Relevance. One of the main components of the spectrum of sunlight is ultraviolet rays – invisible to the human eye short-wave radiation. The influence of these rays on plant life was considered insignificant until recently, but recent studies have shown the fallacy of such conclusions. Ultraviolet has a beneficial effect not only on the human body and animals, but also on plants, including – crops. The destruction of the ozone layer is currently continuing under the influence of anthropogenic factors. In this regard, the study of the effect of ultraviolet radiation on living organisms, including plants, is very relevant from both theoretical and practical points of view. The epidermis of plant leaves and seed shells are permeable to medium-and long-wave UV radiation, so of particular interest is the ultraviolet radiation of the Sun and artificial sources of ultraviolet radiation in the range of 400...180 nm.Purpose of work: to assess the nature of the impact of ultraviolet radiation in the time mode on watermelon seeds using cytogenetic analysis.Methods. The material for research was the seeds of the watermelon variety "Astrakhan". The studies were conducted in 2017-2018.Results. The results of studies have shown that long-term exposure to ultraviolet radiation can affect the physiological processes and anatomical structure of plants, as well as have serious genetic changes: aneuploidy, cytotomy, pyknosis and various chromosomal aberrations that lead to mutations or death of plants. However, plants acquire useful mutations with short-term exposure-0.5-2 hours, which can be used later in selection.

Relevance. Potato ladybug is a polyphagous pest. Its distributed throughout the Far East, in India, Korea, Japan and the countries of South America. Most affected by it are potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, peppers, cucumbers, pumpkin, melon, beans. Leaving the veins intact pest eats the soft tissue of the leaf. Such leaves die quickly. Potato ladybug is a carrier of some diseases of potato and it also causes damage to plants. But insecticides pollute products and sustainable insect populations. The use of varieties with high resistance to pest damage eliminates the need for mass application of insecticides.Methods. The data on a preliminary assessment of potato varieties of domestic and foreign selection for resistance to a twenty-eight-point potato ladybug Henosepilachna vigintiomaculata Motch. (Fabricius, 1775) in the Primorye Territory. This work aim work was a preliminary assessment of the traditional potato breeding resistance factors to pest damage. The experiment out using generally accepted methods for the study and evaluation of potato varieties for pests with minor modifications was carried.Results. As a study result it was found that Belmonda, Labella, Red Lady, Queen Anna, Lilly, Sante varieties were the least suitable for passing the stages of ontogenesis and nutritional nutrition of the pest. The most tolerant to the pest – varieties Smak, Casachok, Yantar. The maximum mortality of potato ladybug larvae was observed in varieties Belmonda, Dachny, Augustin, Yubilyar, Labella, Sante, Koroleva Anna, Laperla in laboratory experiment. Minimum on varieties Smak, Casachok, Yantar, Red Lady. The data indicate the manifestation of an antibiotic barrier in potatoes, which must be confirmed by a field experiment.

Relevance. Microscopic fungi exhibit the greatest exoenzymatic activity, and xylotrophs are capable of possessing a complex of oxidase and hydrolase enzymes to destroy lignin.Methods. Among the soil micromycetes isolated from the rhizosphere of annual leguminous crops, a search was made for strains that are promising from the point of view of effective microorganism technology, in order to create optimal conditions for increasing soil fertility and crop yields. The detection of total phenol oxidase activity was carried out according to the method of Bavendamm, cultivating the strains on microbiological agar with the addition of an aromatic lignin derivative (0.06% tannin) and the growth factor was calculated. The cellulase activity of the strains was judged by the degree of hydrolysis of the filter paper. Alternaria alternata, Bipolaris, Botrytis fabae, Cunninghamella echinulata, Curvularia lunata, Macrophoma phaseolicola, Trichoderma koningii, Trichoderma viride and Ulocladium botrytis strains were found to cleave lignin and cellulose.Results. When comparing the phenoloxidase activity of the strains, it was proposed to take into account the growth factor, expressed as the ratio of the diameter of the colony on the substrate with the addition of tannin to the diameter of the colony without tannin. Thus, perspective strains of T. koningii and U. botrytis strains with respect to the complex activity of enzymes were identified. The strains C. lunata, A. alternata and B. australiensis showed high cellulase activity. The strain of non-pathogenic soil fungus C. echinulata has the ability to degrade lignin

Relevance. The most common and most mastered method of growing onions, used in the middle zone of the Russian Federation, as well as in the northern part of European countries, is the cultivation of turnip onions from onion. It is believed that this method provides 75% of the production of the entire onion harvest. Due to the sharp increase in the prices of energy carriers, fertilizers, pesticides and agricultural machinery, the production of sharp varieties of onions, grown in the crop, has become unprofitable, and marketable products have lost competitiveness due to high costs. Significant changes in the reduction of labor costs can be achieved by improving the technology and technical means for the production of onions, creating conditions for their work. The effectiveness of designs for sowing seeds of onions, onion sets and planting onions-uterus is determined by the uniform distribution of the bulbs by area of nutrition, depth and their embedding.Results. The material presented in the work is devoted to the analysis of designs and some results of studies of a complex of machines for the production of onions developed in the Penza GAU.

