Characterization of recombinant L-ribose isomerase acquired from Cryobacterium sp. N21 with potential application in L-ribulose production

l-Ribose isomerase (lRI) is an enzyme that can catalyze the reversible isomerization between l-ribose and l-ribulose. It can also perform the conversion between many aldoses into their corresponding ketoses. l-RI was produced from Cryobacterium sp. N21 (CrL-RIse), and l-ribose was utilized as a substrate. The recombinant l-RI gene was cloned and overexpressed from Cryobacterium sp. N21. The purification of CrL-RIse was performed by metal-affinity chromatography. The enzyme displayed a corresponding band with an approximate size of 35 kDa on the SDS-PAGE analysis. The protein for this gene contains 266 amino acids with an expected molecular weight (M_w) of 29.6 kDa. The measured M_w of CrL-RIse calculated by HPLC was 125 kDa. CrL-RIse was extremely active in glycine buffer at 35 °C, pH 9.0, showing a specific activity of 54.96 U mg⁻¹. CrL-RIse displayed no major increase in activity with metal ions, excluding Mn²⁺. The estimated Km, K_cat, K_cat/Km and V_max values of CrL-RIse were 37.8 mM, 10,416 min⁻¹, 275.43 min⁻¹ mM⁻¹, and 250 U mg⁻¹, respectively. The rate of l-ribulose production was 31 % (6.24, 12.11, and 20.89 g L⁻¹) at equilibrium by utilizing 20, 40, and 70 g L⁻¹ of the substrate, respectively. The results indicated that CrL-RIse has the capability to manufacture l-ribulose from l-ribose.     

Finding the mechanism of esterase D activation by a small molecule

People with reduced esterase D (ESD) activity are susceptible to many diseases. However, how to activate ESD is still unknown. To address the question, we identified that 4-chloro-2-(5-phenyl-1-(pyridin-2-yl)-4, 5-dihydro-1H-pyrazol-3-yl) phenol (FPD5) could be a good candidate activator for ESD activity. We found that FPD5 could increase ESD activity in a dose-dependent way. FPD5 bound directly to ESD at Lys180 rather than its ubiquitination site Lys213. Site-directed mutagenesis at the binding site or the ubiquitination site inhibited FPD5 action. FPD5 increased the level of ESD mono-ubiquitination and mutESD K213A completely inhibited this action. Our findings highlighted the activation mechanism of ESD via promoting the mono-ubiquitination of ESD.     

Comparison of intracellular glutathione and related antioxidant enzymes: Impact of two glycosylated whey hydrolysates

The effects of two glycosylated whey hydrolysates (GWH-Gal A and GWH-Gal B) on glutathione (GSH) and related antioxidant enzymes in SGC-7901 cells were evaluated. Two whey glycosylated hydrolysates promoted an increase in reduced glutathione (GSH) in normal SGC-7901 cells. GSH, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), γ-glutamine cysteine synthetaase (γ-GCS), and catalase (CAT) at 1.0 and 2.0 mg/mL in normal SGC-7901 cells were higher in the GWH-Gal A group than in the GWH-Gal B group (P < 0.05). Compared with GWH-Gal B, GWH-Gal A more strongly inhibited decreases in intracellular GSH, GPx, γ-GCS, CAT, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in H₂O₂-induced SGC-7901 cells. Compared with GWH-Gal B, GWH-Gal A at 1.0 and 2.0 mg/mL effectively inhibited increases in lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in H₂O₂-induced SGC-7901 cells (P < 0.05). Therefore, GSH content and related antioxidant enzyme activity levels (GPx, γ-GCS, CAT, SOD) in both normal and H₂O₂-induced SGC-7901 cells were considerably stronger in the GWH-Gal A group than in the GWH-Gal B group.     

Design,synthesis and biological evaluation of 3-hydroxyquinazoline-2,4(1H,3H)-diones as dual inhibitors of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase-associated RNase H and integrase

A novel series of 3-hydroxyquinazoline-2,4(1H,3H)-diones derivatives has been designed and synthesized. Their biochemical characterization revealed that most of the compounds were effective inhibitors of HIV-1 RNase H activity at sub to low micromolar concentrations. Among them, II-4 was the most potent in enzymatic assays, showing an IC₅₀ value of 0.41 ± 0.13 μM, almost five times lower than the IC₅₀ obtained with β-thujaplicinol. In addition, II-4 was also effective in inhibiting HIV-1 IN strand transfer activity (IC₅₀ = 0.85 ± 0.18 μM) but less potent than raltegravir (IC₅₀ = 71 ± 14 nM). Despite its relatively low cytotoxicity, the efficiency of II-4 in cell culture was limited by its poor membrane permeability. Nevertheless, structure-activity relationships and molecular modeling studies confirmed the importance of tested 3-hydroxyquinazoline-2,4(1H,3H)-diones as useful leads for further optimization.     

