Intensive space exploration includes profound investigations on the effect of weightlessness and cosmic radiation on plant growth and development. Tomato seeds are often used in such experiments though up to date the results have given rather vague information about biochemical changes in mature plants grown from seeds subjected to spaceflight. The effect of half a year of storage in the International Space Station (ISS) on tomato seeds (cultivar Podmoskovny ranny) was studied by analyzing the biochemical characteristics and mineral content of mature plants grown from these seeds both in greenhouse and field conditions. A significant increase was recorded in ascorbic acid, polyphenol and carotenoid contents, and total antioxidant activity (AOA), with higher changes in the field conditions compared to greenhouse. Contrary to control plants, the ones derived from space-stored seeds demonstrated a significant decrease in root AOA. The latter plants also showed a higher yield, but lower content of fruit dry matter, sugars, total dissolved solids and organic acids. The fruits of plants derived from space-stored seeds demonstrated decreased levels of Fe, Cu and taste index. The described results reflect the existence of oxidative stress in mature tomato plants as a long-term consequence of the effect of spaceflight on seed quality, whereas the higher yield may be attributed to genetic modifications.

The interspecific polymorphism and the expression patterns of the genes encoding the YABBY1 and YABBY3 transcription factors of cultivated tomato Solanum lycopersicum and wild species S. chmielewskii, S. peruvianum, and S. habrochaites are characterized. The possibility of an inverse relationship between the level of YABBY1 and YABBY3 genes coexpression and the size of leaves and flowers of the tomato species studied is shown. The phylogeny of the genes suggests an earlier emergence of YABBY1 compared to YABBY3 as well as the origin of these paralogs from a common ancestor before the divergence of dicotyledonous plants into Rosids and Asterids.

Natural potential of bioactive compounds accumulated by plants is often not taken into account in particular breeding. Biofortification, the enrichment of basic food crops with essential vitamins and minerals using breeding, is one of the most notable recent innovations in agriculture. In this paper, we studied pigment composition with regard to the amount of carotenoids and their contribution to fruit coloration in 20 accessions of different species of genus Capsicum. Red and yellow pigment levels and their ratios detected in the study were indicative of the carotenoid composition in fruits of each species. Also the varieties differed significantly in the carotenoid accumulation. In temperate climate of Moscow region the highest amount of pigments was found in the sweet variety Shokoladnyi (C. annuum; 0.536 mg/g), and in the spice varieties Purpurnyi tigr (C. annuum; 0.708 mg/g), Kitaiskii fonarik (C. baccatum; 0,685 mg/g), Ideya (C. annuum; 0.629 mg/g) and Chudo Podmoskov'ya (C. annuum; 0.628mg/g). The highest level of ascorbic acid was accumulated by chili pepper Ideya (C. annuum; 414 mg%), Rozhdestvenskii buket (C. annuum ½ C. frutescens; 370 mg%), Yubileinyi VNIISSOK (C. annuum; 326 mg%), and Ognennaya deva (C. chinense; 301 mg%). The ascorbic acid content did not depend on fruit color and plant species. Among the sweet pepper varieties high total antioxidant content (TAC) was characteristic of hybrid F 1 Oranzhevoe naslazhdenie (C. annuum). The maximum total antioxidant amounts, as milligram equivalents (MME) of gallic acid per g, were 2.82 for Rozhdestvenskii buket (C. annuum ½ C. frutescens), 2.65 for Ognennaya deva (C. chinense), 2.57 for Idea (C. annuum), and 2.19 for Kitaiskii fonarik (C. annuum). In assessment of thermostable antioxidants extracted with 80 % ethanol at 60 С it was shown that the unstable antioxidants, mainly ascorbic acid, averaged 16 % of the total antioxidants. Rozhdestvensciy buket, Kitaiskii fonarik, Purpurnyi tigr, Ognennaya deva plants, additionally to antioxidants, can accumulate one of the strongest natural antioxidant, the capsaicin, which determines their hot taste. The capsaicin content of the studied chili peppers varied from 1.36 to 9.57 mg/g of dry weight. High contents of carotenoids, ascorbic acid and TAC combined with capsaicin at 8 to 9 score points increase the total antioxidant capacity of these samples.

