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This paper reports the results of replicative analysis of associations of 15 SNPs in a region of 14 genes previously identified in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) with early-onset schizophrenia in Kazakhs. An association of early-onset schizophrenia with genetic markers in three genes (VRK2, KCNB2, and CPVL) was found. An association of rs2312147 in the VRK2 gene with schizophrenia was also previously reported in the Chinese population, so this marker may be considered as possibly race-specific. Two groups consisting of four and six genes demonstrating intergenic epistatic interactions were revealed by multifactor dimensionality reduction methods. The gene ontologies of 14 studied genes were reduced to variants of one molecular function (peptidase activity) and one biological process (positive regulation of biosynthesis processes). Bioinformatic analysis of the protein-protein interactions of products of the genes under study demonstrates that the products of six out of 14 genes may be involved in a single interrelated network, the major connecting link of which is represented by their ubiquitination by the UBC protein.

The paper delves into the main regularities of the distribution of fossil microorganisms in Precambrian rocks, beginning from the Archean Eon about 3.5 billion years ago and ending in the Cambrian Period about 0.5 billion years ago. The paper analyzes facial peculiarities in the lateral differentiation of microfossils in Proterozoic basins and the main stages of temporal changes in fossil cyanobacterial communities, which are based on the irreversible succession of physicochemical conditions on the Earth and the evolution of eukaryotic microorganisms and their incorporation into prokaryotic ecosystems. To gain insight into Proterozoic fossil records, modern stratified cyanobacterial mats built up from layers of prokaryotes are considered. The analysis of phosphatization, carbonatization, and silification processes in modern algal-bacterial communities suggests that analogous processes took place in Proterozoic microbiotas. A comparison of modern and Precambrian living forms confirms the inference that cyanobacterial communities are very conservative and have changed insignificantly both morphologically and physiologically during the past two billion years.

There has been no information on cystogenous nematodes of the genus Heterodera injuring apple trees. The paper checks the first finding of these nematodes on the roots of a cultivated apple tree. The nematodes proved to be a new species, Heterodera mali sp. n. The apple cystogenous nematode resembles the potato cystogenous nematode H. rostochiensis Woll. in having a round body, small cleft of the vulva and similar sizes of eggs. It differs from H. rostochiensis in smaller sizes (on the average 5 against 9) very transparent and thin cuticle, a small distance between vulva and anus (on the average 43 against 86), a smaller value of the Granek's index (on the average 1.3 against 4.6), a smaller number of cuticular folds between vulva and anus (on the average 7 against 21) and different plant-hosts. A detailed description of H. mali sp. n. is given.