Heliothrix oregonensis,gen. nov., sp. nov., a phototrophic filamentous gliding bacterium containing bacteriochlorophyll a

An unusual filamentous, gliding bacterium was found in a few hot springs in Oregon where it formed a nearly unispecific top layer of microbial mats. It contained a bacteriochlorophyll a-like pigment and an abundance of carotenoids. There were no chlorosomes or additional chlorophylls. The organism was aerotolerant and appeared to be photoheterotrophic. It was successfully co-cultured with an aerobic chemoheterotroph in a medium containing glucose and casamino acids. Although it has many characteristics in common with the genus Chloroflexus, the lack of chlorosomes and bacteriochlorophyll c and the aerobic nature of this organism indicate that it should be placed in a new genus. This conclusion is supported by 5S rRNA nucleotide sequence data.     

Sequences of cDNAs for human salivary and pancreatic α-amylases

The nucleotide sequences of the cloned human salivary and pancreatic α-amylase cDNAs correspond to the continuous mRNA sequences of 1768 and 1566 nucleotides, respectively. These include all of the amino acid coding regions. Salivary cDNA contains 200 bp in the 5′-noncoding region and 32 in the 3′-noncoding region. Pancreatic cDNA contains 3 and 27 bp of 5′- and 3′-noncoding regions, respectively. The nucleotide sequence humology of the two cDNAs is 96% in the coding region, and the predicted amino acid sequences are 94% homologous.Comparison of the sequences of human α-amylase cDNAs with those previously obtained for mouse α-amylase genes (Hagenbuchle et al., 1980; Schibler et al., 1982) showed the possibility of gene conversion between the two genes of human α-amylase.     

Carotenoid synthesis in Streptomyces setonii ISP5395 is induced by the gene crtS, whose product is similar to a sigma factor

In many species of actinomycetes, carotenogenesis can be photoinduced. The capacity to respond to photoinduction is, however unstable and, in various strains of Streptomyces, is lost at a relatively high frequency. In Streptomyces setonii ISP5395, which normally produces no carotenoids, carotenoid-producing mutants can be obtained following protoplast regeneration. We report here the characterization of a gene, crtS, which was isolated from one such mutant and can confer on wild-type S. setonii ISP5395 cells the capacity to synthesize carotenoids. Sequence analysis of crtS reveals an open reading frame, which shows homology to genes that encode alternative sigma factors in Bacillus subtilis. We propose that crtS encodes a sigma factor which is necessary for the expression of a cryptic gene(s) for carotenoid biosynthesis in S. setonii ISP5395.     

Protistan microbial observatory in the Cariaco Basin,Caribbean. I. Pyrosequencing vs Sanger insights into species richness

Microbial diversity and distribution are topics of intensive research. In two companion papers in this issue, we describe the results of the Cariaco Microbial Observatory (Caribbean Sea, Venezuela). The Basin contains the largest body of marine anoxic water, and presents an opportunity to study protistan communities across biogeochemical gradients. In the first paper, we survey 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequence diversity using both Sanger- and pyrosequencing-based approaches, employing multiple PCR primers, and state-of-the-art statistical analyses to estimate microbial richness missed by the survey. Sampling the Basin at three stations, in two seasons, and at four depths with distinct biogeochemical regimes, we obtained the largest, and arguably the least biased collection of over 6000 nearly full-length protistan rRNA gene sequences from a given oceanographic regime to date, and over 80 000 pyrosequencing tags. These represent all major and many minor protistan taxa, at frequencies globally similar between the two sequence collections. This large data set provided, via the recently developed parametric modeling, the first statistically sound prediction of the total size of protistan richness in a large and varied environment, such as the Cariaco Basin: over 36 000 species, defined as almost full-length 18S rRNA gene sequence clusters sharing over 99% sequence homology. This richness is a small fraction of the grand total of known protists (over 100 000–500 000 species), suggesting a degree of protistan endemism.     

溶瘤病毒载体研究进展

溶瘤病毒(oncolytic virus,OVs)疗法是治疗肿瘤的一种新方法,它可通过直接杀死肿瘤细胞并引起机体的免疫反应发挥作用.然而天然溶瘤病毒有一定的局限性,因此需将各种不同的病毒作为载体,通过基因修饰的方法增强或减弱病毒毒力并导入新的功能性基因,以提高其溶瘤作用.目前可以作为溶瘤病毒载体的有单纯疱疹病毒、腺病毒、牛痘病毒、水泡性口炎病毒、麻疹病毒、腮腺炎病毒、脊髓灰质炎病毒等.这些病毒载体均可通过不同的基因修饰方法,靶向性感染并杀死不同的肿瘤细胞,获得较好的溶瘤作用.本文综述了几种溶瘤病毒载体的基因修饰方法,以及修饰后的溶瘤效果.     

RssB-mediated σS Activation is Regulated by a Two-Tier Mechanism via Phosphorylation and Adaptor Protein – IraD

Regulation of bacterial stress responding σ^S is a sophisticated process and mediated by multiple interacting partners. Controlled proteolysis of σ^S is regulated by RssB which maintains minimal level of σ^S during exponential growth but then elevates σ^S level while facing stresses. Bacteria developed different strategies to regulate activity of RssB, including phosphorylation of itself and production of anti-adaptors. However, the function of phosphorylation is controversial and the mechanism of anti-adaptors preventing RssB-σ^S interaction remains elusive. Here, we demonstrated the impact of phosphorylation on the activity of RssB and built the RssB-σ^S complex model. Importantly, we showed that the phosphorylation site - D58 is at the interface of RssB-σ^S complex. Hence, mutation or phosphorylation of D58 would weaken the interaction of RssB with σ^S. We found that the anti-adaptor protein IraD has higher affinity than σ^S to RssB and its binding interface on RssB overlaps with that for σ^S. And IraD-RssB complex is preferred over RssB-σ^S in solution, regardless of the phosphorylation state of RssB. Our study suggests that RssB possesses a two-tier mechanism for regulating σ^S. First, phosphorylation of RssB provides a moderate and reversible tempering of its activity, followed by a specific and robust inhibition via the anti-adaptor interaction.     

The Synthesis of 2,2-Dimethyl-3,3-dichlorocyclopropane Carboxylic Acid,a Novel Active Acid Moiety of Pyrethroids

The synthesis and biological activities of 2,2-dimethyl-3,3-dichlorocyclopropane carboxylic esters are descrived.