Effect of externally added carnitine on the synthesis of acetylcholine in rat cerebral cortex cells

Acetylcholine synthesis from radiolabelled glucose was monitored in cerebral cortex cells isolated from brains of suckling and adult rats. Acetylcholine synthesis was found much higher in suckling animals, both in the absence and presence of acetylcholinesterase (acetylcholine hydrolase, EC 3.1.1.7) inhibitor, paraoxon. Together with choline (20 μM), carnitine was found to stimulate acetylcholine synthesis in a synergistic way in cortex cells from adult rats (18%). Choline, however, was incapable of reversing an inhibitory effect exerted by carnitine on acetylcholine synthesis in cortex cells from suckling animals. Distribution of carnitine derivatives was found significantly different in the cells from young and old animals, the content of acetylcarnitine decreased with age with a corresponding increase of free carnitine. The observed differences in carnitine effect on acetylcholine synthesis suggested that high acetylcarnitine in cells capable of β-oxidation might be correlated with the lower level of acetylcholine synthesis.     

Anti-salmonella properties of kefir yeast isolates: An in vitro screening for potential infection control

The rise of antibiotic resistance has increased the need for alternative ways of preventing and treating enteropathogenic bacterial infection. Various probiotic bacteria have been used in animal and human. However, Saccharomyces boulardii is the only yeast currently used in humans as probiotic. There is scarce research conducted on yeast species commonly found in kefir despite its claimed potential preventative and curative effects. This work focused on adhesion properties, and antibacterial metabolites produced by Kluyveromyces lactis and Saccharomyces unisporus isolated from traditional kefir grains compared to Saccharomyces boulardii strains. Adhesion and sedimentation assay, slide agglutination, microscopy and turbidimetry assay were used to analyze adhesion of Salmonella Arizonae and Salmonella Typhimurium onto yeast cells. Salmonella growth inhibition due to the antimicrobial metabolites produced by yeasts in killer toxin medium was analyzed by slab on the lawn, turbidimetry, tube dilution and solid agar plating assays. Alcohol and antimicrobial proteins production by yeasts in killer toxin medium were analyzed using gas chromatography and shotgun proteomics, respectively. Salmonella adhered onto viable and non-viable yeast isolates cell wall. Adhesion was visualized using scanning electron microscope. Yeasts-fermented killer toxin medium showed Salmonella growth inhibition. The highest alcohol concentration detected was 1.55%, and proteins with known antimicrobial properties including cathelicidin, xanthine dehydrogenase, mucin-1, lactadherin, lactoperoxidase, serum amyloid A protein and lactotransferrin were detected in yeasts fermented killer medium. These proteins are suggested to be responsible for the observed growth inhibition effect of yeasts-fermented killer toxin medium. Kluyveromyces lactis and Saccharomyces unisporus have anti-salmonella effect comparable to Saccharomyces boulardii strains, and therefore have potential to control Salmonella infection.     

Antifungal effect of CopA3 monomer peptide via membrane-active mechanism and stability to proteolysis of enantiomeric d-CopA3

In our previous study, coprisin, a 43-mer defensin-like peptide, was derived from the dung beetle, Copris tripartitus, and a 9-mer CopA3 (monomer), truncated coprisin analog peptide, was designed. However, the antifungal effects of CopA3 are not known yet. In this study, the antifungal activity and mechanism of CopA3 were investigated and to develop a more effective antimicrobial peptide under physiological conditions, the enantiomeric d-CopA3 was designed. l- and d-CopA3 had a similar antifungal activity without chiral selectivity, and their activity was more potent than that of melittin used as a positive control. Furthermore, l- and d-CopA3 did not even show any hemolysis against human erythrocytes. Membrane studies using propidium iodide and bis-(1,3-dibutylbarbituric acid) trimethine oxonol [DiBAC₄(3)], suggested that the antifungal effect of l- and d-CopA3 was due to the membrane-active mechanism, by contrast with coprisin possessing apoptotic mechanism without membrane permeabilization. Finally, the proteolytic resistance and antifungal activity of l- and d-CopA3 against trypsin was analyzed by HPLC and colony count assay. The results showed that only d-CopA3 maintained a potent antifungal activity despite the proteolytic condition. Therefore, this study suggests that d-CopA3 has potential as a novel antimicrobial agent.     

The effect of post-treatment with caffeine on survival and UV-induced mutation frequencies in Chinese hamster and mouse lymphoma cells in vitro

The effect of post-treatment with caffeine on the survival of a number of cell lines after UV-irradiation has been studied. The mouse lymphoma cell lines P388 and L5178YS were sensitized by caffeine but only after UV doses of 50 erg/mm² and above. V79 cells also showed sensitization by caffeine but CHO cells and two cell lines YS and YR derived from Yoshida sarcoma of rats, sensitive and resistant to UV radiation, respectively, showed no effect.P388 and V79 cells were both mutable by UV, and caffeine, when studied at a single expression time (42–48 h) and at a single dose level (0.5 M and 0.75 M, respectively) suppressed the UV-induced mutation frequency in both cell lines. L51788YS cells although sensitized by caffeine showed no increase in frequency of thymidine-resistant (TdR^r) colonies when irradiated with UV.On more detaled examination, caffeine was found to delay the expression of UV-induced mutations inV79 cells, and the delay was dependent on the dose of caffine used. The effect on expression time was less when caffeine was present 0–48 h than when it was present throughout the post-irradiation incubation period. Similar results were obtained in P388 cells.The data are discussed in relation to those of other workers and to the concept that caffeine inhibits an error prone post-replication repair process in mammalian cells     

