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The cyanobacterium Oscillatoria terebriformis was shown to exhibit resistance to high manganese concentrations, remaining viable at 2.5 mM MnCl2 in the medium. Cyanobacterial cells were capable of considerable manganese consumption from the medium. Dynamics of Mn sorption by the cells was the same in all experimental variants, independent on the manganese concentration. Manganese concentration in the biomass peaked after 2-3 days and depended on Mn2+ concentration in the medium and on the amount of biomass introduced. In the case of O. terebriformis, manganese removed from the medium may be subdivided into Mn absorbed by the cell, Mn bound to the cell wall, Mn absorbed by the glycocalix, and chemically precipitated Mn. Of the total 21.25 ± 1.0 mg of consumed manganese, biological absorption and chemical precipitation were responsible for 11.78 ± 0.98 and 9.2 ± 0.8 mg, respectively. In the presence of cyanobacteria, Mn removal from the medium was 2.28 times higher than in the control. This process depended considerably on Mn sorption by exopolysaccharides. At 1.3 mM Mn2+, a lamellar mat was formed with interlayers of manganese carbonate.

A novel method, laser interference microscopy, has been developed for studying the morphofunctional state of bacterial cells and the structure of bacterial communities. The following potentialities of the method are shown: rapid determination of the cell structure and subcellular structures (nucleus zone, vacuoles, lamellar structures) and the physiological state of the cell, as well as the study of the structure of bacterial communities (biofilm). The method does not require any additional preparation of cells before the investigation (fixation, staining, treatment with contrasting substances), which reduces the possible appearance of artifacts to a minimum and enables one to use laser interference microscopy for in vivo investigations.

Strain Z-M001 of a unicellular cyanobacterium, assigned by analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence to the phylogenetic group of the generic level Euhalothece, was isolated from soda Lake Magadi. It was shown that strain Z-M001, unlike all other known cultured and uncultured organisms of the Euhalothece group, is extremely natronophilic, and it was named accordingly "Euhalothece natronophila". In its ecophysiological characteristics, it is comparable to extremely alkaliphilic organotrophic natronobacteria, which is essential for soda ecosystems, because cyanobacteria belong to primary producers. "E. natronophila" exhibits considerable morphological variability depending on the concentration of carbonates in the medium. The polymorphism of "E. natronophila" is primarily connected to limitation by utilizable forms of carbon.

A laboratory model of a cyano-bacterial mat with mineral layers of carbonates was used to examine the dynamics of the transformation of calcium-magnesium carbonate under the conditions of a soda lake. The activity of various organisms of the cyanobacterial community results in conditions under which the Ca-Mg carbonate precipitate undergoes changes. The crystal lattice of the initial carbonate is restructured; its mineralogical composition changes depending on the conditions of the mat. In magnesium calcites, which are formed under such low-temperature conditions, a rudimentary cation adjustment can occur with the formation of dolomite domains. These experiments confirm the hypothesis that the dolomite found in stromatolites is of a secondary origin and can be formed in the course of transformation of Ca-Mg carbonates under alkaline conditions in an alkaliphilic cyanobacterial community.

The activity of carbonic anhydrase (CA) was studied in different cell fractions of the alkaliphilic cyanobacterium Microcoleus chthonoplastes. The activity of this enzyme was found in the soluble and membrane protein fractions, as well as in intact cells and in a thick glycocalyx layer enclosing the cyanobacterium cells. The localization of CA in glycocalyx of M. chthonoplastes was shown by the western blot analysis and by immunoelectron microscopy studies with antibodies to the thylakoid CA from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (Cah3). At least one of the CA forms occurring in M. chthonoplastes CA was shown to be an alpha-type enzyme. A possible mechanism of the involvement of the glycocalyx CA in calcification of cyanobacteria is discussed.

A detailed description of the macrostructure, the ultrastructure, and the species diversity of alkaliphilic mat from Lake Khilganta (Buryatiya) is presented. The structure of this mat was found to be similar to that of halophilic mats from hypersaline lagoons of Lake Sivash (Crimea) that we studied earlier. Microcoleus chthonoplastes was the dominant form of cyanobacteria in both mats (in the alkaliphilic mat, Phormidium molle was another dominant form). Both mats had a pronounced laminated structure. However, unlike halophilic mats with calcium carbonate and gypsum laminas, the alkaliphilic mat contained calcium phosphate laminas instead of gypsum ones. The species diversity of microorganisms in the alkaliphilic mat was at least as rich as that in the halophilic mat; however, in the halophilic mat, the distribution of organisms between layers was more clear-cut. In the alkaliphilic mat, the highest species diversity was observed in the upper mat layers at the boundary between zones of oxygenic and anoxygenic photosynthesis. This fact can be explained by the ephemeral nature of soda lakes.

The goal of this work was to illustrate a possible interaction between the "soda continent" and the ocean. A laboratory simulation was undertaken of the development of alkaliphilic mat with calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate interlayers in the zone where ocean waters, containing calcium and manganese, come into contact with carbonate- and phosphate-rich alkaline waters. The macrostructure of the layered cyanobacterial mat turned out to little dependent on the chemical conditions causing sediment formation. The chemical composition of freshly formed mineral interlayers of the mat was found to vary with the medium composition. The mineralogical composition of the sediment is determined by diagenesis conditions in its depth, which can cause mineral phase conversions.

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.

From cyanobacterial mat, 36 strains of extremely halophilic archaebacteria were isolated. Basing on phenotypic and genotypic characteristics, two frequently occurring organisms among these strains were identified as Haloarcula japonica and Halobacterium distributum. Metabiotic interaction between halophilic Archaea and Microcoleus chthonoplastes, the primary organic matter producer, was demonstrated. It was shown that M. chthonoplastes secretes acids of tricarboxylic acid cycle into the medium and these are utilized by ecrysotrophic halobacteria. The obtained results suggest that extreme halophiles should be regarded as ecologically significant components of cyanobacterial communities.

The exogenous action of a sulphur-containing nucleotidepeptide on Anabaena cylindrica caused an increase in the biomass of the alga by 76% as a result of acceleration of growth and larger dimensions of cells. The content of nucleic acids per cell also increased: that of DNA by 40%, that of RNA, by 11%.

The comparative study of the biological properties of E. coli cultures, isolated from the urine of 7 patients two times during the first 11 days from the beginning of clinical manifestations of the exacerbation of chronic pyelonephritis, was conducted. In most cases the strains obtained as the result of the inoculations of the first and second urine samples belonged to the same serological and enzymatic variants. Still bacteria isolated in the second investigation, in contrast to E. coli obtained by the earlier inoculation of urine samples, often had no hemagglutinins and showed low adhesive capacity with respect to uroepithelium. Only in one out of 4 patient E. coli with antigen K1+ could be detected not only after the first inoculation, but also after the second one. In 4 patients E. coli cultures obtained as the result of the second isolation of these bacteria had lower content of sialic acid. Besides, differences in the sensitivity of E. coli strains isolated from the same patients in the course of the infectious process to the action of nonspecific protection factors of the body were established. The results obtained in the course of this study give more precise understanding of the existing conception of the pathogenesis of pyelonephritis.

The growth of the nucleus and cytoplasm, and the cytoplasm-nucleus ratio (CNR) were studied in the alga Hydrodictyon reticulatum Lagerch. The nucleus divides at the maximum values of CNR; CNR decreases between divisions. The synthesis of the nuclear matter takes place immediately after the mitosis, the growth of the cytoplasm prevails before the nuclear division. This unusual phenomenon can be presumably explained by the fact that Hydrodictyon is a polynucleate organism.