植物CRISPR/Cas9多基因编辑载体构建和突变分析的操作方法

CRISPR/Cas9基因组编辑技术是植物基因功能研究与作物改良的有效工具.为此,本实验室开发了高效的CRISPR/Cas9植物多基因编辑载体系统.本载体系统包括6个双元载体和12个含有不同U3/U6启动子的sg RNA中间载体,可满足对单子叶和双子叶植物的遗传转化以及不同抗生素筛选的要求,具有简便、高效,可同时对多基因进行编辑的特点.此外,为了能更高效地应用基因组编辑技术,还开发了一站式在线分析工具包CRISPR-GE.为方便研究人员利用CRISPR/Cas9系统进行植物基因组编辑,本文提供了从靶点选择、CRISPR/Cas9多靶点双元载体构建,以及对靶点突变序列的测序分析等详细的操作方法,以及常见的问题解答.     

利用CRISPR/Cas9技术构建拟南芥多基因缺失突变体体系

CRISPR/Cas系统来源于古细菌和细菌在进化过程中逐渐形成的一种适应性免疫系统,近年来被改造成为一种新型的基因编辑技术,它能在sgRNA引导下利用Cas9核酸酶对DNA进行定点切割。然而,此系统的缺点在于一对sgRNA具有较高的脱靶率。本实验拟通过改造CRISPR/Cas9相关载体,一方面简化载体构建步骤,另一方面通过设计两对sgRNA1和sgRNA2,提高靶标识别特异性,克服较高脱靶率的问题。实验以拟南芥基因组中U-Box E3家族基因中3个高度同源基因为靶对象,利用改造后的CRISPR/Cas9载体构建拟南芥多基因缺失突变体体系。此体系的建立有助于研究拟南芥基因组中的家族基因功能,并克服拟南芥家族基因功能研究中的冗余问题。     

基因组编辑对酿酒酵母DNA的损伤作用及修复响应

【目的】为了研究基因组编辑工具CRISPR/Cas9和CRISPR/Cpf1所产生的DNA双链断裂(DNA doublestrandbreak,DSB)对酿酒酵母DNA的损伤作用及修复响应情况,对比化学物质甲基磺酸甲酯(methyl methanesulfonate,MMS)对酿酒酵母基因组DNA的损伤和修复,阐明编辑细胞在细胞水平和转录水平上的变化。【方法】起始细胞分为两种情况,包括未进行细胞周期同步化和被α-因子同步化细胞周期至G0/G1期。检测CRISPR/Cas9和CRISPR/Cpf1处理后编辑细胞的生长情况。利用流式细胞术检测编辑细胞的细胞周期延滞的情况。利用荧光定量PCR检测编辑细胞和MMS处理细胞后DNA损伤响应关键基因转录表达水平的变化情况。【结果】起始细胞无论是未同步化还是同步化,其生长均受到基因组编辑抑制,细胞存活率降低,细胞周期被滞留在G2/M期,而MMS处理导致细胞周期S期的滞留。此外,随编辑时间的延长,突变率增加,细胞存活率降低。CRISPR/Cpf1编辑细胞的突变率和存活率均低于CRISPR/Cas9,由此可见,CRISPR/Cpf1对细胞的损伤强度高于CRISPR/Cas9。两种编辑均诱导酵母DNA损伤响应关键基因RNR3及HUG1转录水平显著上调,并且CRISPR/Cpf1介导的上调幅度大于CRISPR/Cas9,但两者均低于MMS的处理。【结论】本研究解析了CRISPR/Cas9和CRISPR/Cpf1介导的基因组编辑在细胞水平和转录水平上对DNA损伤作用及修复响应,初步揭示了酿酒酵母应对不同类型的DSB损伤时响应程度的差异,为提高基因组编辑工具的编辑能力和评估基因编辑安全性提供了重要依据。     

CRISPR/Cas9技术在生物医学领域的非病毒及病毒载体

规律成簇的间隔短回文重复序列(CRISPR)及CRISPR相关蛋白9(CRISPR/Cas9)系统是一种新型基因组编辑技术,能够靶向干扰或修复基因组的特定基因.来自细菌或人工改造的CRISPR/Cas9系统已经由生物学家发现或构建,Cas9核酸酶及单链导向RNA(sgRNA)是CRISPR/Cas9系统的主要组成成分.该系统被广泛应用于疾病治疗新靶点的发掘,基因功能的鉴定,动物模型的建立以及基因治疗药物的开发.CRISPR/Cas9系统已经通过突变或修正疾病相关基因来部分缓解或彻底治愈某些病症.然而,如何有效递送CRISPR/Cas9至目标细胞及靶器官仍然是运用该技术所面临的挑战之一,这影响着该系统稳定和精准的基因编辑能力.本文主要综述Cas9mRNA,Cas9蛋白或编码Cas9基因及相应sgRNA载体的递送系统.递送Cas9蛋白的非病毒载体能够维持Cas9的靶向作用,减少脱靶效应;递送sgRNA和供体模板的病毒载体能够改进基因编辑及同源修复效率.安全,有效及可规模化生产的递送载体将会推进CRISPR/Cas9技术在人类基因治疗领域中的应用.     

