生物进化论的发展

介绍了表型进化的达尔文学说,突变学说和综合进化学以及分子进中性学说的产生背景和主要内容,阐述了这两类进化相互关系的两假说,讨论了这两类进化学说间的共同点和主要分歧。     

乙酰胆碱受体如何形成离子通道?

1983年Numa 等实验室报告,应用基因工程技术阐明了乙酰胆碱受体(AChR)四个亚单位的氨基酸序列。随之而来的问题是,这些亚单位如何组成跨膜的离子通道。对此曾有两种假说。第一种假说(三个实验室)认为,通道是不带电荷的,而是被亲水的侧链所覆盖,因此,水和离子可以自由通过;第二种假说(两个实验室)认为,通道是带电荷的,而且带阳电荷和阴电荷的段落交替出现。最新的证据认为后者是正确的。     

木本植物木质部栓塞修复机制:研究进展与问题

维持木本植物体内长距离的水分运输对于植物生存、生长和发育非常重要,但因水分在木质部张力状态下处于亚稳定状态而易发生空穴化和栓塞,导致水力导度降低、生产力下降、甚至植物死亡。面对水分胁迫诱导的空穴化,植物可通过形成抵抗空穴化的解剖结构降低栓塞发生频率,或(和)通过活跃的代谢修复栓塞,其中对木质部栓塞及其修复的发生频率、条件、机制等的认识仍有很大分歧。为此,该文首先综述了木质部栓塞修复过程及时间动态、木质部栓塞形成及修复的发生频率。然后,总结了木质部导管"新的再充水"栓塞修复过程中的4种主要假说:(1)渗透调节假说;(2)反渗透调节假说;(3)韧皮部驱动再充水假说;(4)韧皮部卸载假说。在此基础上,比较了针叶树种和木本被子植物木质部栓塞形成与修复的差异,并分析了木质部栓塞阻力与修复能力之间的权衡关系。最后,提出了木本植物木质部栓塞与修复研究的4个优先研究问题:(1)改进木质部栓塞测定技术;(2)验证"新的再充水"栓塞修复机制假说及引发木质部再充水的信号;(3)阐明木质部栓塞与修复特性的树种间差异及其可能的权衡关系;(4)加强碳代谢和水通道蛋白表达与木质部栓塞及其修复关系的生理生化研究。     

抗冻蛋白的特性和作用机制

抗冻蛋白是非常热门的研究领域,具有广阔的应用前景。本文结合最新的报道,从抗冻蛋白的多样性、热带活性和改变冰的生长,综述了抗冻蛋白的特性,阐释了抗冻蛋白的作用机制的三种假说：“偶极子—偶极子”假说、氢原子结合模型假说和刚体能量学说。     

雌性动物多次交配行为的机制及进化

雌性动物的后代数量不可能超过她的卵子数。在理论上, 一个生殖季节内, 一次或几次交配就足够使雌性所有卵子受精, 最大化其生殖潜能。但与理论预测相反, 许多物种的雌性经常与同一个或多个雄性发生多次交配。交配通常要付出较高的代价, 所以很难理解为什么雌性动物要反复进行多次交配。本文综述了解释此行为的一些适应性和非适应性假说。从获得直接收益和间接收益二个角度介绍了适应性假说。直接收益主要包括求偶喂食和“彩礼”、受精保证、亲代抚育、生殖刺激和护卫交配权等5 个方面。还着重介绍了多次交配对雌性后代的间接遗传受益, 即获得优质基因、提高后代遗传多样性和遗传互补性3 个假说。非适应性假说包括了遗传相关假说和顺从雄性行为假说。     

物种多样性地理格局的能量假说

物种多样性地理分布格局及其成因是生物地理学和宏观生态学研究的核心问题之一。为了解释物种多样性的分布格局, 人们提出了多种假说, 其中讨论最多的是能量假说。该假说认为, 物种多样性的变化受能量控制。根据能量的不同形式及其对物种多样性的影响机制, 能量假说包括以下几种形式: 生产力假说(productivity hypothesis)、水分—能量动态假说(water–energy dynamic hypothesis)、环境能量假说(ambient energy hypothesis)、寒冷忍耐假说(freezing tolerance hypothesis)以及生态学代谢假说(metabolic theory of ecology, MTE)。本文系统介绍了每种能量假说的含义、所使用的能量形式及表征变量, 以及对物种多样性的影响机制, 并对不同形式的能量假说进行了比较, 在此基础上, 分析了每种能量假说的优点和缺点以及各自面临的问题。     

寓科学研究方法于生物学教学之中──兼谈“生物进化学说”的教学

中学生物学教学不仅要向学生传授系统的知识,而且还要教会学生科学的研究方法。科学假说作为科学研究的基本方法之一,对科学理论的发展起到了和正在起着极其重要的作用。本文试以”生物进化学说”为例,谈一谈进行“科学假说”教学的过程。     

肿瘤抑制基因理论的奠基者--记科学家卡纳德森

肿瘤学的研究一直是医学研究的一个重要领域,对于肿瘤的致病机理有各种假说,其中有一种就是基因说,现在科学家认识到许多肿瘤是由于特定基因突变造成的,关于基因学说,可以分为两种,一种为“癌基因”学说,认为癌基因的过度激活致癌,而另一种是“肿瘤抑制基因”学说,认为是这种基因失活所致。这两种学说对于肿瘤的机理研究和治疗带来了新的希望,在实际中广泛应用。对于“肿瘤抑制基因”学说的建立,科学家小阿尔弗雷德·乔治·卡纳德森(Alfred GeorgeKnudson, Jr.)作出了卓越贡献。1“两次打击”假说的提出卡纳德森1922年8月9日出生于美国加…     

关于粘虫迁飞起因的一个假说

<正> 1959年笔者在哈尔滨粘虫越冬讨论会上提出东北地区粘虫是由南方远距离迁飞来的学说。嗣后许多工作证实了这个学说是正确的,特别是标志释放的试验提供了直接的证明,并把迁飞的途径也基本弄清。但是,关于粘虫迁飞的起因却没有进展,尽管有许多学说,如生物种学说、偏振光学说等被提出,但都没有能阐明迁飞的真正起因。本文中提出了一个新的假说,供粘虫工作者的参考。     

基于淀粉样蛋白级联假说的阿尔茨海默症防治研究进展

阿尔茨海默症（Alzheimer＇s Disease,AD）是一种中枢神经系统退行性病变,目前发病机制不清。淀粉样蛋白级联假说是有关AD发病机制的主流学说,认为脑内过量产生的β-淀粉样蛋白（β-amyloid peptide,Aβ）是引发AD的主要原因。针对Aβ的生成、聚集、清除及靶向治疗相关的药物开发是目前的研究热点,就淀粉样蛋白级联假说的最新研究进展及AD的预防治疗现状作一综述。     

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.