大熊猫肠道正常菌群降解纤维素的机制

大熊猫的主食竹类粗纤维含量很高,而大熊猫自身的消化系统不能降解纤维素。现已从大熊猫的肠道正常菌群中鉴定出涵盖7个菌门的22种菌,相关的研究证明大熊猫的肠道正常菌群能降解纤维素。大熊猫肠道中的假单胞菌产生的漆酶能对竹纤维中的木质素进行氧化,使纤维素得以暴露,梭菌属、淀粉芽胞杆菌等产生的纤维素酶将其降解成大熊猫可利用的糖类。其具体机制有待进一步研究。     

大熊猫粪便乳酸菌的分离鉴定

大熊猫作为国家保护动物,其健康问题备受瞩目。为了维护大熊猫的肠道健康,本研究从大熊猫肠道内分离出适宜于大熊猫肠道环境的乳酸菌菌株,有望将其制成熊猫肠道微生物制剂,从而改善大熊猫肠道菌群环境。从雅安市宝兴县蜂桶寨自然保护区选取圈养与野生大熊猫的粪便,通过体外培养分离出9个菌株。分离菌株经过革兰氏染色镜检、过氧化氢产气、菌落形态观察等方法与技术初步鉴定为乳酸菌。对这9株乳酸菌进行耐酸试验、耐胆盐试验、抑菌能力试验和产酸能力等测试,筛选出了3个适应性较强,有望制成调节大熊猫肠道内环境平衡作用的微生态菌剂的菌株。16S rRNA基因序列分析表明:分离菌株J1、J2和J4分别为融合魏斯氏菌（Weissella confusa）,海氏肠球菌（Enterococcus heynei）和非解乳糖链球菌（Streptococcus alactolyticus）,有望被应用于大熊猫肠道微生态制剂的研究。     

大熊猫肠道正常菌群的研究

对圈养的１３头大熊猫肠道正常菌群进行了定性及定量检测,发现大熊猫肠道正常菌群与其他动物有较显著差异,厌氧菌的检出率及检出量相对较低,其优势菌为肠杆菌科的大肠埃希氏菌,其次为乳杆菌及粪链球菌。同时,本文还着重探讨了上述结果在大熊猫疾病防治及消化生理上的意义。     

大熊猫肠道放线菌的种群组成及多样性分析

【目的】探究不同年龄、不同性别大熊猫肠道放线菌的多样性及群落结构,为寻找潜在产生活性化合物的放线菌资源提供理论依据。【方法】采用PCR-DGGE技术对大熊猫肠道放线菌进行分析,对电泳结果进行UPGMA聚类分析、主成分分析、生物多样性等多重比较。【结果】变性梯度凝胶电泳(DGGE)图谱显示,不同大熊猫肠道中放线菌的多样性及群落结构存在明显差异。随着年龄的增长,雌性大熊猫肠道中放线菌的多样性指数(H')和丰富度(S)逐渐减少,而雄性大熊猫肠道内放线菌的多样性指数(H')和丰富度(S)逐渐增多。不同个体的大熊猫肠道放线菌的群落结构存在明显差异,但相同性别之间的相似性很高。DGGE条带回收测序结果表明,获得的28条序列归属于10个放线菌属,其中链霉菌属(Streptomyces)为优势菌属,占总数的46%;北里孢菌属(Kitasatospora)、红球菌属(Rhodococcus)、棒杆菌属(Corynebacterium)、迪茨氏菌属(Dietziaceae)、大理石雕菌属(Marmoricola)、布登堡菌属(Beutenbergia)、微杆菌属(Microbacterium)、链嗜酸菌属(Streptacidiphilus)和芽生球菌属(Blastococcus)等为非链霉菌属,占总数的54%。【结论】大熊猫肠道内蕴藏着丰富的放线菌资源,其肠道菌群的结构与组成受年龄和性别的影响。     

亚成体大熊猫肠道真菌的分离与鉴定

目的探讨大熊猫肠道真菌菌群结构,为研究肠道真菌对纤维素的降解和控制肠道真菌病奠定基础。方法采用PDA、SDA、高氏3种培养基对8只亚成体大熊猫新鲜粪便进行真菌分离、纯化,经形态学和分子生物学方法进行鉴定。结果经培养获得的真菌主要由4种霉菌(Galactomyces geotrichum占22.74%、Galactomyces reessii占12.37%、Mucor ramosissimus占18.23%和Mucor circinelloides占6.39%)和2种酵母菌(Trichosporon sp.占19.46%和Candida solani strain占20.81%)组成,各样品中真菌所占比例不等。且3种培养基的分离效果显示PDASDA高氏培养基。结论亚成体大熊猫肠道内存在一定比例的可培养真菌。     

