Adaptation of bacteria in mountains: investigation of the relationship with background radiation and mountain landscape.

PURPOSE: Analysis of the influence of natural and anthropogenic background radiation on the variability of the causative agent of tularemia - the bacterium Francisella tularensis - in the mountainous landscapes of Armenia.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

Epizootic of tularemia in population of common vole (Microtus arvalis), PCR method, statistical methods, correlation and regression methods.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: A statistical analysis of the number of epizootics and the tularemia threshold revealed a correlation with the radiation dose absorbed by rodents and the altitude at which epizootics were localized. The analysis revealed a multi-year cycle of the common vole and tularemia bacteria. The reproduction of rodents is followed by a period of depression. During depression, the incidence of tularemia increases, and DNA structure can change. Under favorable conditions, a new reproductive cycle initiates in the rodent population, and a new subspecies can form in the bacterial community. In highlands, radiation background stimulates epigenetic mechanisms and genetic variability.

CONCLUSIONS

Factors affecting the variability and speciation of bacteria in the mountains are identified: the impact of γ-radiation on the epigenetic and genetic mechanisms of cells and the diversity of the mountain landscape influence bacterial speciation. Active bacterial reproduction occurs during the depression period of the rodent's long-term reproductive cycle.