north of eastern Europe appears to indicate that Russian colonization of the northeastern territories might have been accomplished mainly by males rather than by females.     

Mitochondrial DNA variation in Russian populations of Stavropol krai,Orel and Saratov oblasts

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) polymorphism was examined in three Russian populations from the European part of Russia (Stavropol krai, Orel oblast, and Saratov oblast). This analysis showed that mitochondrial gene pool of Russians was represented by the mtDNA types belonging to haplogroups H, V, HV*, J, T, U, K, I, W, and X. A mongoloid admixture (1.5%) was revealed in the form of mtDNA types of macrohaplogroup M. Comparative analysis of the mtDNA haplogroup frequency distribution patterns in six Russian populations from the European part of Russia indicated the absence of substantial genetic differences between them. However, in Russian populations from the southern and central regions the frequency of haplogroup V (average frequency 8%) was higher than in the populations from more northern regions. Based on the data on mtDNA HVS1 sequence variation, it was shown that the diversity of haplogroup V in Russians (h = 0.72) corresponded to the highest h values observed in Europe. The reasons for genetic differentiation of the Russian population (historical, ecological, and adaptive) are discussed.     

Characterization of the Russian beef cattle breed gene pools using inter simple sequence repeat DNA analysis (ISSR analysis)

The gene pools of beef cattle breeds bred in Russia were characterized on the basis of inter simple sequence repeat DNA analysis (ISSR analysis). Samples of Aberdeen Angus, Kalmyk, and Kazakh Whitehead breeds from Russia, as well as of Hereford breed, hybrids of Kazakh Whitehead and Hereford breeds, and Kazakh Whitehead breed from the Republic of Kazakhstan, were examined. In the examined breeds, 27 AG-ISSR fragments were identified, 25 of which were polymorphic. The examined breeds were different both in the fragment profiles (the presence/absence of individual ISSR fragments) and in their frequencies. It was demonstrated that the hybrid animals lacked some ISSR fragments that were present with high frequencies in parental forms, suggesting considerable genome rearrangement in the hybrid animals (at the regions of microsatellite localization) in crossings of the individuals from different breeds. The level of genetic diversity in Russian beef breeds was consistent with the values typical of farmed populations (breeds). The genetic diversity parameters assessed by applying Nei’s gene diversity index and the Shannon index varied from 0.0218 to 0.0605 and from 0.0225 to 0.0819, respectively. The highest Shannon index value was detected in the Kalmyk breed (0.0837) and Kazakh Whitehead breed from Russia (0.0819), and the highest level of Nei’s gene diversity index was found in the Kalmyk breed (0.0562) and in both populations of the Kazakh Whitehead breed (0.0509 and 0.0605). The high level of genetic similarity (according to Nei) was revealed between Russian beef cattle breeds and Hereford cattle: 0.839 (for the Kazakh Whitehead breed from Russia) and 0.769 (for the Kalmyk breed).     

Mitochondrial DNA and microsatellite DNA variation in domestic reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) and relationships with wild caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti, Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus, and Rangifer tarandus caribou)

Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) in Alaska are semidomestic livestock descended from 1280 animals introduced from Siberia, Russia, approximately 100 years ago. Genetic variation at 18 microsatellite DNA loci and the cytochrome b gene of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was quantified in reindeer from Alaska, Siberia (Russia), and Scandinavia and compared with wild North American caribou. Mean sequence divergence among 15 mtDNA haplotypes in reindeer was 0.007 substitutions per nucleotide site, and reindeer mtDNA is polyphyletic with caribou mtDNA. Microsatellite allele and mtDNA haplotype frequencies are similar between Alaskan and Russian reindeer and differentiated between these and Scandinavian reindeer. The frequencies of microsatellite alleles and mtDNA haplotypes are different in reindeer and wild caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti, Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus, and Rangifer tarandus caribou). Alaskan reindeer have maintained a genetic variation comparable to that in Russia and differentiated from that of wild caribou, >100 years after their introduction to Alaska.     

