极端嗜热古菌核酸内切酶Ⅲ的研究进展

胸腺嘧啶乙二醇(thymine glycol,Tg)是常见的氧化性DNA损伤碱基之一。DNA中的Tg能够分别阻止DNA聚合酶和RNA聚合酶进行DNA复制和转录,导致相应的生物学过程终止,进而会引起细胞的死亡,因此DNA中的Tg需要被修复。核酸内切酶Ⅲ(endonuclease Ⅲ,EndoⅢ)是一种双功能DNA糖苷酶,能够切除DNA中的Tg,从而启动碱基切除修复途径进行修复DNA中的Tg。细菌、古菌和真核生物的基因组序列中均存在有EndoⅢ蛋白的编码基因。目前,源自于细菌和真核生物的EndoⅢ已有较多的研究,而古菌EndoⅢ的研究相对较少。基于目前已有的极端嗜热古菌EndoⅢ的研究报道,本文综述了极端嗜热古菌EndoⅢ的研究进展,并展望了今后的研究方向。     

极端嗜热古菌尿嘧啶DNA糖苷酶的研究进展

高温会加快碱基脱氨基反应形成损伤碱基的速率,进一步对脱氨基的碱基进行复制会导致突变。因此,极端嗜热古菌基因组的稳定性面临着其生存高温环境的挑战。胞嘧啶脱氨基形成尿嘧啶,是常见的脱碱基类型,复制DNA中尿嘧啶会造成GC→AT的突变。尿嘧啶DNA糖苷酶(Uracil DNA glycosylase,UDG)是修复DNA中尿嘧啶的关键酶。基于识别底物的特异性,UDG分为6个家族,广泛分布在细菌、古菌、真核生物以及一些病毒中。基因组序列显示,极端嗜热古菌至少编码一种UDG。目前,对于细菌和真核生物的UDG已进行了大量的研究,但是关于极端嗜热古菌UDG的研究相对较少,尚处于初期阶段。本文综述了极端嗜热古菌UDG的研究进展,并对今后的研究提出了展望。     

极端嗜热古菌8oxoG DNA糖苷酶的研究进展

7,8二氢-8-氧鸟嘌呤(7,8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine,8oxoG)是一种常见的DNA损伤碱基。由于8oxoG能够与腺嘌呤配对,在DNA中的8oxoG被修复之前进行复制,DNA将会产生GC→TA的突变,从而造成基因组的不稳定。目前,碱基切除修复(Base excision repair,BER)是修复DNA中8oxoG的经典途径,其中8oxoGDNA糖苷酶(8-oxoguanineDNAglycosylases,OGG)是启动BER途径的关键酶。研究发现,OGG能够识别和切除DNA中的8oxoG,从而阻止细胞内GC→TA突变的积累。目前,OGG分为3个家族:OGG1、OGG2和AGOG (archaeal 8oxoG DNA glycosylase),广泛分布于细菌、古菌和真核生物。古菌基因组的序列表明,它们至少编码一种OGG。目前,对源自细菌和真核生物的OGG已进行了大量的研究,但是关于极端嗜热古菌OGG的研究相对较少,尚处于初期阶段。本文综述了极端嗜热古菌OGG的研究进展,并对今后的研究提出了展望。     

极端嗜热微生物及其高温适应机制的研究进展

极端嗜热微生物在高温条件下生长繁殖,其必然具有适应高温环境的特殊细胞结构、基因类型以及生理生化机制。极端嗜热微生物的研究对探索生命的起源以及极端嗜热微生物的开发和应用具有重要意义。对极端嗜热微生物中细胞膜、核酸分子、蛋白质分子、代谢产物和辅酶的高温适应机制的研究进展进行了概述,旨为极端嗜热微生物以及来源于极端嗜热微生物的各种生物分子的开发和应用提供理论依据。     

超嗜热古菌基因组的热稳定性

超嗜热古菌能够生活在80℃以上的高温环境中,它们的耐热性已经成为当前研究的热点之一。以往对超嗜热菌的认识多集中于蛋白质的耐热性,而很少有关于基因组热稳定性的综述文章。综述了当前对超嗜热古菌的基因组稳定性以及DNA损伤识别机制的研究进展,以期更好地了解超嗜热古菌的耐热机制。     

嗜热细菌的分子遗传学研究

嗜热细菌是极端环境微生物中发现最早、分布最广、研究得最多的一类。它们怎样适应于高温生活?这一生命的奥秘吸引着许多科学家。同时嗜热细菌的应用也在不断地开发。复旦大学遗传所嗜热细菌分子遗传学课题组已经继美国Cetus公司之后自行分离菌种,取得电泳纯的耐热的DNA多聚酶,小规模地投入生产。在嗜热细菌的基础研究中多数人的注意力围绕着生物大分子的特性,发现嗜热细菌和嗜温生物相比,它的蛋白质、DNA、tRNA以至于细胞膜、核糖体等都更为耐热,并研究了耐热性     

