On the Anniversary of the Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Alexander Vladimirovich Kilchevsky

Alexander Vladimirovich Kilchevsky, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor, Honored Scientist of the Republic of Belarus, Chairman of the Belarusian Society of Geneticists and Breeders, laureate of the Prizes of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus and the Union State Prize, Academician of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) of Belarus, a talented scientist in the field of genetics and biotechnology, known in the country and abroad, the leader of the Belarusian scientific school in the field of genetics, genomics, biotechnology and plant breeding, Deputy Chairman of the Presidium of the NAS of Belarus, turned 70 on August 17, 2025. He was the first in the country to create the Department of Biotechnology and the Biotechnology Center at the Belarusian State Agricultural Academy; identified the main patterns of genotype-environment relationships that manifest themselves at different stages of breeding; developed principles and methods of ecological plant breeding using modern biotechnological approaches aimed at creating highly productive and environmentally sustainable plant varieties, and methods for marker-assisted selection of nightshade vegetable crops; co-authored creation of 79 plant varieties regionally adapted in Belarus, including 57 tomato and 18 pepper varieties. The results of his scientific activities have been published in more than 800 scientific papers, including 10 monographs, four books, and textbooks. Under the supervision of A.V. Kilchevsky, four doctoral and 22 candidate scientific papers were defended; also, the National Coordination Center for Biosafety, the Republican Center for Genomic Biotechnology, the Republican DNA Bank of Humans, Animals, Plants, and Microorganisms, and the Republican Center for Microbiome Research were established. His achievements are recognized both in the country and abroad. Academician A.V. Kilchevsky is a member of the Presidium of the Higher Attestation Commission of the Republic of Belarus, a member of the Board of the Foundation for Fundamental Research of the Republic of Belarus, an Honorary Doctor of the Belarusian State Agricultural Academy, an Honorary Professor of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, and an Honorary Member of the European Biotechnology Association. Alexander Vladimirovich has been awarded the Francysk Skaryna Medal, the Medal of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus "For Achievements in Science," the I.V. Kurchatov Medal, 1st Class, and the N.I. Vavilov Medal, as well as certificates of honor from national and international agencies.

1. Adzhieva V.F., Babak O.G., Shoeva O.Y., Kilchevsky A.V., Khlestkina E.K. Molecular genetic mechanisms of the development of fruit and seed coloration in plants. Russian Journal of Genetics: Applied Research. 2016;6(5):537-552. DOI: 10.1134/S2079059716050026

2. Babak O.G., Nekrashevich N.A., Anisimova N.V., Drozd E.V., Yatsevich K.K., Kilchevsky A.V. Technology of marker-assisted selection of tomato forms with high biochemical and technological properties of fruits: methodological recommendations (Tekhnologiya marker-soputstvuyushchego otbora form tomata s vysokimi biokhimicheskimi i tekhnologicheskimi svoystvami plodov: metodicheskiye rekomendatsii). Minsk: Law and Economics; 2023. [in Russian]

3. Babak O.G., Nekrashevich N.A., Nikitinskaya T.V., Yatsevich K.K., Kilchevsky A.V. Study of the Myb-factor polymorphism based on comparative genomics of vegetable Solanaceae crops (tomato, pepper, eggplant) to search for DNA markers that differentiate samples by the anthocyans accumulation. Doklady Natsional’noi akademii nauk Belarusi = Doklady of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. 2019;63(6):721-729. [in Russian]. DOI: 10.29235/1561-8323-2019-63-6-721-729

4. Dromashko S.E., Makeeva E.N., Lebedeva A.M., Mozgova G.V., Babak O.G., Kilchevsky A.V., Lemesh V.A., Zheleznova T.V., Kholmetskaya M.O. Biological safety: modern methodological approaches to assessing the quality of food, pharmacological and agricultural products (Biologicheskaya bezopasnost': sovremennyie metodicheskiye podkhody k otsenke kachestva pishchevoy, farmakologicheskoy i sel'skokhozyaystvennoy produktsii). 2-nd ed., corrected and enlarged. Minsk: Bielaruskaya navuka; 2017. [in Russian]

5. Kartel N.A., Kilchevsky A.V. Biotechnology in plant growing: [textbook] (Biotekhnologiya v rasteniyevodstve: [uchebnik]). Minsk: Tekhnalogiya; 2005. [in Russian]

6. Khotyleva L.V., Kilchevsky A.V., Shapturenko M.N., Tarutina L.A., Titok V.V. Genetic basis of heterosis (Geneticheskiye osnovy geterozisa). Minsk: Belarusian Science; 2021. [in Russian]

7. Kilchevsky A.V. Efficiency of the first cycle of reciprocal periodic selection in tomatoes (Effektivnost' pervogo tsikla retsiproknogo periodicheskogo otbora u tomatov) [dissertation]. Gorki; 1982. [in Russian]

8. Kilchevsky A.V. Genotype – environment interaction in plant breeding (using vegetable crops and potatoes as an example) (Vzaimodeystviye genotipa i sredy v selektsii rasteniy (na primere ovoshchnykh kul'tur i kartofelya)) [dissertation]. St. Petersburg: VIR; 1993. [in Russian]

9. Kilchevsky A.V. Genetic and ecological bases of plant breeding. Vavilov Journal of Genetics and Breeding. 2005;9(4):518-526. [in Russian]

10. Kilchevsky A.V., Chernukha G.A., Vorobyova E.P., Nikonovich T.V., Lazarevich N.V., Lalomova T.V., Ermolenkov V.V. Fundamentals of agricultural ecology and radiation safety (Osnovy sel'skokhozyaystvennoy ekologii i radiatsionnaya bezopasnost'). Minsk: Uradzhai; 2001. [in Russian]

