华仁杏幼果转录组SSR信息分析及其分子标记开发

为了解华仁杏微卫星(SSR)分布规律,开发EST-SSR引物,为华仁杏种质资源评价与辅助育种提供有效的鉴定标记。本研究采用生物信息学方法对华仁杏幼果转录组SSR位点的数量、频率、分布特征进行了统计分析;利用转录组数据进行了SSR引物的筛选和开发,并利用开发出的引物对华仁杏29个无性系进行了多态位点检测和鉴定。结果表明:华仁杏幼果EST-SSR的分布频率为19.21%,重复单元的重复次数分布在5~24次之间,优势重复基序为单核苷酸、2核苷酸、3核苷酸,分别占总SSR的19.81%、46.47%、32.49%。参试的139对引物中有39对引物可扩增出目标序列,其中24对引物可检测出多态性位点,占参试引物总数的17.27%。24对引物在29个华仁杏无性系中共检测出了170个等位基因位点,多态性信息含量(PIC)介于0.33~0.87之间,平均为0.64,其中高多态性引物19条,占多态性引物比例的79.2%。本研究对华仁杏转录组SSR信息进行了分析,并开发出了19对高多态性SSR引物,5对中多态性引物,为华仁杏种质资源评价及分子标记辅助育种提供了基础。     

杂交兰转录组SSR信息分析及EST-SSR标记开发应用

该研究主要开发筛选适用于杂交兰的EST-SSR引物,为杂交兰种质资源评价和遗传变异研究等提供可靠的分子标记。该研究对杂交兰进行转录组高通量测序,挖掘SSR位点和开发EST-SSR标记,并对不同种质的遗传多样性进行分析。结果表明,从31724条杂交兰Unigene中检测出18603个SSR位点,SSR出现频率为58.64%;SSR位点中的主导类型是单核苷酸重复,占总SSR的65.10%,其次是二核苷酸(23.56%)和三核苷酸(10.76%)重复;优势重复基元为A/T、AG/CT、AT/AT和AAG/CTT,分别占总位点的64.72%、13.74%、8.19%和2.51%。利用Primer Premier 5.0共设计了565对SSR引物,从筛选出的64对有效扩增引物中随机选择28对引物,对40份杂交兰种质进行多态性验证与遗传关系分析,其中16对(占57.14%)引物表现出可重复的高多态性,平均多态信息量(PIC)达0.789。基于扩增的多态性SSR信息,40份种质资源可聚为4类,聚类结果与其遗传背景基本一致。该研究印证了转录组测序获得的Unigene是SSR标记开发的有效来源,开发的EST-SSR引物可为杂交兰及近缘种的良种鉴别、遗传图谱构建、分子标记辅助育种及功能基因挖掘等提供有价值的候选标记。     

麦红吸浆虫唾腺EST-SSRs的信息分析及分子标记筛选

昆虫EST资源库的扩充为开发新的分子标记提供了宝贵的资源。本研究对NCBI的EST数据库中来源于麦红吸浆虫Sitodiplosis mosellana唾腺的1 217条EST序列进行了unigene组装、 SSR信息分析和EST-SSR分子标记筛选。结果表明： 在1 047个unigenes中共找到141个SSR位点, 分布于106个（10.12%）unigenes中, 平均每3.49 kb出现一个SSR位点。在1~6碱基重复基元中, 1~3碱基是主要重复类型, 占总SSR的97.16%以上。A/T（31.21%）, AC/GT（15.60%）和AAC/GTT（9.22%）分别是单、 双和三碱基中占优势的重复基元类型。利用Primer Premier 5.0软件对查找的EST SSRs进行引物设计, 并以麦红吸浆虫基因组DNA为模板, 对从中选出的26对SSR引物进行多态性检测。结果有20对（76.92%）引物能扩增出清晰的目的条带, 并且其中9对（45%）引物表现出多态性。多态性分析结果表明, 从9对EST-SSR引物中, 共检测到51个等位基因, 平均每个位点含有等位基因数为5.67, 平均期望杂合度为0.65, 平均多态信息含量为0.60。本研究能够为今后麦红吸浆虫的种群遗传结构与遗传多样性研究提供帮助。     

华仁杏EST-SSR标记引物设计与开发

随着生物科技的进步,ESTs（表达序列标签）已经成为开发SSR（简单重复序列）标记的重要资源。本文利用NCBI公共数据库下载蔷薇科EST序列22 458条,使用SSRHunter1.3软件进行了SSR搜索,从中获得22 527条SSR,应用Primer5.0软件设计并经由Oligo7.0软件检测,共得到61对EST-SSR引物。利用这些引物对8个华仁杏品种进行了PCR扩增及检测,得到10对能产生清晰多态性条带的EST-SSR标记,标明了10对引物的序列,为进一步开展华仁杏SSR分子标记辅助育种研究奠定了基础。     