Image (and) Nation: The Russian Exotic in 19th-Century French Travel Narratives

Drawing from a variety of nineteenth-century French travel narratives on Russia, the paper “Image (and) Nation: The Russian Exotic in Nineteenth-Century French Travel Narratives” explores the idea of nation as a cultural construction and narrative. The paper attempts to address in particular the role of ``exotic othering' in creating French national identity in the decades following the Revolution. Where post-Revolutionary France discovered a formidable political and military enemy in tsarist Russia, the French likewise viewed the continued enslavement of the Russian peasants as the example par excellence of tyrannical government. Russia thus appeared in the eyes of many a French traveler as the diametrical opposite of post-Revolutionary France founded on liberal Enlightenment ideals. In bringing to light both widely-read and lesser-known French accounts of travel to Russia, this paper suggests how a developing French national identity coalesced in part around the articulation of cultural difference from the Russian Other. Evoking the critical work of Homi K. Bhaba, Edward Said, Benedict Anderson and Lisa Lowe, the paper describes tropes of the exotic as they appear in these nineteenth-century French travel narratives on Russia and suggests how such narrative depictions of the Russian landscape, the Russian woman, and Russians in general established and reaffirmed – through an implicit cultural comparison – the idea of the French nation. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Mitochondrial DNA Variation in Russian Populations of Stavropol Krai, Orel and Saratov Oblasts

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) polymorphism was examined in three Russian populations from the European part of Russia (Stavropol krai, Orel oblast, and Saratov oblast). This analysis showed that mitochondrial gene pool of Russians was represented by the mtDNA types belonging to haplogroups H, V, HV*, J, T, U, K, I, W, and X. A mongoloid admixture (1.5%) was revealed in the form of mtDNA types of macrohaplogroup M. Comparative analysis of the mtDNA haplogroup frequency distribution patterns in six Russian populations from the European part of Russia indicated the absence of substantial genetic differences between them. However, in Russian populations from the southern and central regions the frequency of haplogroup V (average frequency 8%) was higher than in the populations from more northern regions. Based on the data on mtDNA HVS1 sequence variation, it was shown that the diversity of haplogroup V in Russians (h= 0.742) corresponded to the highest h values observed in Europe. The reasons for genetic differentiation of the Russian population (historical, ecological, and adaptive) are discussed.     

Current rabies epizootiology

Situation in rabies in the Russian Federation (RF) remains to be tense and is characterized by important specific features. Central Russia and the Moscow region have essential differences in the epizootic situation, the epizootological structure of rabies and other indices as compared with the Russian Federation. In the course of the last 25 years the ecological stereotype of rabies has undergone considerable transformations, becoming natural focal infection with the circulation of the infective agent among wild carnivores, which is now particularly obvious in the Moscow region. In 1998 a sharp rise in rabies morbidity occurred in Central Russia: peak values exceeded average annual values 2 times for the RF, 4 times for Central Russia and more than 10 times for the Moscow region. The situation in rabies in the Moscow region permits to use it as a model in the study of today rabies.     

Threatened Alvar Grasslands in NW Russia and their Relationship to Alvars in Estonia

Alvar grasslands are thin-soil calcareous grasslands on Silurian and Ordovician limestone bedrock. They are considered unique plant communities for northern Europe and America with a high conservation value. Until now, European alvar grasslands have only been described in Sweden and Estonia. We described species-rich alvar grasslands on the Izhora plateau, NW Russia and compared this vegetation with that of Estonian alvar grasslands. Floristic composition and environmental conditions of Russian alvars were similar to Estonian alvar grasslands on thicker dry soil. Russian alvars are isolated from similar communities in Estonia, but extensive transport of domestic animals from Estonia to NW Russia in past centuries has probably enhanced species dispersal. Some characteristic Estonian alvar species were missing in NW Russia because it lies outside their natural ranges. Other differences in vegetation were explained by higher atmospheric nitrogen deposition and younger age of Russian sites. In NW Russia the alvar grasslands were small, but several red-listed plant species were present. In order to preserve European alvar vegetation effectively, Russian alvar grasslands need further study and conservation as an outpost of this threatened vegetation type.     

The “secularization” and ethnicization of migration discourse: the Ingrian Finnish Right to Return in Finnish politics

Finland’s Right to Return policy for Ingrian Finns (1990–2010) presented Russian and Estonian citizens who qualified as having Finnish ancestry the legal means to resettle in Finland. The policy was initially driven by Finnish President Mauno Koivisto, who spoke publicly of his belief that the Ingrian Finnish minority in Russia was Finnish because it was Lutheran rather than Orthodox. However, Finnish politicians increasingly abandoned the view of a common Lutheran identity between Ingrian Finns and Finland, and shifted the discussion to language, ancestry and historical memory, which were used to both endorse and disendorse Ingrian Finns’ Finnishness. We argue that the disappearance of religion from the Right to Return discourse was a strategic – if not necessarily conscious – choice that emphasized the more primordial aspects of Finnish identity (and the Ingrian Finns’ lack of those), which in turn enabled stricter restrictions and, ultimately, the discontinuation of the policy.     

