[Vestibular apparatus study of the toad, Xenopus laevis, and rats under prolonged weightlessness]. / Issledovanie vestibuliarnogo apparata liagushki Xenopus laevis i krys v usloviiakh dlitel'noi nevesomosti.

Fertilized eggs of the clawed toad Xenopus laevis were placed aboard of orbital laboratory of "Salut-6" spacecraft where they developed for 20 days at temperature 15 degrees C. The larvae were fixed in weightlessness. Light and electronmicroscopic studies revealed undisturbed structure on the saccular and utricular maculae and otolith membranes. Some ultrastructural abnormalities were found in the inner ear of adult rats after 20 days of weightlessness ("Kosmos-936").

Connection between the mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum in oocytes of loach (Misgurnus fossilis L.)

A considerable number of mitochondria (10-20 percent) are closely connected with the granular endoplasmic reticulum at the early stages of oogenesis in loach. The number of ribosomes on sections of the endoplasmic reticulum turned toward the mitochondria is considerably greater than on other sectors of the membranes. The work discusses the role played by contacts between the mitochondria and the granular endoplasmic reticulum in the biogenesis of oocyte mitochondria at the early stages of oogenesis.

[Genetic effects in Drosophila caused by space flight factors in "Kosmos-573"]. / Geneticheskie éffekty u drozofily, vyzvannye faktorami kosmicheskogo poleta na "Kosmose-573"

It was proved in the experiments conducted on the space-ship "Cosmos 573" that the factors of the cosmic flight raised significantly the mutability in the D-32 wild type line of Drosophila melanogaster for two kinds of mutations: sex-linked recessive lethals and visible mutations in two X-chromosome's locuses: white and yellow.

[Growth and reproduction of mitochondria in loach oocytes]. / Rost i vosproizvedenie mitokhondrii v ootsitakh v'iuna.

The size and number of mitochondria markedly increase at the early stages of oogenesis in the loach (Misgurnus fossilis). The growth of mitochondrial membranes in the oocytes is characterized by the contact with the rough endoplasmic reticulum. In the period of slow growth of oocytes, the number of mitochondria increases 82 times and by the beginning of vitellogenesis 240 times. Two fractions of mitochondria were noted in the early oocytes: dividing mitochondria localized in the perinuclear zone and non-dividing ones in the periphery of the oocyte. In the period of slow growth of oocytes, 1--2% of dumb-bell-like mitochondria were found. It was calculated that the doubling of the number of mitochondria in the early oocytes proceeded during 1.5 months.