青海省雏蝗属一新种记述：（直翅目：蝗总科：网翅蝗科）

在整理由青海省采得蝗虫标本时,发现1新种,记述如下。模式标本保存于山东大学生物系。青海雏蝗Chorthippus qinghaiensis,新种(图1—8) 雄:体小型。头部短于前胸背板。头顶平,侧缘明显隆起,顶锐角形。头侧窝狭长方形,长为宽的3.3倍。颜面向后倾斜,颜面隆起纵沟较浅,具刻点,侧缘在中眼处略狭。触角丝状,中段一节长为宽的1.4倍。复眼较小,卵圆形,纵径为横径的1.3倍,     

珠三角城市群区域生态系统服务供需均衡关系

生态系统服务供需均衡关系分析为生态系统管理提供了详实的科学基础信息。基于土地利用、气象和社会经济等多源数据,采用遥感反演、水量平衡方程、修正的通用土壤流失方程和植被净生产力模型(CASA)等方法,分别评估了1990—2015年珠三角城市群粮食供给、产水服务、固碳释氧和土壤保持服务;采用相关社会经济指标核算了生态系统服务的需求量;进而揭示了栅格、县域和市域多尺度的生态系统服务供需均衡关系及其时空演变特征。研究发现：(1)除粮食供给外,产水服务、固碳释氧和土壤保持服务呈波动性增加的趋势,增幅分别为52.2%、21.8%和73.4%;在空间上表现为中部平原地区服务水平低,低山丘陵地带高的分布特征。(2)除土壤保持服务外,粮食供给、产水服务和固碳释氧服务需求量不断增加,增幅分别为10.1%、17.5%和769.4%;中部平原地区生态系统服务需求量大,低山丘陵地带小。(3)除土壤保持和产水服务外,粮食供给、固碳释氧及综合服务供需指数不断下降,其中,2015年粮食供给和固碳释氧供需指数分别为-0.47和-0.71。研究结果可为决策者了解区域的生态系统服务供需均衡匹配状况提供科学基础信息,直接服务并...     

基于水足迹的山东省农业水土资源匹配特征及短缺压力分析

高强度农业开发引起的农业水土资源生态问题日益增多,探究粮食及蔬菜（粮蔬）生产中水土资源空间配置及短缺压力对农业资源的可持续利用具有重要意义。从水足迹视角出发,分析了山东省3种主要粮食作物（冬小麦、玉米及大豆）和两种不同种植模式蔬菜（设施蔬菜和露地蔬菜）的生产水足迹空间特征;同时将资源数量及资源质量的概念纳入研究框架,分析了农业水土资源数量及质量匹配格局差异,并进一步探究了农业水土资源短缺压力及其影响因素。研究结果表明：（1）2019年,山东省粮食和蔬菜的生产总水足迹为811亿m³,其中粮食生产总水足迹占比78.50%,蔬菜生产总水足迹占比21.50%;粮蔬生产水足迹受地势影响明显,鲁西北及鲁西南平原地区的粮蔬生产水足迹占比较大。（2）考虑资源数量的水土资源匹配系数均值为0.622×10⁴ m³/hm²,考虑资源质量的匹配系数均值为0.416×10⁴ m³/hm²;水土资源数量及质量匹配系数在空间上呈现出一致性,表明山东省农业生产水土资源空间配置水平高的地区同时面临着较大的农业面源污染压力。（3）整体上,土地资源短缺压力略高于水资源短缺压力;基于生产视角的水土资源短缺压力受生产环境因素制约显著,受经济发展因素的影响具有差异性,社会因素对水土资源短缺压力无显著影响。研究可为农业资源可持续管理提供数据基础,为全面理解粮蔬生产所产生的水土资源短缺提供案例参考。     

Vegetable biology and breeding in the genomics era

Vegetable crops provide a rich source of essential nutrients for humanity and represent critical economic values to global rural societies. However, genetic studies of vegetable crops have lagged behind major food crops, such as rice, wheat and maize, thereby limiting the application of molecular breeding. In the past decades, genome sequencing technologies have been increasingly applied in genetic studies and breeding of vegetables. In this review, we recapitulate recent progress on reference genome construction, population genomics and the exploitation of multi-omics datasets in vegetable crops. These advances have enabled an in-depth understanding of their domestication and evolution, and facilitated the genetic dissection of numerous agronomic traits, which jointly expedites the exploitation of state-of-the-art biotechnologies in vegetable breeding. We further provide perspectives of further directions for vegetable genomics and indicate how the ever-increasing omics data could accelerate genetic, biological studies and breeding in vegetable crops.