Sex Determination: Why So Many Ways of Doing It?

Sexual reproduction is an ancient feature of life on earth, and the familiar X and Y chromosomes in humans and other model species have led to the impression that sex determination mechanisms are old and conserved. In fact, males and females are determined by diverse mechanisms that evolve rapidly in many taxa. Yet this diversity in primary sex-determining signals is coupled with conserved molecular pathways that trigger male or female development. Conflicting selection on different parts of the genome and on the two sexes may drive many of these transitions, but few systems with rapid turnover of sex determination mechanisms have been rigorously studied. Here we survey our current understanding of how and why sex determination evolves in animals and plants and identify important gaps in our knowledge that present exciting research opportunities to characterize the evolutionary forces and molecular pathways underlying the evolution of sex determination.     

实时荧光定量分析小黑杨应拉木相关基因及转录因子的表达

利用实时定量RT-PCR技术,比较了不同时期小黑杨应拉木中与木材形成相关的基因及其转录因子的表达模式。研究结果表明,与纤维素合成相关的基因如纤维素合成酶基因（CesA）、蔗糖合成酶基因（SUSY）、ACC氧化酶基因（ACO）等基因胁迫后在弯曲茎的上侧中表达量高于其在弯曲茎的下侧中的表达;尤其是FLA基因家族在弯曲茎的上侧中大量表达,而在弯曲茎的下侧中几乎不表达。与之相反,与木质素合成相关的基因如咖啡酰辅酶A-O-甲基转移酶（CCoAOMT）、苯丙氨酸裂解酶（PAL）、漆酶（laccase）、过氧化物酶（POD）等基因在弯曲茎的上侧中表达量低而在弯曲茎的下侧中表达量高,转录因子MYB基因在弯曲茎的上侧中表达量高于其在弯曲茎的下侧中的。     

秋水仙素诱导大青杨同源三倍体

以黑龙江省苇河、带岭的大青杨为亲本,采用正交设计L16（4^5）对授粉后的雌花序施加0．2％～O．6％的秋水仙碱溶液进行染色体加倍试验,通过流式细胞术和染色体镜检方法检测变异植株的染色体倍性,共获得12株大青杨同源三倍体。结果表明,在授粉36～60h后用O．5％秋水仙碱溶液浸泡24h的诱导效果最好。大青杨三倍体植株叶长和叶宽分别高出二倍体2l％和45％;其叶片气孔长、宽高出二倍体55％和45％,气孔密度是二倍体的18％。     

赤桉抗寒转录因子ICE1基因的分子克隆与表达分析

ICE1属于一种类似MYC的bHLH转录因子,可特异地结合到CBF3启动子的MYC作用元件并诱导CBF/DREB1下游基因的转录表达。本文以拟南芥ICE1蛋白序列为信息探针,搜索桉树基因组和EST数据库的同源序列并进行拼接、设计引物,通过RT-PCR从赤桉克隆了桉树的第一个ICE1基因。其cDNA长1792bp,含有完整的开放阅读框,可编码523个氨基酸。BLAST分析表明,cDNA序列及其推导的氨基酸序列均与拟南芥、芥菜、小麦和甜杨ICE1存在着较高的同源性,预示所获得的cDNA可能是赤桉ICE1基因（EcaICE1）。EcaICE1基因表达分析结果显示,EcaICE1在赤桉根、茎、叶中均表达,而且表达水平不受低温胁迫处理时间的影响,这表明EcaICE1是组成型表达。此外,EcaICE1的超表达可以提高转基因烟草的耐低温能力。上述结果为进一步研究EcaICE1在赤桉耐低温胁迫过程中基因表达的调控机制打下基础。     

林木金属硫蛋白研究进展

金属硫蛋白（metallothionein,MT）是一种低分子量、富含半胱氨酸残基的金属结合蛋白,广泛分布于自然界中。随着工业化的发展和环境污染的加重,导致土壤中重金属的积累加剧。林木的植物修复在清除环境污染中占有越来越重要的作用,林木金属硫蛋白的研究也越来越热,本文就其分类,功能,表达等特点进行综述,并对其研究前景进行展望。     

Lysogeny with Shiga Toxin 2-Encoding Bacteriophages Represses Type III Secretion in Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli

