河豚毒素的起源及其研究进展

河豚毒素(tetrodotoxin,TTX)是一种毒性很强、相对分子质量小的非蛋白毒素,最初从豚科鱼中发现,故被命名为河豚毒素。1985年有人提出了河豚鱼TTX的体外起源因素,认为所有能产生TTX的生物都与其体内能分泌TTX的微生物有着密切联系,但有部分研究人员证实东方在孵化期间能自行产生TTX。TTX为典型的Na 通道阻断剂,中毒者往往肢体麻木、瘫痪、甚至死亡;但另一方面,TTX具有镇痛、镇静、降压等功效,在临床上的应用十分广泛。本文简要介绍TTX的起源、毒性作用机制、毒性控制、临床及药理学上的应用,及其存在的问题和应用前景。     

半褶织纹螺(Nassarius semiplicatus)及其生活环境中分离培养的细菌毒性测试与种类分析

在中国沿海地区,因食用织纹螺导致的中毒事件时有发生.最近的研究表明,河豚毒素及其衍生物是织纹螺中主要的致毒成分.但是,对于织纹螺中河豚毒素的来源还不清楚.[目的]本研究尝试分离、培养和鉴定织纹螺及其生活环境中的细菌,并对其毒性进行分析,为探明织纹螺中河豚毒素的可能来源提供科学依据.[方法]先后于2006年6月13日和19日在江苏省盐城采集织纹螺样品,应用小鼠生物法对织纹螺样品的毒性进行了测试;从织纹螺体内及其生活环境中分离细菌,并选择部分菌株进行了室内培养;以直接竞争酶联免疫分析方法(ELISA)对培养菌株中的河豚毒素进行了检测;通过对细菌16S核糖体DNA(rDNA)部分序列的测定,对有毒菌株进行了初步的种灯分析.[结果]实验结果表明,采集的织纹螺为半褶织纹螺,两次采集样品的毒性分别为247 MU(mouse unit,小鼠单位)和270MU/100g组织(湿重).对14个菌株进行了毒性检测,其中有毒细菌9株.产毒菌株的毒性普遍较低,毒性范围为15～96 ng/g.有毒菌株核糖体序列与弧菌(Vibrio)、希瓦氏菌(Shewanella)、动性球菌(Planococcus)、海单胞菌(Marinomonas)、发光杆菌(Photobacterium)等菌属有较高的相似性,可能具有较近的亲缘关系.[结论]研究发现半褶织纹螺体内及其生活环境中存在能够产生河豚毒素的细菌,说明织纹螺中的河豚毒素可能与其体内及其生活环境中的细菌有关,有必要进行深入研究.     

糖蛋白的研究进展

糖蛋白是由糖链与多肽链以多种形式共价修饰而形成的一类重要生理活性物质.糖蛋白在生物体内种类繁多,分布广泛,具有重要的功能.糖蛋白的性质及功能和糖链的结构有关,因此糖蛋白中糖链的结构及作用机制研究成为生物学基础理论的课题之一.就近年来糖蛋白研究中糖蛋白样品的提取分离、糖链释放及结构分析的技术方法及研究领域作了简要介绍.     

植物硒吸收转化机制及生理作用研究进展

硒是大多微生物、动物及人类的必要微量元素,但其在植物生长发育中的生理作用至今存在争议.较低浓度硒具有促进植物生长、提高植物耐受能力的功能,而大部分植物在高浓度下表现出中毒现象.随着人类对摄入硒及环境硒污染问题的认识加深,作物硒生物强化与硒污染植物修复问题引起重视,推动了对硒在植物中的吸收积累及代谢调控的研究.近年来对植物硒吸收及转化的研究表明,不同硒水平下植物对硒吸收积累及生理响应存在差异,土壤环境因素对植物硒吸收及转化具有重要影响,对高聚硒植物硒代谢研究逐渐揭示出硒在植物体内的转化过程和调控机理等.本文总结了目前硒生物强化与植物修复方面的研究进展,对环境中硒分布特点、植物硒吸收及其影响因素、植物体内硒转化及其过程调控关键酶,以及硒在植物中的生理作用等进行了综述,并对植物硒生理及分子机制未来研究方向进行展望.     

