Achievements and future opportunities for the advancement of microbiotechnology in the North-East of Eurasia

This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the research conducted by the Yakut Scientific Research Institute of Agriculture over the past two decades. It highlights the advancement of highly effective inactivated vaccines, the exploration of microbiota in domestic, wild, and fossilized Paleozoic animals, and the development of biological products that facilitate organic livestock production. The Institute has achieved a significant milestone by developing, for the first time in Russia, highly effective vaccines aimed at preventing horse-soap and salmonella-related abortions. These vaccines have received approval from Rosselkhoznadzor, the regulatory authority within the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation. Additionally, the probiotic “Sakhabactisubtil”, derived from Bacillus subtilis strains, has been formulated to prevent and treat dysbiosis while enhancing the immunobiological reactivity of livestock. These innovations have been patented in the Russian Federation, resulting in the issuance of 53 patents that validate their scientific innovation. To further advance microbiological technologies and improve the production of innovative pharmaceuticals and biologics using microbial, animal, and plant resources, the establishment of an Arctic Biotechnology Center is proposed. This center would capitalize on the laboratories of the Yakut Scientific Research Institute of Agriculture and is intended to encompass microbiological and virology laboratories focused on the development of microbial products and veterinary biotechnologies. The establishment of this center is anticipated to significantly bolster Russia’s biological security, particularly in the northeastern region of Eurasia. The accelerated industrial development in the Arctic, alongside the effects of climate change in high-latitude regions, has resulted in substantial changes in species diversity, wildlife migration patterns, and the routes of migratory birds. These transformations have increased the risk of zoonotic diseases and the likelihood of epidemic outbreaks. As a result, there is an urgent need for comprehensive monitoring of infectious diseases, with particular emphasis on viral pathogens that impact both animals and humans. Furthermore, there is a critical necessity to develop effective veterinary vaccines and biological products to enhance overall health and safety.

1. Bedoeva Z.M., Bozhyeva Yu.V. Epizootological monitoring of infectious diseases in wild carnivorous animals. Veterinarnaya meditsina. 2011;(3-4):120–122. (In Russ.)

2. Artois M. The role of wildlife in the control of domestic animal diseases. Conf. OIE. 2012. 1–9.

3. Zavoloka A.A. Diseases of wild and exotic animals and their role in human diseases. VetPharma. 2013;(3):21–30. (In Russ.)

4. Wulf N. Preventing a Pandemic: V Mire Nauki=A World of Science, 2009;6:65–69. (In Russ.)

5. Official website of the Rosselkhoznadzor. www.fsvps.ru/fsvps/print/news/34932.html.

6. Makarov V.A., Grubiy V.A., Gruzdev K.N., Sukharev O.I. The OIE List and Cross-Border Animal Infections: A Monograph. Vladimir; 2012. P. 162. (In Russ.)

7. Morozov A.V. The ecological significance of the spread of pathogens of bacterial infections among hunting animals in Belarus. Animal Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine. 2015;16(1):33–38. (In Russ.)

8. Semakina V.P., Akimova T.P., Solomatina I.Yu., Karaulov A.K. Risk of introducing highly dangerous animal vesicular diseases into the Russian Federation. Veterinary Science Today. 2019;28(1):3–9. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.2932/2304-196X-1-28-3-9

9. Degtyarev A.G. Hunting and commercial birds of the Republic (Sakha) Yakutia. Yakutsk: Publishing House of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences; 2004. 109 P. (In Russ.)

10. Argunov A.V., Stepanova V.V., Okhlopkov I.M. The population dynamics and resource use of wild ungulates in the taiga of Yakutia. Agrarian Bulletin of the Urals. 2017;161(7):4–11. (In Russ.)

11. Legendre M., Bartoli J., Shmakova L., et al. Thirtythousand-year-old distant relative of giant icosahedral DNA viruses with a pandoravirus morphology. Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2014;111(11):4274–4279. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1320670111.

12. Legendre M.. Lartique A., Bertaux L., et al. Indepth study of Mollivirus sibericum, a new thirty-thousand-old giant virus infecting Acanthamoeba. Morphology. Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2015;112(38):5327–5335. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1510795112.

13. Tarabukina N.P., Neustroev M.P., Fedorova M.P., et al. Yakutia Zoolite Microflora. In Vth International Conference on Mammoth and their Relatives. 2010;59–60.

14. Neustroev M.P. On the prospects of microbiological research on mammoth fauna in permafrost. Quaternary International. 2012;255:139–140.

15. Neustroev M.P., Tarabukina N.P., Neustroev M.M., et al. Microflora of Fossil Animals Preserved in Yakut Permafrost. Journal of Earth Science and Engineering. 2014;4:484–489.

16. Huber I., Potapova R., Ammosova E., et al. Symposium report: emerging threats for human health – impact of socioeconomic and climate change on zoonotic diseases in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia. International Journal of Circumpolar Health. 2020;79(1):1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/2243982.2020.171598.

17. Dyagilev G.T., Neustroev M.P. Cadastre of unfavorable locations for anthrax of animals in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Siberian Herald of Agricultural Science. 2019;49(5):88–93. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.26898/0370-8799-2019-5-11.

18. Timofeev V., Bakhteeva I., Mironova R., et al. Insights from Bacillus anthracis strains isolated from permafrost in the tundra zone of Russia. Bio Rxiv preprint first posted online Dec. 3. 2018. https://doi.org//10.1101/486290.

19. Yerofeevskaya L.A. Genetic identification of the anthrax strain isolated from oil-contaminated permafrost soil. In: Sixth Pushchino School-Conference “Biochemistry, Physiology, and the Biospheric Role of Microorganisms”: Conference Proceedings, Pushchino, December 2–6, 2019, Pushchino: Water, Chemistry, and Ecology Publ.; 2019, pp. 86–88. (In Russ.)

20. Neustroev M.P., Yurov K.P., Tarabukina N.P., et al. Role of wild animals in epizootology of infectious diseases in Yakutia. Veterinaria i kormlenie. 2021;(5):57–64. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.30917/ATT-VK-1814-9588-2021-5-15.

21. Manship A.J., Bliklager A.T., Elfenbein J.R. Disease features of equine coronavirus and enteric salmonellosis are similar in horses. Journal of Veterinary Medicine. 2019;33(2):912–917. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.15386.

22. Revich B.A., Podolnaya M.A. Thawing of permafrost may disturb historic cabble burial grounds in Fast Siberia Cibation. Global Health Action. 2011;4:8482. https://doi.org/10.3402/gha.410.8482.

23. Neustroev M.P., Tarabukina N.P. Technology of Using Immunobiological and Probiotic Drugs in Agriculture. Novosibirsk: SibAK Publishing House; 2022. 374 р. (In Russ.)

24. Neustroev M.P., Petrova S.G. Development of Immunobiological Drugs for Viral and Bacterial Diseases in Horses. Novosibirsk: SibAK Publishing House; 2023. 186 p. (In Russ.)