嗜酸嗜热浸矿微生物

随着人们对浸矿菌的研究不断加深,嗜热嗜酸菌的浸矿潜力及在微生物冶金中的作用和地位得到认识,利用嗜热菌对矿石进行高效浸出已成为微生物冶金领域的研究重点。嗜热微生物包括中度嗜热微生物和极端嗜热微生物,主要栖息于热泉、工厂高温废水排放区以及火山口等高温环境中。本综述总结了嗜热浸矿微生物种类,分析了嗜中温菌和极端嗜热菌等嗜酸菌种的生长习性、利用的能源物质、浸矿能力等,并进一步介绍了嗜热嗜酸微生物在高温生物冶金中的发展及应用。     

嗜热古菌Sulfolobus acidocaldarius核酸内切酶V的重组表达与酶学特征

[目的] 表达纯化嗜酸嗜热硫化叶菌（Sulfolobus acidocaldarius）的核酸内切酶V （Saci_0544）,对其核酸内切酶活性及酶学特征进行探究。[方法] 将Sulfolobus acidocaldarius核酸内切酶V （SacEndoV）在大肠杆菌中进行重组表达,经亲和层析纯化得到目标蛋白;利用带有不同类型损伤的寡核苷酸作为底物,结合变性聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳技术,鉴定SacEndoV对相应损伤寡核苷酸底物的剪切活性。[结果] SacEndoV特异性剪切含脱氧肌苷（Deoxyinosine）的损伤DNA底物,明显偏好单链DNA底物。SacEndoV在70-95℃温度范围内酶活性高,酶活性依赖于二价金属离子,Mg²⁺为最佳辅助离子,其最佳反应pH为7.5-8.0,高于200 mmol/L的NaCl会明显抑制其剪切活性。损伤DNA中脱氧肌苷3''端相邻的脱氧核糖核苷酸的结构完整性对于SacEndoV识别并剪切相应底物具有重要影响,脱氧肌苷3''端无碱基位点的存在使得SacEndoV不能够切断损伤DNA。此外,经测定SacEndoV对于含肌苷的损伤RNA底物具有剪切活性。[结论] 本研究证实SacEndoV是一种典型的核酸内切酶V,对含脱氧肌苷的损伤DNA具有特异性的内切酶活性,推测其在Sulfolobus acidocaldarius体内参与脱氧肌苷的切除修复。     

极端嗜盐古菌蛋白类抗生素——嗜盐菌素

古菌(Archaea)是一类与细菌及真核生物显著不同的生命的第三种形式[1],大多生活在极端或特殊环境,主要包括产甲烷古菌(Methanogenic Achaea)、极端嗜盐古菌(Extremely Halophilic Archaea)和极端嗜热古菌(Extremely Thermophilic Archaea)等三大类.极端古菌是极端环境微生物的重要成员,也是极端环境微生物资源开发的重要领域.其中,嗜盐古菌可产生一类蛋白类抗生素,称为嗜盐菌素(halocin).     

地微生物学研究热点之一

地球表层或地球内部的一切极端环境中生存微生物是一个潜在的资源宝库。曾报道在温泉、深海热液出口交接处有嗜热细菌的存在,源于这些细菌含有很强的嗜极酶、如耐热酶、蛋白质及其他细胞组分,有些嗜热酶进入实用化,商品化。有的嗜热细菌全部基因组测序工作的完成,对嗜极酶基因组的研究与探索以及对嗜热菌适应极端环境的生存和繁衍与分子机制的研究有重要价值。这是深海火山口嗜热微生物研发的一个热点,也是地微生物学研究的新领域。英国“自然”(2005．元月)报道,地中海深处含盐量极高的4个盐盆地区,有一群活着的微生物,该地区水的含盐量极高,比酱油成2倍,这些微生物照样维持它们的生命活动。     

The unique DNA topology and DNA topoisomerases of hyperthermophilic archaea

Abstract: Hyperthermophilic archaea exhibit a unique pattern of DNA topoisomerase activities. They have a peculiar enzyme, reverse gyrase, which introduces positive superturns into DNA at the expense of ATP. This enzyme has been found in all hyperthermophiles tested so far (including Bacteria) but never in mesophiles. Reverse gyrases are formed by the association of a helicase-like domain and a 5'-type I DNA topoisomerase. These two domains might be located on the same polypeptide. However, in the methanogenic archaeon Methanopyrus kandleri , the topoisomerase domain is divided between two subunits. Besides reverse gyrase, Archaea contain other type I DNA topoisomerases; in particular, M. kandleri harbors the only known procaryotic 3'-type I DNA topoisomerase (Topo V). Hyperthermophilic archaea also exhibit specific type II DNA topoisomerases (Topo II), i.e. whereas mesophilic Bacteria have a Topo II that produces negative supercoiling (DNA gyrase), the Topo II from Sulfolobus and Pyrococcus lack gyrase activity and are the smallest enzymes of this type known so far. This peculiar pattern of DNA topoisomerases in hyperthermophilic archaea is paralleled by a unique DNA topology, i.e. whereas DNA isolated from Bacteria and Eucarya is negatively supercoiled, plasmidic DNA from hyperthermophilic archaea are from relaxed to positively supercoiled. The possible evolutionary implications of these findings are discussed in this review. We speculate that gyrase activity in mesophiles and reverse gyrase activity in hyperthermophiles might have originated in the course of procaryote evolution to balance the effect of temperature changes on DNA structure.     

