小麦蜡质的逆境胁迫

蜡质是植物与外部环境的界面,对植物具有重要的生物学意义。本文综述了小麦叶表皮蜡质的物理结构、化学成分及小麦蜡质在不同逆境胁迫下的变化。     

小麦品系CP98(11)不同器官表皮蜡质组分和蜡质晶体结构的差异分析

为明确小麦不同器官表皮蜡质晶体结构和蜡质组分的差异,该研究以小麦品系CP98(11)为材料,在小麦扬花期分别取小麦的旗叶、叶鞘、穗下茎、花药和颖壳,利用气相色谱技术对各器官表皮蜡质组分进行鉴定,并通过扫描电镜观察其蜡质晶体结构。结果表明:(1)小麦不同器官的蜡质成分共鉴定出30种,主要为初级醇、二酮、烷烃、脂肪醛、脂肪酸、酯。(2)叶鞘、穗下茎、颖壳的蜡质中二酮含量最高,分别占蜡质总量的78.96%、67.03%和68.6%;花药的蜡质中烷烃含量最高(75.82%);旗叶的蜡质中初级醇含量最高(45.91%),其次为烷烃33.19%。(3)扫描电镜观察显示,旗叶正面的蜡质晶体呈片状结构,旗叶反面和颖壳的蜡质晶体结构呈片状与柱状混合的结构,花药的蜡质呈明显的波浪状结构,穗下茎和叶鞘的蜡质晶体呈柱状结构。     

中国干旱半干旱区荒漠植物叶片(或同化枝)表皮微形态特征

为了探讨荒漠植物叶片表皮微形态结构对长期荒漠环境的适应特征及其分类学意义,应用扫描电镜对中国干旱半干旱荒漠区28科74属117种200多个自然居群的植物叶片(或同化枝)表皮微形态进行了研究。荒漠植物叶(或同化枝)表皮的基本特征是:表皮附属物相当丰富,包括大量的表皮绒毛、角质膜蜡质片层或晶体颗粒、表面瘤状或疣状突起以及相对下陷且密度较低的气孔器。对表皮微形态结构及附属物组成进行对比分析,将荒漠植物粗分为11种基本类型,包括表皮完全被形态各异的蜡质层或表皮毛覆盖、不同形态类型的表皮毛和蜡质层结合、蜡质层与不同分布类型的气孔器或表皮毛结合,以及各种突起的表皮细胞与蜡质层的结合等。根据抗逆所依赖的表皮及其附属物微形态结构,将荒漠植物适应环境胁迫的叶片表皮微形态分为6种主要类型,它们分别依赖于表皮毛、角质层蜡质、表皮凹凸结构、表面突起、混生的附属物以及上下表皮异化特征。荒漠植物叶表皮微形态结构的适应特征是通过表皮附属物(绒毛和角质膜蜡质层)与表皮结构(凹凸、乳突和气孔器)的相互协调作用,共同抵御强光、降低叶片的蒸腾来提高植物对干旱等不利环境的抗性。该研究在一定程度上阐明了荒漠植物对逆境的适应机理及其演化趋势,并为优良固沙植物的筛选提供了理论依据。     

小麦旗叶保卫细胞长度的分布

植物叶表皮的气孔是蒸发植物体内水分的主通道,而小麦叶片气孔则是由两个哑铃状的保卫细胞组成,这种保卫细胞的长度分布具有一定的稳定性和规律性。为了摸清保卫细胞长度在小麦旗叶上的分布规律,以便进一步研究小麦旗叶的水分生理,1989年我们采用叶片保卫细胞长度观测法,对14个小麦基因型4200个旗叶保卫细胞进行了长度测量,现将测量结果报告如下:     

冷型小麦旗叶衰老和活性氧代谢特性研究

以典型的冷型小麦和暖型小麦为试验材料,研究了同一环境背景下不同温度型小麦开花后的旗叶衰老和活性氧代谢特性。结果表明,与暖型小麦相比,冷型小麦籽料灌浆期旗叶叶绿素和可溶性蛋白质含量下降缓慢、含量高,整个业粒形成和灌浆期ＭＤＡ积累速度慢、含量低,籽粒灌浆期防御活性氧伤害的关键性保护酶（ＳＯＤ、ＣＡＴ和ＰＯＤ）活性下隆幅度小,灌浆中后期活性水平高。由此认为,小麦旗叶衰老和活性氧代谢特性与其温度型的归属关     

