Five out of one hundred adults of Niphargogammarus intermedius caught at the Azov sea shore were found to be infected with microsporidia. The infection was found in the subcuticular fat body and myocytes. Parasites developed in direct contact with host cells, displayed a disporoblastic sporogony and diplokaryotic arrangement of nuclei at all stages. Spores were oval, 4.6-5.8 × 2.6-3.0 μm. Exospore appendages, vesicular-tubular secretions, and the anisofilar polar filament indicated a similarity to Anncaliia species. Sporont surfaces displayed ridges of amorphous material. Meronts and sporonts formed protoplastic extensions, similar to A. vesicularum and A. meligheti. Mature spores possessed a bipartite polaroplast. The polar tube was arranged in one row of 13-18 coils including 0-3 distal coils of lesser diameter. Partial sequencing of SSU, ITS, and LSU regions of rRNA gene (GenBank accessions: KY288064-KY288065) confirmed this new species to be congeneric with A. algerae (#AF069063) and A. meligheti (#AY894423). The SSU gene of this novel microsporidium shared 99.4% sequence similarity to A. algerae and 98.9% to A. meligheti. Genes for HSP70 and RPB1 amplified with primers designed for A. algerae orthologs displayed 99.7% and 97.4% similarity, respectively, between A. algerae and the novel microsporidium. A new species, Anncaliia azovica, is described based on morphological and molecular characterization.

A phytopathogenic complex of the genus Fusarium, common on 19 wheat varieties cultivated in Siberia, was investigated. It was found eleven fungal species in wheat grain (Fusarium avenaceum, F. culmorum, F. diversisporum, F. heterosporum, F. oxysporum, F.poae, F. sambucinum, F. incarnatum, F. sporotrichioides, F. tricinctum, Neocosmospora solani), with the dominant one being F. sporotrichioides (from 23 to 68 % of the total number of species). Seven species were found in the rhizosphere of wheat (F. avenaceum, F.incarnatum, F. oxysporum, F. sambucinum, F. sporotrichioides, F. tricinctum, N. solani), with the most common being F. oxysporum (up to 39 %) and F. sporotrichioides (up to 35%). Biotesting a mixture of metabolites in wheat seeds and seedlings revealed highly toxic species, namely F. sporotrichioides and F. oxysporum (a decrease of in vitro seed germination by more than 55 % and a prolonged inhibitory effect on seedling development). F. avenaceum, N.solani and F. culmorum are moderately toxic species. The greatest danger for the development of wheat fusariosis in Siberia in terms of the total frequency of occurrence, phytotoxic and phytopathogenic properties is represented by F. sporotrichioides.