Lytic or lysogenic infections by bacteriophages drive the evolution of enteric bacteria. Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) have recently emerged as a significant zoonotic infection of humans with the main serotypes carried by ruminants. Typical EHEC strains are defined by the expression of a type III secretion (T3S) system, the production of Shiga toxins (Stx) and association with specific clinical symptoms. The genes for Stx are present on lambdoid bacteriophages integrated into the E. coli genome. Phage type (PT) 21/28 is the most prevalent strain type linked with human EHEC infections in the United Kingdom and is more likely to be associated with cattle shedding high levels of the organism than PT32 strains. In this study we have demonstrated that the majority (90%) of PT 21/28 strains contain both Stx2 and Stx2c phages, irrespective of source. This is in contrast to PT 32 strains for which only a minority of strains contain both Stx2 and 2c phages (28%). PT21/28 strains had a lower median level of T3S compared to PT32 strains and so the relationship between Stx phage lysogeny and T3S was investigated. Deletion of Stx2 phages from EHEC strains increased the level of T3S whereas lysogeny decreased T3S. This regulation was confirmed in an E. coli K12 background transduced with a marked Stx2 phage followed by measurement of a T3S reporter controlled by induced levels of the LEE-encoded regulator (Ler). The presence of an integrated Stx2 phage was shown to repress Ler induction of LEE1 and this regulation involved the CII phage regulator. This repression could be relieved by ectopic expression of a cognate CI regulator. A model is proposed in which Stx2-encoding bacteriophages regulate T3S to co-ordinate epithelial cell colonisation that is promoted by Stx and secreted effector proteins.     

Trade-off between iron uptake and protection against oxidative stress: deletion of cueO promotes uropathogenic Escherichia coli virulence in a mouse model of urinary tract infection

The periplasmic multicopper oxidase (CueO) is involved in copper homeostasis and protection against oxidative stress. Here, we show that the deletion of cueO in uropathogenic Escherichia coli increases its colonization of the urinary tract despite its increased sensitivity to hydrogen peroxide. The cueO deletion mutant accumulated iron with increased efficiency compared to its parent strain; this may account for its advantage in the iron-limited environment of the urinary tract.     

Assessment of the Protective Effect of Imvamune and Acam2000 Vaccines against Aerosolized Monkeypox Virus in Cynomolgus Macaques

To support the licensure of a new and safer vaccine to protect people against smallpox, a monkeypox model of infection in cynomolgus macaques, which simulates smallpox in humans, was used to evaluate two vaccines, Acam2000 and Imvamune, for protection against disease. Animals vaccinated with a single immunization of Imvamune were not protected completely from severe and/or lethal infection, whereas those receiving either a prime and boost of Imvamune or a single immunization with Acam2000 were protected completely. Additional parameters, including clinical observations, radiographs, viral load in blood, throat swabs, and selected tissues, vaccinia virus-specific antibody responses, immunophenotyping, extracellular cytokine levels, and histopathology were assessed. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) between the levels of neutralizing antibody in animals vaccinated with a single immunization of Acam2000 (132 U/ml) and the prime-boost Imvamune regime (69 U/ml) prior to challenge with monkeypox virus. After challenge, there was evidence of viral excretion from the throats of 2 of 6 animals in the prime-boost Imvamune group, whereas there was no confirmation of excreted live virus in the Acam2000 group. This evaluation of different human smallpox vaccines in cynomolgus macaques helps to provide information about optimal vaccine strategies in the absence of human challenge studies.     

Autotransporter proteins: novel targets at the bacterial cell surface

Autotransporter proteins constitute a family of outer membrane/secreted proteins that possess unique structural properties that facilitate their independent transport across the bacterial membrane system and final routing to the cell surface. Autotransporter proteins have been identified in a wide range of Gram-negative bacteria and are often associated with virulence functions such as adhesion, aggregation, invasion, biofilm formation and toxicity. The importance of autotransporter proteins is exemplified by the fact that they constitute an essential component of some human vaccines. Autotransporter proteins contain three structural motifs: a signal sequence, a passenger domain and a translocator domain. Here, the structural properties of the passenger and translocator domains of three type Va autotransporter proteins are compared and contrasted, namely pertactin from Bordetella pertussis, the adhesion and penetration protein (Hap) from Haemophilus influenzae and Antigen 43 (Ag43) from Escherichia coli. The Ag43 protein is described in detail to examine how its structure relates to functional properties such as cell adhesion, aggregation and biofilm formation. The widespread occurrence of autotransporter-encoding genes, their apparent uniform role in virulence and their ability to interact with host cells suggest that they may represent rational targets for the design of novel vaccines directed against Gram-negative pathogens.