绵羊高效转基因通用型piggyBac转座子载体构建及功能验证

piggyBac (PB)是一种能在多种动物细胞中进行转座的DNA转座子,作为一种转基因工具已被广泛应用于各种哺乳动物转基因研究中。针对不同物种对PB转座子进行改造,是提升其通用性的必要手段。为构建基于绵羊细胞进行转基因操作的通用型PB转座子载体,本研究对PB转座酶(PBase)基因进行绵羊密码子偏好性优化并将其克隆到pBNW-TP1载体中,成功构建了PB转座子载体pBNW-TP2。将pBNW-TP2转染到绵羊成纤维细胞和乳腺上皮细胞中,利用G418筛选获取稳定转染细胞株;利用Tail-PCR检测稳定转染细胞株的PB转座位点,对细胞阳性克隆进行亚甲蓝染色;利用非配对t检验确认其转座效率。结果表明,pBNW-TP2成功介导了绵羊成纤维细胞和乳腺上皮细胞转基因阳性细胞株的生产;PB转座位点检测表明pBNW-TP2能特异性整合到绵羊基因组TTAA位点,其整合位点倾向于功能基因间;亚甲蓝染色统计分析结果提示pBNW-TP2介导的转基因效率显著提升。本研究成功构建了绵羊通用型PB转座子载体pBNW-TP2,并在绵羊体细胞中对其特性进行验证和分析,为PB转座子在绵羊体细胞中开展转基因相关研究提供了科学依据。     

piggyBac转座子及其在转基因昆虫中的应用

piggyBac是一种从粉纹夜蛾Trichoplusiani.中分离到的、具有TTAA插入位点特异性的DNA转座子。piggyBac可在昆虫基因组中准确切离,转化频率较高,并且不受宿主因子的限制,是目前转基因昆虫研究中应用最广的转座子载体。近年来的研究发现,piggyBac类转座子广泛分布于昆虫和其他生物基因组中。文章从piggyBac的结构、转座特性、在转基因昆虫中的应用以及piggyBac类转座子的分布等几个方面综述了piggyBac的研究进展。     

转座酶的人工改造与修饰

转座子是基因组中能发生移动和自主复制的DNA片段,随着人们在分子水平上对转座子结构和功能认识的不断深化,许多转座子已被改造为遗传分析的工具应用于基因功能分析、基因转化和基因治疗。然而,天然转座子的转座能力不高是转座子的开发和利用的主要障碍,近几年来,科学家们运用生物信息学和蛋白质工程相结合的方法来构建活性的转座酶,通过氨基酸优化的方法获得自然界不存在的超活性的转座酶,显著地提高了转座子的转座效率,应用于植物转基因和基因标签技术;另一方面,通过蛋白质融合技术构建转座酶嵌合体,改造转座子插入特性,实现其插入位点的人工调控,应用于基因治疗。     

类Tc1转座子研究进展

转座子广泛存在于各种生物基因组中,能在染色体不同位点间转座,并在基因组中大量扩增.转座子的活动能引起生物基因组或基因的重组和变异,加速生物多样性及其进化速率,被视为生物基因组进化的内在驱动.转座子分2类：反转座子和DNA转座子.类Tc1转座子是DNA转座子超级家族中种类最多、分布最广的一类.本文简要概述了类Tc1转座子的结构特征,及其扩增、转座和迸发的机制,并展望了其应用和研究方向.     

Tol1转座子研究进展

Tol1和Tol2是在青鳉基因组中发现的具有自主活性的DNA转座子,而Tol1转座子的自主活性是新近才发现的,因此对它的报道较少。较之Tol2,Tol1可以携带更大片段的DNA进行转座,且Tol1的转座不受转座酶"过量表达抑制"的影响。研究已证实,Tol1转座子在秀丽线虫、斑马鱼、爪蟾和人等多种生物中具有转座活性。因此,在动物转基因和基因功能研究等方面有重要的应用前景。从Tol1转座子的结构特征、转座机制和作为基因转移载体的优点,以及应用研究等方面进行了简要的综述。     

