Engineering Biology Problems Book (2021, Obninsk Edition)

the form of a periodically updated seed bank. Collections of perennial woody plants exist in the form
of plantations occupying vast areas, which leads to high economic costs for their maintenance or to a
limitation of the number of samples in the collections.
Suggest an alternative version of the collection of genetic resources of perennial crops, the number of
samples in which can be increased indefinitely, allowing you to test the properties and use the plants
in it as breeding material.
© Sundyreva M.A., senior researcher laboratory of physiology and biochemistry of plants of the
North Caucasian Zonal Research Institute of Horticulture and Viticulture. All-Russian Student
BioTournament -2017. www.bioturnir21.ru
SOLUTION:
Achievements in the field of cell and tissue culture led to the creation of a fundamentally new method
of vegetative propagation of plants - clonal micropropagation (obtaining in vitro, asexually, plants
genetically identical to the original specimen). For such plant cells, cryopreservation methods have
been developed and continue to be improved, implying long-term storage of breeding material.
However, even more, traditional methods, such as grafting several plant species on one stock at once,
can save significant areas and resources.
3.24. Grapes: Reboot. Grapes are one of the most capital-intensive agricultural crops. The lion's
share of the costs is spent on protecting plants from diseases and pests. Systemic chemicals (for
example, fungicides: Poliram, Kabriotop, Quadris, Topaz, insecticides: Calypso, Bi58, Insegar,
Fastak) are toxic to the environment and act for a strictly defined period until excretion from the plant.
Suggest a method for simultaneously fixing plant protection agents and reducing toxicity to the
environment and humans.
© Problem from scientists-winegrowers of the North Caucasian Zonal Research Institute of
Horticulture and Viticulture, Krasnodar. All-Russian Student BioTournament-2016.
www.bioturnir21.ru
SOLUTION:
The development of a solution to this urgent all over the world problem is going in two directions.
First, the use of more specific pesticide preparations as the main active ingredient in comparison with
classical FOS (or other chemical nature), for example, δ-endotoxin secreted by Bacillus thuringiensis,
to combat leaf-eating insects, or subtilin, an antibiotic produced by Bacillus subtilis 6633, which
inhibits the growth of a number of phytopathogenic fungi. The second is the development of methods
for fixing old and new drugs. In particular, the use of surfactants to reduce droplet evaporation. And
also, the development of adhesives that provide not only reliable and long-term fixation of the active
substance on any surface but also protection against drying out and sunburn, reducing the
development of fungal diseases. The combination of these approaches will significantly reduce the
chemical load on the plant and on the environment.
3.25. Living underwater vehicle. Long-term autonomous oceanological research is very difficult
because of the need to solve the problem of long-term maintenance of scientific equipment. Suppose
that an underwater research vehicle can be created on the basis of a reduced sperm whale organism. In
this case, the bandwidth of the data transmission channel in the audio frequency range may be
insufficient. How can the problem of transferring large amounts of data be solved? What additional
ways can there be to improve this method of communication?
SOLUTION:
The solution to the problem is under development.
3.26. Terrestrial solar concentrator. Solar concentrators offer energy storage by directing light with
mirrors to a container of salt crystals or other concentrators. The concentration of the energy of living
systems can be carried out through the transport of vesicles with chemical compounds through the
capillary network due to hydrodynamics, concentration gradient, temperature, or other gradients.
Moreover, the cell size of one such cluster cannot be too large. Propose a 2D diagram of the