Tetraphenylporphyrin-Sn4+ induction of cytochrome P-450

TPP-Sn4+ was administered intraperitoneally (25 mg/kg body weight). The study was performed for 1-30 days. A day after administration the increase in the hemoprotein level 1.4 times was observed, as well as an increase in the level of p-hydroxylation of aniline. On 7-14 days the greatest increase in cytochrome P-450 content was observed. To clarity the mechanism of TPP-Sn4+ effect on cytochrome P-450, we studied its effect on the activity of heme oxygenase and LP rate. This compound is an inhibitor of heme oxygenase activity and reduces the rate of LP in the microsomes which regulates porphyrin metabolism in the organism.     

Colonial Nesting Birds of Chikhacheva Bay (Tatarskii Strait, Sea of Japan)

This paper presents new data on species composition, density, and migration patterns of marine colonial birds obtained during ornithological studies in Chikhacheva Bay (northern part of Tatarskii Strait) in 2001–2002.     

The current state of populations of the common tern Sterna hirundo (Linnaeus, 1758) and the Kamchatka tern S. camtschatica (Pallas, 1811) in northern Sakhalin

This paper presents data on the numbers of nesting common and Kamchatka tern populations on the northeastern coast of Sakhalin Island over a more than 20-year period. Distribution maps of the main tern colonies (Chaika, Lyarvo, and Wrangel islands, and an unnamed island situated in Chaivo Bay) are given. Taking into account the current data concerning southern Sakhalin colonies, the total number of terns in Sakhalin Island is about 9000 pairs for the Kamchatka tern and up to 16000 pairs for the common tern. The main biotic and abiotic factors that determine the population dynamics and distribution of nesting terns in northern Sakhalin Island are enumerated.     

东亚水鼠耳蝠形态描述与分类

水鼠耳蝠 Myotis daubentonii(Chiroptera,Vespertilionidae),广泛分布于欧洲和亚洲,亚种分化众多,在亚洲已报道有 M.d.ussuriensis,M.d.loukashkini,M.d.petax和M.d.laniger但其分类地位一直受到国内外学者的关注.中国的水鼠耳蝠长期以来被认为属于水鼠耳蝠M daubentonii亚种.最近有研究认为中国的水鼠耳蝠与欧洲的水鼠耳蝠M.daubentonii不同,并把"petax"提升为种.在中国境内相继采到17只鼠耳蝠标本,根据外形、头骨、牙齿、阴茎骨、线粒体DNA细胞色素b等特征,鉴定为东亚水鼠耳蝠Myotis petax,对中国水鼠耳蝠的种和亚种分类做一讨论.     

Influence of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lumbricus terrestris</Emphasis> earthworms on the structure of the yeast community of forest litter

The taxonomic structure of yeast communities was studied in forest litter and soil, as well as in substrates transformed by the activity of Lumbricus terrestris earthworms (leaves in heaps, the gut contents, and coproliths). The activity of L. terrestris has a weak effect on the total yeast abundance but results in substantial changes in the community taxonomic composition. The share of ascomycetous yeasts is significantly higher in the substrates associated with the activity of earthworms. The teleomorphic ascomycetes Williopsis saturnus were isolated from the gut contents. The effect of earthworms on the composition of the yeast community in the process of forest litter destruction is more pronounced than seasonal changes.     

Morphotype analysis of the sibling vole (Microtus rossiaemeridionalis) casually introduced to the Russian Far East

Here, we present the morphotypic variety of the m1 and M3 teeth diagnostics for the recently formed isolated population of the sibling vole in Far Eastern Russia. In the Far Eastern population, the prevalence of the individuals with m1 with a complicated crown of the forward unpaired loop of the paraconid is characteristic. Namely, m1 in these individuals shows well-expressed sixth exterior and fifth interior salient angles. The structure of the M3 morphotypes is also unique in the sibling voles in Far Eastern Russia. The dominant morphotypes were typica (47 %) and simplex (45 %), whereas the abundance of the duplicata morphotype was 0.08 %. The frequencies of various m1 and M3 morphotypes found in casually introduced sibling voles in the Far East are not typical of any previously studied Microtus rossiaemeridionalis population.     

The diets of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) on the shelf and oceanic feeding grounds in the western North Pacific inferred from stable isotope analysis

Humpback whales feed on a variety of prey, but significant differences likely occur between regional feeding grounds. In this study, the diets of humpback whales were analyzed by comparing stable isotope ratios in animal tissues at three humpback whale feeding grounds in the Russian Far East: Karaginsky Gulf, Anadyr Gulf, and the Commander Islands. Anadyr Gulf is a neritic zone far from a shelf break, Karaginsky Gulf is a neritic zone close to a shelf break, and the Commander Islands represent an open oceanic ecosystem where whales feed off the shelf break. Samples from the Commander Islands had the lowest mean δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values (mean ± SE: δ¹³C = ?18.7 ± 0.1, δ¹⁵N = 10.4 ± 0.1) compared to the samples from Karaginsky Gulf (δ¹³C = ?17.2 ± 0.1, δ¹⁵N = 12.7 ± 0.2) and Anadyr Gulf (δ¹³C= ?17.8 ± 0.1, δ¹⁵N = 14.0 ± 0.4). The samples from Anadyr Gulf had the highest δ¹⁵N values, while the samples from Karaginsky Gulf had the highest δ¹³C values. Both δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values differed significantly among all three areas. Our data support the hypothesis that humpback whales tend to feed on fish in neritic areas and on plankton in deep oceanic waters.