ARKHANGELSK, July 30. /TASS/. The Laverov Research Center for Integrated Arctic Studies (the Academy of Sciences' Urals Branch, Arkhangelsk) will cooperate with Morocco's two universities, Yulia Bespalaya, Director of the Center's Institute of Biogeography and Genetic Resources, Doctor of Biological Sciences, told TASS, adding the priority area would be to study freshwater invertebrates.
"On July 29, 2024, cooperation agreements between the Laver Center and two universities of the Kingdom of Morocco - the Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez, and the Mohammed Premier University, the city of Oujda, came into force. The cooperation's priority area is the research of freshwater invertebrates, primarily mollusks, their endosymbionts and parasites," she said.
Scientists plan to cooperate also in conservation of freshwater and marine wetlands, in assessment of biodiversity, development and promotion of initiatives in specially protected natural territories and water areas, in management of fisheries and coastal processes.
Till now, African countries practically have not been involved in molecular research, she continued. Representatives of Moroccan universities intend to develop genetic research and are willing to provide materials.
"For example, quite a lot of freshwater mollusks have been found, but genetically this group of animals remains unexplored. Only 17 sequences of 16S ribosomal RNA from African mollusks have been represented in the open international database of genetic data and in our center's database. For comparison: the European genomic library contains 438 sequences of this gene. We are unable to assess Africa's biodiversity, and biomaterials from that continent's regions are of great interest," she added.
African mollusks
A new species of mollusks (Sphaeriinae) that live in Morocco's reservoirs has been described. They are of importance for aquaculture and fisheries, as the Sphaeriinae play a key role in the nutrient cycle in aquatic ecosystems. Mollusks of this group are food for fish, including for valuable species.
Specialists from Russia and Morocco have been studying African corbicula mollusks that are very aggressive invaders into territories outside their range in Asia.
On July 1, the Center joined the Russian-African Network University Consortium - which today is the only association of scientific organizations and universities of the Russian Federation and African countries. Its work is coordinated by Russia's Ministry of Science and Higher Education.