植物角质层内外蜡质的差异及其与抗逆性的关系

植物角质层是覆盖在植物地上部分的叶、花和非木质茎等器官表面的保护层,包括角质和蜡质。其中蜡质根据分布位置不同又分为表皮蜡质和内部蜡质。大量研究表明,表皮蜡质含量和结构在植物生长发育和抗逆性申发挥着重要作用。近年来有研究发现构成蜡质的成分在内外蜡质层中的分布存在差异,角质层蜡质成分影响植物抗逆性。本文针对角质层结构和内外蜡质差异性以及角质层结构和组成与植物抗逆性之间的关系进行了综述。     

中国菊科绢蒿属植物叶表皮特征观察

利用扫描电镜对17种绢蒿属植物叶表皮特征进行了观察。结果表明,该属植物叶表面有大量带状蜡质和表皮毛覆盖,在蜡质成分的外面分泌有盐分颗粒,表现出明显的旱生结构特征。表皮毛在种间无明显差异,而气孔器在保卫细胞形状和表面纹饰等特征组合方面存在较大差异,说明叶表皮气孔器特征对于绢蒿属植物的系统分类有参考价值。     

沙芥属（Pugionium Gaertn.）植物子叶叶表皮微形态特征研究

采用扫描电镜观察了十字花科沙芥属二年生草本植物沙芥、斧翅沙芥、距果沙芥和宽翅沙芥的子叶表皮形态特征。其结果表明：沙芥属植物子叶上下表皮均有凸起的大的条形泡状细胞分布,呈平行排列,且每个种的上表皮的泡状细胞的密度均大于下表皮的泡状细胞密度,其中上下表皮的密度以沙芥的为最小,以宽翅沙芥为最大,且沙芥、距果沙芥和宽翅沙芥的下表皮的泡状细胞长度大于上表皮,而斧翅沙芥则相反;沙芥、斧翅沙芥与宽翅沙芥的叶片上下表皮细胞胞隆起,气孔下陷,而距果沙芥子叶上表皮的气孔生于表皮细胞下,表皮细胞未隆起,气孔下陷。该研究说明沙芥属植物子叶表皮微形态既有种间相似的特征,又存在一定的特异性,可为本属种间的分类及其抗逆机理提供形态学依据。     

盐生植物星星草叶表皮具有泌盐功能的蜡质层

利用扫描电镜和 X射线电子探针研究了星星草 (Puccinellia tenuiflora)的叶表皮及其与生境高盐的关系。结果表明 ,叶表皮由表皮细胞和气孔器组成 ,下表皮气孔器多于上表皮 ,且常下陷 ,表皮具表皮毛。表皮细胞外存在丰富的蜡质纹饰和蜡质颗粒 ,这些蜡质包含盐离子 ,具有泌盐的功能。这些特征表明星星草受外界生态因素的影响 ,而演化出具有泌盐功能的蜡质层来适应所生长的高盐生境     

泡状细胞

禾本科植物和其他单子叶植物(除沼生目外的所有单子叶植物)叶的上表皮上,分布有一些特殊的大型细胞,这些细胞的壁比较薄,有大的液泡,叫做泡状细胞。 泡状细胞,从字义来看是“形状似水泡的细胞”,细胞体积大,细胞壁薄,具有大的中央液泡,是具有薄的增大的径向壁的表皮细胞。泡状细胞的固体内含物很少,它们主要是含水的细胞,具有少量叶绿体或不含叶绿体,在这些细胞内单宁和结晶体也很少。它们的径向壁是薄的,但是外切向壁可能与附近的表皮细胞壁一样厚或者甚至于更厚。细胞壁是纤维素和果胶质的,外壁角质化并有一层角质层。有些植物的泡状细胞的外壁可积有硅质。     

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).