基因编辑技术最新研究进展

基因编辑是一种对基因组及其转录产物进行定点修饰、定向敲除或插入目的基因的基因编辑技术。近年来,基因编辑技术发展日新月异,不仅极大的推动了基因功能研究进程,同时为人类遗传疾病的治疗带来了曙光。综述了CRISPR/Cas9、CRISPR/Cpf1、Ago/g DNA和SGN等技术的作用原理、优缺点、应用等,以期为相关领域的研究提供参考。     

基因编辑新技术最新进展

借助基因编辑技术精准编辑植物基因组,得到性状优良、产量高的农作物种质是目前作物分子育种研究的主要趋势。目前主要的CRISPR/Cas9系统是由产脓链球菌的获得性免疫防御系统改编而来,该系统以其编辑高效、操作方便、成本低廉等明显优势在基因编辑技术中脱颖而出,广受青睐。利用CRISPR/Cas技术编辑作物基因组,能精确引入和改良目标性状,为作物遗传育种提供新途径。当前, CRISPR/Cas9技术在拟南芥、水稻、土豆、玉米等植物中得到普遍应用。该文简要阐述了锌指核酸酶、转录因子激活样效应物核酸酶以及CRISPR/Cas9系统的结构、作用机制及差异,重点综述CRISPR/Cas9系统目前在植物中的应用、其改良的CRISPR/Cpf1技术以及该系统相比于其他核酸酶的优势与局限性。     

快速构建CRISPR/Cas9基因组靶向编辑系统

CRISPR/Cas9核酸酶作为一种新的基因组靶向编辑技术,已成功应用于多种动植物基因组修饰研究. CRISPR/Cas9作用后的阳性细胞筛选和富集是该技术的关键之一. 本研究以鸡EAV-HP（endogenous avian retrovirus-HP）基因和MSTN（myostatin）基因为例,从靶位点的选择、表达载体构建、双基因报告载体构建和核酸酶活性验证4个方面,系统研究了CRISPR/Cas9核酸酶技术平台. 结果表明,利用寡聚核苷酸直接退火方法,构建表达载体和报告载体的阳性率分别高达100%和89.5%. 报告载体的PuroR（puromycin resistant gene）和eGFP（enhanced green fluorescent protein）基因的成功表达表明,构建的CRISPR/Cas9系统能有效切割靶序列,并用于后续阳性克隆的筛选和富集. 本方法摒弃了传统分子克隆的PCR扩增和酶切处理目标基因的方法,而是利用寡聚核苷酸直接退火获得含有黏性末端的目标DNA,简化了载体构建过程,低成本且快速获得CRISPR/Cas9基因组靶向编辑系统.     

植物CRISPR基因组编辑技术的新进展

在过去的4年中,CRISPR/Cas9基因组编辑技术成为生命科学领域的革命性工具,为植物学基础研究和农作物遗传改良提供了高效、快速而又廉价的遗传操作工具。利用CRISPR/Cas9系统可以实现精准的knock-out和knock-in等遗传操作,也可用于靶向激活或抑制基因的表达。在CRISPR/Cas9被广泛地用于基因组编辑的同时,它的编辑能力、效率和精确度也在不断地改进和完善,特别是CRISPR/Cpf1系统的发掘和单碱基编辑技术的创建,使CRISPR系统正逐步成为一个理想的遗传工程技术平台。此外,利用CRISPR/Cas9技术改良的农作物品种也已经涌现,这必将推动精准基因组编辑技术在农作物遗传改良中的应用和发展。     

