The Complete Chloroplast Genome of Banana (Musa acuminata,Zingiberales): Insight into Plastid Monocotyledon Evolution

Background

Banana (genus Musa) is a crop of major economic importance worldwide. It is a monocotyledonous member of the Zingiberales, a sister group of the widely studied Poales. Most cultivated bananas are natural Musa inter-(sub-)specific triploid hybrids. A Musa acuminata reference nuclear genome sequence was recently produced based on sequencing of genomic DNA enriched in nucleus.

Methodology/Principal Findings

The Musa acuminata chloroplast genome was assembled with chloroplast reads extracted from whole-genome-shotgun sequence data. The Musa chloroplast genome is a circular molecule of 169,972 bp with a quadripartite structure containing two single copy regions, a Large Single Copy region (LSC, 88,338 bp) and a Small Single Copy region (SSC, 10,768 bp) separated by Inverted Repeat regions (IRs, 35,433 bp). Two forms of the chloroplast genome relative to the orientation of SSC versus LSC were found. The Musa chloroplast genome shows an extreme IR expansion at the IR/SSC boundary relative to the most common structures found in angiosperms. This expansion consists of the integration of three additional complete genes (rps15, ndhH and ycf1) and part of the ndhA gene. No such expansion has been observed in monocots so far. Simple Sequence Repeats were identified in the Musa chloroplast genome and a new set of Musa chloroplastic markers was designed.

Conclusion

The complete sequence of M. acuminata ssp malaccensis chloroplast we reported here is the first one for the Zingiberales order. As such it provides new insight in the evolution of the chloroplast of monocotyledons. In particular, it reinforces that IR/SSC expansion has occurred independently several times within monocotyledons. The discovery of new polymorphic markers within Musa chloroplast opens new perspectives to better understand the origin of cultivated triploid bananas.     

医学生实习中外科基本操作常犯错误及对策分析

目的：探讨医学生临床实习中在基本操作上常犯的错误,并对此提出建议和纠正措施,旨在进一步提高临床带教水平及临床教学质量。方法i总结我院临床医学专业实习生进行常见的外科临床基本操作考核成绩的情况,对错误类型等进行统计并提出合理的解决措施。结果：共考察学生90名,其中外科换药方法欠佳者22人（24．4％）,消毒铺巾存在问题24人（26．6％）,缝合存在问题32人（35．5％）,打结存在问题38（42．2％）人,拆线存在问题19（21．1％）人。结论：加强医学生外科实习期间的无菌观念培养及强化手术基本操作是临床教学的重要环节。     

Analysis of Accuracy in Pointing with Redundant Hand-held Tools: A Geometric Approach to the Uncontrolled Manifold Method

This work introduces a coordinate-independent method to analyse movement variability of tasks performed with hand-held tools, such as a pen or a surgical scalpel. We extend the classical uncontrolled manifold (UCM) approach by exploiting the geometry of rigid body motions, used to describe tool configurations. In particular, we analyse variability during a static pointing task with a hand-held tool, where subjects are asked to keep the tool tip in steady contact with another object. In this case the tool is redundant with respect to the task, as subjects control position/orientation of the tool, i.e. 6 degrees-of-freedom (dof), to maintain the tool tip position (3dof) steady. To test the new method, subjects performed a pointing task with and without arm support. The additional dof introduced in the unsupported condition, injecting more variability into the system, represented a resource to minimise variability in the task space via coordinated motion. The results show that all of the seven subjects channeled more variability along directions not directly affecting the task (UCM), consistent with previous literature but now shown in a coordinate-independent way. Variability in the unsupported condition was only slightly larger at the endpoint but much larger in the UCM.     

