How many Eurasian badgers <Emphasis Type="Italic">Meles meles</Emphasis> L. are there in the Republic of Ireland?

In Ireland, the badger Meles meles L is a reservoir species for Mycobacterium bovis and, as such, contributes to the maintenance of bovine tuberculosis in cattle. A previous estimate of the badger population in the Republic was 200,000 badgers. In the current study, we obtained data on badger numbers from a large-scale badger removal project (the Four-Area project). The removal areas of the Four-Area Project were surrounded by barriers (either water or buffer areas where removals were also conducted) to prevent badger immigration. Within these areas, a grid of 0.25 km² was created within which we knew the badger numbers and habitat types (based on Corine data). Associations between badger numbers and habitat type were investigated using negative binomial modeling. Extrapolations from the model yielded an estimated badger population in the Republic of approximately 84,000 badgers. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Characterization of the putative tryptophan synthase β-subunit from Mycobacterium tuberculosis

The increasing emergence of drug-resistant tuberculosis （TB） poses a serious threat to the control of this disease. It is in urgent need to develop new TB drugs. Tryptophan biosynthetic pathway plays an important role in the growth and replication of Mycobacterium tuberculosis （Mtb）. The β-subunit of tryptophan synthase （TrpB） catalyzes the last step of the tryptophan biosynthetic pathway, and it might be a potential target for TB drug design. In this study, we overexpressed, purified, and characterized the putative TrpB-encoding gene Rv1612 in Mtb H37Rv. Results showed that Mtb His-TrpB optimal enzymatic activity is at pH 7.8 with 0.15 M Na^＋ or 0.18 M Mg^2＋ at 37℃. Structure analysis indicated that Mtb TrpB exhibited a typical β/α barrel structure. The amino acid residues believed to interact with the enzyme cofactor pyridoxal-5＇-phosphate were predicted by homology modeling and structure alignment. The role of these residues in catalytic activity of the Mtb His-TrpB was confirmed by site-directed mutagenesis. These results provided reassuring structural information for drug design based on TrpB.     

Consanguinity and susceptibility to infectious diseases in humans

Studies of animal populations suggest that low genetic heterozygosity is an important risk factor for infection by a diverse range of pathogens, but relatively little research has looked to see whether similar patterns exist in humans. We have used microsatellite genome screen data for tuberculosis (TB), hepatitis and leprosy to test the hypothesis that inbreeding depression increases risk of infection. Our results indicate that inbred individuals are more common among our infected cases for TB and hepatitis, but only in populations where consanguineous marriages are common. No effect was found either for leprosy, which is thought to be oligogenic, or for hepatitis in Italy where consanguineous marriages are rare. Our results suggest that consanguinity is an important risk factor in susceptibility to infectious diseases in humans.     

基因枪介导甘蔗遗传转化几个影响因素的研究

用基因枪GJ1000介导将Bt基因转入甘蔗嫩叶、Ⅰ型愈伤组织和Ⅱ型愈伤组织。结果表明,用Ⅱ型愈伤组织作为受体最用利于转化;气体压力、轰击距离、轰击次数和真空度对转化效率有不同程度的影响。条件优化后,得到了大量的抗性愈伤组织和一些抗性植株,转化率分别为34.9％和3.36％。     

野生稻抗病虫基因的研究与利用

野生稻是宝贵的种质资源,具有丰富的遗传多样性。多项研究表明,野生稻对多种病虫害有较强的抗性。但由于野生稻的远缘杂交存在许多的弊端,因而采用常规杂交技术不能选育出新的抗性品种而未能这到利用野生稻抗性基因的目的。可考虑从野生稻中提取抗性活性成分用于植物源农药的开发研究,但在实际的研究中发现其有效活性成分含量较少和基因遗传连锁障碍等两个问题。基因的分子标记定住技术可解决这两个难点。使野生稻特别是非AA组野生稻的抗病虫基因在植物源农药开发中的利用成为现实。     