CRISPR/Cas9系统的发展及其在动物基因编辑中的应用 *

CRISPR/Cas9作为一种新型的基因编辑技术,主要在DNA水平对生物体的遗传信息进行修改,具有强大的基因编辑能力,目前已经被广泛应用于多个领域,包括基因功能研究、构建动物模型、家畜新品种的培育以及基因治疗等。CRISPR/Cas9技术的不断发展为生物学及医学领域的研究带来了革命性的突破,利用该技术构建基因突变小鼠有助于基因功能的研究,对于遗传疾病的治疗等具有重要的参考价值,同时还可以从基因组水平上有效改善家畜动物的生产性能,提高家畜动物的抗病能力。主要介绍了CRISPR/Cas系统的研究历程、结构与分类,详细阐述了CRISPR/ Cas9技术的作用机制及其在动物基因编辑中的应用,探讨了CRISPR/Cas9在基因编辑动物的制备中存在的问题及优化策略,并对其发展前景进行了展望。     

家蚕β-呋喃果糖苷酶基因BmSuc1的CRISPR敲除载体的构建与导入

【目的】CRISPR/Cas9是近些年报道较多的基因编辑新工具,具有简便高效、特异性强等优势。BmSuc1是从鳞翅目经济昆虫家蚕Bombyx mori体内发现的编码β-呋喃果糖苷酶(β-fructofuranosidase,β-FFase)的基因,也是首个被克隆和鉴定的动物型β-FFase编码基因。β-FFase是作用于果糖基的蔗糖水解酶,BmSUC1可能与家蚕防御桑叶生物碱的生理过程有关,但目前其发挥作用的分子机制尚不清晰。为了解析BmSuc1在蚕体的作用途径及其生理功能,本研究基于CRISPR/Cas9基因编辑系统构建表达双元sgRNA的CRISPR载体,用于敲除家蚕基因组中的BmSuc1基因。【方法】根据目的基因BmSuc1的ORF序列设计2条sgRNA,通过同源重组的方法分别插入CRISPR载体的Sal I和Nhe I酶切位点。进而利用转基因显微注射技术将该编辑载体注入G_0代蚕卵,经催青孵化饲养家蚕并自交制备G_1代蚕种。【结果】PCR验证及测序结果均表明CRISPR编辑载体构建成功。根据Ds Red2红色蛋白的荧光标记,从G_1代家蚕幼虫中成功筛选出阳性转基因个体。【结论】本文详细介绍了表达双元sgRNA的CRISPR载体的构建方法,所获得的阳性转基因家蚕对于下一步探讨BmSuc1在家蚕糖类营养的吸收与利用途径中的作用奠定了重要的实验基础,有助于阐明蚕-桑相互选择和适应的分子机制。     

A Unique Protease Cleavage Site Predicted in the Spike Protein of the Novel Pneumonia Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Potentially Related to Viral Transmissibility

正Dear Editor,In December 2019, a novel human coronavirus caused an epidemic of severe pneumonia(Coronavirus Disease 2019,COVID-19) in Wuhan, Hubei, China(Wu et al. 2020; Zhu et al. 2020). So far, this virus has spread to all areas of China and even to other countries. The epidemic has caused 67,102 confirmed infections with 1526 fatal cases     

Curcuminoids as inhibitors of thioredoxin reductase: A receptor based pharmacophore study with distance mapping of the active site

Curcumin is the yellow pigment of turmeric that interacts irreversibly forming an adduct with thioredoxin reductase (TrxR), an enzyme responsible for redox control of cell and defence against oxidative stress. Docking at both the active sites of TrxR was performed to compare the potency of three naturally occurring curcuminoids, namely curcumin, demethoxy curcumin and bis-demethoxy curcumin. Results show that active sites of TrxR occur at the junction of E and F chains. Volume and area of both cavities is predicted. It has been concluded by distance mapping of the most active conformations that Se atom of catalytic residue SeCYS498, is at a distance of 3.56 from C13 of demethoxy curcumin at the E chain active site, whereas C13 carbon atom forms adduct with Se atom of SeCys 498. We report that at least one methoxy group in curcuminoids is necessary for interation with catalytic residues of thioredoxin. Pharmacophore of both active sites of the TrxR receptor for curcumin and demethoxy curcumin molecules has been drawn and proposed for design and synthesis of most probable potent antiproliferative synthetic drugs.     

Comparative morphology of the carpel in the Liliaceae: Hewardieae, Petrosavieae, and Tricyrteae

The young pistils in the melanthioid tribes, Hewardieae, Petrosavieae and Tricyrteae, are uniformly tricarpellate and syncarpous. They lack raphide idioblasts. All are multiovulate, with bitegmic ovules. The Petrosavieae are marked by the presence of septal glands and incomplete syncarpy. Tepals and stamens adhere to the ovary in the Hewardieae and the Petrosavieae but not in the Tricyrteae. Two vascular bundles occur in the stamens of the Hewartlieae and Tricyrtis latifolia. Ventral bundles in the upper part of the ovary of the Hewardieae are continuous with compound septal bundles and placental bundles in the lower part. Putative ventral bundles occur in the alternate position in the Tricyrteae and putative placental bundles in the opposite. position in the Petrosavieae. The dichtomously branched stigma in each carpel of the Tricyrteae is supplied by a bifurcated dorsal bundle.     