15,665个黄瓜EST-SSR位点的引物设计及多态性检测

目前,国际公共数据库中黄瓜EST序列数量的迅速增加为SSR标记的开发提供了极为便利的资源。本研究从葫芦科基因组数据库下载513,801条黄瓜EST,经EST-trimmer软件和CD-HIT程序预处理,共获得381,022条非冗余EST。利用Perl程序MISA搜索到SSR位点15,665个,检出率为4.11%。利用Primer3软件成功设计了9,145对黄瓜EST-SSR引物,随机抽取10对引物对5个黄瓜品种进行多态性分析发现,其中仅2对引物能检测到多态性。该数据为下一步开发新的黄瓜EST-SSR标记奠定了一定的基础。     

基于转录组测序信息的水生植物莕菜SSR标记开发

利用软件MISA对水生植物莕菜转录组测序所获得的79536条EST序列进行分析,共检测出12319个EST-SSR位点。在莕菜的EST-SSR中,二核苷酸和三核苷酸重复单元是主导类型,分别占总SSR的57.31%和30.87%,其中AG/CT、AAG/CTT分别是二、三重复单元类型的优势重复基元,分别占总SSR的29.76%和8.66%。随机挑选了130对EST-SSR引物对莕菜两个居群进行遗传多样性检测,结果发现：78对引物能扩增出清晰可分辨的条带,其中37对能成功检测出多态性,引物多态率为 47.44%。这些多态性引物共检测出114个等位基因,每个位点2~6个,平均3.08个。观测杂合度（H_o）及预期杂合度（H_e）分别在0.229~1.000和0.351~0.756之间,多态信息含量PIC值在0.286~0.698之间,平均达0.495。以上研究结果表明,通过莕菜转录组测序产生的EST数据来开发SSR标记是一种简单而高效的途径,这些新的SSR分子标记为研究莕菜的居群遗传多样性及其遗传结构提供了工具。     

芦笋EST资源的SSR信息分析

为了在芦笋中开发EST-SSR功能性标记,对来源于NCBI公共数据库的8590条芦笋(AsparagusofficinalisL.)EST序列进行简单重复序列SSR搜索。剔除冗余序列,得到非冗余序列8377条。在非冗余序列中共挖掘出469个EST-SSR,平均相隔14.80kb出现1个SSR。在所有的重复基序中,二核苷酸重复基序的SSR所占比例最高40.51%(190/469),其次是三核苷酸34.97%(164/469),六核苷酸21.11%(99/469)。在所有基序里,CT/AG出现的频率最高有62次,占全部重复基序的13.22%(62/469)。选取含SSR的EST序列30条,并利用primer5软件设计引物,进行SSR位点的扩增,其中27对引物扩增产物,24对有较清晰可靠的目标扩增条带,占引物数的80%,且所检测出的芦笋等位基因数量较丰富,平均4.93个/对。这些EST-SSR标记的开发将有助于芦笋群体遗传多样性、遗传图谱构建、基因定位、分子标记和系谱分析等方面的研究。     

龙眼顶芽转录组简单重复序列(SSR)标记信息分析及分子标记开发

随着新一代测序技术的发展,大量的转录组数据和表达序列标签(EST)成为开发简单重复序列(SSR)标记的可利用资源。本研究利用MISA软件筛选龙眼(Dimocarpus longan)顶芽转录组数据库序列,从114 445条龙眼转录组unigene序列中发现11 546个SSR位点,SSR出现频率为10.09%。其中1 975条unigene含有两个或两个以上EST-SSR位点,占所有SSR位点的比例为17.10%,SSR出现的平均距离为7.52 kb。从龙眼转录组SSR核苷酸基序类型来看,二核苷酸(52.11%)和三核苷酸(46.15%)出现频率最高,占所有核苷酸出现频率的99.26%。在龙眼转录组SSR中二核苷酸重复基元出现频率最高的是AG/CT(4 250个,占36.81%),三核苷酸重复基元出现频率最高的是AAG/CTT(1 109个,占9.61%)。对含SSR位点的9 571条unigene序列进行引物设计,共设计出了8 347对SSR位点特异引物。随机挑选合成50对EST-SSR引物,以‘石硖’、‘储良’、‘古山2号’、‘立冬本’等四份龙眼材料的基因组DNA为模板对这批引物进行PCR扩增、筛选,结果表明,其中21对引物能产生理想的PCR产物,有效扩增率为42%;16对引物扩增条带具有多态性,占有效引物的76.2%;16对多态性引物共扩增获得50个条带,其中多态性片段21个,每对引物平均产生1.31个多态性片段。     

