Battling for Ribosomes: Translational Control at the Forefront of the Antiviral Response

In the early stages of infection, gaining control of the cellular protein synthesis machinery including its ribosomes is the ultimate combat objective for a virus. To successfully replicate, viruses unequivocally need to usurp and redeploy this machinery for translation of their own mRNA. In response, the host triggers global shutdown of translation while paradoxically allowing swift synthesis of antiviral proteins as a strategy to limit collateral damage. This fundamental conflict at the level of translational control defines the outcome of infection. As part of this special issue on molecular mechanisms of early virus–host cell interactions, we review the current state of knowledge regarding translational control during viral infection with specific emphasis on protein kinase RNA-activated and mammalian target of rapamycin-mediated mechanisms. We also describe recent technological advances that will allow unprecedented insight into how viruses and host cells battle for ribosomes.     

闽江和漓江暗鳜mtDNA控制区序列差异分析

为解决暗鳜(Siniperca obscura)在分类上的争议,利用PCR和直接测序法分析了闽江和漓江13尾暗鳜mtDNA控制区的序列差异。在长度813bp的同源序列中,共发现71个变异位点,占分析位点总数的8.73%;定义了11个单倍型,其中闽江群体7个,漓江群体4个,两群体之间没有共享单倍型,且有37个鉴别位点。两群体间的核苷酸歧义度(Dxy)为5.421%±1.129%。分子方差分析(AMOVA)得出两群体间的固定指数(Fst)为0.852(P<0.001)。构建的NJ亲缘关系树中,闽江暗鳜和漓江暗鳜各自组群,明显分为两支。这些表明闽江和漓江暗鳜群体之间出现了显著的遗传分化,其分化可能与南岭山脉的隆起形成有关。     

Protease signalling in cell death: caspases versus cysteine cathepsins

Proteases were, for a long time, mainly considered as protein degrading enzymes. However, in the last decade this view has changed dramatically, and the focus is now on proteases as signalling molecules. One of the best examples is apoptosis, the major mechanism used by eukaryotes to remove superfluous, damaged and potentially dangerous cells, in which a number of proteases have been found to play a central role. Of these the caspases have been considered to be the major players. However, more recently, other proteases have been increasingly suggested as being important in apoptosis, in particular the cysteine cathepsins. In this review the roles of caspases and cysteine cathepsins in apoptosis signalling are compared and discussed.     

Chimeric mitochondrial minichromosomes of the human body louse, Pediculus humanus: evidence for homologous and non-homologous recombination

The mitochondrial (mt) genome of the human body louse, Pediculus humanus, consists of 18 minichromosomes. Each minichromosome is 3 to 4 kb long and has 1 to 3 genes. There is unequivocal evidence for recombination between different mt minichromosomes in P. humanus. It is not known, however, how these minichromosomes recombine. Here, we report the discovery of eight chimeric mt minichromosomes in P. humanus. We classify these chimeric mt minichromosomes into two groups: Group I and Group II. Group I chimeric minichromosomes contain parts of two different protein-coding genes that are from different minichromosomes. The two parts of protein-coding genes in each Group I chimeric minichromosome are joined at a microhomologous nucleotide sequence; microhomologous nucleotide sequences are hallmarks of non-homologous recombination. Group II chimeric minichromosomes contain all of the genes and the non-coding regions of two different minichromosomes. The conserved sequence blocks in the non-coding regions of Group II chimeric minichromosomes resemble the "recombination repeats" in the non-coding regions of the mt genomes of higher plants. These repeats are essential to homologous recombination in higher plants. Our analyses of the nucleotide sequences of chimeric mt minichromosomes indicate both homologous and non-homologous recombination between minichromosomes in the mitochondria of the human body louse.     

Cloning and characterization of a novel 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase gene from Salvia miltiorrhiza involved in diterpenoid tanshinone accumulation

