长江刀鲚产卵洄游群体的年龄结构及其生物学特征变化

溯江产卵洄游中的刀鲚是目前长江最为名贵的水产品之一。本文分析了2009年4~5月采自长江九段沙、靖江和芜湖3个江段的299尾洄游型刀鲚样本。结果显示,3个群体的体长范围为15.8~32.8(平均23.32?3.49)cm,18~24cm体长组占总数的52.51%。体重范围为11.83~143.8 (平均48.19?24.89) g,10~50g体重组占总数的59.53%。芜湖群体的体长和体重均显著小于九段沙和靖江群体(ANOVA, p=0.000<0.001)。299尾个体包括1~4龄4个年龄组,其中51.28%的九段沙个体和53.97%的靖江个体均为3龄;而多达85.26%的芜湖个体则为2龄。不论体长、体重还是年龄结构,已较上世纪70年代同江段渔获物有明显下降。结果还显示,研究样本的雌雄性比为1:1.57,九段沙、靖江和芜湖群体的性比分别为1:1.28、1:1.46和1:1.97,显示出沿长江往上性比逐渐增加的现象。3个群体的平均丰满度为0.35?0.049,但即使是在同龄组间,靖江群体的丰满度也显著高于芜湖和九段沙群体,这可作为大个体刀鲚在这一江段最名贵高价的一种解释。     

酿酒酵母在纤维素乙醇生产中对毒性化合物的耐受机理研究进展

利用木质纤维素生产燃料乙醇的过程中,前期预处理所产生的抑制剂会影响酵母的正常生长和后续的发酵过程。为减小抑制剂的影响所采取的一些脱毒策略往往造成糖的损失和生产成本的增加,这在实际生产与经济上是不可行的。因此,具有强的抑制剂耐受性的酿酒酵母菌株对于提高纤维素乙醇产率是十分重要的。近十年来,对于酿酒酵母胁迫耐受机制的研究取得了一些重要的进展,着重介绍目前酿酒酵母对抑制剂耐受机制的研究现状,包括一些关键性基因的表达及代谢通路过程分析等。同时也介绍一些应对抑制剂提高酵母发酵能力的措施。     

现代微生物识别技术在水产养殖环境研究中的应用

养殖环境的恶化已成为制约水产业健康发展的瓶颈。鉴于微生物在养殖水体中的重要作用,本文从技术角度对近年来发展起来的现代微生物分子识别技术进行了概括介绍,并综述了以核酸为靶分子和以微生物表面抗原为靶分子的两类微生物识别技术在水产养殖中的应用进展,为水产养殖环境的改善及其病害防治提供参考。     

Systematic investigation of Amphioxus (Branchiostoma floridae) microRNAs

Ascaris lumbricoides and Ascaris suum are parasitic nematodes living in the small intestine of humans and pigs, and can cause the disease ascariasis. For long, there has been controversy as to whether the two ascaridoid taxa represent the same species due to their significant resemblances in morphology. However, the complete mitochondrial (mt) genome data have been lacking for A. lumbricoides in spite of human and animal health significance and socio-economic impact globally of these parasites. In the present study, we sequenced the complete mt genomes of A. lumbricoides and A. suum (China isolate), which was 14,303 bp and 14,311 bp in size, respectively. The identity of the mt genomes was 98.1% between A. lumbricoides and A. suum (China isolate), and 98.5% between A. suum (China isolate) and A. suum (USA isolate). Both genomes are circular, and consist of 36 genes, including 12 genes for proteins, 2 genes for rRNA and 22 genes for tRNA, which are consistent with that of all other species of ascaridoid studied to date. All genes are transcribed in the same direction and have a nucleotide composition high in A and T (71.7% for A. lumbricoides and 71.8% for A. suum). The AT bias had a significant effect on both the codon usage pattern and amino acid composition of proteins. Phylogenetic analyses of A. lumbricoides and A. suum using concatenated amino acid sequences of 12 protein-coding genes, with three different computational algorithms (Bayesian analysis, maximum likelihood and maximum parsimony) all clustered in a clade with high statistical support, indicating that A. lumbricoides and A. suum was very closely related. These mt genome data and the results provide some additional genetic evidence that A. lumbricoides and A. suum may represent the same species. The mt genome data presented in this study are also useful novel markers for studying the molecular epidemiology and population genetics of Ascaris.     