微生物源抗菌肽研究概况

抗菌肽是广泛存在于生物体内的一种小分子多肽,具有分子量小、高效、稳定、作用机制独特和不易产生耐药性等特点,对细菌、真菌、寄生虫、病毒以及肿瘤细胞均有抑制作用。介绍了微生物来源,尤其是细菌源抗菌肽的结构特点、生物活性、作用机制及其在感染性疾病中的应用情况。     

海藻糖的生产制备及其应用前景

海藻糖是一种广泛分布于细菌、真菌和动植物体内的双糖。在生物体内 ,它不仅作为结构成分和能量物质存在 ,而且在热击和脱水等协迫条件下 ,对生物体和生物大分子起着良好的非特异性保护作用。由于其独特的生物学功能 ,它在食品、分子生物学、医药、化妆品、农业等方面具有广阔的应用前景。简述海藻糖的生产制备、应用研究及其前景展望。     

抗菌肽基因工程研究及其表达策略

抗菌肽广泛存在于多种生物体内,具有广谱抗菌、调节免疫、抑制肿瘤等多种生物学功能,作用机制独特,是目前基因工程研究的热点之一。本文综述了抗菌肽的一般性质及其国内外基因工程研究进展,探讨了在抗菌肽转基因研究中采用的表达策略及理论依据。     

Whirly转录因子研究进展

Whirly蛋白是广泛存在于植物细胞内的一种转录因子。它既能与单链DNA结合,也能与RNA结合,无论在细胞核还是在质体内都有着广泛而复杂的生物学功能。本文概述了Whirly蛋白的结构、种类、分布及其作用机制,并重点讨论了其在细胞核及质体内的功能,最后对Whirly蛋白研究中需要解决的问题做了展望。     

抗菌肽及抗菌肽转基因植物研究进展

抗菌肽是一类小分子多肽,在生物体内分布广泛,具有广谱的抗菌性,是生物体内天然防御系统的一部分。主要介绍了抗菌肽的性质,类型,作用机制及抗菌肽转基因植物的研究进展。     

靛红生物活性研究进展

靛红是一种重要的天然产物,广泛分布于动植物和人体内,具有多种生物活性,在生物体内起着重要的作用.本文对靛红在动物和人体内作用于神经系统、单胺氧化酶、利钠肽以及其抗肿瘤、抗衰老等方面的活性的研究进展进行了综述.     

TTX accumulation in pufferfish

Tetrodotoxin (TTX) has been detected in a variety of animals. The finding of TTX in the trumpet shell Charonia sauliae strongly suggested that its origin was its food, a TTX-bearing starfish Astropecten polyacanthus. Since then, the food chain has been consistently implicated as the principal means of TTX intoxication. To identify the primary producer of TTX, intestinal bacteria isolated from several TTX-bearers were investigated for their TTX production. The results demonstrated that some of them could produce TTX. Thus the primary TTX producers in the sea are concluded to be marine bacteria. Subsequently, detritus feeders and zooplankton can be intoxicated with TTX through the food chain, or in conjunction with parasitism or symbiosis. The process followed by small carnivores, omnivores or scavengers, and by organisms higher up the food chain would result in the accumulation of higher concentrations of TTX. Finally, pufferfish at the top of the food chain are intoxicated with TTX. This hypothesis is supported by the fact that net cage and land cultures produce non-toxic pufferfish that can be made toxic by feeding with a TTX-containing diet.     

Evolutionary history of a complex adaptation: Tetrodotoxin resistance in salamanders

Understanding the processes that generate novel adaptive phenotypes is central to evolutionary biology. We used comparative analyses to reveal the history of tetrodotoxin (TTX) resistance in TTX-bearing salamanders. Resistance to TTX is a critical component of the ability to use TTX defensively but the origin of the TTX-bearing phenotype is unclear. Skeletal muscle of TTX-bearing salamanders (modern newts, family: Salamandridae) is unaffected by TTX at doses far in excess of those that block action potentials in muscle and nerve of other vertebrates. Skeletal muscle of non-TTX-bearing salamandrids is also resistant to TTX but at lower levels. Skeletal muscle TTX resistance in the Salamandridae results from the expression of TTX-resistant variants of the voltage-gated sodium channel Na_V 1.4 (SCN4a). We identified four substitutions in the coding region of salSCN4a that are likely responsible for the TTX resistance measured in TTX-bearing salamanders and variation at one of these sites likely explains variation in TTX resistance among other lineages. Our results suggest that exaptation has played a role in the evolution of the TTX-bearing phenotype and provide empirical evidence that complex physiological adaptations can arise through the accumulation of beneficial mutations in the coding region of conserved proteins.     

