No 3 (2023)

Currently, a significant part of the world's soil cover is exposed to negative pollution, leading to its degradation. Oil hydrocarbons play a significant role among numerous soil pollutants. Sources of pollution are enterprises of oil extraction, oil refining, oil and oil products transportation. Every year in the world millions of tons of oil and oil products are lost during extraction, transportation, storage and use. Biological remediation based on the potential of microorganisms to transform pollutants of different origin is the most promising and environmentally safe method of restoring soil fertility, so the search for new strains to create and improve such biological preparations is still relevant. Atmospheric aerosols are a source of both transient and endogenous microbiota, which are metabolically active in relation to pollutants. During a complex airborne expedition on atmospheric sounding over the Arctic Ocean seas samples of aerosols were collected for microbiological analysis. The isolated cultures of microorganisms belonging to the genera Bacillus, Acinetobacter, Rhodococcus were tested for the ability to oil destruction when growing on agarized and liquid medium with the addition of oil to 2% as the only source of carbon and incubation for 10 days. The bioemulsifying and biodegrading abilities of microorganisms during growth in liquid medium were estimated visually by destruction of the surface film of oil, turbidity of the nutrient medium due to an increase in the biomass of microorganisms, formation of a uniform emulsion of oil in the medium, microscopy of cultural suspensions, and by their seeding on agarized nutrient medium to determine the titer of viable cells. Highly effective mesophilic and psychrotolerant oil destructor bacteria were isolated from northern atmospheric aerosols, which can be used to create complex biopreparations capable of assimilating a wider range of oil hydrocarbons for remediation of polluted soils and grounds in cold territories of Siberia and the Arctic.

Juniperus deltoides is a relic Mediterranean species of the Tertiary period, included in the Red Book of the Republic of Crimea in the status of a species declining in numbers. The development of measures to maintain and preserve populations of rare and endangered species is based on the study of their seed productivity. The aim of the work is to determine the level of seed productivity and seed quality of J. deltoides in the Crimean Mountains. Research objectives: to identify the level of seed productivity, establish the proportion of full-grained seeds and assess the degree of impact of abiotic and anthropogenic factors on the studied parameters of the generative sphere. According to the methods generally accepted in forestry and geobotany, 17 trial plots were established within J. deltoides forest stands. In addition, 3 J. deltoides radishes were isolated to determine the effect of inbreeding on seed fullness. By means of one-way analysis of variance, the degree of influence of abiotic and anthropogenic factors on seed productivity and seed quality was revealed. As a result of the research, it was found that almost half (47.53%) of all individuals of J. deltoides are characterized by low seed productivity. 10,18% during the research period did not form cones at all. It is noted that one of the factors affecting the seed productivity of J. deltoides in the Crimean Mountains is the geographic confinement of the habitats of the species. In addition, it was found that the Crimean population of J. deltoides is characterized by a low proportion of full-grained seeds, which is 1,32–26,92%. The degree of anthropogenic load of the studied territories has the greatest influence on the fulfillment of J. deltoides seeds in the Crimean Mountains.

The article presents the results of the analysis of the genetic structure of the populations of Carassius gibelio (Bloch, 1782) and Carassius carassius (Linnaeus, 1758) by the cytometric method by the size of the area of erythrocyte nuclei. The relevance of the work is due to the discussion on the formation of crucian as one species or several ecological forms and the disappearance of crucian as a species in its natural habitat. We compared crucian carp from different types of water bodies: the Tura river, the Niсa river (the left tributary of the Tura), Lake Krivoe (the Tura oxbow lake, periodically communicating with it), Lake Srednee (isolated, not connected with the Tura for more than 70 years). In all studied water bodies, the diploid form of silver crucian dominates. The proportion of triploids in the Nica river and Lake Krivoe did not exceed 5%, in the lake. The average was equal to 20%, and the maximum (30%) was noted in the Tura. The ratio of cytometrically determined diploids and triploids was: in the river Tura - 2: 1, in the river Nica – 19:1, in Lake Krivoe – 17:1, in Lake Srednee 3:1. At the same time, from 5 to 18% of individuals were not determined by ploidy, their largest number was noted in the sample from Lake Srednee. When comparing the area of erythrocyte nuclei in silver and gold crucian from the lake. The average overlap zone was found at the level of 45–54 µm2, which suggests natural hybridization of the populations of these species.

The paper analyzes the effect of oil on the survival and fertility of Drosophila melanogaster lines that differ in oil resistance. A study was made of wing morphoses in female flies of oil-resistant lines and flies, oil-resistant lines in a pure nutrient medium. In studies conducted at the Department of Ecology and Genetics, an oil-resistant line of fruit flies was bred, capable of not only surviving, but also reproducing in conditions of high oil concentration: half of the semi-lethal (2.5%) and semi-lethal (5%). The main indicators of the vital activity of flies reached the level of control (do not differ from the standard) by the 60th - 70th generation of keeping in conditions of oil pollution. Currently, flies kept, living and breeding in an oil-polluted environment have gone through more than 600 generations of development. Options used in the experiment: control contained on a standard nutrient medium; flies adapted to semi-lethal (5%) concentration of oil in the environment; flies adapted to half of the semi-lethal (2.5%) concentration of oil in the environment; flies adapted to 5% concentration, but transplanted to a pure nutrient medium (non-adaptive conditions); flies adapted to 2.5% concentration, but transplanted to a pure nutrient medium (non-adaptive conditions). Of interest was the opportunity to analyze the main indicators of vital activity and the presence of wing morphoses of fruit flies of an oil-resistant line, under conditions of oil pollution and when transferred to a clean nutrient medium (maladaptive conditions).