The Russian Concept of Work: Suffering, Drama, and Tradition in Pre- and Post-Revolutionary Russia

The Russian Concept of Work: Suffering, Drama, and Tradition in Pre- and Post-Revolutionary Russia. Anna Feldman Leibovich. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1995. 166 pp.     

Distribution of CCR5-delta 32 gene deletion across the Russian part of Eurasia

32-bp inactivating deletion in the β-chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) gene, common in Nothern European populations, is associated with reduced HIV-1 transmission risk and delayed disease progression. We have studied the deletion distribution in many populations in Eurasia by polymerase chain reaction analysis of 531 DNA samples representing West and East Siberian, Central Asian, and Far Eastern parts of Russia. An unusually high frequency (11.1%) of the deleted variant in natives of West Siberia, of Finno-Ugrian descent, was observed. Furthermore, the deletion was infrequent in indigenous populations of Central Asia, East Siberia, the Russian Far East, and Canada. We conclude that the Δccr5 distribution is limited primarily to Europeans and related western Siberian Finno-Ugrian populations, with a sharp negative gradient toward the east along the territory of Russian Asia. Received: 22 December 1997 / Accepted: 24 March 1998     

Hereditary Disorders in Circassians of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic

The paper aims to review the diversity of monogenic hereditary disorders (MHD) in the Circassians of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic (KCR). In total, 50817 Circassians were investigated. The populations of eight districts (Ust-Dzhegutinsky, Karachayevsky, Malokarachayevsky, Prikubansky, Khabezsky, Abazinsky, Nogaysky, and Adyge-Khablsky) and of the city of Cherkessk were studied. Two hundred fifty patients from 167 families were registered. The prevalence of MHD in Circassians happens to be 1: 214. The nosological spectrum of MHD in Circassians includes 70 disorders: 34 with autosomal dominant, 25 with autosomal recessive, and 11 with X-linked inheritance patterns. Confirmatory DNA diagnostics was performed in 56 patients. Accumulation of particular diseases in the Circassian population was revealed in comparison with the previously surveyed ethnic groups/populations of Russia. The cluster analysis was performed on the basis of the prevalence of AD and AR disorders and determined the genogeographic position of the Circassians among eight ethnic groups of Russia (13 populations in total). The total size of the surveyed populations was over 3.5 million people: six Russian regions, Tatars of the Tatarstan, Bashkirs of the Bashkortostan, Chuvashs of the Chuvash Republic, Maris of the Mari El Republic, Udmurts of the Udmurt Republic, Adygeans of the Republic of Adygea, and Circassians of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. The general pattern for AD and AR diseases was similar: six Russian populations group within a single cluster, being remote from people of the Volga-Ural region and the North Caucasus (Adyghe: Adygeans and Circassians).     

Origin of the Mongoloid component in the mitochondrial gene pool of Slavs

The data on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) restriction polymorphism in Czech population (n = 279) are presented. It was demonstrated that in terms of their structure, mitochondrial gene pools of Czechs and other Slavic populations (Russians, Poles, Slovenians, and Bosnians) were practically indistinguishable. In Czechs, the frequency of eastern-Eurasian (Mongoloid) mtDNA lineages constituted 1.8%. The spread of eastern-Eurasian mtDNA lineages belonging to different ethnolinguistic groups in the populations of Europe was examined. Frequency variations of these DNA lineages in different Slavic groups was observed, with the range from 1.2 and 1.6% in Southern and Western Slavs, respectively, to 1.3 to 5.2% in Eastern Slavs, the Russian population of Eastern Europe. The highest frequency of Mongoloid component was detected in the mitochondrial gene pools of Russian populations from the Russian North and the Northwestern region of Russia. This finding can be explained in terms of assimilation of northern-European Finno--Ugric populations during the formation of the Russian population of these regions. The origin of Mongoloid component in the gene pools of different groups of Slavs is discussed.     

Estimation of forest area and its dynamics in Russia based on synthesis of remote sensing products

We review up-to-date, open access remote sensing (RS) products related to forest. We created a hybrid forest/non-forest map using geographically weighted regression (GWR) based on a number of recent RS products and crowdsourcing. The hybrid map has spatial resolution of 230 m and shows the extent of forest in Russia in 2010. We estimate area of Russian forest as 711 million ha (in accordance with Russian national forest definition). Compared to official data of the State Forest Register (SFR), RS estimates the area of forest to be considerably larger in European part (+12.2 million ha or +8%) and smaller in Asian (–39.8 million ha or–7%) part of Russia. We report the changing forest area in 2001–2010 and discuss main drivers: wildfire and encroachment of abandoned arable land. The methodology used here can by applied for monitoring of forest cover and enhancing the forest accounting system in Russia.     

