Improved generation of C57BL/6J mouse embryonic stem cells in a defined serum-free media

C57BL/6 is a well-characterized mouse strain that is used extensively for immunological and neurological research. The establishment of C57BL/6 ES cell lines has facilitated the study of gene-altered mice in a pure genetic background-however, relatively few such lines exist. Using a defined media supplement, knockout serum replacement (KSR) with knockout DMEM (KSR-KDMEM), we find that we can readily establish ES cell lines from blastocysts of C57BL/6J mice. Six lines were established, all of which were karyotypically normal and could be maintained in the undifferentiated state on mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) feeders. One line was further tested and found to be karyotypically stable and germline competent, both prior to manipulation and after gene targeting. For this cell line, efficiencies of cell cloning and chimera generation were greater when maintained in KSR-KDMEM. Our work suggests that the use of defined serum-free media may facilitate the generation of ES cells from inbred mouse strains.     

Genetic variability of respiratory complex abundance,organization and activity in mouse brain

Mitochondrial dysfunction is implicated in the etiology and pathogenesis of numerous human disorders involving tissues with high energy demand. Murine models are widely used to elucidate genetic determinants of phenotypes relevant to human disease, with recent studies of C57BL/6J (B6), DBA/2J (D2) and B6xD2 populations implicating naturally occurring genetic variation in mitochondrial function/dysfunction. Using blue native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, immunoblots and in‐gel activity analyses of complexes I, II, III, IV and V, our studies are the first to assess abundance, organization and catalytic activity of mitochondrial respiratory complexes and supercomplexes in mouse brain. Remarkable strain differences in supercomplex assembly and associated activity are evident, without differences in individual complexes I, II, III or IV. Supercomplexes I₁III₂IV_2–3 exhibit robust complex III immunoreactivity and activities of complexes I and IV in D2, but with little detected in B6 for I₁III₂IV₂, and I₁III₂IV₃ is not detected in B6. I₁III₂IV₁ and I₁III₂ are abundant and catalytically active in both strains, but significantly more so in B6. Furthermore, while supercomplex III₂IV₁ is abundant in D2, none is detected in B6. In aggregate, these results indicate a shift toward more highly assembled supercomplexes in D2. Respiratory supercomplexes are thought to increase electron flow efficiency and individual complex stability, and to reduce electron leak and generation of reactive oxygen species. Our results provide a framework to begin assessing the role of respiratory complex suprastructure in genetic vulnerability and treatment for a wide variety of mitochondrial‐related disorders .     

辽东山区落叶松人工林地上生物量和养分元素分配格局

落叶松是我国北方最主要的人工用材林树种,由于人工林树种单一、结构简单等原因,导致土壤养分循环出现失衡.研究落叶松生物量和养分元素分配规律,可以为落叶松人工林的合理经营和养分循环研究提供科学参考.本文以辽东山区19年生二代落叶松人工林(胸径12.8 cm,树高15.3 m,密度2308株·hm^-2)为对象,研究其地上各器官(干、枝、皮、叶)生物量、碳和养分元素含量(N、P、K、Ca、Mg、Fe、Mn、Cu、Zn)的积累规律和分配格局.结果表明：单株落叶松生物量为70.26 kg,林分水平落叶松生物量为162.16 t·hm^-2,各器官生物量差异显著,排序为：树干>树枝>树皮>树叶;单株落叶松养分积累量为749.94 g,林分水平落叶松养分积累量为1730.86 kg·hm^-2,其中,大量元素和微量元素的养分积累量均为树干显著高于树枝、树皮和树叶.全叶期每砍伐一棵落叶松(19年生),平均从系统中带出749.94 g养分元素;如果将树皮、树枝、树叶留在林地仅仅带走树干,带出的养分元素可减少40.7%.
     