结核分枝杆菌4种抗原的基因克隆、表达、纯化和抗原性初步检测

目的:克隆38kD、ESAT-6、CFP10和MPT64等4种结核分枝杆菌抗原基因,利用大肠杆菌表达系统分别表达重组蛋白,纯化并初步评价其抗原性。方法:通过PCR方法从结核分枝杆菌H37Rv株基因组中扩增38kD、ESAT-6、CFP10和MPT64抗原的基因,连接入pBVIL1表达载体,在大肠杆菌HB101株中进行表达,以间接ELISA方法初步评价其抗原性。结果:获得了结核分枝杆菌抗原38kD、ESAT-6、CFP10和MPT64的基因,并在大肠杆菌中进行了高效表达,初步验证所纯化获得的抗原具有良好的抗原性。结论:pBVIL1表达载体可以高效表达多种结核分枝杆菌抗原,38kD、ESAT-6和CFP10抗原均可作为结核病血清学诊断的候选抗原。     

一种农杆菌介导的赤霉菌CCRC3.572的转化方法

目的:建立农杆菌Ti质粒介导的转化赤霉菌的新方法。方法:以农杆菌Ti质粒pCAMBIA0390为基础,构建带有潮霉素抗性基因表达盒的双元载体,并用农杆菌介导的方法转化赤霉菌。结果:构建了双元载体pCAMBIA0390-hph(PgpdA),并获得了具有潮霉素抗性的赤霉菌转化子。结论:农杆菌介导的方法适于赤霉菌的转化,为赤霉菌的遗传研究提供了一种新的手段。     

痰涂片标本用于结核分枝杆菌耐药性检测的研究

目的 研究抗酸染色结核分枝杆菌(简称结核杆菌)阳性痰涂片标本直接用于耐药性检测的方法。方法 对18株临床分离培养的结核杆菌用利福平进行药敏试验。分别提取菌株DNA和与之对应的痰涂片标本的菌体DNA,用聚合酶链反应(PcR)扩增ropB基因后进行固相杂交和核酸测序检测结核杆菌的耐药性。结果 18株结核杆菌中有12株对利福平耐药。经PCR扩增的ropB片段与探针杂交后,敏感菌株未发现rpoB基因的突变,自耐药菌株提取的DNA中rpoB突变体的检出率为100％(12／12),痰涂片提取DNA的检出率为91．7％(11／12)。所有耐药菌株DNA与痰涂片DNA核酸测序结果相吻合,都有rpoB基因核心区域碱基突变。结论 抗酸染色痰涂片阳性标本可直接用于检测结核杆菌利福平耐药基因rpoB突变体,是一种值得临床实验室推广使用的耐药菌诊断方法。     

不同抗性品种稻田捕食性节肢动物的群落结构

对3个类型稻田早、晚稻捕食性节肢动物群落调查,结果表明:共有捕食性节肢动物67种,丰富度以蜘蛛高于捕食性昆虫类;早稻高于晚稻;中抗品种高于抗虫和感虫品种。早稻以皿蛛科Linyphiidae的食虫沟瘤蛛UlmmeliatainsecticepesBoes.etStr.占优势,晚稻则以狼蛛科Lycosidae的相对丰盛度最高。早稻捕食性天敌数量动态以中抗品种峰期最长;感性样田中天敌平均密度与中抗样田差异不显著,与抗虫品种差异显著;捕食性节肢动物多样性随着品种抗性的增强呈降低趋势,优势度随着品种抗性的增强而增强。晚稻3个品种样田中天敌的平均密度差异不显著;各品种样田的多样性明显高于早稻,且波动幅度小于早稻,品种之间多样性差异较小,晚稻群落可能具有较高的稳定性。     

Suppression of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase activity elicited in date palm by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. albedinis hyphal wall elicitor

The inoculation of the seedling roots of the resistant (Bousthami Noir) and susceptible (Jihel) date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) cultivars by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. albedinis induced an increase in phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity. The response of the PAL activity in the resistant cultivar was faster and higher than in the susceptible one. However, the elicitation of the seedlings with the hyphal wall elicitor (HWE) of the pathogen induced identical PAL activity in both cultivars. In the resistant cultivar, the the PAL activity elicited with the HWE was not influenced by the addition of the fungal culture filtrate (FCF) whereas it was suppressed in the susceptible cultivar. This FCF suppressor effect was dose-dependent, not influenced by sodium periodate, whereas it was strongly reduced by the heat (121 °C for 45 min) and pronase E. These results show that differential induction of the defence mechanisms in both cultivars was not related to differences in the induction of the PAL activity, but to the suppression of its elicitation in the susceptible cultivar.