转座子Sleeping Beauty和PiggyBac

近10年来,得益于转座子Sleeping Beauty(SB)和PiggyBac(PB)的发现和完善,转座子作为一种遗传工程工具在脊椎动物的基因遗传研究中得到广泛应用.SB和PB宿主范围极其广泛,从单细胞生物到哺乳动物都能够发挥作用.转座过程需要转座序列和转座酶的存在,类似于"剪切"、"粘贴"的方式.转座子载体系统转座时可携带一段外源DNA序列,利用这一特性可以用于实现目的基因的转移,现已广泛用于转基因动物、基因功能研究、基因治疗等领域.当转座系统与基因捕获技术相结合,不仅可研究插入突变基因的功能,还能通过所携带的报告基因获得捕获基因的表达图谱.作为非病毒载体的SB和PB转座系统,由于具有高容量、高效率和高安全性等优势,并且PB在转座后不留任何足迹,不会造成遗传物质的不可预测改变,在动物基因工程以及基因治疗方面具有诱人的前景.     

"睡美人"转座子的研究进展

“睡美人( Sleeping Beauty, SB) ”转座系统是Tc1/mariner 转座子超家族中的一员,已经失活了一千多万年。1997年,Ivics 等根据积累的系统发生数据,利用生物信息学的方法, 对其进行分子重建, 终于唤醒了其转座活性。近年来对“睡美人”转座系统的转座效率和转座机理进行的研究,已证明SB转座子在基因筛选,转基因及基因治疗等领域具有广阔的应用前景。文章重点论述了SB转座子在结构及其优化、转座机制和应用等方面的进展,同时对其研究中出现的各种问题进行了总结并提出了一些解决方案。     

异源过表达水稻OsSAPP3基因促进拟南芥叶片衰老

蛋白磷酸酶催化的蛋白质可逆磷酸化反应是叶片衰老的关键环节。该研究筛选并克隆了1个新的参与水稻(Oryza sativa)叶片衰老调控的PP2C基因OsSAPP3。研究表明, OsSAPP3的启动子在Pro_OsSAPP3-GUS转基因拟南芥(Arabidopsis thaliana)的莲座叶中有活性, 并且活性以依赖叶龄方式增加。利用CaMV 35S启动子驱动组成型异源过表达OsSAPP3导致转基因拟南芥无法正常生长。用可诱导型启动子GVG系统驱动OsSAPP3异源过表达导致转基因拟南芥出现莲座叶变小、数量增加、叶片早衰及抽薹开花提前等早衰表型。外源诱导OsSAPP3基因异源过表达后, 利用实时荧光定量PCR检测到SAG12、WRKY6和NAC2等衰老标志基因显著上调表达。研究结果表明, OsSAPP3是参与水稻叶片衰老的正向调控因子。     

白粉菌交配型位点基因结构及分子系统学关系

白粉菌是一类植物专性寄生真菌,广泛分布于世界各地,可引起多种植物白粉病。开展白粉菌交配型基因研究可以为全面认识白粉菌的生活史循环和系统演化提供证据。本研究以子囊菌中已报道的10种MAT基因和4种侧翼基因的氨基酸序列为种子序列,采用生物信息学方法在21个白粉菌基因组中进行氨基酸同源性分析,探索MAT基因及其侧翼基因的种类和线性排布。结果表明,21个白粉菌基因组中有10个属于MAT1-1型,包含MAT1-1-1和MAT1-1-3两种基因;10个属于MAT1-2型,仅包含MAT1-2-1基因;在Erysiphe pulchra的基因组中同时存在MAT1-1-1、MAT1-1-3、MAT1-2-1;而4种侧翼基因SLA2、APC5、APN2和CoxVia在21个白粉菌基因组中均存在。21个菌株中有两个菌株Blumeria graminis f. sp. hordei RACE1和Golovinomyces orontii的MAT基因和4种侧翼基因分布在同一个scaffold,其余菌株MAT基因和侧翼基因均不在同一scaffold出现。本研究分别分析了具有MAT1-1和MAT1-2的菌株中MAT基因和4种侧翼基因的排列关系,同时根据9个菌株的MAT基因注释信息,推测了其他菌株的MAT基因结构。结果表明,同属白粉菌的MAT基因结构相同,属间MAT基因结构差异明显。以从白粉菌基因组中获得的MAT1-1-1、MAT1-1-3和MAT1-2-1 3种MAT基因序列分别构建系统发育树,发现布氏白粉菌属Blumeria、白粉菌属Erysiphe和戈洛文白粉菌属Golovinomyces分别形成独立分枝,且白粉菌属与戈洛文白粉菌属形成姊妹群,这与前人对白粉菌系统发育关系的研究结果一致。本研究得到的白粉菌MAT基因种类、分布及其结构的相关结果为进一步实验提供了理论依据,为探究白粉菌的系统发育提供了新的思路。     