珊瑚礁生态脆弱性评价--以泰国思仓岛为例

珊瑚礁生态系统受到环境变化、人类活动等各种因素的严重威胁,保护珊瑚礁生态系统是目前全球海洋生态保护的热点,对珊瑚礁开展定量的生态脆弱性评估能够为保护管理对策的制定提供重要科学依据。本研究选取泰国思仓岛作为研究区域,结合空间分析技术建立了具有通用性的珊瑚礁生态脆弱性评估方法。基于ESA模型构建了珊瑚礁生态脆弱性综合指数和评价指标体系,系统分析了思仓岛珊瑚礁脆弱性的来源、构成,并直观展现了脆弱性的区域空间分布。结果表明:思仓岛研究区东北侧的珊瑚礁生态脆弱性大于西南侧,当地珊瑚礁的关键影响因子分别为驳船排污、港口码头、水体透明度等。根据脆弱性评价的结果,提出了当地珊瑚礁保护与修复的空间分区管理对策。本研究为印度-太平洋区系珊瑚礁生态脆弱性评价提供了可行的示例,也为中国的珊瑚礁可持续管理研究提供了借鉴和参照。     

基于GIS的滨海盐渍化农田土壤空间变异及其分区管理

针对滨海盐渍化农田盐碱瘠薄、土壤属性空间变异大、粗放管理效益低的现实,研究管理分区精准划分方法,采取差异化措施,提升盐渍化土地利用水平。该文以无棣县农田为研究区,采用网格法结合土地利用现状定点野外采样、室内化验分析获取土壤属性数据,运用ArcGIS 10.2地统计方法分析土壤属性的空间变异特征;在MATLAB R2016a中采用模糊c-均值聚类法（FCM）计算各样点的模糊隶属度,通过插值预测模糊隶属度的空间分布,基于最大隶属度原则进行分区;通过变异性分析和最小极差法（LSR）差异显著性检验,对分区结果进行精度验证。结果表明：无棣县农田土壤总体呈轻中度盐渍化,有效氮含量偏低,有机质、有效磷含量中等,速效钾含量较高;有机质、有效氮、有效磷、速效钾和含盐量呈中等变异性（变异系数25.0%-52.3%）,空间变异性较大,应分区调控;速效钾、含盐量和pH的块金效应值小于25%,主要受土壤质地、地下水矿化度等结构因素影响,有机质、有效氮和有效磷的块金效应值在50%-75%之间,受耕作方式、施肥等人为因素影响较大。将全县农田划分为3类管理区,估算面积分别为2.56万hm²、1.76万hm²、3.24万hm²;各分区土壤养分变异系数分别为23.9%-51.5%、15.9%-50.3%、14.7%-33.0%,检验结果表明各分区间差异显著,而各分区内部变异性明显低于未分区。管理分区与土壤属性空间分布特征具有较高的拟合度,分区结果可以作为差异化管理的作业单元。研究结果为各分区内部统一、不同分区间差异化管理提供了依据,研究有助于推进滨海盐渍化农田精准化管理水平的提高。     

基于无人机的冬小麦拔节期表层土壤有机质含量遥感反演

快速监测大面积分布的盐渍化麦田土壤有机质含量,可为推进盐渍土改良和促进碳循环研究提供数据支撑。通过野外采样与获取无人机遥感影像,分别基于裸土和植被情况,采用多元线性回归(MLR)、偏最小二乘回归(PLSR)和支持向量机回归(SVR)3种方法,建立区域有机质含量遥感模型,并进行检验和对比,确定最优的土壤有机质含量反演模型;最后基于最优模型进行研究区表层土壤有机质的反演,并与插值结果进行比较。结果表明: 经5×5的中值滤波处理后的光谱与土壤表层有机质对应最优;3种模型中,SVR模型的预测精度最高,PLSR次之,MLR效果最差。对比两种变量的建模效果,基于植被的SVR建模效果最好,其建模决定系数(R²)、均方根误差(RMSE)分别为0.89、0.20,验证R²、RMSE分别为0.82、0.24;基于裸土的建模效果不理想,最优的也是SVR模型,其建模R²、RMSE分别为0.63、0.26,验证R²、RMSE分别为0.61、0.25。根据最优模型反演得到该区域有机质含量为17.51～22.53 g·kg^-1,平均值为19.51 g·kg^-1,与实地调查结果较为一致;插值结果与反演结果相比,精度受到限制。综上,基于无人机多光谱可以对盐渍土冬小麦拔节期土壤有机质含量进行快速、大范围精准估测。