RelevanceBiotechnological methods are generally used to speed up breeding programs and to enhance genetic diversity, so the culture of isolated microspore in vitro can be regarded as one of very suitable methods. Nontraditional and uncommon vegetable crops belonging to Brassicaceae Burnett. are becoming more popular.MethodsAccessions of sarepta mustard (Brassica juncea L. Czern.) and rocket salad (Eruca sativa Mill.) were taken for the study with the aim to optimize the basic protocol for these species.ResultsAs a result of the study the optimum cultivation conditions have been determined for the species. Sizes of buds 2.5-3.5 mm long for sarepta mustard and 7.0-7.5 long for rocket salad which were used for cultivation had been experimentally defined. It was also shown that the cold pretreatment had improved the embryo yield. The nutritional NLN-13 medium with pH 6.1 and pretreatment at 32°C during a cultivation day had been shown to be more favourable for all accessions. All conditions that had been used were suitable for embryo formation. First divisions had been seen after 4 days of cultivation, while the embryos at primary cotyledonary stage only appeared after 2 weeks of cultivation. The embryo yield per 5 buds reached 25-30 and 5-7 in the sarepta mustard and the rocket salad, respectively. It is worth noticing that the root formation and plant adaptation had passed better and faster in sarepta mustard than in rocket salad. Thus, whole process of homozygous line developing can be completed for 4-5 months, making the breeding program 3 times shorter.

Relevance. The development of F1 hybrids distinguishing it from cultivars by high productivity, plant uniformity in ripening date, fruit sizes and quality is the promising trend in breeding program in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.).The aim of the study was to optimize the gynogenesis induction condition in culture of unpollinated ovules in vitro in order to broad the generation of new breeding forms and to accelerate homozygous line production.Materials and methods. Eight promising cucumber accessions from Laboratory of Cucurbit Breeding and Seed Production (FSBSI FSVC) were taken for the study. The protocol developed in Laboratory of Biotechnology (FSBSI FSVC) for production of doubled haploid in Cucurbitaceae family was used in the experiment. The medium IMC with 30 g/L sucrose and 7g/L agar supplemented with 200 mg/L ampicillin and 0.2 mg/L thidiazuron (TDZ) was applied to induce gynogenic development.Results. The half-open bud or flower was shown to be the most suitable to be taken as an explant for cultivation. Highest number of embryo-like structures in all accessions developed from ovaries 2.1-2.6 cm long. Exposure to sterilization solution of sodium hypochlorite for 15 min made ovary wall softer and ovules can be then easily extracted without traumatizing. The traumatized ovule resulted in inhibited gynogenic development. Embryoids and calli had developed in all studied cucumber accessions, but well-formed plants were only obtained in six accessions. In total 26 plants were produced. The maximum gynogenesis induction equal to 63.1% was achieved in accession 1810. Maximum number of plant produced was twelve in accession 1763, but the greatest plant outcome 7.7% of the ovules with induced gynogenesis was observed in accession 1807.

Relevance. Tomato considered a significant vegetable crop that plays a prominent role in the field of human health. At present, there are large numbers of tomato cultivars with a wide range of morphological and sensorial characteristics which determine their use. Farmers often use some chemical substances which have similar structure and activity with endogenous plant hormone called (exogenous) as a low-cost alternative to regulate plant growth and increase yield. Thus, the use of Plant Growth Regulators (PGRs) has become an important component of the agro-technical procedures for most cultivated species.Methods. This study aims to evaluate the effect of four growth regulators (Krezacin, Chitosan, Zircon and Energene) on growth, productivity and quality of two Russian tomato varieties (Moriana and Superjol) under delta Volga conditions. Each type applied three times on both cultivars (Soaking tomato seeds before sowing, spraying on plants at vegetative phase, spraying on plants at flowering phase with three replications.Results. The results showed that; combination between Energene and cultivar Moriana enhanced the most of studied characters (Germination – 83.1%, fresh weight of Arial parts – 241.9 g, dry weight – 74.4 g, Number of № flowers/plant – 51.0, № fruits /plant – 35.6, fruit set – 69.8%, plant yield – 2.44 kg, TSS – 5.1°Brix, Content of Ascorbic Acid – 25.6 mg/100 g); Interaction between “Energene x Superjol” gave the maximum value for Plant height (85.6 cm), Fruit weight (72.6 g); while “Krezacin x Moriana” registered the highest fruit dry matter (6.77%) and Acidity (0.53%); Applying Zircon on Cultivar Moriana increased number of leaves/plant (56.8) and nitrate contents (27.6 mg/kg); the maximum LAI (150.1 cm2 ) obtained from interaction between Chitosan and cultivar Superjol whereas, “Chitosan x Moriana” treatment gave the highest level of Carotenoids (4.12%).