Toward a more expansive conception of ecological science

There are two competing conceptions of the nature and domain of ecological science in the popular and academic literature, an orthodox conception and a more expansive conception. The orthodox conception conceives ecology as a natural biological science distinct from the human social sciences. The more expansive conception views ecology as a science whose domain properly spans both the natural and social sciences. On the more expansive conception, non-traditional ecological disciplines such as ecological psychology, ecological anthropology and ecological economics may legitimately be regarded as sub-disciplines of ecology, and the practitioners of such disciplines as ecologists. The orthodox-expansionist issue is significant both for the practice of ecology and for the self-identity of the philosophy of ecology. I argue in favour of the expansionist conception of ecology on general conceptual grounds, and by developing the case for one particular non-traditional ecological discipline, ecological psychology.     

新型抗生素抗性基因传播元件ISCR及其生态风险

抗生素抗性基因(antibiotic resistance genes, ARGs)作为一种新型的环境污染物,成为多个学科关注的焦点.其在不同环境介质中的扩散和传播具有极大的环境危害性,对人类健康造成严重威胁.插入序列共同区(insertion sequence common region, ISCR),是一种新发现的抗性基因传播元件,因其特殊的遗传结构,能够通过滚环复制及同源重组等机制移动邻近的任何DNA序列,是ARGs在不同DNA分子或不同种属细菌间水平传播的高效媒介.目前世界上发现了27种ISCR元件.大量间接证据表明,ISCR可能与许多耐药基因的移动和扩散有关,特别是多重耐药性(multiple drug resistance, MDR)形成与传播.因此,ISCR很可能是抗生素抗性基因在环境中扩散传播的关键因子.本文就ARGs水平传播、ISCR结构特征、ISCR种类及其相关ARGs及其研究方法等进行综述,并揭示ISCR元件可能的生态风险,提出了今后的研究重点,以期为今后深入开展相关研究打下基础.     

The T-cell receptor: just another hypothesis.

Functional activities of T and B lymphocytes and the kinetics of hematopoietic stem cells were studied in mice with inoculated or spontaneous tumors. The development and growth of the tumor inhibited B cells and helper T cells, while the activity of killer T cells and spleen suppressor cells was markedly enhanced. The processes of stem cell migration from the bone marrow were considerably intensified and altered in tumor-bearing mice. Data were obtained suggesting that helper T cells and killer T cells represent nonidentical compartments within the population of thymus-dependent lymphocytes. Immunosuppression during tumor bearing is probably due to an impairment of T lymphocytes cooperating in immune responses, B-lymphocytes and their precursors.     

Transient Expression of Opioid Receptors in Defined Regions of Developing Brain: Are Embryonic Receptors Selective?

The developmental profile of opioid receptors was studied in rat and guinea pig striatum and hippocampus. The two brain regions show different receptor profiles during development, which are characteristic for each animal. Yet, both tissues and animal species share one common feature; the binding of the universal opioid ligand [3H]diprenorphine per milligram of protein is high at the early embryonic period, it decreases toward birth, and then gradually increases to the adult levels. This apparent transient expression of the receptors during the early developmental stage was manifested in the guinea pig as an actual decrease in the total receptor number. As an attempt to characterize the receptors involved in this process, the binding of the selective mu-opioid ligand [3H]Tyr-D-Ala-Gly-MePhe-NH(CH2)OH [( 3H]DAGO) was studied in striatal membranes of young (P1) and adult (P60) rats. Competition between [3H]DAGO and the delta-selective peptide Tyr-D-Pen-Gly-Phe-D-Pen (DPDPE) shows higher affinity of the delta opioid to P1 membranes than to P60 membranes, though the number of delta receptors in P1 membranes is very small. This observation is in line with a previous study suggesting that opioid receptors in embryonic striatum and hippocampus are less selective to various opioids than those of adult brain. An additional difference between adult and embryonic tissue was observed on Scatchard analysis of [3H]DAGO binding; striatum P60 membranes exhibit one binding site with a KD of 0.8 +/- 0.1 nM and Hill coefficient of 0.96, whereas striatum P1 membranes bind the peptide in an apparent cooperative fashion with an overall Hill coefficient of 1.30.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

The role of parental investments for cognitive and noncognitive skill formation—Evidence for the first 11 years of life

