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Gymnadenia conopsea (Fragrant orchid) is a widespread model species for the study of polymorphism in the European part of Russia and abroad. Flow cytometry refers to rapid methods effective for assessing the structure of a population by DNA size estimation. However, this method is only available in habitats with close proximity to the place of the experiment, because this indicator is determined only in fresh leaves. A small population of G. conopsea in the industrial area adjacent to the Novosibirsk urban agglomeration in the Novosibirsk Region (NR) was studied. Only diploids were detected in the G. conopsea cenopopulation occurred in the industrial zone of the NR. In this study we pointed on significance of genome size variation, which correlates with the adaptive evolution of the G. conopsea in West Siberia. The revealed absence of minor cytotypes (individuals with a higher level of ploidy) in G. conopsea population reduces intraspecific and intrapopulation diversity of the species.

In this study the results of agrobacterial transformation of Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch. Ex Link) Bunge, a medicinal plant from Mongolia and China with a wide spectrum of pharmacological action were presented. As explants for transformation, in vitro derived microshoots as well as hypocotyls, cotyledons and primary shoots isolated from seedlings were used. The most effective from two tested Agrobacterium rhizogenes strains (A4-RT, 15834 SWISS) was 15834 SWISS, causing the transformation of various types of explants, including primary shoots as a more responsive type. The optimal co-cultivation time of explants with bacterial suspension (48 hours) and the highest transformation rate of primary shoots (36.4%) were established. PCR analysis confirmed the transgenic nature of the roots transformed with strain 15834 SWISS and the absence of bacterial contamination.

In the West Siberia there is very little data on the biology of cenopopulations of Gymnadenia conopsea. Habitat destruction and environmental changes, which potentially affected species long-term viability, led to G. conopsea cenopopulations fragmentation and isolation. A detailed study of the morphology variability of the Fragrant orchid representatives was carried out in the cenopopulation in Novosibirsk region. Our results indicate that asymbiotic germination of G. conopsea seeds is difficult to achieve and the species has serious conservation issues. It is the first report when the introduction of G. conopsea in tissue culture was undertaken as the initial stage of germplasm conservation of Siberian cenopopulation. Three modified nutrient media with different growth additives were tested to promote protocorm and seedling formation. The advanced G. conopsea seedlings establishment was obtained in 1/3 Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium, supplemented by 1.0 mgl−1 2-isopentenyladenine (2iP), 0.1 mgl−1 1-Naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and 10% coconut water. This study allowed establishing a reliable and reproducible system for the G. conopsea maintenance and conservation ex situ.

For the first time light and scanning electron microscopy have been to reveal changes in the anatomical structure of leaf blades of Fragaria × ananassa Duch. regenerants cultivated in nutrient media supplemented with biogenic silica and green-tea-flavonoids-based mechanocomposite. An increase in the density of stomata per unit area of the leaf, size of the stomatal gaps, thickness of the epidermis and mesophyll have been noted. The revealed changes in the leaf blade structure under mechanocomposite treatment contribute to the further successful acclimatization of regenerants to ex vitro conditions.