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Polygonum cuspidatum, alternatively known as Fallopia japonica or Reynoutria japonica, is a perennial herb belonging to the Polygonaceae family. Commonly called Japanese knotweed or Asian knotweed, this plant is native to East Asia, particularly in regions such as Korea, China, and Japan. It has successfully adapted to a wide range of habitats, resulting in it being listed as a pest and invasive species in several countries in North America and Europe. This study focuses on analysing the composition of the bacterial and fungal endophytic communities associated with Japanese knotweed growing in the Russian Far East, employing next-generation sequencing (NGS) and a cultivation-based method (microbiological sowing). The NGS analysis showed that the dominant classes of endophytic bacteria were Alphaproteobacteria (28%) and Gammaproteobacteria (28%), Actinobacteria (20%), Bacteroidia (15%), and Bacilli (4%), and fungal classes were Agaricomycetes (40%), Dothideomycetes (24%), Leotiomycetes (10%), Tremellomycetes (9%), Pezizomycetes (5%), Sordariomycetes (3%), and Exobasidiomycetes (3%). The most common genera of endophytic bacteria were Burkholderia-Caballeronia-Parabukholderia, Sphingomonas, Hydrotalea, Methylobacterium-Metylorubrum, Cutibacterium, and Comamonadaceae, and genera of fungal endophytes were Marasmius, Tuber, Microcyclosporella, Schizothyrium, Alternaria, Parastagonospora, Vishniacozyma, and Cladosporium. The present data showed that the roots, leaves, and stems of P. cuspidatum have a greater number and diversity of endophytic bacteria and fungi compared to the flowers and seeds. Thus, the biodiversity of endophytic bacteria and fungi of P. cuspidatum was described and analysed for the first time in this study.

Downy mildew is a severe disease that leads to significant losses in grape yields worldwide. It is caused by the oomycete Plasmopara viticola. The study of the distribution of this agent and the search for endophytic organisms that inhibit the growth of P. viticola are essential objectives to facilitate the transition to sustainable and high-yield agriculture, while respecting the environment. In this study, high-throughput sequencing of the ITS (ITS1f/ITS2 region) and 16S (V4 region) amplicons was employed to analyze 80 samples of leaves and stems from different grapevine species and cultivars grown in the Russian Far East (Vitis amurensis Rupr., Vitis coignetiae Pulliat, and several grapevine cultivars). The analysis revealed the presence of P. viticola in 53.75% of the grape samples. The pathogen P. viticola was not detected in V. amurensis samples collected near Vladivostok and Russky Island. Among the P. viticola-affected samples, only two (out of the eighty analyzed grape samples) from the Makarevich vineyard in Primorsky Krai exhibited disease symptoms, while the majority appeared visually healthy. We also found six distinct P. viticola ASVs in our metagenomic data. Based on phylogenetic analysis, we hypothesize that the P. viticola population in the Russian Far East may have originated from the invasive P. viticola clade aestivalis, which has spread around the world from North America. To identify putative microbial antagonists of P. viticola, a differential analysis of high-throughput sequencing data was conducted using the DESeq2 method to compare healthy and P. viticola-affected samples. The in silico analysis revealed an increased representation of certain taxa in healthy samples compared to P. viticola-affected ones: fungi—Kabatina sp., Aureobasidium sp., and Vishniacozyma sp.; bacteria—Hymenobacter spp., Sphingomonas spp., Massilia spp., Methylobacterium-Methylorubrum spp., and Chryseobacterium spp. This in-silico-obtained information on the potential microbial antagonists of P. viticola serves as a theoretical basis for the development of biocontrol agents for grapevine downy mildew.

