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Background. Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is the earliest in maturity and most flexible cereal crop, with a wide variety of forms. There are the groups of covered and naked varieties within the cultivated barley species. The interest in naked barley has currently re-emerged due to easy separation of floral glumes from the kernel during threshing and increased content of biochemical components. However, breeders in Russia are still paying much less attention to naked barleys that they do to covered ones.Materials and methods. In 2021–2023, 271 naked barley accessions from the VIR collection were studied in the experimental field of Pushkin and Pavlovsk Laboratories of VIR. The set included two-row (115 accessions) and six-row (156 accessions) barleys of various ecogeographic origin. Their growing season duration, yield, and protein content were analyzed.Results. Field and laboratory studies resulted in making agrobiological descriptions of the accessions and identifying sources of individual agronomic traits (earliness, high yield, and good grain quality) and their combinations under the conditions of the Russian Northwest. The diversity of naked barleys of various origin was shown for all the studied traits.Conclusion. Twelve ultra-early and 53 early naked barley accessions were selected as potential sources of earliness for breeders. Ten two-row and 10 six-row accessions were identified as high-yielding, while 8 two-row and 15 six-row accessions had the highest protein content (above 20%). Correlations among the studied traits were specified for the studied set of naked barleys. The selected source material will be offered to the leading breeding centers of Russia for the development of new cultivars with desired traits.

Background. Barley is an ancient crop currently cultivated in more than 100 countries. High adaptability makes it possible to cultivate it in environments unfavorable for many other crops. At the same time, fungal diseases can have a negative impact on its grain yield and quality. One of the most harmful is the fungus Blumeria graminis (DC.) Golovin ex Speer f. sp. hordei Marchal. The pathogen can overcome a cultivar’s resistance, resulting in significant harvest losses. There is a need for a constant search for new effective sources of resistance to powdery mildew for barley breeding.Materials and methods. A set of 950 barley accessions from the East Asian center of the crop’s morphogenesis were studied at the adult stage of plant development. They were screened and crossed in the fields of Pushkin and Pavlovsk Laboratories of VIR (St. Petersburg, Russia). Genetic control of barley resistance to B. graminis was analyzed in a climate chamber under artificial infection pressure with the northwestern population of the fungus. Scoring scales were used for screening.Results and conclusions. Weak development of B. graminis during the heading phase was observed on plants of 38 barley accessions from the East Asian center. High resistance at all stages of development was manifested by 20 genotypes that can be used in breeding programs. Resistance genes in 18 selected forms differed in their effectiveness at the seedling stage of development and during the heading phase. Accessions k-3433, k-10931, k-10934, k-11608, k-17545, k-20272, k-20279, k-20354 and k-27867 had one dominant resistance gene each. Accessions k-11608, k-12278, and k-17545 are protected by the identical gene, while the resistance of k-3433 is induced by a gene that differs from the genes present in accessions k-10931 and k-20279.

This review surveys the current state of taxonomy, origin, and utilization prospects for naked barley. The cultivated barley Hordeum vulgare L. incorporates the covered and naked barley groups. Naked barleys are divided into six-row naked barley (convar. сoeleste (L.) A. Trof.) and two-row naked barley (convar. nudum (L.) A. Trof.). The groups include botanical varieties differing in the structural features of spikes, awns, floret and spikelet glumes, and the color of kernels. The centers of morphogenesis for naked barley are scrutinized employing archeological and paleoethnobotanical data, and the diversity of its forms. Hypotheses on the centers of its origin are discussed using DNA marker data. The main areas of its cultivation are shown, along with possible reasons for such a predominating or exclusive distribution of naked barley in highland areas. Inheritance of nakedness and mechanisms of its manifestation are considered in the context of new data in genetics. The biochemical composition of barley grain in protein, some essential and nonessential amino acids, β-glucans, vitamins, and antioxidants is described. Naked barley is shown to be a valuable source of unique combinations of soluble and insoluble dietary fibers and polysaccharides. The parameters limiting wider distribution of naked barley over the world are emphasized, and breeding efforts that could mitigate them are proposed. Pathogen-resistant naked barley accessions are identified to serve as promising sources for increasing grain yield and quality. Main stages and trends of naked barley breeding are considered and the importance of the VIR global germplasm collection as the richest repository of genetic material for the development of breeding is shown.

