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.

Relevance. Sterility is a very important trait that is indispensable for hybrid production. Genetic factor underlying in plant sterility can be now identified in large plant populations by DNA markers with high effectiveness and reliability. The evaluation of such markers enables to define their current applicability in breeding program.Methods. The markers from different publications that had been successfully used were taken to test their effectiveness on 19 accessions of bulb onion (Allium cepa L.).Results. Mitochondrial genes 5’cob, orf725 and orfA501 and alleles of fertility restoring locus Ms were also identified. Four breeding accessions had S-cytoplasm, nine accessions were with T-cytoplasm and six shared normal cytoplasm not showing any sterility gene in the analysis. As a result of marker testing, the all compositions of the genes in cytoplasm and Ms alleles in nucleus affecting the sterility had been revealed, such as one sterility maintainer, one male sterile accession, and two fertility restorers. However, it should be noted that not all markers tested were in accordance with each other, where the markers originated from chloroplast DNA of did not confirmed the results obtained with those cytoplasm-origins. As it was shown the practical use of the set of markers makes it possible to reveal necessary accessions with required gene composition for hybrid production in bulb onion.

Spicy-flavoring cultures are an indispensable source of vitamins, macro-and microelements, organic acids. Early and rapid formation and return of the crop greatly increases the value of these crops. One of the valuable spice-aromatic plants of the family Lamiaceae L. is Melissa officinalis (Melicca officinalis L.), which is grown as an essential oil culture. Melissa officinalis contains biologically active substances that can be used to enrich food products. Fresh Melicca officinalis leaves produce essential oil which contains precious substances citronellal, citrategeneric, linalool [1]. Leaves and young shoots in the open ground cut to bloom. Consume fresh or dry melissa demanding soil fertility and irrigation. The article provides information about its origin and biological features. A brief overview of the nutritional and medicinal value is given. One of the important areas of work in the creation of modern vegetable varieties is the selection of high content of biologically active substances with antioxidant activity, and suitability for growing on hydroponic plants in protected soil to supply the population with fragrant vitamin products of fresh herbs all year round. Cv. Zhemchuzhina of Melissa officinalis can be grown in multi circle hydroponics (MCH), using natural substrate (peat mixes). Young shoots of this variety can be consumed as early as 35 days after sowing, in which the content of water-soluble antioxidants in march is 5.9 mg/g in units of Gallic acid. Subsequent cuts should be carried out at intervals of 30-45 days, depending on the season. The article also describes the main elements of the technology of growing medicinal melissa in the open and protected ground for greenery and seed production.