The development of methods of genetic engineering of plants poses in modern society the question of the safety of transgenic plants. Transformation of plants has been criticized as artificial process performed only in the laboratory. At the same time there is evidence that some members of the genus Nicotiana and Linaria contain sequences homologous to the T-DNA of Agrobacterium rhizogenes in their genomes. The question: whether there are other examples of horizontal gene transfer from Agrobacterium to the plant among the representatives of the family. Solanaceae, is still actual. We performed screening of representatives of four genera of the family Solanaceae for the presence of sequences homologous to oncogeniclike genes rolB, rolC, ORF13, ORF14. New examples of horizontal gene transfer were not detected. Apparently, the presence of sequences homologous to oncogenes of A. rhizogenes in the genome of nontransformed plants is not common to the whole family Solanaceae and is characteristic only of the some species of the genus Nicotiana.

Background. The active and careless applying of antibiotics in medicine and agriculture leads to the emergence of resistance to the existing antimicrobial drugs, which reduces the effectiveness of their use. One of the ways to solve this problem is the development of new antibiotics based on plant peptides with antimicrobial activity, for example plant defensins (which identified in all plants) and NCR peptides that are specifically synthesized in nodules of some leguminous plants. Materials and methods. In the present study, a meta-assembly of a transcriptome was constructed based on publicly available RNA-sequencing transcriptomes of pea nodules (Pisum sativum L.). This meta-assembly was used to search for sequences encoding antimicrobial peptides. Results. As a result, 55 and 908 unique sequences encoding defensins and NCR peptides, respectively, were identified. The recognition site for the signal peptidase was predicted and sequences were divided into the signal and mature part of the peptide. Among mature defensins, 22 peptides possess in silico predicted antimicrobial activity, and for the NCR peptides family their number was 422. Conclusion. Sequences encoding defensins and NCR peptides expressed in nitrogen-fixing pea nodules were identified. They are candidates for testing their antimicrobial activity in vitro.

Background. A major problem of the environmental pollution with heavy metals, including cadmium, requires an intensive study of the molecular and genetic mechanisms underlying the tolerance of plants to these toxic substances. In this study we present a comparative analysis of the expression of stress-related genes in two pea genotypes contrasting in tolerance to cadmium. Materials and methods. A unique mutant of pea SGECdt, characterized by the increased tolerance to cadmium, and initial line SGE were used. Gene expression was analyzed by Real Time PCR. Results. In the line SGE cadmium increase the expression of genes, encoding catalase, chitinase, chitinase-like protein PRP4A and dirigent protein PI206. In the mutant SGECdt cadmium increase the expression of genes, encoding chitinase, glutathione reductase and defensin DRR230. In control samples expression of genes encoding PRP4A and DRRR230 was enhanced in mutant SGECdt versus line SGE. Conclusion. It was shown that, the reaction of the mutant SGECdt at the molecular level differs from that of the line SGE. In the mutant SGECdt, a change in the expression of a number of genes is observed, which may indicate that cadmium entering the cell causes activation of defense reactions.