Morphological diversity of haploid and doubled haploid forms of pepper produced in vitro using microspore/anther culture from F 2 Capsicum annuum L. (cultivar Zdorov'e) × C. chinense Jacq and BC 2 C. annuum L. (cultivar Zdorov'e) × C. chinense Jacq × Zdorov'e × Zdorov'e has been demonstrated. The pos sibility of application of this method for breeding has been pointed out.

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н а у ч н о п р а к т и ч е с к и й ж у р н а л [ 84 ] о в о щ и р о с с и и № 4 (3 3) 2 0 1 6 ФИЗИОЛОГИЯ И БИОХИМИЯ РАСТЕНИЙ В современных условиях полноценные продукты растительного происхождения, в том числе овощные, рассматриваются как эффективное средство для стимулирования и поддержания здоровья и снижения риска возникновения многих заболеваний, связанных с нарушением обмена веществ. Часто в селекции той или иной культуры не учитывается природный потенциал накопления биологически активных соединений. Последние годы предпринимаются первые робкие шаги в селекции растений по показателям на качество продукции. Одно из самых заметных новшеств в сельскохозяйственной науке-био

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The fruits of various pepper cultivars are characterized by a different colour, which is determined by the pigment ratio; carotenoids dominate in ripe fruits, while chlorophylls, in immature fruits. A key regulator of carotenoid biosynthesis is the phytoene synthase encoded by the PSY gene. The Capsicum annuum genome contains two isoforms of this enzyme, localized in leaf (PSY2) and fruit (PSY1) plastids. In this work, the complete PSY1 and PSY2 genes were identified in nine C. annuum cultivars, which differ in ripe fruit colour. PSY1 and PSY2 sequence variability was 2.43 % (69 SNPs) and 1.21 % (36 SNPs). The most variable were PSY1 proteins of the cultivars ‘Maria’ (red-fruited) and ‘Sladkij shokolad’ (red-brown-fruited). All identified PSY1 and PSY2 homologs contained the phytoene synthase domain HH-IPPS and the transit peptide. In the PSY1 and PSY2 HH-IPPS domains, functionally significant sites were determined. For all accessions studied, the active sites (YAKTF and RAYV), aspartate-rich substrate-Mg2+-binding sites (DELVD and DVGED), and other functional residues were shown to be conserved. Transit peptides were more variable, and their similarity in the PSY1 and PSY2 proteins did not exceed 78.68 %. According to the biochemical data obtained, the largest amounts of chlorophylls and carotenoids across the cultivars studied were detected in immature and ripe fruits of the cv. ‘Sladkij shokolad’ and ‘Shokoladnyj’. Also, ripe fruits of the cv. ‘Nesozrevayuschij’ (green-fruited) were marked by significant chlorophyll content, but a minimum of carotenoids. The PSY1 and PSY2 expression patterns were determined in the fruit pericarp at three ripening stages in ‘Zheltyj buket’, ‘Sladkij shokolad’, ‘Karmin’ and ‘Nesozrevayuschij’, which have different ripe fruit colours: yellow, red-brown, dark red and green, respectively. In the leaves of the cultivars studied, PSY1 expression levels varied significantly. All cultivars were characterized by increased PSY1 transcription as the fruit ripened; the maximum transcription level was found in the ripe fruit of ‘Sladkij shokolad’, and the lowest, in ‘Nesozrevayuschij’. PSY2 transcripts were detected not only in the leaves and immature fruits, but also in ripe fruits. Assessment of a possible correlation of PSY1 and PSY2 transcription with carotenoid and chlorophyll content revealed a direct relationship between PSY1 expression level and carotenoid pigmentation during fruit ripening. It has been suggested that the absence of a typical pericarp pigmentation pattern in ‘Nesozrevayuschij’ may be associated with impaired chromoplast formation.