[Structure and evolution of junctions between inverted repeat and small single copy regions of chloroplast genome in non-core Caryophyllales].

The structure of junction between inverted repeat (IR) and small single copy (SSC) regions of chloroplast genome in the representatives of non-core Caryophyllales is investigated in this work. It was found that for two families - Polygonaceae and Plumbaginaceae - the extension of inverted region is characteristic. This extension is due to the duplication the part of ycf1 gene that is partly located in the small single copy region in plants with typical structure of IR/SSC junctions. Comparison of the position of IR/SSC junctions in different species of Polygonaceae has shown that their exact position is not correlated with the affinity of these species inferred from molecular and morphological data. Possible mechanisms leading to the change in position of IR/SSC junctions observed in this work are discussed.

[Evolution of Lycopodiaceae from results of sequencing spacer sequences of chloroplast rRNA genes]. / Evoliutsiia Lycopodiaceae po rezul'tatam sekvenirovaniia speisernykh posledovatel'nostei genov khloroplastnoi rRNK.

Nucleotide sequences of a chloroplast rDNA region including 8 bp from the 3' end of 23S rDNA-ITS2-4.5S rDNA-ITS3-5S rDNA-ITS4 (approximately 800 bp) were determined in 25 species of Lycopodiaceae and two species of the genus Isoetes. The rate of molecular evolution of spacers significantly varied in different Lycopsida taxa. A phylogenetic analysis by the neighbor-joining (NJ) method revealed that the family Lycopodiaceae is monophyletic. The topology of phylogenetic trees suggests the isolation of four or probably five genera in family Lycopodiaceae. For these genera, synapomorphic indels were detected. The obtained data were compared with the results of phylogenetic analysis of Lycopsida with regard to other sequences. The relationships of taxa within the family Lycopodiaceae is discussed.

[Sulfurococcus yellowstonii sp. nov/--a new species of iron- and sulfur-oxidizing thermoacidophilic Archaeobacterium]. / Sulfurococcus yellowstonii sp. nov.--novyi vid zhelezo- i serookisliaiushchei termoatsidofil'noi arkhebakterii.

A spheric thermoacidophilic sulphur-oxidizing archaebacterium (strain Str6kar) has been isolated from the hydrotherm of the Yellowstone National Park (USA). The isolate is a facultative autotroph. The strain Str6kar oxidizes elemental sulfur, ferrous sulfate and sulphide minerals, it is capable of using some organic compounds. The isolate grows at the temperature of 40-80 degrees. The content of GC-pairs in the DNA of the bacterium is 44.6 mol%. The level of homology of the isolates DNA for the Str6kar and Sulfurococcus mirabilis is 12-15%, for Str6kar and Metallosphaera sedula-0.7-7%. According to the structure of the 5s rRNA, the described bacteria are similar to S. mirabilis. Basing on morphological, physiological and molecular-genetical features, this archaeobacterium can be presented as a new species of the genus of Sulfurococcus-S. yellowstonii sp. nov.