Antagonistic effects of soil bacteria onFusarium oxysporum Schlecht f.sp.dianthii (Prill and Del.) Snyd. and Hans.

Summary Thirty two bacteria antagonistic to a number of phytopathogenic fungi were isolated from soil samples. One bacterial strain, designated as M 51, appeared to be particularly active towardsF. oxysporum f. sp.dianthii, in vitro andin vivo and it was inhibitoryin vitro to three otherFusarium spp. used. Tests to find if there was protection against fusarium wilt were carried out by three different methods of inoculation of the cuttings: a) dipping of cuttings for ten minutes in bacterial suspension; b) spraying of suspension on perlite where the rooted cuttings were planted; c) spraying the greenhouse bench rooting boxes, where the non-rooted cuttings were planted, with bacterial suspension. Following this all the cuttings were transplanted into soil naturally highly infested withFusarium oxysporum f. sp.dianthii (3000 units/g). Good protection against fusarium wilt was obtained for cuttings inoculated by method (b). However protection decreased gradually about 60 days after they were transplanted; both control and inoculated cuttings showed a comparable mortality rate. Method of inoculation and the development of the protective effect are discussed.     

Observations on populations of the horseshoe crabLimulus (=Xiphosura) polyphemus

1. Marked populations of Limulus (=Xiphosura) polyphemus reveal that in Cold Spring Harbor, New York, they consisted of 10,000–18,000 adults in 1957 and 1961. The sex ratio in 1957 was about 4 males: 1 female. Pairs may remain attached for as long as 9 days. An undisturbed female may lay as many as 12,000 eggs in one nest.
2. The Cold Spring Harbor populations appear to be rather sedentary: none of the 1,000 animals marked on the north edge of the sandspit in 1961 were detected in the outer harbor either at Laurel Hollow Beach or the peninsula adjacent to the Cold Spring Harbor Yacht Club 500–800 meters from the tagging site (see Fig. 1), nor were they found in the small beach adjacent to the Biological Laboratory in the inner harbor. Similarly, none of the 300 animals marked at this last site were found at the north edge of the sandspit.
3. The phenotype of the compound eye varies from black to pigmentless. Samples observed in Cold Spring Harbor and in the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts (separated by Long Island Sound and a distance of 150 miles) differ in the frequency of the various phenotypes scored, but the mode of inheritance of eye color remains obscure.
4. The available evidence indicates Limulus has considerable phenotypic variation in regard to body size, eye color, and other characters believed to be inherited, with the result that demes or physiological races are created. It is argued that the belief that this organism is stable and has not changed since the Triassic 200 million years ago has foundation only in regard to the pattern of the body of Limulus, but not in regard to its genotype. Limulus does not seem to be different from other organisms for which considerable genetic evidence is available, and thus the statement that DNA is fairly stable and has remained so for 200 million years is open to question.

     

Sexual preferences of male hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) for conspecifics in different endocrine conditions

The behavioral responses of sexually experienced male hamsters toward a pair of anesthetized conspecifics were investigated. Males spent significantly more time licking, sniffing, and mounting neonatally and adult castrated males than intact males. Adult castrated males receiving oil injections were preferred over castrates receiving exogenous testosterone propionate (TP). Ovariectomized females were preferred over intact males, adult castrated males, or spayed females receiving exogenous TP. It was concluded that the absence of an androgen-dependent factor(s) renders an animal more sexually attractive.     

Similarity between 5'- and 3'-terminal nucleotide sequences and double-stranded RNA-derived sequences of eukaryotic mRNA

It has been reported recently that parts of the nucleotide sequences present in the 5′- and 3′-terminal regions of cytoplasmic mRNA are derived from double-stranded hairpin structures of heterogeneous nuclear RNA—a putative mRNA precursor (Naora, 1979). In order to explore the nature of double-stranded hairpin structures, using the sequencing data of human and rabbit globin mRNA and hen ovalbumin mRNA, we examined the following possibility: that certain regions of both the 5′- and 3′-terminal nucleotide sequences of mature mRNA were present in double-stranded hairpin structures covalently linked to both sides of the message sequence in the precursor mRNA molecule and that these double-stranded hairpin structures are similar to each other. The results support the above possibility by showing substantial similarity of nucleotide sequences between the 5′- and 3′-terminal regions of these mRNAs in terms of the formation of similar double-stranded hairpin structures.     

