Reproductive and neonatal outcomes in captive bred baboons (Papio hamadryas)

Abstract: Baboons are widely used in biomedical research. Although it is widely held that Papio hamadryas breed well in captivity, each established colony has a different reproductive success often hypothesised to be due to husbandry practices. The National Baboon Colony in Australia is a unique colony that houses Papio hamadryas to mimic that structure seen in the wild. In this article; we have analysed their reproductive parameters and neonatal outcomes. The success of the colony husbandry practices was demonstrated by lack of maternal mortality, low foetal morbidity, and known maternal and paternal linage.     

Deep-level diagnostic value of the rDNA-ITS region

The similarity of certain reported angiosperm rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region sequences to those of green algae prompted our analysis of the deep-level phylogenetic signal in the highly conserved but short 5.8S and hypervariable ITS2 sequences. We found that 5.8S sequences yield phylogenetic trees similar to but less well supported than those generated by a ca. 10-fold longer alignment from rDNA-18S sequences, as well as independent evidence. We attribute this result to our finding that, compared to 18S, the 5.8S has a higher proportion of sites subject to vary and greater among-site substitution rate homogeneity. We also determined that our phylogenetic results are not likely affected by intramolecular compensatory mutation to maintain RNA secondary structure nor by evident systematic biases in base composition. Despite historical homology, there appears to be no ITS2 primary sequence similarity shared sufficient similarity to cluster correctly on the basis of alignability. Our results indicate that groups, however, share sufficient similarity to cluster correctly on the basis of alignability. Our results indicate that ITS region sequences can diagnose organismal origins and phylogenetic relationships at many phylogenetic levels and provide a useful paradigm for molecular evolutionary study.      

Influences on the antimicrobial activity of surface-adsorbed nisin

The efficacy of the antimicrobial peptide nisin was examined after adsorption to silica surfaces. Three protocols were used to evaluate nisin's activity against adhered cells ofListeria monocytogenes: bioassay usingPediococcus pentosaceous FBB 61-2 as the sensitive indicator strain; visualization and enumeration of cells by microscopic image analysis; and viability of adhered cells as determined by lodonitrotetrazolium violet uptake and crystallization. The activity of adsorbed nisin was highly dependent upon conditions of adsorption. The highest antimicrobial activity of adsorbed nisin occurred with high concentrations of nisin (1.0 mg ml^–1) and brief contact times (1 h) on surfaces of low hydrophobicity. Sequential adsorption of a second protein (-lactoglobulin or bovine serum albumin) onto surfaces consistently resulted in decreased nisin activity. These data provide direction for the development of applications to limit microbial attachment on food contact surfaces through the use of adsorbed antimicrobial peptides.     

山西雏蝗属二新种：直翅目：网翅蝗科

本文记述山西省雁北地区雏蝗属Ｃｈｏｒｔｈｉｐｕｓ Ｆｉｅｂｅｒ１８５２二新种,即郑氏雏蝗Ｃｈｏｒｔｈｉｐｐｕｓ ｚｈｅｎｇｉ,ｓｐ．ｎｏｖ．和宽带雏蝗Ｃｈｏｒｔｈｉｐｐｕｓ ａｍｐｌｉｌｉｎｅａｔｕｓ,ｓｐ．ｎｏｖ。模式标本保存在山西省农牧厅植保植检总结。     

简便、快速提取高质量的RNA分子

MethodsforHandy,RapidIsolationofHighQualityRNAbyGuanadiumThioeyauateDuJianYuanYanhuaMaShenglinDongZhiwei(BeijingInstituteforCancerResearchBeijing100034)硫氰胍是一种有效的蛋白变性剂。早在1979年,Chirgwin等就利用氯化铯／硫氰胍超离心技术成功地从RNA酶富集的胰脏组织中提取出未降解的RNA分子[2],从而使它成为抑制RNA酶的首选药物并得到广泛使用,但受到超速离心设备的限制。1983年,Cathala报道了氯化锂／硫氰胍RNA提取法[1]。该方法操作简便,获得的RNA质量很高,但所需时间较长。为了能在短时间内更快…     

Photoelectron imaging of viruses and DNA: evaluation of substrates by unidirectional low angle shadowing and photoemission current measurements.

