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。     

超嗜热古菌遗传操作系统研究进展

摘要：遗传操作系统,是研究基因和基因产物功能的一个极为重要的工具。超嗜热古菌遗传操作系统方面的研究落后于甲烷菌及嗜盐古菌中的研究,主要原因是选择标记的缺乏。然而,近十年来,在以硫化叶菌(Sulfolobus)为代表的超嗜热泉古菌和Thermococcus kodakaraensis为代表的超嗜热广古菌中,遗传操作系统研究取得了很大的进展。本文主要对这两种超嗜热古菌的遗传操作系统进展以及应用进行概述。     

极端嗜热古菌DNA修复核酸内切酶的研究进展

极端嗜热古菌由于生活在高温环境,其基因组DNA面临着严重的挑战,因此,它们如何维持其基因组稳定是本研究领域最为关注的科学问题之一。极端嗜热古菌具有与常温微生物相似的自发突变频率,暗示着它们比常温微生物具有更加有效的DNA修复体系进行修复高温所造成的基因组DNA损伤。目前,极端嗜热古菌DNA修复的分子机制尚不清楚。核酸内切酶在DNA修复途径中发挥着重要的作用。基因组序列显示极端嗜热古菌编码多种DNA修复核酸内切酶,但是其研究尚处于初期阶段。本文综述了极端嗜热古菌DNA修复核酸内切酶Nuc S、Endo V、Endo Q、XPF和Hjc的研究进展,并对今后的研究提出了展望。     

超嗜热古菌的ATP非依赖型蛋白酶和肽酶研究进展

蛋白酶和肽酶在超嗜热古菌的营养代谢、蛋白质转换与加工以及蛋白质质量控制等重要生物学过程中发挥关键作用。超嗜热古菌蛋白酶和肽酶具有优良的热稳定性和高温活性,是研究蛋白质耐热分子机制和酶行使功能上限温度等科学问题的理想材料,同时也具有重要的工业应用价值。本文对超嗜热古菌的ATP非依赖型蛋白酶和肽酶的种类、功能、催化特性、热稳定机制以及应用前景进行综述与分析。     

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。     

极端嗜热古菌的热休克蛋白

随着生物工程产业对于耐高温酶和菌体的需求, 极端嗜热古菌热休克蛋白(heat shock proteins, HSPs)的研究更受重视, 其热休克蛋白体系非常简洁, 不含HSP100s和HSP90s, 就是HSP70(DnaK)、HSP40、(DnaJ)和GrpE等嗜温古菌可能含有的在极端嗜热古菌中几乎不含有, 即仅包括HSP60, sHSP, prefoldin和AAA+蛋白四大类, 因此对其结构、功能和作用机制的研究在理论和实践上都特别有意义。系统地介绍了这四大类组分的结构、功能和作用机制和协同作用的研究进展, 论述了极端嗜热古菌热休克蛋白的系列研究难点和困惑, 展望了进一步的研究方向和重点。     

嗜盐古菌启动子的研究及应用

嗜盐古菌是古菌域的一个重要代表类群,在遗传与代谢、进化与适应、前沿生物技术及合成生物学领域都显示了其重要的研究价值。嗜盐古菌启动子的认识和利用,可以为嗜盐古菌的基础和应用研究提供必要的条件。本文从古菌启动子的结构与功能出发,就启动子的研究方法、嗜盐古菌启动子的特征及嗜盐古菌启动子的应用3个方面综述了嗜盐古菌启动子的研究现状,并对嗜盐古菌启动子未来研究的重点和方向进行了展望。     

农杆菌介导的获取疏绵状嗜热丝孢菌插入突变体体系的建立

[目的]建立疏绵状嗜热丝孢菌的稳定遗传转化体系并获得插入突变体.[方法]利用农杆菌介导的方法建立疏绵状嗜热丝孢菌的遗传转化体系 ;分别通过Southern杂交、克隆转移DNA(T-DNA)侧翼序列来确定T-DNA在疏绵状嗜热丝孢菌基因组中的拷贝数和插入位点.[结果]成功建立了可靠的疏绵状嗜热丝孢菌的遗传转化体系.共培养过程中使用萌发孢子是成功建立疏绵状嗜热丝孢菌遗传转化体系的必要条件.疏绵状嗜热丝孢菌萌发的孢子与农杆菌在28℃共培养48h时,转化效率最高.乙酰丁香酮(AS)在农杆菌预培养及疏绵状嗜热丝孢菌萌发的孢子与农杆菌的共培养阶段都是必需的,且在共培养阶段当AS浓度为500 μM时转化效率最高.Southern杂交验证表明,79.2％的转化子为T-DNA单拷贝插入,且通过热不对称PCR (TAIL-PCR)分析得出T-DNA在该菌基因组中的插入位点是随机的.通过该转化系统筛选到部分表型突变体.[结论]我们首次报道了利用ATMT技术成功转化嗜热真菌-疏绵状嗜热丝孢菌,证明了该方法是一种简单有效的获得插入突变体的方法,并为该嗜热真菌进行基因定位提供了工具.     