Taxonomic composition and zoogeographic characteristics of the flea fauna (Siphonaptera) of Russia

255 species and 59 subspecies of fleas from 55 genera of 7 families are known from Russia, which is 30% of the Palaearctic fauna. Additionally, over 187 species of 47 genera from 7 families are known from the neighboring territories of Central and Southern Europe, Transcaucasia, Kazakhstan, Middle Asia, Mongolia, Northeast China, and Japan. 13 species of 12 genera are known only from Russia. Noteworthy is the low percent of endemic species (not more than 4%) and genera (one genus) in the Russian fauna. The principal centers of taxonomic diversity in the Palaearctic, including many endemic species and genera, lie in the Eastern Asian, Central Asian, and Turano-Iranian Subregions, outside Russia and the Euro-Siberian Subregion. The bulk of the Russian fauna is formed by the species and genera of the three largest flea families: Hystrichopsyllidae, Ceratophyllidae, and Leptopsyllidae. The family Ceratophyllidae has the greatest number of genera in the Russian fauna, and Hystrichopsyllidae, the greatest number of species. Western (Western and Western-Central Palaearctic; 84 species from 41 genera of 7 families) and Eastern (Central-Eastern and Eastern Palaearctic; 78 species from 42 genera of 6 families) species are nearly equally represented in the Russian fauna.     

On the origin of Mongoloid component in the mitochondrial gene pool of Slavs

The data on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) restriction polymorphism in Czech population (n = 279) are presented. It was demonstrated that in terms of their structure, mitochondrial gene pools of Czechs and other Slavic populations (Russians, Poles, Slovenians, and Bosnians) were practically indistinguishable. In Czechs, the frequency of eastern-Eurasian (Mongoloid) mtDNA lineages constituted 1.8%. The spread of eastern-Eurasian mtDNA lineages belonging to different ethnolinguistic groups in the populations of Europe was examined. Frequency variations of these DNA lineages in different Slavic groups was observed, with the range from 1.2 and 1.6% in Southern and Western Slavs, respectively, to 1.3 to 5.2% in Eastern Slavs, the Russian population of Eastern Europe. The highest frequency of Mongoloid component was detected in the mitochondrial gene pools of Russian populations from the Russian North and the Northwestern region of Russia. This finding can be explained in terms of assimilation of northern-European Finno-Ugric populations during the formation of the Russian population of these regions. The origin of Mongoloid component in the gene pools of different groups of Slavs is discussed.     

Flavonoids from Serratula komarovii Iljin (the Asteraceae Family)

Russian Journal of Bioorganic Chemistry - The genus Serratula L. (the Asteraceae family) is represented by two species in the Russia’s Far East: Serratula manshurica Kitag. and Serratula...     

Analysis of deletional damage in SMN1, SMN2, and NAIP genes in patients with spinal muscular atrophy in the northwestern region of Russia

Polymerase chain reaction with subsequent SSCP (single-strand DNA conformational polymorphism) and restriction (BselI restriction endonuclease) analyses were used to type the DNA samples of affected individuals and their relatives from 23 Russian families with high risk of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) residing in the northwestern region of Russia. Deletions of exon 7 of the SMN gene were found in 96% of the individuals examined. The frequency of homozygous deletion of exons 7 and 8 of the SMN1 gene was 65%. The frequency of homozygous isolated deletion of the SMN1 gene exon 7 among the SMA patients was 4.3%. Homozygous deletion of exon 5 of the NAIP gene was found in 22% of SMA patients. In SMA patients, a total of seven deletion types involving the SMN1, NAIP, and SMN2 genes were detected. Deletion of exons 7 and 8 of the SMN1 gene was the most common mutation associated with SMA in patients from the northwestern Russia.     

The caddisfly fauna (Trichoptera) of Russia: on the centenary of exploration

A brief overview of the history of faunistic studies in Russia during the past century is presented. The existence of 643 species of 148 genera (28 families) is reported according to the results of the long-term investigation of the Russian fauna of the Trichoptera. There are 4 regional faunas of Trichoptera in Russia: Boreal European, Caucasian, Siberian, and Far Eastern. The tasks and prospects of the future studies are considered.