Photoelectron imaging (photoelectron emission microscopy, PEM or PEEM) is a promising high resolution surface-sensitive technique for biophysical studies. At present, image quality is often limited by the underlying substrate. For photoelectron imaging, the substrate must be electrically conductive, low in electron emission, and relatively flat. A number of conductive substrate materials with relatively low electron emission were examined for surface roughness. Low angle, unidirectional shadowing of the specimens followed by photoelectron microscopy was found to be an effective way to test the quality of substrate surfaces. Optimal results were obtained by depositing approximately 0.1 nm of platinum-palladium (80:20) at an angle of 3 degrees. Among potential substrates for photoelectron imaging, silicon and evaporated chromium surfaces were found to be much smoother than evaporated magnesium fluoride, which initially appeared promising because of its very low electron emission. The best images were obtained with a chromium substrate coated with a thin layer of dextran derivatized with spermidine, which facilitated the spreading and adhesion of biomolecules to the surfaces. Making use of this substrate, improved photoelectron images are reported for tobacco mosaic virus particles and DNA-recA complexes.     

Comparative analysis of multiple protein-sequence alignment methods [published erratum appears in Mol Biol Evol 1994 Sep;11(5):811]

We have analyzed a total of 12 different global and local multiple protein-sequence alignment methods. The purpose of this study is to evaluate each method's ability to correctly identify the ordered series of motifs found among all members of a given protein family. Four phylogenetically distributed sets of sequences from the hemoglobin, kinase, aspartic acid protease, and ribonuclease H protein families were used to test the methods. The performance of all 12 methods was affected by (1) the number of sequences in the test sets, (2) the degree of similarity among the sequences, and (3) the number of indels required to produce a multiple alignment. Global methods generally performed better than local methods in the detection of motif patterns.      

鸡马立克氏病病毒B抗原片段在大肠杆菌中表达

鸡马立克氏病病毒ＢａｍＨＩ基因文库Ｉ３质粒中含有编码Ｂ抗原膜外Ｄｏｍａｉｎ的ＤＮＡ序列。经ＳｃａＩ和ＳｐｈＩ双酶酶解Ｉ３质粒,分离获得７６４ｂｐＤＮＡ片段,并克隆进Ｍ１３ｍｐ１９中。ＤＮＡ序列测定分析表明克隆片段为ＭＤＶ－Ｂ抗原基因的４９４－１２５８ｂｐ部分序列。进一步分离ＮｃｏＩ－ＨｉｎｄＩＩＩ部分基因片（５３０ｂｐ）,克隆于ＰＬＰｒｏｍｏｔｅｒ控制下的含有修饰型ｃＩｔｓ８５７基因的表达载体中,     

嗜盐耐盐微生物抗盐胁迫相关离子转运蛋白研究进展

离子转运蛋白在维持细胞内pH稳态、离子动态平衡等方面发挥着重要作用。钠离子转运体和钾离子转运体在嗜盐耐盐微生物中广泛存在,其"保钾排钠"机制是微生物抗盐胁迫的两大策略之一。近年来,嗜盐耐盐微生物中许多新型钠、钾离子转运体被陆续发现,如RDD蛋白、UPF0118蛋白、DUF蛋白和KimA蛋白等;Fe³⁺、Mg²⁺等其他金属离子的转运蛋白也被证实可通过影响微生物胞内相容性溶质的合成起到渗透调节的作用。本文综述了嗜盐耐盐微生物中抗盐胁迫相关的各类离子转运蛋白,分析其分子结构和工作机理,并对这些蛋白在农业方面的应用进行了展望。继续发现新的离子转运蛋白,探究抗盐胁迫相关离子转运蛋白的结构和机理,解析各转运系统的协同作用及分子调控机制,将进一步加深对嗜盐耐盐微生物抗盐胁迫调控的认识,并为盐碱地农作物的改良等提供新的思路。     

柬埔寨白蝶兰，中国兰科一新记录种

报道中国兰科白蝶兰属一新记录种——柬埔寨白蝶兰Pecteilis cambodiana (Gagnep.) Aver.,描述其特征并提供了彩色图片。凭证标本保存于福建农林大学林学院树木标本室(FJFC)。