On the 90th anniversary of academician Sergei Vasilievich Shestakov, full member Russian Academy of Sciences and honorary member of the Vavilov Society of Geneticists and Breeders

This article highlights several stages in the life, scientific achievements, and organizational activities of Academician Sergei Vasilievich Shestakov, full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) on the occasion of his 90th birthday. Sergei Vasilievich Shestakov, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, laureate of the USSR State Prize and the N.I. Vavilov Gold Medal of the RAS, Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation, and Honored Worker of Higher Education of the Russian Federation, is a recognized expert in the fields of genomics, molecular, radiation genetics and evolutionary genetics, and genetic engineering of microorganisms and plants. S.V. Shestakov made a significant contribution to the training of researchers and organization of science, and played a key role in the restoration and development of genetics in Russia: since 1980, he has headed the Department of Genetics at Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU), where he contributed to the modernization of the educational process, attracting a new generation of faculty, equipping the department with modern equipment, and developing new research areas; From 1988 to 1991, he headed the N.I. Vavilov Institute of General Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IOGen), where he developed the state program «Priority Areas of Genetics» and supervised over 40 PhD candidates and 5 doctors of science. On behalf of the Vavilov Society of Geneticists and Breeders (VOGiS), we congratulate Academician Sergei Vasilyevich Shestakov on his anniversary and wish him good health, continued creative success, and the development of the scientific school he leads!

1. Academician Sergei Vasilyevich Shestakov turns 90! (Akademiku Shestakovu Sergeyu Vasil'yevichu - 90 let!). Russian Academy of Sciences: [website]. [in Russian]. URL: https://www.ras.ru/news/shownews.aspx?id=1107b659-d870-4c2d-acc3-93c23a1bfb0c [дата публикации: 23.11.2024].

2. Anbudurai P.R., Mor T.S., Ohad I., Shestakov S.V., Pakrasi H.B. The ctpA gene encodes the C-terminal processing protease for the D1 protein of the photosystem II reaction center complex. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 1994;91(17):8082-8086. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.91.17.8082

3. Biographical information and list of scientific works of S. V. Shestakov (Biograficheskaya spravka i spisok nauchnykh trudov S. V. Shestakova). Archive of the Department of Genetics, Faculty of Biology, Moscow State University. Москва; 2024. [in Russian]

4. Churin Y.N., Shalak I.N., Börner T., Shestakov S.V. Physical and Genetic Map of the Chromosome of the UnicellularCyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. Strain PCC 6803. Journal of bacteriology. 1995;177(11):3337-3343. DOI: 10.1128/jb.177.11.3337-3343.1995

5. Honorary members of VOGiS. Shestakov Sergey Vasilievich, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow State University (Moscow). Vavilov Society of Geneticists and Breeders: [website]. [in Russian]. URL: https://vogis.org/?page_id=34 [дата обращения: 16.11.2025].

6. Ravin N.V., Shestakov S.V. Prokaryotic genome (Genom prokariot). Vavilovskii Zhurnal Genetiki i Selektsii = Vavilov Journal of Genetics and Breeding. 2013;17(4-2):972-984. [in Russian]. URL: https://vavilov.elpub.ru/jour/article/view/216 [дата обращения: 16.11.2025].

7. Sergei Vasilyevich Shestakov is 90 years old (90 let Sergeyu Vasil'yevichu Shestakovu). Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Biology: [website]. [in Russian]. URL: https://bio.msu.ru/2024/11/23/90-лет-сергею-васильевичу-шестакову/ [дата публикации: 23.11.2024].

8. Shestakov S. V. Gene-targeted and site-directed mutagenesis of photosynthesis genes in cyanobacteria. Photosynthesis Research. 2002;73:279-284. DOI: 10.1023/A:1020432004692

9. Shestakov S. V. Genetics of unicellular blue-green algae (Genetika odnokletochnykh sinezelenykh vodorosley): [dissertation]. Moscow: Moscow State University; 1974. [in Russian]

10. Shestakov S. V. Stabilization of muscle pyruvate dehydrogenase by imidazole compounds (Stabilizatsiya myshechnoy piruvatdegidrogenazy imidazol'nymi soyedineniyami): [dissertation]. Moscow: Moscow State University; 1964. [in Russian]

11. Shestakov S.V., Anbudurai P.R., Stanbekova G.E., Gadzhiev A., Lind L.K., Pakrasi H.B. Molecular cloning and characterization of the ctpA gene encoding a carboxyl-terminal processing protease. Analysis of a spontaneous photosystem II-deficient mutant strain of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. The Journal of biological chemistry. 1994;269(30):19354-19359.

12. Shestakov S.V., Khyen N.T. Evidence for genetic transformation in blue-green alga Anacystis nidulans. Molecular and General Genetics. 1970;107(4):372-375. DOI: 10.1007/BF00441199

13. Sokolenko A., Pojidaeva E., Zinchenko V., Panichkin V., Glaser V.M., Herrmann R.G., Shestakov S.V. The gene complement for proteolysis in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 and Arabidopsis thaliana chloroplasts. Current genetics. 2002;41(5):291-310. DOI: 10.1007/s00294-002-0309-8