鸡碳酸酐酶4基因在毕赤酵母中的表达

[目的]通过毕赤酵母的表达获得鸡碳酸酐酶4(CAⅣ)蛋白。[方法]根据鸡CAⅣ的序列,结合毕赤酵母密码子的偏好性,合成CAⅣ基因。将CAⅣ基因克隆到pPICZαA真核表达载体,获得重组表达质粒pPICZαA-CAⅣ。将其电转毕赤酵母GS115后,获得重组毕赤酵母菌GS115/pPICZαA-CAⅣ。用终浓度为1%的甲醇对重组阳性菌进行诱导表达,通过SDS-PAGE和Westernblot法检测蛋白的表达,并用Ni离子亲和层析法对表达出的蛋白进行纯化。[结果]成功构建了表达载体pPICZαA-CAⅣ,转化重组酵母菌后可分泌出36kDa左右的CAⅣ蛋白,并通过Ni离子亲和层析法获得了单一性的目的蛋白CAⅣ。[结论]获得分子量约36kDa的鸡CAⅣ蛋白。     

茶树开花相关基因家族的克隆及CsMFT基因的可变剪切分析

开花是植物从营养生长到生殖生长转变的关键过程,PEBP(phosphatidylethanolamine binding protein)蛋白家族在植物开花过程中发挥重要调控作用。该研究分别采用信息学分析及RT PCR方法,对茶树CsPEBP基因家族进行了鉴定、克隆和表达分析。结果表明：(1)成功克隆获得5个PEBP基因家族成员,并分别命名为CsATC、CsMFT、CsBFT、CsFT和CsTFL1,其长度为519~525 bp,分别编码172~174 个氨基酸残基,定位于5条不同染色体。(2)结构分析显示,该蛋白家族不同成员氨基酸序列的相似性高达72.7%,含39.88%~42.28%的自由卷曲,分属于3个亚家族,其亲缘关系与杨树最近。(3)亚细胞定位分析显示,CsATC、CsMFT、CsBFT定位于细胞质, CsFT定位于细胞核,CsTFL1定位于细胞质和细胞核。(4)转录组和荧光定量PCR分析显示,CsMFT基因在茶树不同组织部位和不同非生物胁迫响应下的表达量均高于其他基因;CsFT、CsATC、CsMFT基因在茶树花半开时的表达量最高。(5)启动子元件分析显示,该基因家族的启动子中含有大量的光响应元件和激素响应元件。(6)CsMFT基因存在可变剪切,有 525 bp和689 bp 两个不同长度的转录本。研究推测,该研究所克隆的5个茶树CsPEBP家族成员均参与了调控茶树的开花过程和茶树对多种逆境的响应,为茶树开花调控相关研究奠定了基础。     

Improvement of gougerotin and nikkomycin production by engineering their biosynthetic gene clusters

Nikkomycins and gougerotin are peptidyl nucleoside antibiotics with broad biological activities. The nikkomycin biosynthetic gene cluster comprises one pathway-specific regulatory gene (sanG) and 21 structural genes, whereas the gene cluster for gougerotin biosynthesis includes one putative regulatory gene, one major facilitator superfamily transporter gene, and 13 structural genes. In the present study, we introduced sanG driven by six different promoters into Streptomyces ansochromogenes TH322. Nikkomycin production was increased significantly with the highest increase in engineered strain harboring hrdB promoter-driven sanG. In the meantime, we replaced the native promoter of key structural genes in the gougerotin (gou) gene cluster with the hrdB promoters. The heterologous producer Streptomyces coelicolor M1146 harboring the modified gene cluster produced gougerotin up to 10-fold more than strains carrying the unmodified cluster. Therefore, genetic manipulations of genes involved in antibiotics biosynthesis with the constitutive hrdB promoter present a robust, easy-to-use system generally useful for the improvement of antibiotics production in Streptomyces.     

Hypoxic Preconditioning Attenuates Neuronal Cell Death by Preventing MEK/ERK Signaling Pathway Activation after Transient Global Cerebral Ischemia in Adult Rats

Our previous data indicated that hypoxic preconditioning (HPC) ameliorates transient global cerebral ischemia (tGCI)-induced neuronal death in hippocampal CA1 subregion of adult rats. However, the possible molecular mechanisms for neuroprotection of this kind are largely unknown. This study was performed to investigate the role of the mitogen-activated protein kinase/extra-cellular signal-regulated kinase kinase (MEK)/extra-cellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway in HPC-induced neuroprotection. tGCI was induced by applying the four-vessel occlusion method. Pretreatment with 30 min of hypoxia applied 1 day before 10 min tGCI significantly decreased the level of MEK1/2 and ERK1/2 phosphorylation in ischemic hippocampal CA1 subregion. Also, HPC decreased the expression of phosphorylated ERK1/2 in degenerating neurons and astrocytes. However, the administration of U0126, a MEK kinase inhibitor, partly blocked MEK1/2 and ERK1/2 phosphorylation induced by tGCI. Meanwhile, neuronal survival was improved, and glial cell activation was significantly reduced. Collectively, these data indicated that the MEK/ERK signaling pathway might be involved in HPC-induced neuroprotection following tGCI. Also, HPC resulted in a reduction of glial activation.     