Fine Mapping and Functional Analysis of the Multiple Sclerosis Risk Gene CD6

CD6 has recently been identified and validated as risk gene for multiple sclerosis (MS), based on the association of a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), rs17824933, located in intron 1. CD6 is a cell surface scavenger receptor involved in T-cell activation and proliferation, as well as in thymocyte differentiation. In this study, we performed a haptag SNP screen of the CD6 gene locus using a total of thirteen tagging SNPs, of which three were non-synonymous SNPs, and replicated the recently reported GWAS SNP rs650258 in a Spanish-Basque collection of 814 controls and 823 cases. Validation of the six most strongly associated SNPs was performed in an independent collection of 2265 MS patients and 2600 healthy controls. We identified association of haplotypes composed of two non-synonymous SNPs [rs11230563 (R225W) and rs2074225 (A257V)] in the 2^nd SRCR domain with susceptibility to MS (P _{max(T) permutation} = 1×10⁻⁴). The effect of these haplotypes on CD6 surface expression and cytokine secretion was also tested. The analysis showed significantly different CD6 expression patterns in the distinct cell subsets, i.e. – CD4⁺ naïve cells, P = 0.0001; CD8⁺ naïve cells, P<0.0001; CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ central memory cells, P = 0.01 and 0.05, respectively; and natural killer T (NKT) cells, P = 0.02; with the protective haplotype (RA) showing higher expression of CD6. However, no significant changes were observed in natural killer (NK) cells, effector memory and terminally differentiated effector memory T cells. Our findings reveal that this new MS-associated CD6 risk haplotype significantly modifies expression of CD6 on CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells.     

Hormonal Therapy and Risk of Breast Cancer in Mexican Women

The use of hormonal therapies, including hormonal contraceptives (HC) and postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy (HRT) have been shown to influence breast cancer (BC) risk. However, the variations of these effects among populations and ethnic groups are not completely documented, especially among Hispanic women. We evaluated the association between HC and premenopausal BC risk, and between HRT and postmenopausal BC risk in Mexican women. Data from a Mexican multi-center population-based case–control study ofwomen aged 35 to 69 years were analysed. A total of 1000 cases and 1074 matched controls were recruited between 2004 and 2007. Information on hormonal therapy was collected through a structured questionnaire. Results were analysed using conditional logistic regression models. Overall, HC were used by 422/891 (47.3%) premenopausal women and HRT was used by 220/1117 (19.7%) postmenopausal women. For HC, odds ratios (ORs) for BC were 1.11 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.82, 1.49) for current users and 1.68 (95% CI: 0.67, 4.21) for ever-users. No clear effect of duration of use was observed. For HRT, the OR for BC was significantly increased in ever users (OR: 1.45; 95% CI: 1.01, 2.08). A non-significant increased risk was observed for combined estrogen/progestin, (OR =  1.85; 95% CI: 0.84, 4.07) whereas no effect was observed for the use of estrogen alone (OR = 1.14; 95% CI: 0.68, 1.91). Our results indicate that, HC had a non-significant effect on the risk of pre-menopausal BC, but suggested that injected contraceptives may slightly increase the risk, whereas HRT had a significant effect on post-menopausal BC in this population. This study provides new information about the effects of HC and HRT on BC risk in a Mexican population, which may be of relevance for the population of Latin America as a whole.     

萘普生降解菌群的驯化及其降解效能

【背景】萘普生是一种被广泛使用的非甾体抗炎药,治疗人类疾病的同时对环境产生一定的消极影响,甚至危害到人类的生存环境。【目的】利用微生物降解萘普生类污染物是一种价格低廉且行之有效的方法。【方法】以萘普生为唯一碳源,培养驯化高效的萘普生降解菌群;利用高通量测序技术解析萘普生降解菌群的微生物群落变化,鉴定萘普生降解菌群种类;通过GC-MS分析萘普生降解菌群的降解途径。【结果】获得了以Rhodanobacter为主的萘普生高效降解菌群,确定了萘普生降解菌群的最佳降解条件为:30°C、pH7.0、摇床转速150r/min、接种量10%,萘普生降解率达60.58%,并预测出萘普生降解菌群的降解途径。【结论】获得了高效的萘普生降解菌群,明晰了降解机理和降解途径,不仅丰富了微生物资源种类,更为微生物的工程应用奠定了理论基础。     

好氧反硝化生物脱氮技术的研究进展

好氧反硝化生物脱氮技术自提出以来,凭借能实现同步硝化反硝化、节省基建投资及运行费用等诸多优点,受到国内外环境领域学者的广泛关注。本文首先总结了近年来好氧反硝化菌种的筛选分离情况,以及环境因子对好氧反硝化菌脱氮效能的影响,包括溶解氧(dissolved oxygen,DO)、碳氮比(C/N)、温度等。然后深入探讨了好氧反硝化生物脱氮技术的原理,好氧反硝化过程中的关键功能基因及酶,同时介绍了分子生物技术在好氧反硝化研究过程中的应用,以及好氧反硝化生物脱氮技术在实际应用方面的研究现状。最后,基于目前的研究瓶颈问题,对未来好氧反硝化生物脱氮技术的研究方向提出了科学展望。