The intra-S phase checkpoint targets Dna2 to prevent stalled replication forks from reversing

When replication forks stall at damaged bases or upon nucleotide depletion, the intra-S phase checkpoint ensures they are stabilized and can restart. In intra-S checkpoint-deficient budding yeast, stalling forks collapse, and ～10% form pathogenic chicken foot structures, contributing to incomplete replication and cell death (Lopes et al., 2001; Sogo et al., 2002; Tercero and Diffley, 2001). Using fission yeast, we report that the Cds1(Chk2) effector kinase targets Dna2 on S220 to regulate, both in vivo and in vitro, Dna2 association with stalled replication forks in chromatin. We demonstrate that Dna2-S220 phosphorylation and the nuclease activity of Dna2 are required to prevent fork reversal. Consistent with this, Dna2 can efficiently cleave obligate precursors of fork regression-regressed leading or lagging strands-on model replication forks. We propose that Dna2 cleavage of regressed nascent strands prevents fork reversal and thus stabilizes stalled forks to maintain genome stability during replication stress.     

Relative catalytic efficiency of ldhL- and ldhD-encoded products is crucial for optical purity of lactic acid produced by lactobacillus strains

NAD-dependent l- and d-lactate dehydrogenases coexist in Lactobacillus genomes and may convert pyruvic acid into l-lactic acid and d-lactic acid, respectively. Our findings suggest that the relative catalytic efficiencies of ldhL- and ldhD-encoded products are crucial for the optical purity of lactic acid produced by Lactobacillus strains.     

Synthesis and characterization of a novel potato starch derivative with cationic acetylcholine groups

A novel substance, cationic acetylcholine potato starch (CAPS), was developed for the first time. The synthesis process had three steps: first, carboxymethyl potato starch (CMPS) was synthesized under sodium hydroxide alkaline condition and in isopropyl alcohol organic media; second, bromocholine chloride (BCC) was synthesized with sulphuric acid as a catalytic agent; finally, CAPS was synthesized by the reaction of CMPS with BCC in N,N'-dimethylformamide (DMF). The degree of substitution (DS) of CAPS was determined by ammonia gas-sensing electrode and elemental analysis. CAPS was characterized by Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) and near infrared (FTNIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).     

Design and characterization of antitumor drug paclitaxel-loaded chitosan nanoparticles by W/O emulsions

Chitosan nanoparticles and paclitaxel loaded chitosan nanoparticles were prepared by emulsification-crosslinking method in a W/O emulsion system, using glutaraldehyde as crosslinking agent. The mean diameter of chitosan nanoparticles decreased with increase of pH value of the reaction system from 4.5 to 6.5, and increased when the pH exceeded 6.5. Ultraviolet spectrum analysis showed that the largest loading efficiency and encapsulation efficiency could be 8.55% and 94.01%, respectively. In vitro drug release profile was also determined by ultraviolet spectrometry. MTT assays revealed that the blank chitosan nanoparticles had almost none toxicity, and cell culture was carried out accordingly.     

Preparation of chondroitin sulfate nanocapsules for use as carries by the interfacial polymerization method

In this paper, the method of interfacial polymerization in emulsion was employed to fabricate chondroitin sulfate-methacrylate (ChSMA) nanocapsules, in which poor water-soluble drug of indomethacin (IND) could be effectively encapsulated. The morphology and the size distribution of synthesized nanocapsules were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) techniques. The quantitative drug loading was investigated. The IND/ChSMA noodle-like self-assemblies were observed with the increase of IND feed concentration, and the interactions between IND and ChSMA were illuminated by FT-IR and XRD measurements. The in vitro drug release of IND-loaded nanocapsules and IND/ChSMA self-assemblies were also carried out in simulated body fluid pH 7.4 at 37 °C.