Genetic basis of tetrodotoxin resistance in pufferfishes

Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a highly potent neurotoxin that selectively binds to the outer vestibule of voltage-gated sodium channels. Pufferfishes accumulate extremely high concentrations of TTX without any adverse effect. A nonaromatic amino acid (Asn) residue present in domain I of the pufferfish, Takifugu pardalis, Na v1.4 channel has been implicated in the TTX resistance of pufferfishes . However, the effect of this residue on TTX sensitivity has not been investigated, and it is not known if this residue is conserved in all pufferfishes. We have investigated the genetic basis of TTX resistance in pufferfishes by comparing the sodium channels from two pufferfishes (Takifugu rubripes [fugu] and Tetraodon nigroviridis) and the TTX-sensitive zebrafish. Although all three fishes contain duplicate copies of Na v1.4 channels (Na v1.4a and Na v1.4b), several substitutions were found in the TTX binding outer vestibule of the two pufferfish channels. Electrophysiological studies showed that the nonaromatic residue (Asn in fugu and Cys in Tetraodon) in domain I of Na v1.4a channels confers TTX resistance. The Glu-to-Asp mutation in domain II of Tetraodon channel Na v1.4b is similar to that in the saxitoxin- and TTX-resistant Na+ channels of softshell clams . Besides helping to deter predators, TTX resistance enables pufferfishes to selectively feed on TTX-bearing organisms.     

Toxicity of pufferfish Takifugu rubripes cultured in netcages at sea or aquaria on land

Marine pufferfish (family Tetraodontidae) are believed to accumulate tetrodotoxin (TTX) mainly in liver and ovary through the food chain by ingesting TTX-bearing organisms such as starfish, gastropods, crustacean, flatworms, ribbonworms, etc. Consequently, it is hypothesized that non-toxic pufferfish can be produced if they are cultured with TTX-free diets in netcages at sea or aquaria on land, where the invasion of TTX-bearing organisms is completely shut off. To confirm this hypothesis, more than 5000 specimens of the pufferfish (“torafugu”, Takifugu rubripes) cultured in such manners for 1–3 years were collected from several locations in Japan during 2001–2004, and toxicity of their livers and some other parts was examined according to the Japanese official mouse assay method for TTX. In addition, typical specimens were submitted to LC/MS analysis. The results showed that all the livers and other parts tested were ‘non-toxic’ in both of the mouse assay (less than 2 MU/g) and LC/MS analysis (less than 0.1 MU/g). Thus, it is undoubtedly confirmed that pufferfish are intoxicated through the food chain, and non-toxic pufferfish can be successfully produced by netcage or land culture. The livers from these fish can be used with safety as a Japanese traditional food “fugu-kimo” (puffer liver).     

Gene Conversion Facilitates the Adaptive Evolution of Self-Resistance in Highly Toxic Newts

Reconstructing the histories of complex adaptations and identifying the evolutionary mechanisms underlying their origins are two of the primary goals of evolutionary biology. Taricha newts, which contain high concentrations of the deadly toxin tetrodotoxin (TTX) as an antipredator defense, have evolved resistance to self-intoxication, which is a complex adaptation requiring changes in six paralogs of the voltage-gated sodium channel (Na_v) gene family, the physiological target of TTX. Here, we reconstruct the origins of TTX self-resistance by sequencing the entire Na_v gene family in newts and related salamanders. We show that moderate TTX resistance evolved early in the salamander lineage in three of the six Na_v paralogs, preceding the proposed appearance of tetrodotoxic newts by ∼100 My. TTX-bearing newts possess additional unique substitutions across the entire Na_v gene family that provide physiological TTX resistance. These substitutions coincide with signatures of positive selection and relaxed purifying selection, as well as gene conversion events, that together likely facilitated their evolution. We also identify a novel exon duplication within Na_v1.4 encoding an expressed TTX-binding site. Two resistance-conferring changes within newts appear to have spread via nonallelic gene conversion: in one case, one codon was copied between paralogs, and in the second, multiple substitutions were homogenized between the duplicate exons of Na_v1.4. Our results demonstrate that gene conversion can accelerate the coordinated evolution of gene families in response to a common selection pressure.     

Is there more than one way to skin a newt? Convergent toxin resistance in snakes is not due to a common genetic mechanism

Convergent evolution of tetrodotoxin (TTX) resistance, at both the phenotypic and genetic levels, characterizes coevolutionary arms races between amphibians and their snake predators around the world, and reveals remarkable predictability in the process of adaptation. Here we examine the repeatability of the evolution of TTX resistance in an undescribed predator–prey relationship between TTX-bearing Eastern Newts (Notophthalmus viridescens) and Eastern Hog-nosed Snakes (Heterodon platirhinos). We found that that local newts contain levels of TTX dangerous enough to dissuade most predators, and that Eastern Hog-nosed Snakes within newt range are highly resistant to TTX. In fact, these populations of Eastern Hog-nosed Snakes are so resistant to TTX that the potential for current reciprocal selection might be limited. Unlike all other cases of TTX resistance in vertebrates, H. platirhinos lacks the adaptive amino acid substitutions in the skeletal muscle sodium channel that reduce TTX binding, suggesting that physiological resistance in Eastern Hog-nosed Snakes is conferred by an alternate genetic mechanism. Thus, phenotypic convergence in this case is not due to parallel molecular evolution, indicating that there may be more than one way for this adaptation to arise, even among closely related species.     