不同年龄大熊猫肠道可培养芽孢杆菌的多样性及部分功能特性分析

【背景】大熊猫的肠道内微生物类群丰富,种群结构与宿主的年龄、生存环境、季节变化等因素有关,其中年龄是影响肠道菌群组成的重要因素之一。【目的】以不同年龄阶段的大熊猫粪便为研究对象,旨在了解不同年龄大熊猫肠道内芽孢杆菌的多样性,探究大熊猫肠道芽孢杆菌种类与年龄段之间的关系,并为优良益生菌剂的开发提供菌种资源。【方法】用稀释涂布法分离大熊猫粪便中的芽孢杆菌,对分离的菌株进行BOXA1R-PCR、16S rRNA基因系统发育及主成分分析,揭示大熊猫肠道中可培养芽孢杆菌的多样性;采用对峙生长法和药敏纸片琼脂扩散法分别检测菌株的抗菌能力和药敏性。【结果】从大熊猫粪便中共分离出90株芽孢杆菌,基于BOXA1R-PCR分析菌株的遗传多样性并从中选取41株代表菌株,经16Sr RNA基因测序分析后,结果显示归属于枯草芽孢杆菌(Bacillus subtilis)、萎缩芽孢杆菌(Bacillus atrophaeus)、贝莱斯芽孢杆菌(Bacillus velezensis)、甲基营养型芽孢杆菌(Bacillusmethylotrophicus)、解淀粉芽孢杆菌(Bacillusamyloliquefaciens)和短小芽孢杆菌(Bacillus pumilus)6个种;主成分分析结果表明大熊猫肠道芽孢杆菌种群组成与年龄存在一定的相关性。所有的供试菌株都具有纤维素降解潜力,大部分菌株对病原菌具有不同程度的抑制作用;除对青霉素具有耐药性外,供试菌株对常见的抗生素耐受性低。【结论】年龄是影响大熊猫肠道芽孢杆菌分布的重要因素,成年大熊猫肠道芽孢杆菌种类多样性最丰富,这为大熊猫益生菌制剂的开发提供了菌种资源。     

基于性别二分类的青海天峻藏民肠道菌群差异分析

目的对青海省天峻县的藏族牧民健康志愿者肠道菌群进行研究,探讨青海藏民肠道菌群结构及性别对肠道菌群组成的影响。方法以28例藏族牧民志愿者的粪便样品作为研究对象,应用基于16SrDNA V3+V4可变区的高通量测序技术测定肠道菌群组成及核心菌群;通过db-RDA和菌群多样性分析,探索性别因素对肠道菌群结构的影响。结果在门水平上,厚壁菌门和拟杆菌门是青海藏族志愿者的优势菌群。在属水平上,优势菌属是普氏菌属、Lachnospiracea_incertae_sedis、Faecalibacterium和拟杆菌属;特有优势菌属是Lachnospiracea_incertae_sedis。db-RDA结果显示性别因素对肠道微生物群结构有一定分离趋势,多样性结果进一步证实性别差异显著影响菌群结构。男性和女性存在12种差异菌群,包括普氏菌属、Acidaminobacter属等。结论性别差异对青海藏民肠道菌群影响显著。     

ERIC-PCR分子杂交技术分析大熊猫肠道菌群结构

目的了解大熊猫肠道微生物区系结构的相似性和稳定性,并找出大熊猫肠道微生物群落结构的变化与健康状况的关系。方法对上海动物园及上海野生动物园所饲养的3只大熊猫2次采集的粪便样品进行微生物群落总DNA的抽提,并以此为模板获得反映肠道微生物群落结构特征的ERIC—PCR和Southern杂交指纹图谱,比较各DNA样品指纹图谱的相似性指数。结果除国庆(大熊猫)的第1次采集的样品(当时处于腹泻状态),其他各DNA样品的ERIC-PCR及Southern杂交指纹图谱的相似性都达到85％～100％;佳斯及川川(大熊猫)2个个体2次采集的样品之间ERIC指纹图谱的相似性分别为93％和87％,而国庆腹泻时的样品与健康时的样品之间则为71％。结论大熊猫不同个体之间肠道微生物群落结构比较相似,而且同一个体在不同时期表现出比较高的稳定性,但当个体的健康出现问题时肠道优势菌菌群结构有一定波动。所采用的DNA提取方法、ERIC—PCR和Southern杂交指纹图谱的高度重复性证明了之一分子生态学技术在大熊猫肠道微生物区系动态监测中的可行性。     

肠道菌群与心血管疾病关系研究进展

近年来,越来越多的研究表明肠道菌群在心血管疾病、2型糖尿病、肥胖等疾病的发病过程中起着主要作用,肠道菌群组成改变以及肠道菌群代谢物水平改变是导致疾病发生发展的重要因素,人们对肠道菌群与宿主之间的相互作用产生极大兴趣。本文系统总结了肠道菌群组成结构改变及肠道菌群代谢物改变与动脉粥样硬化、高血压、心肌梗死、心力衰竭等心血管疾病的相关性,阐明了肠道菌群可能是促进心血管疾病发病的原因之一。因此,通过改变饮食结构和使用抗生素、益生菌制剂及肠道菌群代谢物氧化三甲胺(TMAO)小分子抑制剂,来调控肠道菌群组成及代谢物水平有望作为心血管疾病治疗的新靶点。     

基于高通量测序技术分析糖尿病与肠道菌群相关性的研究进展

肠道菌群与糖尿病的发生发展密切相关,随着高通量测序技术的发展,越来越多的研究表明,糖尿病状态下,宿主肠道菌群的群落结构发生了变化。综述了国际上利用高通量技术研究的糖尿病状态下肠道菌群的差异的最新进展,同时从食物、药物、益生元和粪便菌群移植等方面阐述肠道菌群对糖尿病的调节机制,旨在为预防和治疗糖尿病提供新的思路。     

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.