Crystal structure of Streptomyces diastaticus No. 7 strain M1033 xylose isomerase

The crystal structures of Streptomyces diastaticus No. 7 strain M1033 xylose isomerase (SDXyI) have been analysed and refined at 0.19nm. The crystal space group is I222, with unit cell dimensions of a=9.884 ran, b=9.393nm and c=8.798nm. Based on the coordinates of the Streptomyces rubiginosus xylose isomerase (SRXyI), the initial model of SDXyl was built up by the dose packing analysing and R-factor searching and refined by PROLSQ to a final R-factor of 0.177 with the rms deviations of bond lengths and bond angles of 0.001 9nm and 2.1°, respectively. No significant global conformation change existed between SRXyI and SDXyI except the local conformation in the active site.     

用gFM31探针进行谷子品种的指纹分析

用高度多态性探针ｇＦＭ３１对５９个谷子（ＳｅｔａｒｉａｉｔａｒｌｉｃａＢｅａｕｖ．）品种（包括地方品种、育成品种及品系）进行ＤＮＡ指纹分析,共鉴别出５８种类型,而黑谷和黑粒１５１６给出完全相同的带型,二者有可能是同一材料。通过对ｇＦＭ３１ＤＮＡ序列分析,未发现其中有小卫星ＤＮＡ和微卫星ＤＮＡ序列。该探针虽在谷子品种中显示很高的多态性,但与禾谷类的其他物种的ＤＮＡ杂交信号微弱,表现出较强的谷子基因组特异性。     

安息香科植物地理分布研究

安息香科植物共１２属,约１５０种,分布于亚洲和美洲的热带亚热带地区及欧洲南部的温暖地区。亚洲是现代安息香科植物的主要分布区,有１１个属,集中分布于中国南部和西南部附近。中国南岭山地及其附近汇集了８属２０多种,包括中国特有的陀螺果属、秤锤树属和长果安息香属以及东亚北美间断分布的银钟花属。这些呈星散分布的残余成分是从当地起源的。中国西南地区的安息香科植物仅云南一地就达８属３０余种,其中不少为局部分化形成的狭域分布特有种。这里是安息香科植物的分化中心,茉莉果属和歧序野茉莉属可能即是由此发端的。后者和安息香属经中南半岛一直分布到热带亚洲地区,并在马来西亚地区形成一次生分化中心。欧洲安息香科植物可能来自亚洲,并于第三纪得到发展。安息香科植物在欧洲的衰落,可能是遭到第四纪冰川严重破坏的结果。北美安息香科植物和欧亚大陆的有着共同起源,主要分布于东南部,并通过中美向南美发展。南美安息香科植物达５０余种,集中分布于亚马逊河流域。这里是安息香科植物的另一次生分化中心。特产巴西的花弄蝶属即是从当地分化出来的。     

两种药用黄芪比较生物学研究

通过栽培实验,本文对两种药用黄芪的个体发育节律,根,茎,叶,花及种子的生物学特性进行了较系统的比较研究,为确定蒙古黄芪（ＡｓｔｒａｇａｌｕｓｍｏｎｇｈｏｌｉｃｕｓＢｕｎｇｅ）为独立的种,提供了更为全面的依据。     

Alterations in structure of elastic laminae of rat pulmonary arteries in hypoxic hypertension

Liu, S. Q. Alterations in structure of elastic laminaeof rat pulmonary arteries in hypoxic hypertension. J. Appl. Physiol. 81(5): 2147-2155, 1996.The effectof hypoxic hypertension on the remodeling process of the elasticlaminae of the rat hilar pulmonary arteries (PAs) was studied byelectron microscopy. Rats were exposed to hypoxia (10%O₂) for periods of 0.5, 2, 6, 12, 48, 96, 144, and 240 h. Changes in the structure of the PA elastic laminae were examined and analyzed with respect to changes in the PAwall tensile stress. The PA blood pressure increased rapidly within thefirst several hours of hypoxia and reached a stable level within 2 days, whereas the PA wall tensile stress increased initially due toelevated blood pressure and then decreased after 48 h due to vesselwall thickening and returned to the control level after 4 days. Inassociation with these changes, the elastic laminae, which appearedhomogeneous in normal control rats, changed into structures composed ofrandomly oriented filaments and edematous contents with an increase inthe volume during the early period of hypoxia and regained theirhomogeneous appearance and normal volume after 4 days. The changes inthe elastic laminae were correlated with changes in the tensile stress.These changes were associated with a transient decrease in thestiffness of the PAs. In hypoxic rats given nifedipine, no change wasfound in the blood pressure, the tensile stress, or the structure ofthe elastic laminae of the PAs despite continuous exposure to hypoxia.These results suggested that altered tensile stress in the PA wallplayed a critical role in the initiation and regulation of structuralchanges in the elastic laminae and that these changes might contribute to alterations in the mechanical properties of the PA in hypoxic hypertension.