The evolutionary response of predators to dangerous prey: hotspots and coldspots in the geographic mosaic of coevolution between garter snakes and newts

The "geographic mosaic" approach to understanding coevolution is predicated on the existence of variable selection across the landscape of an interaction between species. A range of ecological factors, from differences in resource availability to differences in community composition, can generate such a mosaic of selection among populations, and thereby differences in the strength of coevolution. The result is a mixture of hotspots, where reciprocal selection is strong, and coldspots, where reciprocal selection is weak or absent, throughout the ranges of species. Population subdivision further provides the opportunity for nonadaptive forces, including gene flow, drift, and metapopulation dynamics, to influence the coevolutionary interaction between species. Some predicted results of this geographic mosaic of coevolution include maladapted or mismatched phenotypes, maintenance of high levels of polymorphism, and prevention of stable equilibrium trait combinations. To evaluate the potential for the geographic mosaic to influence predator-prey coevolution, we investigated the geographic pattern of genetically determined TTX resistance in the garter snake Thamnophis sirtalis over much of the range of its ecological interaction with toxic newts of genus Taricha. We assayed TTX resistance in over 2900 garter snakes representing 333 families from 40 populations throughout western North America. Our results provide dramatic evidence that geographic structure is an important component in coevolutionary interactions between predators and prey. Resistance levels vary substantially (over three orders of magnitude) among populations and over short distances. The spatial array of variation is consistent with two areas of intense evolutionary response by predators ("hotspots") surrounded by clines of decreasing resistance. Some general predictions of the geographic mosaic process are supported, including clinal variation in phenotypes, polymorphism in some populations, and divergent outcomes of the interaction between predator and prey. Conversely, our data provide little support for one of the major predictions, mismatched values of interacting traits. Two lines of evidence suggest selection is paramount in determining population variation in resistance. First, phylogenetic information indicates that two hotspots of TTX resistance have evolved independently. Second, in the one region that TTX levels in prey have been quantified, resistance and toxicity levels match almost perfectly over a wide phenotypic and geographic range. However, these results do not preclude the role the nonadaptive forces in generating the overall geographic mosaic of TTX resistance. Much work remains to fill in the geographic pattern of variation among prey populations and, just as importantly, to explore the variation in the ecology of the interaction that occurs within populations.     

Genetic architecture of a feeding adaptation: garter snake (Thamnophis) resistance to tetrodotoxin bearing prey

Detailing the genetic basis of adaptive variation in natural populations is a first step towards understanding the process of adaptive evolution, yet few ecologically relevant traits have been characterized at the genetic level in wild populations. Traits that mediate coevolutionary interactions between species are ideal for studying adaptation because of the intensity of selection and the well-characterized ecological context. We have previously described the ecological context, evolutionary history and partial genetic basis of tetrodotoxin (TTX) resistance in garter snakes (Thamnophis). Derived mutations in a voltage-gated sodium channel gene (Na_v1.4) in three garter snake species are associated with resistance to TTX, the lethal neurotoxin found in their newt prey (Taricha). Here we evaluate the contribution of Na_v1.4 alleles to TTX resistance in two of those species from central coastal California. We measured the phenotypes (TTX resistance) and genotypes (Na_v1.4 and microsatellites) in a local sample of Thamnophis atratus and Thamnophis sirtalis. Allelic variation in Na_v1.4 explains 23 per cent of the variation in TTX resistance in T. atratus while variation in a haphazard sample of the genome (neutral microsatellite markers) shows no association with the phenotype. Similarly, allelic variation in Na_v1.4 correlates almost perfectly with TTX resistance in T. sirtalis, but neutral variation does not. These strong correlations suggest that Na_v1.4 is a major effect locus. The simple genetic architecture of TTX resistance in garter snakes may significantly impact the dynamics of phenotypic coevolution. Fixation of a few alleles of major effect in some garter snake populations may have led to the evolution of extreme phenotypes and an ‘escape’ from the arms race with newts.     

转Bt基因棉花生态风险评价的研究进展

转Bt基因抗虫棉(Gossypium spp.)是目前国内释放面积最大的转基因作物,其生态风险问题从一开始就受到密切的关注.从生态风险评价的角度,分转基因棉花中Bt杀虫蛋白的时空表达及其对害虫的控制效果、Bt基因通过花粉传播而扩散的风险、害虫对Bt棉花抗性的进化风险、Bt棉花对非目标生物体影响的风险等几个方面,综述了Bt棉安全性评价的最新研究进展,为生物安全管理提供咨询意见,并提出了目前针对Bt棉亟待研究的内容.期望本文能够为推动生物安全的研究和生物技术的发展做出一定的贡献.