Many grape endophytic microorganisms exhibit high potential for suppressing the development of grape diseases and stimulating grapevine growth and fitness, as well as beneficial properties of the crop. The microbiome of wild grapevines is a promising source of biocontrol agents, which can be beneficial for domesticated grapevines. Using next-generation sequencing (NGS) and classical microbiology techniques, we performed an analysis of bacterial and fungal endophytic communities of wild grapevines Vitis amurensis Rupr. and Vitis coignetiae Pulliat growing in the Russian Far East. According to the NGS analysis, 24 and 18 bacterial taxa from the class level were present in V. amurensis and V. coignetiae grapevines, respectively. Gammaproteobacteria (35%) was the predominant class of endophytic bacteria in V. amurensis and Alphaproteobacteria (46%) in V. coignetiae. Three taxa, namely Sphingomonas, Methylobacterium, and Hymenobacter, were the most common bacterial genera for V. amurensis and V. coignetiae. Metagenomic analysis showed the presence of 23 and 22 fungi and fungus-like taxa of class level in V. amurensis and V. coignetiae, respectively. The predominant fungal classes were Dothideomycetes (61–65%) and Tremellomycetes (10–11%), while Cladosporium and Aureobasidium were the most common fungal genera in V. amurensis and V. coignetiae, respectively. A comparative analysis of the endophytic communities of V. amurensis and V. coignetiae with the previously reported endophytic communities of V. vinifera revealed that the bacterial biodiversity of V. amurensis and V. coignetiae was similar in alpha diversity to V. vinifera’s bacterial biodiversity. The fungal alpha diversity of V. amurensis and V. coignetiae was statistically different from that of V. vinifera. The beta diversity analysis of bacterial and fungal endophytes showed that samples of V. vinifera formed separate clusters, while V. amurensis samples formed a separate cluster including V. coignetiae samples. The data revealed that the endophytic community of bacteria and fungi from wild V. amurensis was richer than that from V. coignetiae grapes and cultivated V. vinifera grapes. Therefore, the data obtained in this work could be of high value in the search for potentially useful microorganisms for viticulture.

The complete mitochondrial (mt) genomes of five subspecies of the Eurasian (Common) magpie Pica pica were determined for the first time. Lengths of the circular genomes comprise 13 protein-coding genes, two rRNA genes (for 12S rRNA and 16S rRNA), 22 tRNA genes, and the non-coding control region (CR). Gene content and lengths of the genomes (16,936–16,945 bp) are similar to typical vertebrate mt genomes. The subspecies studied differs by several single substitutions and indels, especially in the CR. The phylogenetic tree based on complete mt genomes shows a deep divergence of the two groups of subspecies which supports the proposed division into two distinct species: P. pica and P. serica.

Grapes and wines represent the most important source of edible stilbenes and other phenolic metabolites, which demonstrate a wide range of valuable biological activities. However, there is no information about the profile and content of phenolic compounds in Russian wines. We firstly analyzed phenolics (stilbenes, phenolic acids, and flavonols) in some representatives of Russian wines, including eleven red and seven white Russian wines from Fanagoria, Krasnodarsky Territory. The Russian red wines contained six stilbenes (trans-resveratrol, cis-resveratrol, trans-, cis-piceid, trans-piceatannol, δ-viniferin), while the white wines contained only five stilbenes (cis-resveratrol, trans-, cis-piceid, trans-piceatannol, trans-resveratrol). More than a half of the total stilbenes in the wines (65% of all stilbenes) were presented by trans-piceid and cis-piceid, while trans-resveratrol reached 16% of all the stilbenes. The red wines also contained six phenolic acids and six flavonols, while the white wines contained six phenolic acids and only three flavonols. Myrecitin-3-O-glucoside, quercetin-3-O-glucoside, and myricetin were the major flavonols in the red wines, while dihydroquercetin-3-O-rhamnoside was the major flavonol in the white wines. The red wines contained markedly higher amounts of stilbenes, phenolic acids, and flavonols than the white wines. Thus, the data showed that young red Russian Fanagoria wines represent a rich source of phenolic compounds. The study also revealed that younger wines were more abundant in phenolics, and wine storage for six months in the dark at +10 °C led to a decrease in the total content of phenolics, primarily monomeric stilbenes and quercetin-3-O-glucoside and quercetin flavonols.