We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the members of the Nature Research Centre community who contributed to the charity initiative “Basket of Generosity” organised by the Vilnius Archdiocese Caritas. Your generosity helped fill up 43 bags to help those in need of food on the World Day of the Poor.

Your contribution is invaluable and shows how strong and united our community is. These bags will be given to lonely elderly people, children and their families, people in need of food in Vilnius and in smaller parishes.

Thank you for your generosity. We hope that you will further actively contribute to initiatives that help make the world a better place.

Sincerely
Administration of Nature Research Centre

 

We have a great pleasure to announce that on 13 November Prof. Dr. habil. Algimantas Grigelis, a renowned Lithuanian geologist, member emeritus of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, donated his unique collection of fossil Jurassic foraminifera to Nature Research Centre.

Professor A. Grigelis is one of Lithuania’s foremost specialists in palaeontology and geology, whose works are widely recognised internationally. His contribution to the geology and palaeontology of the Baltic Sea region is invaluable.

During more than 70 years of scientific activity, Professor A. Grigelis has made a significant contribution to the advancement of science and promoted the name of Lithuania internationally. A genus of fossil foraminifera (Grigelis spp.) and several species are named after him! The impressive collection donated by Professor A. Grigelis includes about 8000 fossil foraminifera specimens. This gift is an invaluable asset for our scientists and students studying the Earth’s geological past. Foraminifera, microscopic marine organisms, are crucial for determining the age of rocks and reconstructing ancient marine environments.

As the property of the Nature Research Centre, this collection will contribute to the strengthening of the scientific potential of our institution and will become a valuable resource for palaeontological research. Membership in the CETAF network provides an opportunity to integrate this collection into an international scientific context and contribute to collaborative palaeontological research and data exchange. This will help ensure that these invaluable specimens are available on a global scale, fostering collaboration and dissemination of knowledge within the scientific community, as well as contributing to joint international efforts to preserve and develop palaeontology.

Our sincere thanks to Professor Algimantas Grigelis!

Recently, interest in foods and specific food components with potential health benefits has surged. Berries from diverse botanical species represent a rich reservoir of bioactive compounds with profound implications for human health and nutrition. The production of natural products delivered from berries intensified as a promising new avenue for developing antimicrobial agents and prebiotics. Among the wide array of wild berries, lingonberries (Vaccinium vitis-idaea L.), rowanberries (Sorbus aucuparia L.) and rosehips (Rosa canina L.) are commonly found in Northern European forests and thrive in a moderately cold climate zone. These berries have gained recognition for their high content of bioactive compounds, including vitamins, particularly ascorbic acid, and have potential therapeutic properties. The consumption of unprocessed wild berries is relevant and encouraged, making their in-depth microbiological characterization essential for food safety.

This study presents the first high-throughput sequencing analysis of bacterial and fungal communities distributed on the surface of lingonberries, rowanberries and rosehips. Significant plant-defined differences in the taxonomic composition of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbiota were observed. The bacterial community on rosehips was shown to be prevalent by Enterobacteriaceae, lingonberries by Methylobacteriaceae and rowanberries by Sphingomonadaceae representatives. Among the fungal microbiota, Dothioraceae dominated on rosehips and Exobasidiaceae on lingonberries; meanwhile, rowanberries were inhabited by a similar level of a broad spectrum of fungal families. Cultivable yeast profiling revealed that lingonberries were distinguished by the lowest amount and most distinct yeast populations. Potentially pathogenic to humans or plants, as well as beneficial and relevant biocontrol microorganisms, were identified on tested berries. The combination of metagenomics and a cultivation-based approach highlighted the wild berries-associated microbial communities and contributed to uncovering their potential in plant health, food and human safety.

Read more: https://enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1758-2229.70048

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This study was supported by a postdoctoral grant from the Lithuanian Research Council (LMTLT) (agreement S-PD-22-85).

The performed studies are in frame with research networking of COST Action MiCropBiomes CA22158.

The 10th International Simuliidae Symposium took place in Turkey on 4-8 November. The scientists from all over the world shared their latest research results. Dr. Rasa Bernotienė, a member of the scientific committee of the symposium, delivered a plenary presentation on the study of blackflies as vectors of avian blood parasites in Lithuania, prepared in collaboration with other NRC researchers K. Valavičičienė-Pociene, M. Kazak, C. Chagas, and G. Liberato. Another unique presentation, co-authored with laboratory colleague Dr. P. Starkevič, focused on blackflies found in Baltic amber. Inclusions of blackflies in Baltic amber are rare and difficult to identify, but provide insights into a world that existed tens of millions of years ago.

At the beginning of November, Dr. Darya Dankina, a palaeontologist at NRC Laboratory of Bedrock Geology, participated in the international scientific Micropalaeontological Conference, which brought together micropalaeontologists from all over the world. Dr. Darya Dankina presented the NRC palaeontological collection and a possibly new Devonian fish genus and species from the Siberian platform.

