Influence of sucrose concentration and phosphate source on biomass and metabolite accumulation in adventitious roots of Pseudostellaria heterophylla

In this study, we investigated the induction of Pseudostellaria heterophylla adventitious root and the effects of sucrose concentration and phosphate source on biomass increase and metabolites accumulation. These roots were initially cultured in Murashige and Skoog medium for 4 weeks. IBA 3.0 mg L^?1 proved to be the best auxin for inducing adventitious roots and the frequency of adventitious roots induced from roots (100 %) was higher than that from leaves (78 %) and stems (27 %). The medium with 4 % sucrose resulted in the optimum biomass i.e. 1.04 g/flask DW, and the content of saponin and polysaccharides reached the peak i.e. 0.676 and 24.4 %, respectively. With regards to phosphate source, 1.25 mM phosphate concentration was more favorable for biomass of roots (0.87 g/flask of DW), whereas the optimum saponin (0.74 %) and polysaccharides (22.09 %) were achieved with 2.5 mM phosphate. However, the saponin content at 2.5 mM phosphate did not show significant difference from the saponin content at 0.625 mM (0.69 %) or 3.75 mM phosphate (0.69 %).     

Manganese-Induced Effects on Cerebral Trace Element and Nitric Oxide of Hyline Cocks

Exposure to Manganese (Mn) is a common phenomenon due to its environmental pervasiveness. To investigate the Mn-induced toxicity on cerebral trace element levels and crucial nitric oxide parameters on brain of birds, 50-day-old male Hyline cocks were fed either a commercial diet or a Mn-supplemented diet containing 600, 900, 1,800 mg kg^?1. After being treated with Mn for 30, 60, and 90 days, the following were determined: the changes in contents of copper (Cu), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), calcium (Ca), selenium (Se) in brain; inducible nitric oxide synthase-nitric oxide (iNOS-NO) system activity in brain; and histopathology and ultrastructure changes of cerebral cortex. The results showed that Mn was accumulated in brain and the content of Cu and Fe increased. However, the levels of Zn and Se decreased and the Ca content presented no obvious regularity. Exposure to Mn significantly elevated the content of NO and the expression of iNOS mRNA. Activity of total NO synthase (T NOS) and iNOS appeared with an increased tendency. These findings suggested that Mn exposure resulted in the imbalance of cerebral trace elements and influenced iNOS in the molecular level, which are possible underlying nervous system injury mechanisms induced by Mn exposure.     

Source Apportionment of Trace Element Pollution in Surface Sediments Using Positive Matrix Factorization Combined Support Vector Machines: Application to the Jinjiang River, China

In this study, a method of positive matrix factorization (PMF) combined support vector machines (SVMs) was adopted to identify possible sources and apportion contributions for trace element pollution in surface sediments from the Jinjiang River, Southeastern China. Utilizing diagnostics tools, four significant factors were extracted from sediment samplers, which were collected in December 2010 at 15 different sites. By treating source identification as a pattern recognition problem, the factor loadings derived from PMF were classified by SVM classifiers which have been trained and validated with fingerprints of eight potential source categories. Using SVM, industrial wastewater from lead ore mining and metal handcraft manufacture, atmospheric deposition, and natural background were identified as main sources of trace element pollution in surface sediments from the Jinjiang River, which were affirmed by visually comparing compound patterns and the differences between the predicted and actual fractional compositions. Apportionment results showed that source of lead ore mining made the largest contribution (33.62 %), followed by atmospheric deposition (30.99 %), metal handcraft manufacture (30.09 %), and natural background (5.29 %).     

Determinants of 14-3-3σ Protein Dimerization and Function in Drug and Radiation Resistance

Many proteins exist and function as homodimers. Understanding the detailed mechanism driving the homodimerization is important and will impact future studies targeting the “undruggable” oncogenic protein dimers. In this study, we used 14-3-3σ as a model homodimeric protein and performed a systematic investigation of the potential roles of amino acid residues in the interface for homodimerization. Unlike other members of the conserved 14-3-3 protein family, 14-3-3σ prefers to form a homodimer with two subareas in the dimeric interface that has 180° symmetry. We found that both subareas of the dimeric interface are required to maintain full dimerization activity. Although the interfacial hydrophobic core residues Leu¹² and Tyr⁸⁴ play important roles in 14-3-3σ dimerization, the non-core residue Phe²⁵ appears to be more important in controlling 14-3-3σ dimerization activity. Interestingly, a similar non-core residue (Val⁸¹) is less important than Phe²⁵ in contributing to 14-3-3σ dimerization. Furthermore, dissociating dimeric 14-3-3σ into monomers by mutating the Leu¹², Phe²⁵, or Tyr⁸⁴ dimerization residue individually diminished the function of 14-3-3σ in resisting drug-induced apoptosis and in arresting cells at G₂/M phase in response to DNA-damaging treatment. Thus, dimerization appears to be required for the function of 14-3-3σ.     

