Application of the Kohonen neural network for monitoring tissue oxygen supply under hypoxic conditions

The article presents the results of application of the Kohonen artificial neural network (KANN) in assessing the oxygen status of human tissues, as well as for studying the adaptive-compensatory response of the body to functional load. In the experiment, the registered digital oxygen images of the tissue of 31 subjects were distributed into three classes using the KANN. Each group is characterised by different resistance of the organism to hypoxia. The research results have shown the effectiveness of using an artificial neural network structure and the possibility of its implementation for recognition of the functional state of a person under conditions of metabolic hypoxia; it seems relevant and has theoretical and practical significance in the framework of ecological physiology.

Seasonal trends of the polyp expansion and nutritional condition of Alcyonium acaule (Octocorallia, Alcyonacea)

The ecological physiology of anthozoans, as well as their resistance to stressors, are strongly influenced by environmental factors and the availability of resources. The energy budget of anthozoans can vary seasonally in order to find an equilibrium between the available resources and respiration, polyp activity, growth, and reproduction processes. The variation in the biochemical composition of the animal tissues in these organisms results from a combination of the productivity processes of the water column coupled with the reproductive effort and potential starvation periods of the anthozoans. Here, the seasonal variation in the polyp activity of a slow-growing passive suspension feeder, the octocoral Alcyonium acaule, as well as their carbohydrate, protein and lipid contents, was investigated in a warm temperate environment using in-situ observations and biochemical analyses. Polyp activity exhibited a significant variability that was moderately dependent on season, while an aestivation phenomenon in A. acaule (i.e., a resting period in which the anthozoan is not capable of any polyp activity) during the warmer months is clearly observed. Carbohydrate concentrations in the coral species showed a significant increase in the late winter and spring seasons, and the lipid content increased during the spring. A higher abundance of lipids and carbohydrates coincided with a higher primary productivity in the water column, as well as with the octocoral reproduction period. In late autumn, there was a depletion of these biomolecules, with protein levels exhibiting great variability across sampling times. Complex alterations driven by climate change could affect the energy fluxes that depend on the dead or alive particles that are intercepted by marine animal forests. The obtained findings show a food shortage in late summer and autumn of the benthic suspension feeder A. acaule through the integrative descriptors of the ecophysiology of these anthozoans. This research contributes to the knowledge of energy storage capabilities in benthic suspension feeders in general, highlighting the importance of understanding the limits of resistance to starvation periods through these indicators.

ANNIVERSARY OF THE OUTSTANDING HYDROECOLOGIST OF THE PRESENT To the 90th anniversary of Academician of NAS of Ukraine V.D. Romanenkо

November 30, 2020 marks the 90th anniversary of an outstanding Ukrainian scientist in the field of hydrobiology, hydroecology, ecological physiology of aquatic animals, winner of two State Prizes of Ukraine in Science and Technology (1995, 2004), Honored Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine (1991), winner of the V.Ya. Yuriev Prize of the NAS of Ukraine (1984), І.І. Schmalhausen Prize of the NAS of Ukraine (2002), Director of the Institute of Hydrobiology of the NAS of Ukraine in 1980–2016, Doctor of Biological Sciences (1970), Professor (1983), Academician of the NAS of Ukraine (1988) V.D. Romanenko

Main directions of research and achievements of the Laboratory of ecological physiology and product quality in 2000–2020

