[Ecophysiological Characteristics of actinomycetes of desert soils of Mongolia].

It is shown that the actinomycete complex in steppe-desert light brown salty soil of desert steppes of Mongolia is represented by the genera Streptomyces and Micromonospora. The species diversity of the genus Streptomyces, which dominates the complex, decreases with increasing osmolarity of the medium. The influence of environmental factors--temperature and osmolarity of medium--on the development of metabolically active members of the phylum Actinobacteria in the domain Bacteria of the prokaryotic microbial soil community was established. The proportion of metabolically active bacteria belonging to Actinobacteria increases with increasing osmolarity and incubation temperature of soil. The dominance of the filamentous metabolically active members of the phylum Actinobacteria over the unicellular organisms was shown. The halotolerant actinomycetes isolated from the steppe-desert soils were alkalotolerant, xerophilic, and thermotolerant and exhibited antimicrobial activity with respect to Gram-positive bacteria and actinomycetes.

[Temperature as a factor of development of psychrotolerant mycelial bacteria complexes in soils of north regions].

It has been demonstrated that complexes of mycelial bacteria (actinomycetes), in which the amount of psychrotolerant actinomycetes reaches hundreds of thousands of CFU/g of the soil (frequently exceeding the portion of mesophilic forms), are developed in peat and podzolic soils of the tundra and taiga at low temperatures. As actinomycetes grow and develop in cold soils, their mycelium increases in length. Use of the molecular in situ hybridization method (fluorescent in situ hybridization, FISH) demonstrated that the portion of metabolically active mycelial actinobacteria exceeds the portion of unicellular actinobacteria in the Actinobacteria phylum. Specific peculiarities of psychrotolerant populations in relation to the spectrum of consumed substrates (histidine, mannitol, saccharose) were established by the method of multirespirometric testing.

[Thermophilic chitinolytic microorganisms of brown semidesert soil].

In brown semidesert soil, thermophilic prokaryotic organisms identified as Streptomyces roseolilacinus and Silanimonas lenta were shown to play the main role in chitin transformation at 50 degrees C. The phylogenetic positions of the isolated dominant chitinolytic microorganisms were determined on the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The consumption of chitin as a source of carbon and nitrogen by both the bacterium and the actinomycete was shown by considerable biomass accumulation, high emission of carbon dioxide, and presence in the medium of the chitinase exoenzyme.

[Methodological aspects of assessing chitin utilization by soil microorganisms].

A computational method for estimating specific activity of chitin decomposition by microorganisms is proposed. Spectrophotometric and gas chromatographic methods have been used to determine the rates of chitinase production, biomass accumulation, and carbon dioxide emission by pure cultures of microorganisms grown on a chitin-containing medium. Among dominants of the chitinolytic community of chernozem (Trichoderma viride, Stretomyces albolongus, Alcaligenes, and Arthrobacter), the highest chitinolytic activity is characteristic of prokaryotes. In brown desert-steppe soil, the main destructor prokaryotes are actinomycetes (S. roseolilacinus). The biomass of the fungus T. viride growth on the chitin-containing medium markedly exceeds that of prokaryotes, but the specific activity of respiration and chitinase production in actinomycetes S. roseolilacinus and S. albolongus is an order of magnitude higher than in T. viride.

[Antagonistic activity of soil acidophilic actinomycetes].

It has been shown that soil acidophilic actinomycetes (mycelial prokaryotes with a growth optimum between pH 3 and 7) markedly differ from neutrophilic actinomycetes in antimicrobial activity: the former are more active against fungi and yeasts, whereas the latter effectively suppress Gram-positive bacteria. Acidophilic streptomycetes actively inhibit the growth of phytopathogenic fungi, especially on acidic media.

[Haloalkaliphilic actinomycetes in soils of Mongolian desert steppes].

The abundance of actinomycetes isolated from the soils of Mongolian desert steppes varies from several thousand to hundreds of thousands of CFU/g soil, depending on soil type and isolation medium. Eight actinomycete genera have been found in these soils: Streptomyces, Micromonospora, Saccharopolyspora, Actinomadura, Microtetraspora, Thermomonospora, Nocardia, and Dactylosporangium. The streptomycete complexes of brown desert-steppe and gray-brown desert alkaline soils include halophilic, alkaliphilic, and haloalkaliphilic species that grow most successfully on the media with a salt concentration of 5% and pH 8-9.

[Actinomycete growth in conditions of low moisture].

Actinomycete communities demonstrated a replacement of the generic composition in time as a function of soil moisture. Representatives of the genera Streptomyces, Micromonospora, Actinomadura, Saccharopolyspora, and Microbispora were repeatedly isolated from soil under different moisture conditions (field capacity, maximum molecular capacity, and maximum adsorption capacity). Representatives of some rare genera (Thermomonospora and Kibdelosporangium) were isolated from soil with low moisture levels inhibiting growth of more hydrophilic actinomycetes and bacteria. Spores of some actinomycetes could grow at low relative air humidity (RH) (50 and 67%). The complete growth cycle of all actinomycetes starting from spore germination to sporulation was observed only at RH of 98%.

[Number and structure of actinomycetes complexes in the rhizosphere winter rye, oat and red clover].

