Comparative Genomics of Seasonal Senescence in Forest Trees

In the course of evolution, both flowering plants and some gymnosperms have developed such an adaptation to winter and unfavorable living conditions as deciduousness. Of particular interest is Siberian larch (Larix sibirica Ledeb.), which is the only species in the pine family (Pinaceae) with a seasonal deciduousness. New generation sequencing technologies make it possible to study this phenomenon at the genomic level and to reveal the genetic mechanisms of leaf and needle aging in angiosperms and gymnosperms. Using a comparative analysis of the genomes of evergreen and deciduous trees, it was found that the genes that control EXORDIUM LIKE 2 (EXL2) and DORMANCY-ASSOCIATED PROTEIN 1 (DRM1) proteins are most represented in Siberian larch, while an excess of genes that control proteins acting as immune receptors were found in evergreens. Orthologs from the family of genes that control leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases (LRR-RLK) contributed mostly to the distinction between evergreens and deciduous plants.     

On the Possibility of Experimental Study of Rare η-, ω-, and η"-Meson Decays with the U-70 Accelerator

We consider potential experiments at the U-70 accelerator (Institute for High Energy Physics, Protvino) on the search and study of rare neutral -, -, and "-meson decays that are critical for the modern theory, at a qualitatively new level of statistical accuracy. A special setup with the use of meson tagging and electromagnetic calorimetry on PbWO₄crystals is offered for this experiment. The neural net approach was invoked at the stage of data processing. The Monte Carlo simulation of the experiment demonstrated its high sensitivity to rare-decay detection, which far exceeds the existing world results.     

Maximum Entropy Method in Analysis of Genetic Text and Measurement of its Information Content

The information capacity in frequency dictionaries of nucleotide sequences is estimated through the efficiency of reconstruction of a longer frequency dictionary from a short one. This reconstruction is performed by the maximum entropy method. Real nucleotide sequences are compared to random ones (with the same composition of nucleotides). Phages genes from NCBI bank were analyzed. The reliable difference of real genetic texts from random sequences is observed for the dictionary length q = 2, 5 and 6.