     

Variability of plant species diversity in Swedish natural forest and its relation to atmospheric deposition

Within a subprogram of Integrated Monitoring (IM), understorey vegetation in Swedish natural forests was observed at fifteen reference sites over the country for twelve seasons, 1982–1993. The main task of the subprogram was to assess the impact of atmospheric deposition, mainly sulphur and nitrogen, on natural vegetation through time. The present study is focused on the variability of plant species diversity at community level and the possible impact of sulphur and nitrogen deposition. Species richness, evenness and diversity varied greatly among the sites, and between years within each site. Regarding only coniferous forests the species richness was higher in the north than in the south. But the effects of site condition and atmospheric deposition were not clarified. Changes in species diversity through time differed from site to site. No overall temporal trend was found. The atmospheric deposition of sulphur and nitrogen demonstrated a clear geographical pattern being low in the north-west and high in the south-west. Sulphur deposition declined significantly in Southern Sweden during the period. We concluded that the species diversity of understorey vegetation at the Swedish IM sites was not significantly influenced by atmospheric deposition. The changes observed are explained as natural processes.     

A translational fidelity mutation in the universally conserved sarcin/ricin domain of 25S yeast ribosomal RNA.

Recent evidence suggests that ribosomal RNAs have functional roles in translation. We describe here a new ribosomal RNA mutation that causes translational suppression and antibiotic resistance in eukaryotic cells. Using random mutagenesis of the cloned ribosomal RNA gene and in vivo selection, we isolated a C --> U mutation in the universally conserved sarcin/ricin domain in Saccharomyces cerevisiae 25S ribosomal RNA. This mutation changes the putative CG pair, which closes the GAGA tetraloop in the sarcin/ricin domain, into a weaker UG pair without eliminating ribosomal sensitivity to ricin. We show that suppression of several UGA, UAG, and frameshift mutations is evident when a portion of the cellular ribosomal RNA contains the C --> U mutation. Cells that contain essentially all mutant ribosomal RNA grow only 10% slower than the wild-type, but show increased suppression as well as resistance to paramomycin, G418, and hygromycin, and sensitivity to cycloheximide. Our results provide genetic evidence for the participation of the sarcin/ricin loop in maintaining translational accuracy and are discussed in terms of a hypothesis that this ribosomal RNA region normally undergoes a conformational change during translation.     

Production enhancement of Pseudomonas amyloderamosa isoamylase

Isoamylase production in batchwise and fed-batch cultures of Pseudomonas amyloderomosa (strain WU7211-2) was investigated. By feeding maltose in a mode motivated by its structure gene (iam), the final isoamylase activity of 5100 U/ml was achieved, as compared to 4100 U/ml in batch cultivation and 3800 U/ml in shaken flasks. The enhancement may be due to the fact that the production of isoamylase can be induced effectively by the maltose only if the glucose concentration is maintained below the inhibitory level. Also, cultivations based on 500-ml shaken flasks, performed with different amount of proteimax HE90, showed that higher amounts of proteimax HE90 resulted in an increased value of pH that had an adverse effect on isoamylase yield.The authors wish to thank the Food Industry Research and Development Institute (FIRDI), Taiwan, R.O.C for the financial support (Cooperative Agreement 94M904-2B). Appreciation is also extended to Drs. C.C. Liao, W.S. Chu and L.L. Lin of FIRDI for their valuable discussions.     

蝮蛇毒碱性磷脂酶A_2基因的克隆

从蝮蛇毒腺中抽提总ＲＮＡ．利用人工合成寡核苷酸引物作逆转录,以ｃＤＮＡ为模板进行体外扩增,获得磷脂酶Ａ２（简称ＰＬＡ２）基因,克隆至ｐＢＳ－ｋｓ载体中。通过对３个碱性ＰＬＡ２（简称ＢＰＬＡ２）基因单独克隆分别作ＤＮＡ全序列分析,推导ｐｒｏ－ＢＰＬＡ２由１３８个氨基酸残基构成,与已测定的部分氨基酸序列比较,基本相符。该基因成功的克隆,不仅推导出ＢＰＬＡ２的蛋白质全序列,也为进一步开展蛇毒功能肽蛋白质工程的研究工作打下了良好的基础。