Hyperthermophiles and the problem of DNA instability

Rates of chemical decomposition of DNA at the optimal growth temperatures of hyperthermophiles seem incongruent with the requirements of accurate genome replication. The peculiar physiology, ecology and phylogeny of hyperthermophiles combine to suggest that these prokaryotes have solved a molecular problem (spontaneous loss of native DNA structure) of a magnitude that well-studied microorganisms do not face. The failure of DNA base composition to correlate with optimal growth temperature among hyperthermophiles provides indirect evidence that other mechanisms maintain their chromosomal DNA in the duplex form. Studies in vitro indicate that DNA primary structure is more difficult to maintain at extremely high temperature than is secondary structure, yet hyperthermophiles exhibit only modest levels of spontaneous mutation. Radiation sensitivity studies also indicate that hyperthermophiles repair their DNA efficiently in vivo , and underlying mechanisms are beginning to be examined. Several enzymes of DNA metabolism from hyperthermophilic archaea exhibit unusual biochemical features that may ultimately prove relevant to DNA repair. However, genomic sequencing results suggest that many DNA repair genes of hyperthermophilic archaea may not be recognized because they are not sufficiently related to those of well-studied organisms.     

The question of DNA repair in hyperthermophilic archaea

Hyperthermophilic archaea grow at temperatures that destabilize the primary structure of DNA and in evolutionary terms they are highly divergent from other well studied microorganisms. These prokaryotes should therefore require DNA damage repair to be unusually effective, and could employ novel mechanisms for this repair. Recent genome sequence analyses and biochemical and genetic assays suggest a distribution of DNA repair strategies that raises intriguing questions for future study.     

DNA protection mechanisms are not involved in the radioresistance of the hyperthermophilic archaea<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Pyrococcus abyssi</Emphasis> and<Emphasis Type="Italic"> P. furiosus</Emphasis>

Hyperthermophilic archaea of the genus Pyrococcus are resistant to gamma radiation, suggesting that efficient mechanisms for DNA repair exist in these organisms. To determine whether protective mechanisms might also be implicated in this radioresistance, we have estimated the linear density of DNA double-stranded breaks caused by gamma irradiation in the genomic DNA of two Pyrococcus species, using Escherichia coli and the radioresistant bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans as controls. The linear density of double-stranded breaks was essentially the same in all four microorganisms when irradiation was carried under similar anaerobic conditions, indicating that no specific DNA protection mechanisms exist in Pyrococcus species. Using one- and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis we compared the protein patterns from Pyrococcus abyssi and P. furiosus cells that had or had not been exposed to gamma rays. We did not detect any significant protein induction following DNA damage in either species.     

Stability and repair of DNA in hyperthermophilic Archaea

Evolutionary and physiological considerations argue that study of hyperthermophilic archaea should reveal new molecular aspects of DNA stabilization and repair. So far, these unusual prokaryotes have yielded a number of genes and enzymatic activities consistent with known mechanisms of excision repair, photo-reversal, and trans-lesion synthesis. However, other DNA enzymes of hyperthermophilic archaea show novel biochemical properties which may be related to DNA stability or repair at extremely high temperature but which remain difficult to evaluate rigorously in vivo. Perhaps the most striking feature of the hyperthermophilic archaea is that all of them whose genomes have been sequenced lack key genes of both the nucleotide excision repair and DNA mismatch repair pathways, which are otherwise highly conserved in biology. Although the growth properties of these micro-organisms hinder experimentation, there is evidence that some systems of excision repair and mutation avoidance operate in Sulfolobus spp. It will therefore be of strategic significance in the next few years to formulate and test hypotheses in Sulfolobus spp. and other hyperthermophilic archaea regarding mechanisms and gene products involved in the repair of UV photoproducts and DNA mismatches.     

超嗜热古菌整合性遗传元件的研究进展

细菌中整合性遗传元件与DNA修饰和防御、毒力因子传播以及次级代谢等生理功能存在关联,而相关研究在超嗜热古菌中尚处于起步阶段。本文综述了超嗜热古菌中整合性病毒、质粒及基因组岛等整合性遗传元件的分类、整合及维持机制。展示了整合性遗传元件参与的水平基因转移过程在超嗜热古菌基因组演化中扮演的重要角色。整合性遗传元件相关功能基因组学研究为理解超嗜热古菌的多样性及其环境适应性机制提供了新的视角。