The conference was held in Krakow, Poland  (https://www.tmsoc.org/tmsagm24_home/). At the end of the conference, Darja proposed Lithuania as a possible venue for the conference in 2025. A proposal was also received from Pisa, Italy, and the voting by the members of the Micropalaeontological Association is currently underway to decide which country will take up the baton.

In early November, Dr. Darya Dankina, palaeontologist at NRC Laboratory of Bedrock Geology, visited the SOLARIS synchrotron (cyclic particle accelerator) at Krakow, Poland (https://synchrotron.uj.edu.pl/en_GB/zwiedzanie). Darja got familiar with the laboratory where she intends to carry out tomographic studies with the material from the Natural Research Centre’s palaeontological collection. The main task of the studies is to carry out an examination of the inside of the object, after which the object remains completely intact. Darya has earlier achieved successful results with a synchrotron in Switzerland, which is currently closed for reconstruction. In 2020, the scientist’s paper on the Permian ichthyofauna of Latvia and Lithuania appeared in a prestigious Journal of Iberian Geology, in which she published the results of tomographic studies of 3D models of 253-million-year-old Palaeozoic shark teeth.

On Wednesday (30 Oct), the Government took an important decision to reorganise the Nature Research Centre into a public institution. The aim of the reorganisation is to ensure the quality of scientific research and experimental development with a view to providing a possibility of a more flexible use of research results and more efficient collaboration with business and social partners.

The new structure will better respond to the needs of the state, society and business, will promote Lithuania’s scientific progress and innovation development, and will increase international competitiveness. Further, it will contribute to Lithuania’s economic growth and creation of value-added by facilitating more active participation in the projects of international programmes.

The reorganisation of Nature Research Centre as a budgetary institution into a public institution will allow a more flexible use of existing assets and finances and will facilitate the generation of initial contributions for projects. This will enable a more efficient implementation of research projects and ensure a greater impact thereof.

The reorganisation is an important step not only for research, but also for Lithuania, seeking to strengthen the country’s positions in the international scientific arena.

The 18th Congress of International Union of Microbiological Societies (IUMS 2024) “Microorganisms for sustainable solutions: environmental and clinical implementations” was held in Florence, Italy, on 23-25 October 2024.

The main topics of the congress were bacteriology and applied microbiology, virology, mycology and eukaryotic microbiology.

Keynote presentations focused on the impact of global warming on the emergence of new infectious diseases (Arturo Casadevall), the declining microbiota (Martin J. Blaser), and the impact of the microbiota on host immunity (Yasmine Belkaid).

Nature Research Centre’s researchers were active participants of the congress:

• Dr. Elena Servienė, Head of NRC Laboratory of Genetics, moderated the electronic presentations session Food Microbiology and presented an oral presentation “Novel strategies for the antimicrobial protection of food products” (Servienė E., Stanevičienė R., Vepštaitė-Monstavičė I., Sereikaitė J., Valys A., Ravoitytė B., Lukša J.).
• Živilė Strazdaitė-Žielienė, NRC Laboratory of Genetics, presented a poster “Microorganisms distribution in Lithuanian farmland samples from water, soil, and feed” (Strazdaitė-Žielienė Ž., Lukša J., Paliovkinas D., Ucar A.M., Petrauskas M., Losinska-Sičiūnienė R., Servienė E.) at the session Microorganism Communities and Microbiomes.
• Bazilė Ravoitytė, NRC Laboratory of Genetics, presented a poster “Bacterial diversity in industrially reared black soldier fly larvae” (Ravoitytė B., Varnelytė G., Lukša J., Baltriukienė D., Burokas A., Servienė E.) at the session Microbiological Technology and Applied Microbiology.

More information is available at https://iums2024.com/

We evaluated the condition of the experimental fast-growing poplar plantation at the NRC Field Experimental Station after the first growing season together with project partners – Dr. Andrej Pilipovic, representative of the Natural Resources Research Institute and Manager of the Hybrid Poplar Research Group at the University of Minnesota, USA, and Dr. Mindaugas Šilininkas, Head of UAB “Euromediena”. Though the plantation had to endure a number of challenges this year, such as prolonged droughts, hurricane-force winds and even the robustness of deer antlers, the experts rated its condition as good and praised the responsible work of the specialists at our Field Experimental Station for their care of the saplings. In the coming spring, we intend to carry out an initial assessment of the height growth and vigour of the introduced poplars, and now, after thoroughly treating the trees with deer repellents, we leave them to hibernate.

The plantation is a unique, carefully managed and responsibly maintained area open to research by NRC scientists. Under a contract with the University of Minnesota, the poplar plantation will be used for annual monitoring of tree growth (biometric measurements, viability, phytosanitary assessment) and for a wide range of studies – from the physiology of the plants to the overall health of the new ecosystem. We invite you to take advantage of this new opportunity!

For more information about the plantation and its research prospects please contact Dr. Vaidotas Lygis, NRC Laboratory of Plant Pathology, e-mail: vaidotas.lygis@gamtc.lt).