来自细菌的魔剪：2020年诺贝尔化学奖

CRISPR-Cas系统是在原核微生物中广泛存在的抵抗病毒(或质粒)入侵的防御系统。基于CRISPR-Cas9系统发展的基因组编辑工具可以方便快捷地实现对生物体内基因组的精确编辑,如突变基因的修复、有益基因的强化和有害基因的删除等,已在生命科学基础研究、经济物种遗传改良和人类医药健康等领域获得广泛应用,其主要发明人Emmanuelle Charpentier和Jennifer A. Doudna教授于2020年荣获诺贝尔化学奖。CRISPR-Cas9基因组编辑技术在深刻改变生命科学与医学领域研究范式的同时,也提示丰富多彩的微生物资源依然是颠覆性生物技术创新的源泉,微生物前沿基础研究具有极其重要的战略意义。     

应用流式细胞术测定绢毛苣属4种8居群基因组大小

以绢毛苣属（Soroseris）植物肉菊（S.umbrella（Franch.）Lipsch）、绢毛苣（S.glomerata（Decne.）Stebbins）、羽裂绢毛苣（S.hirsuta（Anth.）Shih）和金沙绢毛菊（S.gillii（S.Moore）Stebbins）4个种的8个居群为材料,采用WPB和Galbraith's buffer两种裂解液分别处理样品,运用流式细胞术测定DNA含量,并使用常规染色体压片法确定其细胞倍性。结果显示：两种裂解液中,最适于绢毛苣属植物DNA含量测定的裂解液为WPB;4个物种中,羽裂绢毛苣的基因组最小;细胞倍性水平对1Cx-值的影响较小。此外,本研究发现可采用种子萌发形成的幼苗代替难以获取的植物幼嫩叶片作为实验材料。     

Genome Size Evolution Mediated by Gypsy Retrotransposons in Brassicaceae

The dynamic activity of transposable elements (TEs) contributes to the vast diversity of genome size and architecture among plants. Here, we examined the genomic distribution and transposition activity of long terminal repeat retrotransposons (LTR-RTs) in Arabidopsis thaliana (Ath) and three of its relatives, Arabidopsis lyrata (Aly), Eutrema salsugineum (Esa), and Schrenkiella parvula (Spa), in Brassicaceae. Our analyses revealed the distinct evolutionary dynamics of Gypsy retrotransposons, which reflects the different patterns of genome size changes of the four species over the past million years. The rate of Gypsy transposition in Aly is approximately five times more rapid than that of Ath and Esa, suggesting an expanding Aly genome. Gypsy insertions in Esa are strictly confined to pericentromeric heterochromatin and associated with dramatic centromere expansion. In contrast, Gypsy insertions in Spa have been largely suppressed over the last million years, likely as a result of a combination of an inherent molecular mechanism of preferential DNA removal and purifying selection at Gypsy elements. Additionally, species-specific clades of Gypsy elements shaped the distinct genome architectures of Aly and Esa.     

一株鞘氨醇杆菌LF-16的基因组测序与分析

鞘氨醇杆菌属(Sphingobium)是一类具有很强的烷烃、杂环芳香烃降解能力的革兰氏阴性细菌。在NCBI公共数据库报道的95株已测序的鞘氨醇杆菌属基因组中,鲜有和纤维素降解相关。Sphingobium sp.LF-16是在以甘蔗渣为碳源的筛选培养基中筛选得到一株具有纤维素降解能力的菌株。通过对LF-16的基因组测序,得到了一条大小为4.57 Mb,GC含量为64.57%的环状染色体序列,经过基因预测发现该基因组序列共有4340个编码基因,61个转运RNA。使用常用数据库对预测的基因集进行功能注释,获得了4067个编码基因的功能描述信息。通过dbCAN数据库对其编码基因进行分析发现,LF-16共有242个基因的编码产物属于碳水化合物活性酶,其中属于糖苷水解酶家族的有143个,AA家族的辅助蛋白有20个。经分泌组预测,共有488个基因能够分泌到胞外,其中有87个是碳水化合物活性酶。通过与鞘氨醇杆菌属的其他8个菌株的基因组序列进行比较基因组学分析发现LF-16与Sphingobium yanoikuyae SHJ的亲缘关系最近,比除S.yanoikuyae SHJ之外的其他菌株的碳水化合物活性酶的编码基因数量要多20%~30%。     

Mucoromycota: going to the roots of plant-interacting fungi

Many fungi (from micro-to macromycetes) interact with plants as a relevant component of plant microbiota. The aim of the review is to focus on the early diverging fungi (Mucoromycota) whose members establish a wide range of beneficial or pathogenic interactions with their green hosts, depending on their phylogenetic position. While Mortierellomycotina are mostly identified as rhizospheric microbes, Glomeromycotina are acknowledged as the most widespread arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, leading to the establishment of an ancient and ecologically relevant symbiosis with plants. A combination of data from fossils and from novel observations demonstrates how the third subphylum, Mucoromycotina, is a source of so far largely unidentified plant-interacting fungi. In addition to pathogens, other members establish symbiosis with non-vascular plants, Gymnosperms and Angiosperms producing both ecto- and endomycorrhizas.A survey of the so far sequenced genomes illustrates how these fungi share some genetic traits, mirroring their common origin, while other features are specific for each group. In addition to some shared phenotypic traits (aseptate hyphae, multinuclear conditions) endobacteria belonging to the group of Burkholderia-related and to the Mycoplasma-related bacteria are present in many members of the three subphyla, suggesting that the common ancestor was already hosting endobacteria. The review also underlines some idiosyncrasies mostly due to the lack of fossil reports which may confirm phylogenomics as well as the still limited functional data.     

Fe(III)-complexes of the tripodal trishydroxamate siderophore basidiochrome: potential biological implications

One method of mobilization of iron by mycorrhizal organisms is through the secretion of small organic chelators called siderophores. Hydroxamate donor chelators are a common type of siderophore that is frequently used by fungal organisms. The primary siderophore that is produced by fungi from the genera Ceratobasidium and Rhizoctonia is the tripodal trishydroxamate siderophore basidiochrome. To gain some insight into the iron uptake mechanisms of these symbiotic fungi, the iron binding characteristics of basidiochrome were determined. It was found that basidiochrome exhibits a log β₁₁₀ of 27.8 ± 0.1 and a pFe value of 25.0. These values are similar to those of another fungal trishydroxamate siderophore, ferrichrome. The similarity in iron affinity between the two siderophores suggests that the structure of the backbone has little influence in complex formation due to the length of the pendant arms, although the identity of the terminating groups of the pendant arms is likely related to complex stability. The role of basidiochrome in the biogeochemical cycling of iron is also discussed.     

Analytical determination of apparent stability constants using a copper ion selective electrode

Copper(II) complexes of di-, tri- and tetra peptides with previously published protonation constants were re-investigated using pH and copper ion selective electrode (ISE) potentiometry in conjunction with a modified version of HYPERQUAD computer program. The purpose was to demonstrate the suitability of the ISE approach for the determination of apparent stability constants for copper(II) complexes with ligands for which proton stability constants were not available. The interactions of Cu²⁺ with oligopeptides were also analysed using surface enhanced laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-ToF-MS). The results provide an insight into the metal complex species formed, their apparent stabilities under selected conditions and the effect of the relative positions of certain amino acids within the peptide sequence.