11. Kilchevsky A.V., Khotyleva L.V. (eds). Genetic basis of plant breeding (Geneticheskie osnovy selektsii rasteniy). In 4 volumes. Vol. 1. 2nd ed. Minsk: Bielaruskaya navuka; 2018. [in Russian]

12. Kilchevsky A.V., Khotyleva L.V. (eds). Genetic basis of plant breeding (Geneticheskie osnovy selektsii rasteniy). In 4 volumes. Vol. 2. 2nd ed. Minsk: Bielaruskaya navuka; 2020. [in Russian]

13. Kilchevsky A.V., Khotyleva L.V. (eds). Genetic basis of plant breeding (Geneticheskie osnovy selektsii rasteniy). In 4 volumes. Vol. 3. Minsk: Bielaruskaya navuka; 2012. [in Russian]

14. Kilchevsky A.V., Khotyleva L.V. (eds). Genetic basis of plant breeding (Geneticheskie osnovy selektsii rasteniy). In 4 volumes. Vol. 4. Minsk: Bielaruskaya navuka; 2014. [in Russian]

15. Kilchevsky A.V., Khotyleva L.V. A method for estimation of genotypes adaptive ability and stability, of environment’s differentiative ability. II. Numerical model and discussion. Genetika. 1985;21(9):1491-1498. [in Russian]

16. Kilchevsky A.V., Khotyleva L.V. Ecological plant breeding (Ekologicheskaya selektsiya rasteniy). Minsk: Tekhnalogiya; 1997. [in Russian]

17. Kilchevsky A.V., Mikhalenko E.P., Mazur O.Ch., Malysheva O.M. Using whole-exome sequencing for diagnosing complex cases in pediatrics (Ispol'zovaniye polnoekzomnogo sekvenirovaniya dlya diagnostiki slozhnykh sluchayev v pediatrii). Nauka i tekhnologii Sibiri = Science and Technologies of Siberia. 2022;4(7):31-34. [in Russian]

18. Kilchevsky A.V., Skorina V.V. Selection of heterotic tomato hybrids (Selektsiya geterozisnykh gibridov tomata). Minsk; 2005 [in Russian]

19. Kilchevsky A.V., Yankovsky N.K. Developing the innovative gene geographical and genomic technologies for identification and revealing the personal features by studying the gene pools of the regional populations. Russian Journal of Genetics. 2021;57(12):1361-1369. DOI: 10.1134/S1022795421120073

20. Malyshev S.V., Urbanovich O.Yu., Kartel N.A. Identification and certification of crop varieties (common wheat, potato, tomato, flax and beetroot) based on DNA markers: Guidelines (Identifikatsiya i pasportizatsiya sortov selskokhozyaystvennykh kultur (myagkoy pshenitsy, kartofelya, tomata, lna i svekly) na osnove DNK-markerov: мetodicheskiye ukazaniya. Minsk: Institut genetiki i tsitologii NAN Belarusi). Minsk: Institute of Genetics and Cytology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus; 2006. [in Russian]

21. Mikhalenka A.P., Shchayuk A.N., Nikitinskaya T.V., Paliukhovich Yu.V., Kubrak S.V., Shapetska M.N., Kilchevsky A.V. Determining the methylation status of the promoter regions of MARCH11, HOXA9, PTGDR, and UNCX genes in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Doklady of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus = Doklady Natsional’noi akademii nauk Belarusi. 2023;67(4):300-306. [in Russian]. DOI: 10.29235/1561-8323-2023-67-4-300-306

22. Mikhalenko E.P., Guzenko E.V., Kilchevsky A.V. Microbiome Research Center: Fundamental and Applied Research. Science and Innovation = Nauka i innovatsii. 2022;8(234): 27-31. [in Russian]

23. Orlovskaya O.A., Vakula S.I., Yatsevich K.K., Khotyleva L.V., Kilchevsky A.V. Effect of NAM-1 genes on the protein content in grain and productivity indices in common wheat lines with foreign genetic material introgressions in the conditions of Belarus. Vavilov Journal of Genetics and Breeding. 2023;27(3):197-206. [in Russian]. DOI: 10.18699/VJGB-23-26

24. Pivovarov V.F., Dobrutskaya E.G., Soldatenko A.V., Krivenkov L.V., Sychev S.M., Skorina V.V., Kilchevsky A.V., Lyapunov S.M., Gorbunov A.V., Ivliev A.I., Gins V.K., Shirokova E.A. Recommendations for reducing the content of radionuclides in the commercial part of the yield of vegetable and spice crops (ecological selection, technological methods) (Rekomendatsii po snizheniyu soderzhaniya radionuklidov v tovarnoy chasti urozhaya ovoshchnykh i pryano-vkusovykh kul'tur (ekologicheskaya selektsiya, tekhnologicheskiye sposoby)). Moscow; 2005. [in Russian]

25. Pydiura N.A., Bayer G.Y., Galinousky D.V., Yemets A.I., Pirko Y.V., Padvitski T.A., Anisimova N.V., Khotyleva L.V., Kilchevsky A.V., Blume Y.B. Bioinformatic search for cellulose synthase genes in flax (Linum usitatissimum) and their phylogenetic analysis. Cytology and Genetics. 2015;49(5):279-287. DOI: 10.3103/S0095452715050084

26. Smiryaev A.V., Martynov S.P., Kilchevsky A.V. Biometrics in Plant Genetics and Breeding (Biometriya v genetike i selektsii rasteniy). Moscow: MSHA; 1992. [in Russian]

27. Sysolyatin E.N., Anokhina V.S., Anisimova N.V., Babak O.G., Kilchevsky A.V. Genetic typing of economically important traits of blue lupine (Lupinus angustifolius L.) samples. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Biological Series. 2015;(4):44-50. [in Russian]