燕麦EST-SSR标记的开发和利用

为拓展分子标记在燕麦种质资源分析与鉴定中的应用,利用公共数据库中的25376条EST(expressed sequence tags)序列,开展了燕麦EST-SSR功能性标记的开发和利用研究。25376条EST序列经拼接去冗余后获得了11618条序列,从中筛选出含有不同重复基元的SSR且重复次数较多、长度较长的556条EST序列进行引物设计,开发了50对燕麦EST-SSR引物,通过筛选得到40对有效的EST-SSR引物。选取其中4对引物对5个燕麦种质资源进行了PCR扩增及产物测序,结果表明扩增条带多态性是由SSR差异造成的。利用40对ESTSSR引物对15个六倍体燕麦种质资源进行遗传多样性分析,共扩增出89个等位基因,平均每对引物产生2.23个等位基因;UPGMA聚类分析表明,15个六倍体燕麦种质资源在Dice系数为0.93处聚为3支,基本上是按照不同种进行聚类的,在相同种中又根据地理来源分别聚集成支。利用40对EST-SSR引物对31个遗传背景不清的燕麦种质资源进行基因组倍性鉴定,发现这些种质中可能存在有四倍体和二倍体的燕麦新资源。本研究开发的燕麦EST-SSR功能性标记将在燕麦遗传多样性分析、遗传图谱构建及燕麦属内种间基因组鉴定等方面发挥重要作用。     

烟草ESTs资源的SSR信息分析

烟草ESTs数量迅速增加为开发新的SSR标记提供了宝贵的资源.经过软件分析,对242 683条烟草ESTs序列剔除冗余序列,在211 728条非冗余烟草ESTs序列中,共检索出9 339个SSR,SSR之间的距离约为14.21 kb,检出率为4.41%,包括216种重复基元.其中三核苷酸重复类型的SSR占主导地位,占总SSR的50.34%,其次为二核苷酸和单核苷酸,分别为23.00%,16.48%,其余重复类型所占比例均不足5%.在所有重复基元中,A/T重复为主要类型,占所有重复14.68%,其次为AT/TA、AG/TC、AAG/TTC,分别为10.49%、9.48%、6.85%.随机设计10对EST-SSR引物,对6个品种烟草进行扩增,10对EST-SSR引物均能扩增出产物,其中1对引物在6个品种有多态性.本研究为烟草EST-SSR标记的建立和进一步应用奠定了基础.     

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.     

Enterovirus 71 3C proteolytically processes the histone H3 N-terminal tail during infection

Highlights
1. The N-terminal tail of histone H3 is specifically cleaved during EV71 infection.
2. Viral protease 3C is identified as a protease responsible for proteolytically processing the N-terminal H3 tail.
3. Our finding reveals a new epigenetic regulatory mechanism for Enterovirus 71 in virus-host interactions.     

Detection of EBV and HHV6 in the Brain Tissue of Patients with Rasmussen’s Encephalitis

Rasmussen’s encephalitis (RE) is a rare pediatric neurological disorder, and the exact etiology is not clear. Viral infection may be involved in the pathogenesis of RE, but conflicting results have reported. In this study, we evaluated the expression of both Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human herpes virus (HHV) 6 antigens in brain sections from 30 patients with RE and 16 control individuals by immunohistochemistry. In the RE group, EBV and HHV6 antigens were detected in 56.7% (17/30) and 50% (15/30) of individuals, respectively. In contrast, no detectable EBV and HHV6 antigen expression was found in brain tissues of the control group. The co-expression of EBV and HHV6 was detected in 20.0% (6/30) of individuals. In particular, a 4-year-old boy had a typical clinical course, including a medical history of viral encephalitis, intractable epilepsy, and hemispheric atrophy. The co-expression of EBV and HHV6 was detected in neurons and astrocytes in the brain tissue, accompanied by a high frequency of CD8⁺ T cells. Our results suggest that EBV and HHV6 infection and the activation of CD8⁺ T cells are involved in the pathogenesis of RE.     

Perinatal Vertical Transmission of Chikungunya Virus in Ruili,a Town on the Border between China and Myanmar

正Dear Editor,Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), an arbovirus in the family of Togaviridae, genus Alphavirus, is transmitted by the A.aegyptii or A. albopictus mosquito, and causes disease in humans characterized by fever, rash, and arthralgia (Silva and Dermody 2017; Suhrbier 2019). It was first reported in 1953 in Tanzania, and caused only a few outbreaks and sporadic cases in Africa and Asia in last century. However, in the epidemic in 2004, CHIKV acquired mutations that conferred enhanced transmission by the A. albopictus mosquito(Schuffenecker et al. 2006). Since then, it has successively caused outbreaks in Africa, the Indian Ocean, South East Asia, the South America, and Europe (Zeller et al. 2016).     

Development of a Novel Reverse Transcription Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Method for Rapid Detection of SARS-CoV-2

In conclusion, the novel visual RT-LAMP assay is a simple, rapid, and sensitive approach for detection of SARS-CoV-2, and it is ready for application in primary care and community hospitals or health care centers, and even patients' own houses in response to the current SARS-CoV-2 epidemic because the assay does not require sophisticated equipment and skilled personnel. Furthermore, it is also ready to be used in fields for screening samples from wild animals and environments to facilitate the identification of potential intermediate hosts that mediate the cross-species transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from bats to humans.