一种包含转座子Sleeping Beauty和PiggyBac的新型多功能载体的构建

DNA转座子作为一种遗传学工具对脊椎动物的转基因、突变体产生、癌基因发现和基因治疗方面都有巨大的贡献. 目前,哺乳动物中应用最为广泛、活性最高的DNA转座子为重构于鲑鱼的Sleeping Beauty (SB)转座子和来源于甘蓝蠖度尺蛾 (cabbage looper moth Trichoplusia ni)的PiggyBac (PB)转座子. 本研究中,我们成功构建了包含PB和SB两种转座子的杂合转座载体,命名为PBSBD. 在杂合转座载体中融入了基因捕获框及loxp/Frt元件,用以实现转座过程中的基因捕获和条件性敲除. 在HepG2细胞中通过检测报告基因的表达情况及阳性克隆的定位,对构建的杂合转座载体PBSBD进行了活性的初步验证. 结果表明,PBSBD能够有效被2种转座酶识别,并能检测到报告基因的表达. 本研究所构建的杂合转座载体PBSBD结合2种转座酶,可以应用于大规模筛选突变基因和研究基因功能. 并且该杂合转座载体还可以利用SB转座酶的邻近转座特性,结合载体内所包含的loxp/Frt元件用以邻近区域DNA片段的条件性敲除,研究大片段DNA在生物体中的作用.     

实时定量PCR评估金针菇的内参基因稳定性

金针菇在中国和日本是最受人喜爱的食用菌之一,在重要栽培食用菌中产销量排名第四。近年来,已在活性物质、分子标记及基因鉴定方面开展了大量工作,但未见有金针菇内参基因稳定性研究的报道,导致金针菇基因表达研究无内源参考基因稳定性数据作为参考。本研究采用geNorm、NormFinder、BestKeeper和RefFinder 4种软件评估18S核糖体RNA（18S）、28S核糖体RNA（28S）、60S核糖体蛋白L18（Rpl18）、肌动蛋白1（Act1）、3-磷酸甘油醛脱氢酶（Gapdh）、翻译延伸因子EF1-alpha（Ef1A）、DNA指导的RNA聚合酶亚基2（Rpb2）、细胞色素C氧化酶亚基1（Cox1）及细胞色素b（CytB）等9个内参基因的稳定性。综合分析结果显示,单个基因中Act1基因最稳定,CytB表达稳定性最差,但单个候选内参基因的稳定性不能够满足定量PCR实验要求;根据geNorm软件分析结果,CytB和Rpb2是金针菇定量PCR的稳定内参基因组合。本研究首次评估了金针菇的内参基因稳定性,将为后续的基因表达研究提供参考。     

New Mos1 mariner transposons suitable for the recovery of gene fusions in vivo and in vitro.

The Drosophila Mos1 element can be mobilized in species ranging from prokaryotes to protozoans and vertebrates, and the purified transposase can be used for in vitro transposition assays. In this report we developed a ‘mini-Mos1’ element and describe a number of useful derivatives suitable for transposon mutagenesis in vivo or in vitro. Several of these allow the creation and/or selection of tripartite protein fusions to a green fluorescent protein–phleomycin resistance (GFP-PHLEO) reporter/selectable marker. Such X-GFP-PHLEO-X fusions have the advantage of retaining 5′ and 3′ regulatory information and N- and C-terminal protein targeting domains. A Mos1 derivative suitable for use in transposon-insertion mediated linker insertion (TIMLI) mutagenesis is described, and transposons bearing selectable markers suitable for use in the protozoan parasite Leishmania were made and tested. A novel ‘negative selection’ approach was developed which permits in vitro assays of transposons lacking bacterial selectable markers. Application of this assay to several Mos1 elements developed for use in insects suggests that the large mariner pM[cn] element used previously in vivo is poorly active in vitro, while the Mos1-Act-EGFP transposon is highly active.     

