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Male sterility in potato is little studied since traditional breeding is based on the vegetative reproduction of highly heterozygous tetraploid varieties. The rapid development of hybrid diploid breeding contributes to growing interest in studying the male sterility of this important crop. In this work, a set of 6 cytoplasmic markers was employed to describe cytoplasmic genetic diversity of 185 potato cultivars bred in Russia and FSU countries. Three cytoplasm types were identified, T (40.0 %), D (50.8 %) and W/γ (8.7 %), which according to literature are associated with male sterility. With a single exception (0.5 %), cytoplasm types characteristic of male fertile forms (A, P) were not found in the subset of 185 cultivars. A comparison of these results with previously published data suggested expanding the subset to up to 277 cultivars, all developed in Russia or FSU countries; however, the resulting differentiation into three cytoplasm types (T, D and W/γ) was nearly the same. Fertility phenotyping helped identify both male-sterile and male-fertile genotypes within the three groups of varieties with T-, D-and W/γ-type cytoplasm. Fifteen genotypes differing in cytoplasm type and male sterility/fertility traits were selected for direct sequencing of 8 mtDNA loci. Fragments of the nad2, nad7, cox2, atp6 and CcmFc genes were identical in all 15 selected genotypes. The polymorphism, detected in the rps3, atp9 and CcmFc loci, was not associated with male sterility. Two SNPs in the nad1/ atp6 and nad2 loci differentiated 7 genotypes with W/γ-type cytoplasm into five genotypes with tetrad sterility, and two with fertile pollen. The results of an NGS analysis confirmed the association of these SNPs with tetrad sterility in a larger set of 28 genotypes of different origin, all with W/γ-type cytoplasm. A heteroplasmy state was observed both in male-sterile and in male-fertile genotypes.

For a targeted search of initial breeding material for the quality of soybean seeds, it is necessary to know the patterns of the dependence of the corresponding seed characters on the weather and climatic conditions in a particular region. Global climatic change, the concretization of which is relevant, has a share in this dependence. Thus, the aim of this work was to identify the relationship between the variability of protein and oil content in soybean seeds with climatic parameters in the North Caucasus as well as trends in this variability over a long time period. The study of 1 442 soybean accessions from VIR collection in the Krasnodar region during 1987–2015 had been carried out and the tendencies of the variability of protein and oil content in seeds in this environment were estimated. The regression analysis in differences with forward stepwise selection of variables has been used to construct models for the dependence of the protein and oil content on generalized agrometeorological indices. During 1987–2015, for the period with temperatures above 10 °C, the sums of active temperatures increased by 218 °C/10 years and precipitation decreased by 20.9 mm/10 years. In the dynamics of protein content, a trend has been revealed as an increase by 2.5 % over 10 years, while there is no reliable trend in oil content. The maximum average mean of oil content and the smallest protein were in the middle-maturing accessions (22.2 and 38.8 %), and a relatively high protein content was detected, on average, in the early- (21.6 and 40.0 %) and late-maturing (20.2 and 39.9 %) varieties. The protein content had been increasing with a growth of the duration of the period with temperatures above 22 °C and decreasing with a raise in precipitation over a period of temperatures above 18 °C. The accumulation of oil in seeds was promoted by an increase of the hydrothermal coefficient over the period with temperatures above 19 °C, and, in late-maturating varieties, prevented by a prolonged autumn period with temperatures below 15 °C. Long-term growth in protein content is due to both climatic change and genetic improvement of varieties.

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The coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19) was announced by WHO in February 2020. In Moscow, the first case of the disease was detected on March 2, 2020 in a man who arrived from Italy. Two weeks after the first case, there was an exponential increase in the number of cases. The incidence peaked in the 19th week of the year, followed by a steady decline, lasting 16 weeks. Objective. To investigate the level and structure of population immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 virus among the population of Moscow against the background of the incidence of COVID-19. Patients and methods. The study of population immunity of Moscow residents to SARS-CoV-2 was carried out in the period from July 1, 2020 to July 30, 2020 against the background of stabilization of the incidence rate. The work was conducted as part of the first stage of the Rospotrebnadzor project to assess population immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 virus among the population of the Russian Federation, taking into account the protocol recommended by WHO. Volunteers for the study were selected by the method of questioning and randomization. The results of the survey of 2688 people were included in the analysis. The number of volunteers in all age groups was 384–385 people. The content of specific IgG to the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid was determined by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assya using a kit produced by FBIS SRCAMB according to the manufacturer's instructions. Results. During the survey of volunteers it was found that the share of seroprevalent residents of Moscow was 22.1%. By age groups, the highest proportion of seroprevalent was found among children aged 14–17 years (44.6%), the lowest (15.9%) – among people aged 18–29 years. Seroprevalence had no gender differences. The lowest level of herd immunity was revealed in the North-Western Administrative District (16.8%), the highest – in the South-Eastern Administrative District, as well as in the Troitsky and Novomoskovsky Administrative Districts of Moscow (in both, 24.1%). The smallest number of seropositive persons was among cultural workers (5.8%), the largest – among medical workers (27.0%). In the presence of contacts with patients with COVID-19, the probability of seroconversion increases by 1.5 times, and among convalescing persons COVID-19 antibodies were detected in 60.0% of cases. The proportion of people with asymptomatic infection among seropositive residents was 82.4%. Conclusion. The results obtained make it possible to characterize the population immunity of Moscow residents and are essential for the planning and implementation of anti-epidemic measures during the incidence of COVID-19. Key words: coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2, seroprevalence, population, COVID-19