The actinomycetes complexes in the rhizosphere of three agricultural plants by using the methods of luminescense microscopy and cup sowing were investigated. It was established, that concentration of prokaryotic biomass and biomass of actinomycetes mycelium in rhizosphere of plants is higher than in free from the radicals to soil. Rhizosphera of the oat (Avena sativa L.) and red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) is colonized by Streptomyces, Micromonospora and olygospore species. Dominante actinomycetes of winter rye (Secale cereale L.) are classified into the genera Micromonospora. It was shown that numbers and biomass of actinomycetes mycelium were fond to decreased, diversity of actinomycetes in contrast is increased in the series: "winter rye--oat--red clover". In connection with ecological safety the capability of increase with prokaryotes naturally disease suppressive soil and stability of plants to pathogen is discussed.

[Spore germination and mycelial growth of streptomycetes at different humidity levels].

This study is the first to show the ability of streptomycetes to develop at a very low humidity level. All of the streptomycetes studied produced growth at low humidity (aw 0.86 and 0.67). This capacity was most markedly pronounced in Streptomyces odorifer, whose spores were capable of germinating, and mycelial germs increased in length, at the air humidity aw 0.50. The formation of lateral branches (mycelium branching) at this humidity was noted only in single S. odorifer germs and only after 72 h of incubation. Study of streptomycete growth on an agarized medium with different osmotic pressures, created by various glycerol concentrations in the medium, showed that, at aw 0.67, the spores of all the streptomycetes studied germinate, producing mycelial germs but not microcolonies. The ecological significance of mycelial prokaryotes in soil microbial communities that develop and function under conditions of extremely low humidity is discussed.

[Alkaliphilic soil actinomycetes].

The actinomycete complex of alkaline soils was found to be dominated by alkaliphilic streptomycetes, which showed maximal radial rates of colony growth at pH 8. At pH values of 7 and 10, the growth of these streptomycetes was poor. Alkaliphilic streptomycetes can be morphologically differentiated from other actinomycetes based on their high radial rates of colony growth and increased spore formation in alkaline media as compared to neutral media.

[A chitinolytic actinomycete complex in black soil]. / Khitinoliticheskii aktinomitsetnyi komplex chernozema.

A chitinolytic actinomycete complex in chernozem soil has a specific taxonomic composition, which differs from that of the actinomycete complex which is typically isolated on standard nutrient media containing sugars and organic acids as carbon sources. The actinomycete complex that was isolated by using nutrient media with chitin as the source of carbon and nitrogen was dominated by representatives of the genus Streptosporangium, and the actinomycete complex that was isolated by using nutrient media with sugars and organic acids as the carbon sources was dominated by representatives of the genus Streptomyces. The confirmation to the ability of actinomycetes to utilize chitin as a sole source of carbon and nitrogen came from the augmented length and biomass of the mycelium, the increased number and biomass of the actinomycete spores, the production of carbon dioxide, and the accumulation of NH4+ ions in the culture liquid of the actinomycetes that are grown in the nutrient media with chitin.

[Growth and morphological differentiation of acidophilic and neutrophilic soil streptomyces]. / Osobennosti rosta i morfologicheskoi differentsirovki atsidofil'nykh i neitrofil'nykh pochvennykh streptomitsetov.

Acidophilic actinomycetes are shown to possess a special mechanism of adaptation to low pH conditions, which shows up in their ability to grow faster on acidified than on neutral media and to adjust the pH of the medium to a level favorable for the formation of aerial mycelium and spores. On nutrient media with pH below 5, neutrophilic actinomycetes either fail to grow or grow much slower than on neutral media; they do not alkalize the medium and do not form aerial mycelium.

[Selective isolation of actinomycetes of the genus Actinomadura from soil]. / Selektivnye priemy vydeleniia iz pochvy aktinomitsetov roda Actinomadura.

Some approaches to the selective isolation of actinomycetes of the genus Actinomadura from soil are described. The approach that involves thermal treatment of soil samples and their plating onto Gauze 1 medium with the antibiotics nystatin, nalidixic acid, and rubomycin provides for an increased amount of actinomaduras isolated from the soil actinomycete complex and for a decreased amount of streptomycetes.

[Actinomycetes of the genus Micromonospora in meadow ecosystems]. / Aktinomitsety roda Micromonospora v lugovykh ékosistemakh.

Investigations showed that micromonosporas, along with streptomycetes, are the major inhabitants of floodplain meadow ecosystems, where their population varies from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of CFU per g substrate. In spring, the population of micromonosporas in soil and on the plant roots was found to be denser than that of streptomycetes.

[Actinomycetes in the rhizosphere of barley plants grown in the strongly acidic soddy podzolic soil]. / Aktinomitsety v rizosfere iachmenia na sil'nokisloi dernovo-podzolistoi pochve.

The study of various factors (soil acidity, the variety of barley plants, and their developmental phases) on the rhizosphere actinomycete complex showed that it is soil acidity that substantially influences the population of rhizosphere actinomycetes. The effect of soil acidity was most likely due to the different tolerance of rhizosphere actinomycetes to high concentrations of the aluminum and hydrogen ions. The developmental phases of barley plants correlated with the population indices of only one genus of actinomycetes, Micromonospora.

[Acidophilic soil actinomycetes]. / Pochvennye atsidofil'nye aktinomitsety.

A clear-cut dependence of the distribution of acidophilic actinomycetes on the pH value of soil was established. Acidophilic actinomycetes were found to be present in soils whose pH does not exceed 6.8 (acid forest soils, lowland peaty soil, and ordinary chernozem) and not in slightly alkaline soils (chestnut sodic and alluvial meadow soils). In the acid lowland peaty soil, the species diversity of acidophilic streptomycetes was lesser than the species diversity of streptomycetes revealed in the same soil by using neutral medium.