捕食线虫真菌少孢节丛孢Arthrobotrys oligospora线粒体基因组的异质性

捕食线虫真菌少孢节丛孢Arthrobotrys oligospora是子囊菌中的一个食肉性丝状真菌,其菌丝体可变态为各种结构精巧的捕食器官用于捕食线虫,在生物防治和进化上极具研究潜力.线粒体基因细胞色素c氧化酶亚基Ⅰ基因(COX1)在真菌物种鉴定中的效果饱受争议.本研究对A.oligospora的不同单孢培养的菌株进行...     

AtMCM10 promotes DNA replication-coupled nucleosome assembly in Arabidopsis

Minichromosome Maintenance protein 10 (MCM10) is essential for DNA replication initiation and DNA elongation in yeasts and animals. Although the functions of MCM10 in DNA replication and repair have been well documented, the detailed mechanisms for MCM10 in these processes are not well known. Here, we identified AtMCM10 gene through a forward genetic screening for releasing a silenced marker gene. Although plant MCM10 possesses a similar crystal structure as animal MCM10, AtMCM10 is not essential for plant growth or development in Arabidopsis. AtMCM10 can directly bind to histone H3-H4 and promotes nucleosome assembly in vitro. The nucleosome density is decreased in Atmcm10, and most of the nucleosome density decreased regions in Atmcm10 are also regulated by newly synthesized histone chaperone Chromatin Assembly Factor-1 (CAF-1). Loss of both AtMCM10 and CAF-1 is embryo lethal, indicating that AtMCM10 and CAF-1 are indispensable for replication-coupled nucleosome assembly. AtMCM10 interacts with both new and parental histones. Atmcm10 mutants have lower H3.1 abundance and reduced H3K27me1/3 levels with releasing some silenced transposons. We propose that AtMCM10 deposits new and parental histones during nucleosome assembly, maintaining proper epigenetic modifications and genome stability during DNA replication.     

A review of current large‐scale mouse knockout efforts

After the successful completion of the human genome project (HGP), biological research in the postgenome era urgently needs an efficient approach for functional analysis of genes. Utilization of knockout mouse models has been powerful for elucidating the function of genes as well as finding new therapeutic interventions for human diseases. Gene trapping and gene targeting are two independent techniques for making knockout mice from embryonic stem (ES) cells. Gene trapping is high‐throughput, random, and sequence‐tagged while gene targeting enables the knockout of specific genes. It has been about 20 years since the first gene targeting and gene trapping mice were generated. In recent years, new tools have emerged for both gene targeting and gene trapping, and organizations have been formed to knock out genes in the mouse genome using either of the two methods. The knockout mouse project (KOMP) and the international gene trap consortium (IGTC) were initiated to create convenient resources for scientific research worldwide and knock out all the mouse genes. Organizers of KOMP regard it as important as the HGP. Gene targeting methods have changed from conventional gene targeting to high‐throughput conditional gene targeting. The combined advantages of trapping and targeting elements are improving the gene trapping spectrum and gene targeting efficiency. As a newly‐developed insertional mutation system, transposons have some advantages over retrovirus in trapping genes. Emergence of the international knockout mouse consortium (IKMP) is the beginning of a global collaboration to systematically knock out all the genes in the mouse genome for functional genomic research. genesis 48:73–85, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Insertional mutagenesis in Arabidopsis thaliana

Recently, a number of mutant gene loci in the Arabidopsis thaliana plant genome have been identified through insertional mutagenesis. In this review, we evaluate different methods used for Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated T-DNA insertional mutagenesis with regard to their mutation frequencies and conclude that a major breakthrough in the isolation of genes involved in plant development has been acheived. To provide a specific example, we summarize recent progress made in the understanding of flower morphogenesis at the molecular level through the study of homeotic genes obtained via gene tagging. T-DNA gene fusion vectors are being discussed that will allow the isolation of plant regulatory sequences with particular cell or tissue specificity, or that are controlled by specific external stimuli. Finally, we report on the approaches followed to convert the maize transposons Ac/Ds into valuable gene tags for use in a heterologous host such as Arabidopsis.     

