Dmitriy Viktorovich Geltman

The Fourth scientific forum "Genetic Resources of Russia" was held in St. Petersburg from May 12-15, 2026, at the St. Petersburg Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and under the auspices of the Vavilov Society of Geneticists and Breeders. The Forum included six plenary sessions and roundtables, as well as two parallel scientific events and poster sessions. A meeting of the Scientific Council of the Division of Biological Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences on biological (bioresource) collections was also held in the framwework of the Forum. More than 300 researchers from St. Petersburg, Moscow, Novosibirsk, Vladivostok, Tyumen, Ufa, Yakutsk, Petrozavodsk, Kursk, Yalta, Saratov, Krasnoyarsk, Sochi, Minsk, and other cities participated in the Forum. Over the course of four days, scientists from 29 regions of Russia, as well as the Republic of Belarus, presented more than a hundred oral reports to the scientific community, covering a wide range of topics – from genetic resources management technologies to their role in active longevity and bioeconomics. The Forum events included detailed discussions of research results and topical issues in the following areas: biodiversity conservation, genetic resources for active longevity, genetic resources for the bioeconomy, legal and ethical issues related to working with biological collections, training personnel for working with biological collections, and herbarium and museum genomics. The results of these discussions are presented in this publication as a Forum resolution.

The lectotypes of Euphorbia altaica Ledeb. var. elatior Stschegl., E. altaica var. pilosa Stschegl., E. sarawschanica Regel var. hirta Korovin, E. yaroslavii Poljakov, Tithymalus lipskyi Prokh., T. mucronulatus Prokh. and T. transoxanus Prokh. are designated. For Euphorbia alatavica Boiss., E. ferganensis B. Fedtsch., E. pachyrrhiza Kar. et Kir., E. rapulum Kar. et Kir., and E. sarawschanica Regel, second-step lectotype designations have been made.

The term ‘sphaerocrystals’ (also sphaerites) in classic plant morphology was usually applied to spherical bodies visible in polarized light with a characteristic ‘Maltese cross’ and consisting of both inorganic and organic compounds. Initially sphaerocrystals were found in algal cells but were later also discovered in various organs of vascular plants (including seeds). Several authors noticed spherical particles on the seed surface and in testa cells of some Euphorbia species but a comprehensive study of this character in the genus (including the morphological origin of such particles) has not been carried out. We studied 72 species belonging to all 21 sections of Euphorbia subgenus Esula for presence of spherical particles on seed surface and in the testa using scanning, transmission, confocal laser electron microscopy, and light microscopy; histochemical and element analyses were also involved. We found that these particles have the same morphological features (including the demonstration of ‘Maltese cross’ in polarized light) as the ‘classic’ sphaerocrystals. We have recorded sphaerocrystals in 53 sampled species belonging to 20 sections of Euphorbia subgenus Esula; they are localized mostly in mesotesta cells and in some species are exuded onto the seed surface where they are often aggregated into clusters. Sphaerocrystals were absent in the sampled species (with one exception) of one of the major clades of the subgenus, formed by E. sect. Helioscopia and E. sect. Holophyllum. The absence of sphaerocrystals in this early divergent lineage of E. subgen. Esula may be related with adaptation of species of this lineage to more mesic habitats.

The Second Scientific Forum “Genetic Resources of Russia” was held in St. Petersburg, June 26-28, 2023. Thе Forum comprised nine associated scientific conferences and conference schools dedicated to the establishment, formation, conservation, development, studying and utilization of biological (bioresource) collections as well as to the activities of bioresource centers, and a round table entitled “Statutory Legal Regulation and Standards for the Work with Bioresource Collections”. More than 700 researchers representing over a hundred scientific institutions and universities from Russia and other countries participated in the Forum. In total, more than 200 oral presentations were made during those events (including 16 talks at the Forum’s Plenary Session). The participants of the Forum events thoroughly discussed the results of the Federal Scientific and Technical Program for the Development of Genetic Technologies for 2019-2030 associated with the establishment and development of bioresource collections for research in the field of genetic technologies, the prospects for the promotion of this sector, and the regulatory legal framework in the sphere of ensuring conservation and development of biological (bioresource) collections, establishment and functioning of bioresource centers, and their sustainable and rational utilization in scientific research and development activities. The outcome of those discussions is presented in this publication in the form of the Forum’s Resolution. Upon reviewing the results of the Federal Scientific and Technical Program for the Development of Genetic Technologies for 2019-2030 pertaining to the establishment and development of bioresource collections for research in the field of genetic technologies, the Forum recognized them as successful. The Forum approved the draft of the legal act “On Bioresource Centers and Biological (Bioresource) Collections”, which is currently under consideration in the State Duma of the Russian Federation and emphasized the need for its soonest adoption.