This investigation was conducted to study the psychofunctional status of male respondents of working age who are under the combined influence of adverse environment such as socio-natural conditions. According to the results obtained, in groups of men working in a northern region at a security company in aperiodic shift mode, hemodynamic parameters differed depending on seniority: among people with more than 5 years of work experience systolic BP values were higher and there was a strong tendency to higher diastolic and pulse BP. A lower vascular tone was noted among male students of the Northern Medical University, which indicates a lower activity of the sympathetic department of the autonomic nervous system. Their magnitude of systolic blood pressure approached the data of men with greater work experience. According to the results of the WAM methodology (well-being, activity, mood), in all three scales, the psychofunctional status of employees with less work experience was more favorable. Their self-assessment in the scales of well-being and activity differed greately. In comparison with the guards of both groups, students demonstrated a more favorable psychofunctional state in the scales of well-being and mood during the intersessional period. In accordance with the activity indicators, they were inferior to men whose work experience was less than 5 years. As a result, the formation of negative trends in hemodynamics was revealed among men with longer labor experience. It was most pronounced in the indicators of the heart component of blood pressure – systolic blood pressure. In the group of students, the average characteristics of the systolic blood pressure were approaching the data of a group of men with greater work experience. With an increase of work experience, self-assessment of psychofunctional status is reduced, especially in the scale of well-being. According to the activity scale, students were inferior to men whose work experience was less than 5 years. The results of the study demonstrate stress factors that distinguish the educational process of a northern medical university. Their impact is comparable to the consequences of aperiodic work in shifts with a high level of psychoemotional stress. In the north, these influences are aggravated by complex climatogeophysical conditions.

The article considers the issue of bioremediation of drilling sludge. The aim of the research is studying of the microbiological processes occurring in soils based on drilling sludge, with their subsequent application for the biological stage of reclamation of disturbed lands. Microbiological characteristics of drilling sludge and four samples of soils based on it with the addition of diatomite, dolomite flour, peat, gypsum, glauconite, humic preparation “Rostock” in different proportions were studied. Crops were shown on agarized medium: meat-peptone agar (MPA), starch-ammonia agar (SAA), Munz medium, Chapek medium, depending on the determined group of microorganisms. The total number of microflora, the number of saprophytes, microorganisms growing on starch-ammonia agar (SAA), hydrocarbon-oxidizing bacteria (PSB), micromycetes and actinomycetes were estimated. The mineralization coefficient is calculated. The total number of microflora in the samples ranged from 51 to 271 million CFU/g. The share of saprophytes was 16.7–24.8% of the total amount of microflora. The proportion of microorganisms growing on SAA was 15.6-36.6%. The minimum number of PSB was 2.0 million CFU/g of soil; the maximum was 22.0 million CFU/g. The mineralization coefficient varies from 0.81 to 1.63, which indicates different rates of mineralization processes. The number of micromycetes determined on the Chapek medium ranged from 0.01 to 3.33 million CFU/g, on SAA – from 0.03 to 10.4 million CFU/g. At the same time, the number of micromycetes is much lower than the number of bacteria, which is normal for soils. The number of actinomycetes varied from 0.2 to 7.3 million CFU/g. The largest number of actinomycetes was noted when peat and humic preparation “Rostock” were introduced. The share of actinomycetes in the total number of microflora on the SAA ranged from 0.6 to 14%. There is a development of the total number of microflora, an increase in the diversity of microbocenosis, which indicates a decrease in the concentrations of water-soluble salts, petroleum products and the presence of an additional food source in the form of peat. Based on the data obtained, a conclusion was made about the possibility of using soils based on drilling sludge with the addition of peat and humic preparation “Rostock” for the reclamation of disturbed lands.

Under the conditions of a model experiment, the effect of granular sludge of urban wastewater on the characteristics of reclaimed gray forest medium-carbonaceous soil with different levels of oil pollution was studied. The main physicochemical and microbiological characteristics of wastewater sludge, information on the content of biogenic elements, toxicity and efficiency of petroleum products destruction in soil samples incubated with and without granulate under different approaches to reclamation are presented. The introduction of granulate of wastewater sludge into oily gray forest medium-carbonaceous soil enriches the microbial pool, leads to an increase in the carbon content of the microbial mass. The additional introduction of biogenic elements with granular sediment of wastewater increases the resistance of microbocenoses to pollutant, reduces the time for restoration of properties and fertility of oily soil. It has been shown that the introduction of granular sewage sludge into soil samples containing 2.7–19.7 g/kg of petroleum products at the rate of 10 t/ha leads to 1.7–2.5-fold intensification of destruction processes, reduces the toxic effect of the pollutant, which indicates the possibility of its effective use in the reclamation of oily soils.