Generating and manipulating transgenic animals using transposable elements

Transposable elements, or transposons, have played a significant role in the history of biological research. They have had a major influence on the structure of genomes during evolution, they can cause mutations, and their study led to the concept of so-called "selfish DNA". In addition, transposons have been manipulated as useful gene transfer vectors. While primarily restricted to use in invertebrates, prokaryotes, and plants, it is now clear that transposon technology and biology are just as relevant to the study of vertebrate species. Multiple transposons now have been shown to be active in vertebrates and they can be used for germline transgenesis, somatic cell transgenesis/gene therapy, and random germline insertional mutagenesis. The sophistication of these applications and the number of active elements are likely to increase over the next several years. This review covers the vertebrate-active retrotransposons and transposons that have been well studied and adapted for use as gene transfer agents. General considerations and predictions about the future utility of transposon technology are discussed.     

转座子PiggyBac在哺乳动物中的应用

DNA转座子作为一种遗传工程工具已广泛应用于多物种的转基因及产生插入突变等研究。目前,在哺乳动物中有转座活性的转座子可分为三类：1）hAT样转座子;2）Tcl样转座子包括Sleeping Beauty和FrogPrince;3）PiggyBac转座子家族。其中甘蓝蠖度尺蛾（Cabbage looper moth Trichoplusia ni）来源的PiggyBac转座子是目前在哺乳动物中活性最高的转座子,并且可以携带十几kb的外源基因转座而不影响其效率,使其在哺乳动物的转基因、癌基因的发现、基因治疗研究方面具有巨大的应用潜力。此外,PB的无痕迹转座对于无转基因、无遗传物质改变的诱导多潜能干细胞（iPS）研究也具有非常重要的意义。本文主要对针对PB在哺乳动物中的应用现状及前景作一介绍。     

The Aspergillus niger carbon catabolite repressor encoding gene, creA

In order to undertake a comparative analysis of carbon catabolite repression in two Aspergillus species, the creA gene has been isolated from A. niger by cross hybridization, using the cloned A. nidulans gene. The A. niger gene has been shown to be functional in A. nidulans by heterologous complementation of the creA204 mutation of A. nidulans. Overall, the genes show 90% sequence similarity (82% identity) at the amino acid (aa) level. There were some striking similarities between the aa sequences encoded by the two fungal creA genes and two genes involved in carbon catabolite repression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The zinc-finger regions showed 96% similarity (84% identity) with the zinc-finger region of the MIG1 gene of S. cerevisiae. The CREA protein contains a stretch of 42 aa that is identical in A. niger and A. nidulans, and these show 81% similarity (33% identity) with a region of the S. cerevisiae RGR1 gene.     

The diversity of p53 mutations among human brain tumors and their functional consequences

The p53 tumor suppressor is implicated in cell cycle control, DNA repair, replicative senescence and programmed cell death. Inactivation of the p53 contributes to the wide range of human tumors, including glial neoplasms. In this review, we describe the regulation and biochemical properties of p53 protein that may explain its ability to activate various genetic programs underlying cellular responses to stress conditions. The overall spectrum of p53 mutations is rather shared between tumor types indicating that these mutations are not tumor type-specific. However, there is one example of germ-line mutation of p53 gene (the deletion of the codon 236) that is associated with a familiar brain tumor syndrome. We compare the frequency and type of most common mutations among various brain tumours (focusing on glioblastomas) and their consequences on protein functions. Furthermore, we discuss the most promising approaches of potential brain tumor therapy, including an adenovirus-mediated p53 gene transfer. Human glioblastomas are highly sensitive to the effects of p53 activity when the wild-type p53 is introduced ectopically. It suggests that the genetic or pharmacological modulation of the p53 pathway is potentially important strategy in the treatment of human cancers.