The 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGR) catalyzes the conversion of HMG-CoA to mevalonate (MVA), which is a rate-limiting step in the isoprenoid biosynthesis via the MVA pathway. In this study, the full-length cDNA encoding HMGR (designated as SmHMGR2, GenBank accession no. FJ747636) was isolated from Salvia miltiorrhiza by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). The cloned gene was then transformed into the hairy root of S. miltiorrhiza, and the enzyme activity and production of diterpenoid tanshinones and squalene were monitored. The full-length cDNA of SmHMGR2 comprises 1959 bp, with a 1653-bp open reading frame encoding a 550-amino-acid protein. Molecular modeling showed that SmHMGR2 is a new HMGR with a spatial structure similar to other plant HMGRs. SmHMGR2 contains two HMG-CoA-binding motifs and two NADP(H)-binding motifs. The SmHMGR2 catalytic domain can form a homodimer. The deduced protein has an isoelectric point of 6.28 and a calculated molecular weight of approximately 58.67 kDa. Sequence comparison analysis showed that SmHMGR2 had the highest homology to HMGR from Atractylodes lancea. As expected, a phylogenetic tree analysis indicates that SmHMGR2 belongs to plant HMGR group. Tissue expression pattern analysis shows that SmHMGR2 is strongly expressed in the leaves, stem, and roots. Functional complementation of SmHMGR2 in HMGR-deficient mutant yeast JRY2394 demonstrates that SmHMGR2 mediates the MVA biosynthesis in yeasts. Overexpression of SmHMGR2 increased enzyme activity and enhanced the production of tanshinones and squalene in cultured hairy roots of S. miltiorrhiza. Our DNA gel blot analysis has confirmed the presence and integration of the associated SmHMGR2 gene. SmHMGR2 is a novel and important enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of diterpenoid tanshinones in S. miltiorrhiza.     

Comparative genomic analysis of dinucleotide repeats in Tritryps

The protozoans Trypanosoma cruzi, Trypanosoma brucei and Leishmania major (Tritryps), are evolutionarily ancient eukaryotes which cause worldwide human parasitosis. They present unique biological features. Indeed, canonical DNA/RNA cis-acting elements remain mostly elusive. Repetitive sequences, originally considered as selfish DNA, have been lately recognized as potentially important functional sequence elements in cell biology. In particular, the dinucleotide patterns have been related to genome compartmentalization, gene evolution and gene expression regulation. Thus, we perform a comparative analysis of the occurrence, length and location of dinucleotide repeats (DRs) in the Tritryp genomes and their putative associations with known biological processes. We observe that most types of DRs are more abundant than would be expected by chance. Complementary DRs usually display asymmetrical strand distribution, favoring TT and GT repeats in the coding strands. In addition, we find that GT repeats are among the longest DRs in the three genomes. We also show that specific DRs are non-uniformly distributed along the polycistronic unit, decreasing toward its boundaries. Distinctive non-uniform density patterns were also found in the intergenic regions, with predominance at the vicinity of the ORFs. These findings further support that DRs may control genome structure and gene expression.     

Genetic analysis of seven Italian horse breeds based on mitochondrial DNA D‐loop variation

To understand the origin and genetic diversity of Italian horses, mitochondrial DNA D‐loop sequences were generated for 163 horses from seven breeds. Sequence analysis of a 480‐bp segment revealed a total of 84 haplotypes with 57 polymorphic sites, indicating multiple maternal origins and high genetic diversity. Comparison of the haplotypes with the equine mtDNA haplotype/haplogroup nomenclature showed a haplogroup distribution in the Italian breeds more similar to that found in the Middle East breeds than in the European breeds, probably due to the economic and cultural relationship with the Middle East in the past centuries.     

一株紫罗兰蓝色素产生菌的分离、鉴定及其活性产物的特性分析

[目的]调查秦巴山地区微生物物种的多样性,建立用于活性产物筛选的微生物代谢产物库和菌种资源库,通过数据库平台进行资源共享.[方法]采用不同的分离方法,分离存在于不同生境的微生物类群,通过形态、生理生化及分子生物手段鉴定菌种,发酵并通过甲醇提取代谢产物.[结果]从本地区土壤样本中分离获得一株产水溶性紫罗兰蓝色素的放线菌Str-4331,在高氏培养基上其气生菌丝为白色,产生水溶性紫罗兰色素,镜检观察孢子丝螺旋形,孢子椭圆形至长圆形,通过形态、生理生化特征初步确定为链霉菌.利用ClustalX对其16S rRNA进行序列比对,用Neighbor-Joining (NJ)构建系统发育树,并用Bootstraping法对其评价.实验结果表明,该菌基因序列与砖红链霉菌(Streptomyces lateritius) LMG 19372基因序列有99％的最高相似性.抑菌试验表明,活性产物具有较强的抗革兰氏阳性细菌活性.色素在水溶液中颜色随着pH的变化而变化.质谱分析显示3个主要化合物,分子量分别为557.68、588.43、485.18 kD,其中分子量为557.68 kD化合物与榴菌素B分子量一致.[结论]根据菌株的16S rRNA序列分析结果,结合菌株的培养特性和生理生化特性,将菌株Str-4331归属为砖红链霉菌(S.lateritius).该菌种首次在本地区分离到,具有进一步研究开发的价值.