Crystal structure and site-directed mutagenesis of a nitroalkane oxidase from Streptomyces ansochromogenes

Nitroalkane oxidase (NAO) catalyzes neutral nitroalkanes to their corresponding aldehydes or ketones, hydrogen peroxide and nitrite. The crystal structure of NAO from Streptomyces ansochromogenes was determined; it consists of two domains, a TIM barrel domain bound to FMN and C-terminal domain with a novel folding pattern. Site-directed mutagenesis of His¹⁷⁹, which is spatially adjacent to FMN, resulted in the loss of enzyme activity, demonstrating that this amino acid residue is important for catalysis. The crystal structure of mutant H179D-nitroethane was also analyzed. Interestingly, Sa-NAO shows the typical function as nitroalkane oxidase but its structure is similar to that of 2-nitropropane dioxygenase. Overall, these results suggest that Sa-NAO is a novel nitroalkane oxidase with TIM barrel structure.     

华北平原农田CO2浓度变化特征

旨在了解农田CO2浓度长期动态变化特征、趋势、浓度增量分布模式等,收集了2007—2018年中国气象局固城生态与农业气象试验站开路式涡相关CO2浓度观测数据。研究了华北平原农田CO2浓度的年际、年内、昼夜和CO2通量等动态变化特征,对比分析了华北平原农田CO2浓度与城市站和大气本底站CO2浓度变化趋势及差异。结果表明,近十多年来华北平原农田CO2年平均浓度显著升高31.0 μmol/mol（r=0.263, P<0.01）,年均增幅(2.58 μmol/mol)与全球和瓦里关本底站大气CO2浓度增幅接近,但农田CO2浓度年际和年内季节变化波动巨大,日平均浓度和逐时平均浓度标准差分别为33.7和33.5 μmol/mol。夜间CO2平均浓度395.8 μmol/mol,比白天高36.2 μmol/mol（10.1%）,8月最高差值达到74.4 μmol/mol（20.6%）。在作物生长季节,5月和8—9月白天CO2浓度出现的两个谷值准确地对应了CO2通量动态变化的两个峰值,表明4—9月昼间CO2浓度和通量动态变化很好地反映了华北平原冬小麦和夏玉米生长过程、农事活动和农田碳交换的关系。农田CO2浓度动态变化与城市、湿地和大气本底站的变化特征不同,表明其动态变化的形成机制有差异。农田CO2浓度昼夜及季节变化特征为研究和评估CO2浓度升高影响作物生长和产量提供指导依据。     

Identification and Characterization of <Emphasis Type="Italic">sanH</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">sanI</Emphasis> Involved in the Hydroxylation of Pyridyl Residue During Nikkomycin Biosynthesis in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Streptomyces ansochromogenes</Emphasis>

Nikkomycins are highly potent inhibitors of chitin synthase. The nikkomycin biosynthetic gene cluster has been cloned from Streptomyces asochromogenes. Two cytochrome P450 monooxygenase genes (sanQ, sanH) and one ferredoxin gene (sanI) were found in the cluster. It was reported that SanQ is involved in the hydroxylation of l-His, a key step in 4-formyl-4-imidazolin-2-one base biosynthesis. Here, we have studied the function of sanH and sanI. Disruption of sanH abolished the production of nikkomycin X and Z, but it accumulated one dominant component nikkomycin Lx, which is the nikkomycin X analog lacking the hydroxy group at the pyridyl residue. The sanI disruption mutant accumulated predominantly nikkomycin Lx in addition to nikkomycin X and Z. The nikkomycin production profile of the sanH and sanI double disruption mutant was the same as that of the sanH disruption mutant. These results confirmed that SanH is essential for the hydroxylation of pyridyl residue in nikkomycin biosynthesis of S. ansochromogenes and first demonstrated that SanI is an effective electron donor for SanH, but not for SanQ in vivo.     

SanM catalyzes the formation of 4-pyridyl-2-oxo-4-hydroxyisovalerate in nikkomycin biosynthesis by interacting with SanN

Nikkomycins are peptidyl nucleoside antibiotics with potent activities against phytopathogenic and human pathogenic fungi. The sanM and sanN genes are required for the nikkomycin biosynthesis of Streptomyces ansochromogenes. In the present study, interaction between SanM and SanN was identified by yeast two-hybrid and co-immunoprecipitation assays. Moreover, SanM and SanN were heterologously expressed and purified. Further biochemical assay demonstrated that the SanM-SanN interaction is essential for SanM aldolase activity but not for SanN dehydrogenase activity. SanM converts piconaldehyde and 2-oxobutyrate to 4-pyridyl-2-oxo-4-hydroxyisovalerate in nikkomycin biosynthesis by interacting with SanN. Steady state kinetics analysis revealed that K(m) and k(cat)/K(m) of SanM are 123.2 microM and 11.4 mM(-1)s(-1) for picolinaldehyde, while 335.6 microM and 4.0 mM(-1)s(-1) for 2-oxobutyrate, respectively. However, SanN as a dehydrogenase is independent of SanM.