细菌中整合性接合元件的研究进展

整合性接合元件是近年来在细菌中发现的一种可移动的基因元件,它位于染色体上,可通过接合转移的方式介导细菌间基因的水平转移。这种基因的水平转移有助于细菌适应特定的环境条件,但许多整合性接合元件包含耐药基因,这些遗传元件的水平转移极大地加速了耐药基因在同种及不同种属之间的传播,造成细菌的耐药以至多重耐药问题日益严重,耐药机制日趋复杂;同时整合性接合元件与基因岛有着密切的联系,因此对其特征及转移机制进行研究很有必要。     

极端嗜盐古菌中CRISPR结构的生物信息学分析

摘要：【目的】利用生物信息学方法了解目前拥有全基因组序列的极端嗜盐古菌中CRISPR结构的特征。【方法】通过比对,保守性分析,GC含量分析,RNA结构预测等方法对已有全基因组序列的嗜盐古菌基因组进行研究。【结果】在5株嗜盐古菌基因组中发现CRISPR结构,在leader序列内得到具有回文性质的保守motif。发现在大CRISPR结构内repeat序列具有很强的保守性。同时根据第四位碱基的不同,repeat序列可形成两类不同的RNA二级结构。【结论】leader序列中回文结构的发现对其可能为蛋白结合位点的假     

Living Side by Side with a Virus: Characterization of Two Novel Plasmids from Thermococcus prieurii,a Host for the Spindle-Shaped Virus TPV1

Microbial cells often serve as an evolutionary battlefield for different types of mobile genetic elements, such as viruses and plasmids. Here, we describe the isolation and characterization of two new archaeal plasmids which share the host with the spindle-shaped Thermococcus prieurii virus 1 (TPV1). The two plasmids, pTP1 and pTP2, were isolated from the hyperthermophilic archaeon Thermococcus prieurii (phylum Euryarchaeota), a resident of a deep-sea hydrothermal vent located at the East Pacific Rise at 2,700-m depth (7°25′24 S, 107°47′66 W). pTP1 (3.1 kb) and pTP2 (2.0 kb) are among the smallest known plasmids of hyperthermophilic archaea, and both are predicted to replicate via the rolling-circle mechanism. The two plasmids and the virus TPV1 do not have a single gene in common and stably propagate in infected cells without any apparent antagonistic effect on each other. The compatibility of the three genetic elements and the high copy number of pTP1 and pTP2 plasmids (50 copies/cell) might be useful for developing new genetic tools for studying hyperthermophilic euryarchaea and their viruses.     

Occurrence of free D-amino acids and aspartate racemases in hyperthermophilic archaea.

The occurrence of free D-amino acids and aspartate racemases in several hyperthermophilic archaea was investigated. Aspartic acid in all the hyperthermophilic archaea was highly racemized. The ratio of D-aspartic acid to total aspartic acid was in the range of 43.0 to 49.1%. The crude extracts of the hyperthermophiles exhibited aspartate racemase activity at 70 degrees C, and aspartate racemase homologous genes in them were identified by PCR. D-Enantiomers of other amino acids (alanine, leucine, phenylalanine, and lysine) in Thermococcus strains were also detected. Some of them might be by-products of aspartate racemase. It is proven that D-amino acids are produced in some hyperthermophilic archaea, although their function is unknown.     

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.     

Evidence for genetic drift in the diversification of a geographically isolated population of the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus

Genetic drift is a mechanism of population divergence that is important in the evolution of plants and animals but is thought to be rare in free-living microorganisms because of their typically large population sizes and unrestricted means of dispersal. We used both phylogenetic and insertion sequence (IS) element analyses in hyperthermophilic archaea of the genus Pyrococcus to test the hypothesis that genetic drift played an important role in the diversification of these microorganisms. Multilocus sequence typing of a collection of 36 isolates of Pyrococcus, from different hydrothermal systems in the Pacific Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, revealed that Pyrococcus populations from different geographic locations are genetically differentiated. Analysis of IS elements in these isolates exposed their presence in all individuals of only one geographically isolated lineage, that of Vulcano Island in the Mediterranean Sea. Detailed sequence analysis of six selected IS elements in the Vulcano population showed that these elements cause deleterious genomic alterations, including inactivation of gene function. The high frequency of IS elements in the sampled population together with their observed harmful effects in the genome of Pyrococcus provide molecular evidence that the Vulcano Island population of Pyrococcus is geographically isolated and that those genetic mobile elements have been brought up to high frequency by genetic drift. Thus, genetic drift resulting from physical isolation should be considered as a factor influencing differentiation in prokaryotes.