[Use of ion-exchange substrates for optimizing the mineral supply to plants within life support systems].

The main goal of the work is to validate ion-exchange substrates as optimizers of plant mineral supply within bio-engineering systems of life support with a high level of closure. Test objects were spring Lisovsky wheat-232 and leaf cabbage Sensuji-kyomizuna. Crops were cultivated on artificial soil (AS) in environmentally controlled plant growth chambers. Prior to seeding, AS was enriched simultaneously with wheat straw and ion-exchange substrate BIONA-312 to the extent of 2, 10 or 20% of AS dry mass. Incorporation of the ion-exchange substrate in the amount of 10% increased crop productivity and eliminated the negative effect of wheat straw. Ion-exchange substrate in amount of 20% did not yield a noticeable gain in productivity as compared with the previous test.

[Polar lipid pool modification in leaves of hoary plantain (Plantago media L.) plants during their light adaptation under natural conditions].

Polar glycerolipids and photosynthetic pigments of Plantago media L. plants, growing on limestone outcrops of the Southern Timan, have been studied. Leaves of plants growing on well insolated and heated slopes are characterized by an intensive lipoperoxidation; the accumulation of chlorophylls and carotenoids in these plants is 1.5-2 times less and the content of polar lipids is 15-20% less than in plants growing in dense grass at the bottom of slopes. The accumulation of some classes of glycerolipids in leaves in the daytime provides for stabilization of photosystem complexes and the formation of the pool of zeaxanthin, a protective xanthophyll. Changes in the content and ratio of lipids represent an important part of the adaptive reorganizations of the photosynthetic apparatus caused by excess radiation under natural conditions.

[Optimization of the mineral nutrition of plants constituting the phototrophic component of closed biological life support systems].

Applicability of a new substrate for crops cultivation in bioregenerative LSSs with a high degree of mass-exchange closure was tested. Optimization of leaf cabbage nutrition by supplementing the basic substrate fabricated of plant and animal residues with ion-exchange resins proved to have a success.

[Comparative evaluation of productivity of several green cultures as potential higher plant components of bio-regenerative systems of life support].

Purpose of the investigation was to select, analyze and evaluate green plant species known for assisting resistance to diseases and improving physiological functions in humans, and to test allelopathic compatibility of selected species with basic systems for life support. Nutrient substrates were freshly made soil-like substrate (SLS) and clayite. Green cultures were 6 spinach species, 2 lettuces, 2 leaf cabbage species and ruccola. The investigations showed that plant productivity was either equal to or better on freshly made SLS than on clayite; however, the greens accumulated large quantities of nitrate nitrogen. The highest productivity distinguished leaf cabbage; the best antiradical properties was demonstrated by lettuces and the worst, by some spinach species. None of the species displayed a negative allelopathic effect on productivity of the reddish test culture.