На наличие эллаговой кислоты (ЭК) проанализированы метанольные экстракты из свежего растительного материала 55 видов, относящихся к 4 подродам и 16 секциям рода Euphorbia (Euphorbiaceae). ЭК определяли методом ГХ-МС в экстрактах образцов видов рода Euphorbia, произрастающих на территории России и Киргизии, а также интродуцированных в Ботаническом саду Петра Великого Ботанического института им. В.Л. Комарова РАН (Санкт-Петербург). ЭК была обнаружена в экстрактах 17 видов из трех подродов. В подроде Althymalus Neck. Ex Rchb. ЭК выявлена у E. hamata (Haw.) Sweet (секция Anthacanthae Lem.), в подроде Chamaesyce Raf. – у E. maculata L. (секция Anisophyllum Roep.); в подроде Esula Pers. Соединение найдено у представителей секции Esula (Pers.) Dumort. (E. virgata Waldst. Et Kit.), Helioscopia Dumort. (E. alpina Ledeb., E. aristata Schmalh., E. condylocarpa M. Bieb., E. lucorum Rupr. ex Maxim., E. palustris L., E. procera M. Bieb., E. semivillosa (Prokh.) Kryl., E. squamosa Willd., E. stricta L.), Holophyllum (Prokh.) Prokh. (E. griffithii Hook. f., E. komaroviana Prokh., E. rupestris Ledeb.), Paralias Dumort. (E. taurinensis All.) и Pithyusa (Raf.) Lázaro (E. glareosa Pall. Ex M. Bieb.). У 38 исследованных видов ЭК отсутствовала, в том числе у всех изученных представителей подрода Euphorbia. У 10 видов (E. alpina, E. glareosa, E. griffithii, E. hamata, E. lucorum, E. procera, E. rupestris, E. semivillosa, E. stricta и E. taurinensis) ЭК обнаружена впервые. Наиболее высокое содержание ЭК отмечено для E. hamata (4100 ppm) и E. squamosa (4300 ppm).

Nine separate scientific conferences and school-conferences dedicated to the conservation, development, study and practical use of biological collections of various types were held under the auspices of the First Scientific Forum “Genetic Resources of Russia”, which took place in Saint Petersburg on 21-24 June 2022. A total of more than 300 oral presentations were made at these events. The Forum plenary sessions, which included 25 lectures, attracted more than 1,500 participants. The development prospects, research and scientific-practical potential of biological collections were thoroughly discussed at the events of the Forum. The results of these discussions are presented in this publication in the form of a Forum resolution. The strategic role of biological collections for the conservation of genetic diversity, for the scientific and technological development of society and for the provision of educational processes is emphasized. This strategic framework, which should be developed and maintained, also makes it possible to implement practical tasks related to meeting the challenges in the field of food and environmental security, health care and technological independence in the rapidly developing spheres of the economy.

The first scientific forum «Genetic Resources of Russia» took place in Saint Petersburg on 21-24 June 2022. The Forum brought together more than 500 specialists from more than 100 research institutions and universities of the Russian Federation. A round table «Regulations and standards of work with bio-resource collections» was organized within the framework of the Forum in connection with the relevance to create the legislation base for the work with biological collections and regulation of the activities of bioresource centres in the Russian Federation. This publication presents the outcomes of the Forum and its resolution relating to the legal regulation of biological collections.

It is time to synthesize the knowledge that has been generated through more than 260 years of botanical exploration, taxonomic and, more recently, phylogenetic research throughout the world. The adoption of an updated Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) in 2011 provided the essential impetus for the development of the World Flora Online (WFO) project. The project represents an international, coordinated effort by the botanical community to achieve GSPC Target 1, an electronic Flora of all plants. It will be a first‐ever unique and authoritative global source of information on the world's plant diversity, compiled, curated, moderated and updated by an expert and specialist‐based community (Taxonomic Expert Networks – “TENs” – covering a taxonomic group such as family or order) and actively managed by those who have compiled and contributed the data it includes. Full credit and acknowledgement will be given to the original sources, allowing users to refer back to the primary data. A strength of the project is that it is led and endorsed by a global consortium of more than 40 leading botanical institutions worldwide. A first milestone for producing the World Flora Online is to be accomplished by the end of 2020, but the WFO Consortium is committed to continuing the WFO programme beyond 2020 when it will develop its full impact as the authoritative source of information on the world's plant biodiversity.

Our journal in 2019 celebrates a double anniversary: the publication of 50th volume and the centenary of the beginning of its predecessor — the series “Notulae systematicae ex Herbario Horti botanici Petrololitani” (= “Botanicheskiye materialy Gerbariya Glavnogo Botanicheskogo Sada RSFSR”). “Notulae systematicae…” was founded in 1919 and was published (intermittently) until 1963. Outstanding Russian botanists B. A. Fedtschenko, V. L. Komarov, B. K. Schischkin were its editors. 22 volumes containing 756 articles and notes (plus reference volume) were published. “Novitates systematicae plantarum vascularium” (= “Novosti sistematiki vysshikh rastenii”) became a natural continuation of the “Notulae systematicae…”, the series was edited by I. A. Linczevsky, V. I. Grubov, T. V. Egorova, N. N. Tzvelev. Nowadays, the editorial board seeks to find the place of the journal in the Russian and world system of botanical periodicals, to ensure its inclusion in authoritative international citation systems. Keeping traditions, we strive to more correspond to the modern style of international publications on the vascular plants taxonomy.