Relevance.It is very important not only to create a hybrid of cucumber, which in all respects suits the producers of vegetable products, but also to ensure that the production of hybrid seeds with high varietal and sowing qualities is not unprofitable. A high yield of hybrid seeds can be obtained only with good pollination of the maternal line, for this purpose there should be enough male flowers on the paternal form and the flowering time of the parent forms should coincide.Materials and methods. The research was carried out in the first turn of the winter greenhouse with low-volume cultivation technology in 2017-2018. The object of research was the parent forms of a promising hybrid of parthenocarpic type F1 Murava. The maternal form is of the female type, the paternal form is predominantly of the female type of flowering. Terms of sowing of parental forms were studied: simultaneously and with a difference of 7-8 days. Experiments on different variants of treatments of the paternal form with gibberellic acid (concentration 0.09-0.1%) were laid in order to obtain a sufficient number of male flowers for pollination of the maternal form. The parent forms were planted at the hybridization site according to the 3:1 scheme. Pollination of female plants was carried out manually daily.Results. As a result, it was concluded that for good pollination of the maternal form of the hybrid F1 Murava, two triple treatments of the paternal form with gibberellic acid in the phase of two real leaves are needed. Treatment with gibberellic acid paternal form, sown a week later, was more effective. Obviously, this is due to the improvement of growing conditions at a later date of planting seedlings. When sowing the mother form a week later than the father, the seed productivity of hybrid seeds was higher, compared with simultaneous sowing of parent forms and reached 53.5 g per plant.

Questions of quality of the sowed seeds in agriculture have paramount value. Use of highquality uniform seeds is the key to successful production of crop production. Vegetable seeds, in particular, leaf vegetables, are most vulnerable in this plan in view of their shallow amount, the long period of fructing time and some other factors. The modern tool methods of evaluation test allow to glance in internal structure of seeds and to scoop more information. The most suitable for these purposes is us the developed method of microfocal X-ray of vegetable seeds. In this work seeds of different types of green and spicy and flavoring vegetable crops are analysed: melissa, marjoram, asparagus, spinach and garden cress. The analysis was carried out both by a method of r of seeds, and by a standard technique. The most typical defects and shortcomings of internal structure of seeds influencing their economic and biological indicators are identified. Comparison of methods is carried out. It is shown that X-ray analysis of quality of seeds, in particular, viability, by visualization of images efficient and rather precise. The small error of a method is compensated with its bigger informational content: that is, the analysis is carried out not by the principle of viable and not viable seeds, there is their division as on viability (full, low quality), and on defects and shortcomings (outstanding, ugly, the defective, injured, etc.). At the same time seeds as a result of the analysis aren't utilized and remain for further work. The method differs in speed and ease of execution. The prospects of development of a method are specified. It is the integrated automatic analysis of quality of seeds. The algorithm of automatic computer X-ray analysis of quality of vegetable seeds is so far developed, the first version of the program is approved.

Relevance Currently, in genetic studies and selection of cabbage cultures, biotechnological methods for creating clean lines — doubled haploids in the culture of anthers and in the culture of isolated microspores are widely used. A common feature of these technologies is that the plants obtained in vitro have different levels of ploidy and along with doubled haploids there are haploid, tetraploid and mixoploid forms. Therefore, the use of new cytological methods of analysis of haploid plants remains an urgent problem. Material and method The aim of this work is to establish the genetic nature of regenerated plants of Brassica oleracea L., obtained from reproductive organs in vitro. Isolated anthers and ovaries of white cabbage were cultivated on solid nutrient media containing mineral salts according to the recipe Murashige and Skoog (MS). The obtained regenerated plants were used to calculate the number of chromosomes in the root meristem, as well as the number of chloroplasts in the cells of the closing stomata of leaves using the new universal method of preparing preparations of plant chromosomes – “SteamDrop”. Results As a result of the research, the dependence of the level of ploidy on the cultivation conditions was studied. It has been shown that plants-regenerants of white cabbage, obtained in vitro from reproductive organs, had a different set of chromosomes (n, 3n, 5n). It was established that the number of chloroplasts in the stomatal cells of regenerated plants was from 9 to 45, while the original donor plants had 18–20.