Background. Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and oat (Avena sativa L.) are grain crops belonging to one of the main sources of food and forage in the Russian Federation. They contain proteins, various groups of vitamins, fats, carbohydrates, β-glucans, minerals and different bioloactive compounds, including anthocyanins. Recently, much attention has been given to anthocyanins due to their various valuable properties. Therefore, the grain of barley and oat is a potentially promising economic product and a component of functional nutrition. The aim of this work was to estimate the content of anthocyanins in barley and oat accessions with different pigmentation of kernels and lemma. Materials and methods. 32 barley and 11 oat accessions were studied by spectrophotometry. Anthocyanins were extracted from barley and oat kernels with a 1% HCl solution in methanol. Results and discussion. As a result of the study, accessions and varieties with the highest content of anthocyanins were identified: for barley these are k-15904 (China), k-19906 (Mongolia), k-18709 (Japan), k-18723, k-18729 (Canada), k-17725 (Turkey) belonging to var. violaceum; k-29568 (Japan) – var. densoviolaceum; k-8690 (Ethiopia) – var. griseinigrum; k-28205 (Germany) – var. nudidubium; and for oat these are k-15527 (A. ayssinica Hochst. var. braunii Koern., Ethiopia) and k-15245 (A. strigosa Schreb. subsp. brevis var. tephera Mordv. ex Sold. et Rod., Poland). Conclusion. The obtained results demonstrated that the VIR collection includes accessions with potential value for the development of varieties with an increased anthocyanin content, which can be used as functional food products.

Gaucher disease (GD) is an autosomal recessive Lysosomal storage disease caused by a deficiency of the enzyme glucocerebrosidase that is involved in glycosphingolipid degradation. The involvement of the osteoarticular system is one of the main manifestations of the disease and occurs in 70-100% of patients. However, the rarity of GD, nonspecific and heterogeneous clinical manifestations, and radiation semiotics similar to that of a number of other diseases may make differential diagnosis difficult.Objective: to present the radiation semiotics of involvement of the osteoarticular system in GD type I. To determine the role of MRI in diagnosing and estimating the severity of osteoarticular involvement in patients with GD type I.Material and methods. The data of X-ray and magnetic resonance images of the femurs along with the hip and knee joints were retrospectively analyzed in 86 patients diagnosed with GD type I. Studies were performed prior to specific therapy. The specific involvement of bone marrow in the pathological process was evaluated. Changes in the bones and joints, paraarticular structures, and soft tissues were determined.Results. The patients with GD type I were shown to have a spectrum of osteoarticular changes. It was ascertained that bone involvement in GD might be reversible and irreversible. MRI is a sensitive technique for diagnosing reversible changes in the osseous system in GD.Conclusion. The radiation semiotics of osteoarticular involvement in patients with GD type I is quite typical, and at the same time extremely variable. MRI is the gold standard method for the current diagnosis of osseous involvement in GD.

The article describes a clinical case of the patient with bone and joint lesions suffering from Gaucher disease with the consequent development of tuberculous infection in the form of tuberculosis sacroilitis and coxitis.

Differential diagnosis of bone involvement in patients with Gaucher disease can be challenging. Other diseases with similar radiological signs should be ruled out. Here we present a clinical case of tuberculous sacroiliitis in the patient with type I Gaucher disease. Advanced radiological methods of examination are described. Our case report proves the necessity of an individual approach to the management of such cohort of patients.

AIM: To characterize the genotype and genotype-phenotype correlations in patients with Gaucher disease (GD) in the Russian Federation. Materials and methods. One hundred adult patients with GD type 1 were examined. Their clinical study encompassed the evaluation of the severity of osteoarticular lesions from instrumental findings. An allele-specific real-time polymerase chain reaction assay was used to screen four most common acid Β-glucoside gene (GBA) mutations (N370S, 84GG, L444P, IVS2+1)/RESULTS: The N370S mutation and the N370S/? genotype where the second allele was presented with the mutation outside the 4 most common GBA gene mutations were found in the Russian patients with GD. Analysis of the clinical manifestations of the disease revealed no association between the genotype under examination and the severity of osteoarticular lesions and supported the unfavorable role of splenectomy (SE) in the development of severe bony disease/CONCLUSION: SE should be carried out in patients with unclear cytopenia and splenomegaly after the diagnosis of GD is excluded. The GD patients undergoing SE should receive emergency enzyme replacement therapy to prevent severe osteoarticular lesions and an irreversible orthopedic defect.

Gaucher disease (GD) is an inherited enzymatic defect resulting from a deficiency of acid Β-glucosidase, a lysosomal enzyme involved in the degradation of cell metabolic products. The major clinical manifestations of GD are hepatosplenomegaly, cytopenia, and bony involvement varying from asymptomatic osteopenia to severest osteoporosis and ischemic necrosis to develop irreversible orthopedic defects. Timely enzyme replacement therapy with recombinant glucosidase makes it possible to arrest disease progression and to prevent damage to the vital organs. However, GD in adult patients is frequently diagnosed in the presence of occurring osteoarticular lesions (arthrosis deformans, abnormal fractures). In these instances, besides enzyme replacement therapy, high-quality orthopedic care is required. The description of the case history of a patient undergoing splenectomy in childhood is given as a clinical example of severe osteoarticular lesion in GD and complex differential diagnosis with the intercurrent disease extrapulmonary tuberculosis.