This paper examines the impact of parental investments on the development of cognitive, mental and emotional skills during childhood using data from a longitudinal study, the Mannheim Study of Children at Risk, starting at birth. Our work offers three important innovations. First, we use reliable measures of the child's cognitive, mental and emotional skills as well as accurate measures of parental investments. The observed investments include parental health behaviour, playing and talking with the child, play materials, leisure activities and others. Second, we estimate latent factor models to account for unobserved characteristics of children. Third, we examine the skill development for girls and boys separately, as well as for children who were born with either organic or psychosocial risk. We find a decreasing impact of parental investments on cognitive and mental skills over time, while emotional skills seem to be unaffected by parental investments in childhood. Thus, inequality at birth persists during childhood. Since families are the main sources of education during the first years of life, our results have important implications for the quality of the parent-child relationship. Improving maternal health during pregnancy and parental investments in infancy can yield large benefits for cognitive and mental development later in childhood.     

Effects of divalent metal cations on lovastatin biosynthesis from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aspergillus terreus</Emphasis> in chemically defined medium

Effects of six divalent metal cations: Fe²⁺, Ca²⁺, Zn²⁺, Mg²⁺, Cu²⁺and Mn²⁺ on fungal cell growth and lovastatin biosynthesis were investigated by submerged cultivation of Aspergillus terreus in a modified chemically defined medium. The influences of different initial concentrations of the above six metal cations were also examined at 1, 2, and 5 mM, respectively. Cu²⁺ apparently inhibited the cell growth, but had no influence on biosynthesis of lovastatin. All of Fe²⁺, Ca²⁺, Zn²⁺, Mg²⁺ and Mn²⁺ promoted the cell growth and lovastatin biosynthesis in different extents. The highest biomass of 13.8 ± 0.5 g l⁻¹ and specific lovastatin titres of 49.2 ± 1.4 mg gDCW⁻¹ were obtained at the level of 2 and 5 mM in the presence of Zn²⁺, respectively. The values were improved double and 14.4-fold. Excess Zn²⁺ inhibited the cell growth, but enhanced lovastatin biosynthesis with an increment of 17.6 mg l⁻¹ per mM. The interactions of all metal cations slightly inhibited the lovastatin production comparing with the existence of Zn²⁺, Fe²⁺ and Mg²⁺ solely, yet remarkably improved the cell growth. These results suggest that the divalent metal ions Zn²⁺ or Fe²⁺ influence the production by regulating the action of key enzymes such as LovD or LovF in lovastatin biosynthesis.     

玉米螟P450基因cDNA的克隆及植物次生物质对其诱导表达

昆虫细胞色素P450是一类在生物代谢中起重要作用的基因家族,承担着许多重要的生 理功能,包括对植物次生物质代谢和杀虫剂解毒等.本研究以玉米螟5龄幼虫中肠的总RNA为 模板,根据不同昆虫P450基因家族保守氨基酸序列,设计并合成简并引物,利用RT-PCR扩 增出了玉米螟细胞色素P450基因cDNA片段,将其克隆到pMD19 T载体进行序列测定.测序获得了编码213个氨基酸残基的641 bp的DNA片段,命名为OfP450(GenBank登录号：EU807990) ;与已公布的棉铃虫、家蚕、欧洲防风草结网毛虫、小菜蛾和黑腹果蝇等的细胞色素P450氨基酸序列进行比较,其一致性分别为55％、50％、49％、44％和31％.将植物次生物质棉酚、丁布添加入人工饲料中,对玉米螟进行了饲喂实验,采用优化半定量RT-PCR,以18S rRNA为内标,RT-PCR检测进食棉酚、丁布植物化合物的玉米螟中肠P450基因的转录. 结果表明,其转录水平能被棉酚、丁布显著诱导. 提示本实验克隆的玉米螟细胞色素P450对植物次生物质的代谢作用与P450表达量呈正相关.该研究为下一步将植物介导的RNA干扰技术应用于害虫生物防治提供坚实的基础.