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Belgorod University opens new laboratory of experimental botany

The Botanical Garden of Belgorod State University was established in 1999

May 18. /TASS/. The equipment of the new laboratory of Belgorod University will allow the development of new varieties of plants, including for the purification of wastewater, reported the press service of the university on Tuesday.

"The laboratory is fully equipped with special equipment, which allows us to actively participate in the implementation of projects of the top-notch scientific and educational center "Innovative solutions in the agro-industrial complex", where we are the base university and the main project site. LED rack for growing test plants, digital microscopes are used for the study of bioindicator properties of plants. With the help of the devices, we were able to develop innovative technologies for non-invasive rapid assessment of the state of agricultural plants, to study the germination of seeds and to manage the growth processes," said Doctor of Biological Sciences, Director of the Scientific and Educational Center "Botanical Garden of Belgorod State University" Valery Tokhtar.

According to him, the devices received within the framework of a grant from the Ministry of Education and Science will allow the development of such scientific areas as the identification of promising breeding forms of plants, the search for resistant forms of plants to various environmental factors. They will also solve the problems of wastewater treatment of industrial and agricultural enterprises, create technologies for rapid assessment of the state of agricultural plants using IR spectrometry.

The use of plants from the botanical garden's collection will allow to obtain scientific experimental results of a high level. Thus, the spectrophotometer used by the laboratory staff makes it possible to study the content of biologically active substances in plants (antioxidants, anthocyanins, flavonoids, and others). In addition to scientific research on the basis of the laboratory, it is also planned to train specialists according to specially developed programs (additional education).

The Botanical Garden of Belgorod State University was established in 1999. More than 2,500 species and varieties of plants grow in the garden, including endemic, relict, rare and endangered species of the Red and Green Books of Russia and Belgorod Region.