Selection with two alleles and complete dominance

For a plant selection model with frequency-independent viabilities, fertilities and selfing rates, it is shown that apart from global fixation, for certain parameter combinations a protected polymorphism and facultative fixation (either allele may become fixed according to initial frequencies) may both occur. Facultative fixation requires different selling rates for the dominant and recessive type. Protection of the polymorphism requires resource allocation for male and female function. In this connection the problem of purely genetically caused population extinction is discussed.
For general frequency dependence and regular segregation, the chances for establishment of a completely recessive gene are compared to those of a completely dominant gene. It is proven that the process of establishment of the recessive gene, despite a fitness advantage, may be considerably endangered by drift effects if random mating prevails. The recessive gene may reach the same effectivity in establishment as a dominant gene, only if the recessive homozygote mates exclusively with its own type during the period of establishment.     

Composition and diversity of bird communities in Swedish farmland–forest mosaic landscapes

CapsuleThe amount of forest (at local and landscape scales) and occurrence of residual habitats at the local scale are shown to be the major factors influencing bird community composition in farmland–forest landscapes in central Sweden.

Aims To investigate the importance of local habitat and landscape structure for breeding birds in farmland–forest landscapes in central Sweden.

Methods Breeding birds were censused at 292 points. A detailed habitat mapping was made within 300 m of the points. Within a 300–600 m radius only two major habitats (forests and arable fields) were identified.

Results Cluster analyses of bird communities identified three site types that also differed in habitat composition: (i) partially forested sites in forested landscapes; (ii) heterogeneous sites with residual habitats in mosaic landscapes; and (iii) field-dominated farmland sites in open landscapes. A total of 19 of 25 farmland bird species (restricted to farmland or using both farmland and forest) had the highest abundance in farmland sites with mosaics of forest and farmland, while only six farmland species had the highest abundance in field-dominated sites. The bird community changed from being dominated by farmland species to being dominated by forest species (common in forest landscapes without farmland) at small proportions (10–20%) of forest at the local scale. A major difference in habitat composition between heterogeneous and field-dominated sites was the occurrence of different residual habitats (e.g. shrubby areas and seminatural grasslands). These habitats seemed to influence bird community composition more than land-use, despite covering <10% of the area. Seminatural grasslands were important for bird community composition and species-richness, but grazing seemed to be less important. Among different land-use types, cereal crops were the least preferred fields. Set-asides with tall vegetation and short rotation coppices were positively associated with species-richness of farmland birds.

Conclusion In general, the composition of the landscape was important for bird community composition, although amount and distribution of forests, occurrence of residual habitats and land-use of fields at the local scale had the strongest influence on bird community composition. The possible implications of these patterns for managing farmland–forest landscapes are discussed.     

Chemical constituents from the fruits of Rhus typhina L. and their chemotaxonomic significance

This work describes the isolation and characterization of twenty-nine compounds from the fruits of Rhus typhina L., including eleven flavonoids (1–11), eleven phenols (12–22), two pentacyclic triterpenes (23–24), two organic acids (25–26), one lumichrome (27), one courmarin (28) and one pyrimidine (29) on the basis of their spectroscopic data. Compounds apigenin (1), daidzein (4), orobol (5), 3′, 5, 5′, 7-tetrahydroxyflavanone (6), naringenin (7), butein (8), (-)-catechin (9), quercetin-3-O-α-L-(3″-O-galloyl)-rhamnoside (11), 2-hydroxybenzoic acid (13), 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde (14), vanillin (15), methyl 3,4-dihydroxybenzoate (16), 3,5-dihydroxybenzamide (18), tyrosol (19), caffeic acid (20), 3-(2,4,6-trihydroxyphenyl)-1-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-propan-1-one (21), phlorizin (22), friedelin (23), oleanolic acid (24), 4,4-dimethyl-heptanedioic acid (25), anthranilic acid (26), lumichrome (27), scoparone (28) and uracil (29) have not been recorded before in this plant. This is the first report on the occurrence of compounds 4–7, 9, 11, 13–14, 16, 18–21, 25–29 from the genus Rhus. Moreover, the chemotaxonomic significance of these isolated compounds was also summarized.