Isolation and Identification of Pathogenicity Mutant of Curvularia lunata via Restriction Enzyme-Mediated Integration

In this report, 156 hygromycin-resistant mutants were generated via restriction enzyme-mediated insertional (REMI) mutagenesis. All mutants were subjected to a bioassay on detached leaves. Five mutants (T4, T39, T71, T91, and T135) showed reduced symptom development, whereas one mutant (T120) did not exhibit any symptoms on the leaves compared with the wild type. The pathogenicity of these mutants was further assayed through the spray inoculation of whole seedlings. The results demonstrated that the pathogenicity of the T4, T39, T71, T91, and T135 mutants was reduced, whereas the T120 mutant lost its pathogenicity. Southern blot analysis revealed that the plasmids were inserted at different sites in the genome with different copy numbers. Flanking sequences approximately 550, 860, and 150 bp were obtained from T7, T91, and T120, respectively through plasmids rescue. Sequence analysis of the flanking sequences from T7 and T91 showed no homology to any known sequences in GenBank. The flanking sequence from the T120 mutant was highly homologous to MAPKK kinases, which regulates sexual/asexual development, melanization, pathogenicity from Cochliobolus heterostrophus. These results indicate that REMI and plasmids rescue have great potential for finding pathogenicity genes.     

桑疫病病原拮抗菌的分离、鉴定及发酵条件优化北大核心CSCD

【目的】从健康桑树内生菌中分离获得对桑疫病病原菌(Pseudomonas syringae pv.mori)具有显著拮抗作用的菌株,优化其产生抑菌活性物质的发酵条件,为其生防利用奠定基础。【方法】从严格表面消毒的桑树根茎中分离内生菌,采用平板划线法纯化内生菌,用抑菌圈法筛选拮抗菌;根据菌株的形态与培养特征、生理生化特性、16S rDNA序列分析对其进行鉴定。通过单因素试验和正交设计试验优化培养基组分及发酵条件。【结果】从健康桑树中分离获得内生菌77株,其中,编号为SWg2的菌株对桑疫病病原菌具有强而稳定的抑制作用。菌株SWg2的形态与培养特征、生理生化特性和泛菌属(Pantoea sp.)相符,而16S rDNA序列分析结果显示它与成团泛菌(P.agglomerans)的亲缘关系接近。研究表明其最佳发酵配方和培养条件为:甘油(2.00%)、硝酸铵(2.00%)、KH2PO4(0.10%)和MgSO4·7H2O(0.15%),起始pH为7.5,装瓶量20 mL/100 mL,最适培养温度为28℃,转速为170 r/min,种子液接种量为4%,摇瓶培养5 d。【结论】经鉴定,对桑疫病病原具拮抗作用的桑树内生菌SWg2为成团泛菌(P.agglomerans),命名为成团泛菌SWg2。对其发酵条件进行优化后对桑疫病病原菌显示出更强的拮抗作用。     

Vibrio zhuhaiensis sp. nov., isolated from a Japanese prawn (Marsupenaeus japonicus)

A Gram-negative, oxidase-positive, facultatively anaerobic bacterium, designated strain E20121, was isolated from the digestive tract of a Japanese prawn (Marsupenaeus japonicus) collected from the coastal sea water area of Zhuhai, Guangdong province, China. The new isolate was determined to be closely related to Vibrio ponticus DSM 16217^T, having 97.6 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity. Phylogenetic analysis based on recA, pyrH and rpoA also showed low levels of sequence similarities (72.6–96.6 %) with all species of the genus Vibrio. A multigene phylogenetic tree using concatenated sequences of the four genes (16S rRNA, rpoA, recA and pyrH) clearly showed that the new isolate is different from the currently known Vibrio species. DNA–DNA hybridization experiments revealed similarity values below 70 % with the closest related species V. ponticus DSM 16217^T. Several phenotypic traits enabled the differentiation of strain E20121 from the closest phylogenetic neighbours. The DNA G+C content of strain E20121 was determined to be 47.6 mol % and the major fatty acid components identified were C_16:1ω7c and/or C_16:1ω6c (39.8 %), C_18:1ω7c (13.6 %) and C_16:0 (9.6 %). Based on genotypic, phenotypic, chemotaxonomic, phylogenetic and DNA–DNA hybridization analyses, strain E20121 is proposed to represent a novel species of the genus Vibrio for which the name Vibrio zhuhaiensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is E20121^T(=DSM 25602^T = CCTCC AB 2011174^T).