The article presents the main directions of research and the most significant results of the laboratory of ecological physiology and product quality of the Institute of Animal Biology of NAAS for twenty years of its activity. The results of basic research and applied developments obtained during the implementation of tasks included in the scientific programs of NAAS and the Scientific and Methodological Center “Animal Physiology” are presented. The main characteristics of the physiological impact of new effective feed additives and BAS, tested in production and implemented on different species of animals — cattle, sheep, poultry, rabbits, bees, in pond fish, substantiated methods of their use. The relationship between the degree of man-made pollution and the intensity of physiological and biochemical processes in animals, their adaptive and reproductive capacity. The method of arterio-venous difference in the mammary gland revealed some mechanisms of physiological influence of Cd in the body of cows during lactation under conditions of experimental loading of its salts of different concentrations, the level of biotransformation into milk. The study of the biological action of new organic compounds Se in cows, calves and breeding bulls was started for the first time. The composition of the feed additive based on the drug “Sel-Pleks” was developed and tested, which increases the immunobiological, productive and reproductive ability of the body of cows in the conditions of intensive technogenic load. New scientific data on the biological action of the developed protein-mineral supplements in the body of rabbits with different methods of maintenance and feeding. Physiological and biochemical mechanisms of influence of terms of weaning of young rabbits on immunobiological reactivity of an organism are found out. A recipe for granular feed with high protein content has been developed and its effect on growth intensity and physiological and biochemical processes in rabbits has been studied. Possibilities of application of genetically modified feeds in animal feeding and their influence on physiological status, ecological safety and quality of production are substantiated. The influence of GMO soybeans and products of their processing on the formation of adaptive reactions and functioning of individual organs and systems in animals has been studied. The absence of a pronounced negative effect of transgenic soy on the growth and development of the organism and its reproductive ability in female animals has been proved. The effect of Ge in the form of germanium citrate, obtained by nanotechnological method and chemically synthesized, on the state of the immune, reproductive antioxidant and detoxification systems of the body in laboratory rats of two generations has been studied. The peculiarities of ontogenetic development of male F1 rats under the action of different doses of germanium citrate have been elucidated. The possibility of using small and medium doses of germanium citrate to stimulate the body’s immune and antioxidant systems, its reproductive capacity in females of multiple animals is substantiated. Changes in physiological and biochemical parameters of blood and detoxification ability of rats F0 and F1 under the action of different doses of germanium citrate were established. The effect of different doses of germanium citrate on the content of biotic mineral elements in tissues and organs of animals has been studied. Peculiarities of histological structure of tissues of immunocompetent organs of female F1 rats under the action of different doses of germanium citrate are noted. The role of the laboratory staff in the improvement of existing and development of new methods of physiological, biochemical and ecological research, State standards, the possibility of their adaptation and harmonization to modern conditions of science and production is shown.

The Trait Repertoire Enabling Cyanobacteria to Bloom Assessed through Comparative Genomic Complexity and Metatranscriptomics

ABSTRACT Water bloom development due to eutrophication constitutes a case of niche specialization among planktonic cyanobacteria, but the genomic repertoire allowing bloom formation in only some species has not been fully characterized. We posited that the habitat relevance of a trait begets its underlying genomic complexity, so that traits within the repertoire would be differentially more complex in species successfully thriving in that habitat than in close species that cannot. To test this for the case of bloom-forming cyanobacteria, we curated 17 potentially relevant query metabolic pathways and five core pathways selected according to existing ecophysiological literature. The available 113 genomes were split into those of blooming (45) or nonblooming (68) strains, and an index of genomic complexity for each strain’s version of each pathway was derived. We show that strain versions of all query pathways were significantly more complex in bloomers, with complexity in fact correlating positively with strain blooming incidence in 14 of those pathways. Five core pathways, relevant everywhere, showed no differential complexity or correlations. Gas vesicle, toxin and fatty acid synthesis, amino acid uptake, and C, N, and S acquisition systems were most strikingly relevant in the blooming repertoire. Further, we validated our findings using metagenomic gene expression analyses of blooming and nonblooming cyanobacteria in natural settings, where pathways in the repertoire were differentially overexpressed according to their relative complexity in bloomers, but not in nonbloomers. We expect that this approach may find applications to other habitats and organismal groups. IMPORTANCE We pragmatically delineate the trait repertoire that enables organismal niche specialization. We based our approach on the tenet, derived from evolutionary and complex-system considerations, that genomic units that can significantly contribute to fitness in a certain habitat will be comparatively more complex in organisms specialized to that habitat than their genomic homologs found in organisms from other habitats. We tested this in cyanobacteria forming harmful water blooms, for which decades-long efforts in ecological physiology and genomics exist. Our results essentially confirm that genomics and ecology can be linked through comparative complexity analyses, providing a tool that should be of general applicability for any group of organisms and any habitat, and enabling the posing of grounded hypotheses regarding the ecogenomic basis for diversification.