Gelechia omelkoi sp. nov. – a new species from the Russian Altai Mountains related to the Nearctic Gelechia mandella Busck, 1904 (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae), with a synopsis of Gelechia from the Altai Republic of Russia

Gelechia omelkoi sp. nov. is described from the Ukok plateau and South Chuisky ridge in the Altai Mountains of Russia. The adult of the new species, including its male genitalia, is illustrated and compared with species most similar in morphology and DNA barcodes—G. sororculella (Hübner, 1817) and G. jakovlevi Krulikovsky, 1905 from the Palaearctic region, as well as G. mandella Busck, 1904 from Canada. This last species is redescribed based on adult specimens, including the genitalia of both sexes, and a lectotype is designated. Gelechia sirotina Omelko, 1986 is recorded from the Altai Republic for the first time. An updated list of six species of Gelechia from the Altai Mountains of Russia is given. Dorsal habitus photographs of all species are provided. The male genitalia of the lectotype of G. jakovlevi is illustrated for the first time.

A new species of the genus Otiorhynchus Germar, 1822 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) from Ukok Plateau (Western Siberia, Altai)

Russian Altai of Western Siberia is described and illustrated. This species is similar to O. janovskii Korotyaev, 1990 but differs from it in the long decumbent setae on the elytra, larger teeth on the femora, wider rostrum and weakly narrowed apex of the aedeagus. Otiorhynchus altaicus Stierlin, 1861, syn. nov. is synonymous to Otiorhynchus (Podonebistus) bardus Boheman, 1842. A key for identifying species from the subgenus Podonebistus from Altai and adjacent territories is given.

New Epizootic Territory in Gorno-Altai High-Mountain Natural Plague Focus on the Ukok Plateau

The aim of the work – analysis of peculiarities of the plague epizooty found in the southern steppe part of the Ukok Plateau in 2020.Materials and methods. Epizootiological survey was conducted over the area of 1573 km2 in July and August, 2020. 141 mammals, 157 ectoparasites (including 152 fleas), 17 bone remains samples, and 50 regurgitates of predatory birds have been tested for plague.Results and discussion. The background species of mammals – natural hosts of Yersinia pestis in the southern steppe part of the Ukok plateau are gray marmot, long-tailed souslik, and Daurian pika. Abundance of the gray marmot was high and amounted to 1.7±0.18 inhabited burrows per 1 ha (n=30) with 90 % occupancy. Three strains of Yersinia pestis ssp. pestis have been isolated: from Oropsylla alaskensis fleas collected from long-tailed souslik, gray marmot carcass, and regurgitates of predatory birds. Yersinia pestis DNA have been detected in 14 objects. Eight positive results of serological tests have been obtained. The epizooty area that was confirmed by Yersinia pestis isolation totaled 252 km2 . As a result of the survey the circulation of Yersinia pestis ssp. pestis have been for the first time established on the Ukok Plateau. The target species – the gray marmot, as well as the long-tailed souslik, are actively involved into the epizooty.

Comparative Genetic Analysis of Yersinia pestis Strains Isolated on the Ukok Plateau and other Territories of the Altai Mountains

The aim of the study was molecular-genetic identification and analysis of the phylogenetic relationship of Yersinia pestis strains isolated on the Ukok Plateau in 2020, in order to establish the current boundaries of the natural mega focus of plague in the Altai Mountains in Russia and Mongolia.Materials and methods. 37 strains of Y. pestis of the main subspecies isolated in the Tuva mountain and Gorno-Altai high-mountain plague foci and adjacent territories of Mongolia in 1971–2020 were studied. The whole genome sequencing of the strains was performed using the Ion S5 XL System (Thermo Fischer Scientific). Ion Torrent Suite software package 5.12 and Newbler gsAssembler 2.6 were used to process the data and assemble de novo the sequences of raw reads. The average size of the collected genome was 4.55 million base pairs. Core SNPs were detected by aligning the contigs of Y. pestis strains on the CO92 genome using the Snippy 4.6 program, then 28 SNP homoplasies were removed. The resulting set of SNPs contained only the core region of the genome (955 SNPs). The dendrogram was constructed using the Maximum Likelihood method applying the PhyML 3.1 program.Results and discussion. The current population structure of Y. pestis of the main subspecies, antique biovar, phylogenetic line 4.ANT, endemic to the foci of the Altai Mountains in Russia and Mongolia has been determined. The presence of 4.ANT-21 clone, which became widespread in the territory of these natural foci of plague at the begining of the XXI century, was revealed. It is shown that three strains isolated on the Ukok Plateau in 2020 belong to clone 4.ANT-21. According to phylogenetic analysis, evidence of 4.ANT circulation on the Ukok Plateau before 2018 was obtained. The lesson that has been learned is that it is necessary to study the territories of Mongolia, Kazakhstan and China bordering the Ukok Plateau in order to establish the current boundaries of the 4.ANT mega focus.

Notes on Potentilla (Rosaceae) of Altai. 7. New findings in the flora of Kazakhstan

The article presents a new data on distribution of 12 taxa of Potentilla L.in Kazakhstan. The plants were gathered on the territory of the East Kazakhstan Region (EKR) within the Altai Mountain Country (AMC). P. radiata Lehm. from the Kalbinsky ridge and P. rhipidophylla Soják from the Ukok Plateau proved to be the new species for Kazakhstan. P. radiata is mentioned for the first time for the AMC flora. The new locations are indicated for the other 10 species previously known in the flora of the EKR. One of them, P. asiatica (Th. Wolf) Juz., is mentioned for the first time for Rudny Altai and the Ukok Plateau. For the first time P. × angarensis Popov, P. pensylvanica L. and P. thuringiaca Bernh. ex Link. are mentioned for the Kalbinsky ridge and P. gelida C. A. Meyer subsp. boreoasiatica Jurtzev et Kamelin – for the Ivanosky ridge. P. agrimonioides M. Bieb. and P. tergemina Soják are new species for the Tarbagatay ridge of Katon-Karagay region, both are also mentioned for the first time for the flora of the Katon-Karagay State National Nature Park (KKSNNP). The article presents a key developed to identify P. radiata and related species of the territory of the EKR. In addition to Potentilla species, a new location of Farinopsis salesoviana (Steph.) Chrtek et Soják (Potentilla salessowii), a rare shrub for the flora of EKR, is mentioned. The labels of the studied samples are fully quoted; comments are given to all discussed species. The samples of the presented taxa are kept in the herbarium fund of the KKGNPP, duplicate materials have been deposited in the Herbarium of Altai State University (ALTB; Russia, Barnaul).

High genetic diversity of ancient horses from the Ukok Plateau

A growing number of researchers studying horse domestication come to a conclusion that this process happened in multiple locations and involved multiple wild maternal lines. The most promising approach to address this problem involves mitochondrial haplotype comparison of wild and domestic horses from various locations coupled with studies of possible migration routes of the ancient shepherds. Here, we sequenced complete mitochondrial genomes of six horses from burials of the Ukok plateau (Russia, Altai Mountains) dated from 2.7 to 1.4 thousand years before present and a single late Pleistocene wild horse from the neighboring region (Denisova cave). Sequencing data indicates that the wild horse belongs to an extinct pre-domestication lineage. Integration of the domestic horse data with known Eurasian haplotypes of a similar age revealed two distinct groups: the first one widely distributed in Europe and presumably imported to Altai, and the second one specific for Altai Mountains and surrounding area.