褐藻寡糖生物法制备研究进展 *

褐藻寡糖(alginate oligosaccharides,AOS)是褐藻胶的降解产物,具有抗氧化、调节免疫、调节血脂、促进细胞生长等生理活性,应用范围广泛。现有的AOS 制备法主要分为物理法、化学法和生物法。介绍AOS的生物法制备包括酶解、微生物全细胞发酵和生物合成法,基因工程的应用在改造产褐藻胶裂解酶的菌株以提高生物法效率方面具有重要意义。此外,规模化的AOS生物法制备案例进行了科学引证,并展望了未来 AOS规模化制备的发展方向,以期为 AOS 的工业化制备和应用提供参考。     

乙型脑炎病毒NS2A-C60A位点突变对其生物学特性影响研究*

目的:旨在探索Ⅰ型日本乙型脑炎病毒传代致弱后基因组突变NS2A-C60A对乙脑病毒生物学特性的影响。方法:首先通过对传代致弱及原始乙脑毒株基因组序列进行测序比对、结构预测分析并利用Western blotting(WB)确定了目标研究位点NS2A-C60A;然后使用反向遗传定点突变技术构建拯救了包含NS2A-C60A单点突变的病毒株;最后利用噬斑形态观察、生长曲线、双萤光素酶分析,WB以及炎性因子检测和动物实验研究了该单点突变对于乙脑病毒生物学特性的影响。结果:首次研究发现Ⅰ型乙脑病毒传代致弱会导致NS1'蛋白表达的显著下降以及可能的相关位点NS2A-C60A,并成功拯救获得了NS2A-C60A单点突变毒株rJEV-C60A,研究发现NS2A-C60A突变对乙脑病毒的生长特性及噬斑形成没有显著影响,但是能够显著降低乙脑病毒NS1'蛋白的表达,并且该位点突变能够轻微阻碍乙脑病毒对细胞炎性因子表达的抑制,动物实验结果显示NS2A-C60A点突变病毒与原毒株具有相似的神经毒力,说明该位点突变不是影响乙脑病毒毒力致弱的关键位点。结论:新发现的NS2A-C60A位点突变能够显著减少乙脑病毒NS1'蛋白的表达,但是对其增殖、诱导炎症及神经毒力等生物学特性没有显著影响。     

Different responses of CR(−) and CR(+) B cells to LPS stimulation

Proliferative response of B cells with or without CR [CR(+) or CR(?) B cells] was compared in their polyclonal response when they were stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). CR(+) B cells responded better in proliferation and more poorly in polyclonal antibody formation than did CR(?) B cells. The dissociation between proliferation and antibody formation in LPS response was not due to the shift of the time kinetics nor the exhaustion of the culture medium. T cells and macrophages did not take part in the dissociation, since macrophage depletion from nu/nu mouse spleen cells could not modify the dissociation. The polyclonal antibody response of CR(?) B cells was more resistant to irradiation than that of CR(+) B cells. These results suggest that among LPS-responsive B cells there are CR(?) B-cell subset(s) more mature than CR(+) B cells.     

碳量子点对模式植物拟南芥的生物效应研究

以模式植物拟南芥（Arabidopsis thaliana（L.）Heynh）为材料,从生理及分子层面研究碳量子点（Carbon quantum dots,CQDs）对拟南芥生物效应的影响。结果显示,CQDs能被拟南芥根部吸收并连续运输到叶片,对种子萌发率无明显影响,但能显著促进幼苗主根伸长和株重的增加。幼苗叶片叶绿体中色素含量随CQDs浓度的升高而显著降低。脯氨酸与丙二醛含量随CQDs浓度的升高呈先上升后下降趋势。超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）和过氧化氢酶（CAT）活性随CQDs浓度的升高呈先上升后下降趋势,在抗氧化酶系统中起主导作用;叶片内源过氧化氢（H₂O₂）的积累随CQDs浓度的升高而升高,具有显著的浓度依赖效应。与其他纳米材料处理不一样的是,硫同化及胁迫相关基因在CQDs处理后表达量下调,这可能与CQDs粒子本身的特性有关。     

Insulin-like growth factors, IGF-1, IGF-2 and somatomedin C trigger cell proliferation in mammalian epithelial cells cultured in a serum-free medium

A single insulin-like growth factor which constitutes part of a defined serum-free medium is sufficient to stimulate DNA synthesis and mitosis in mammalian lens epithelial cells. Rabbit lenses were cultured in KEI-4, a medium which mimics rabbit aqueous humor, or in KEI-4 containing insulin growth factor I (IGF I), insulin growth factor II (IGF II) or somatomedin C. The magnitude of DNA synthesis and mitosis was evaluated on whole mount preparations of the epithelium at various times of culture. IGF I and II, the most highly purified of the insulin-like growth factors, and somatomedin C were equipotent lens mitogens, were active at the ng level, were more mitogenic toward lens epithelial cells than insulin, and initiated cell proliferation throughout the normally amitotic central region of the lens epithelium. The time course of the mitotic response elicited by the insulin-like growth factors was identical to that noted in lenses cultured in medium supplemented with serum or insulin. The present results, coupled with those of other investigators, suggest that insulin-like factors may regulate cell division in the mammalian lens in vivo.