Deletions in the plastid trnT–trnL intergenic spacer define clades within Cactaceae subfamily Cactoideae

 The phylogenetic distribution of two deletions, of about 350 and 250 bp respectively, within the chloroplast trnT–trnL intergenic spacer was examined. One deletion was found in all members of Cactaceae subfamily Cactoideae sampled, totaling 37 species, but not in taxa from other subfamilies or closely related families. The second was shared by a subset of Cactoideae comprising members of tribes Cereeae, Trichocereeae, and Browningieae (in part), as well as Harrisia. Close links among the former three South American tribes have been previously hypothesized. This distribution suggested that Browningieae, a tribe defined largely by shared primitive features, were not monophyletic, and that Harrisia may have been incorrectly placed outside the Browningieae–Cereeae–Trichocereeae group. Received June 12, 2001 Accepted October 26, 2001     

Infraspecific genetic variation in Biscutella laevigata (Brassicaceae): new focus on Irene Manton's hypothesis

 Genetic variation in 42 populations throughout the range of Biscutella laevigata L. (Brassicaceae), a morphologically variable central European species, has been investigated by enzyme electrophoresis with three loci (Amy1, Amy2, and Gpi2). Genetic identities and the Fitch-Margoliash tree suggest differentiation into four regional groups: 1) a northwestern diploid group (northern France and northern Germany), 2) a northeastern diploid group (southern Germany, Upper Austria, northern Lower Austria, Poland, and Romania), 3) a central diploid group in southern Lower Austria corresponding to subspecies austriaca, and 4) a southern tetraploid group in Alpine areas of France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, and Slovenia corresponding to subspecies laevigata. Geographically isolated diploid relic populations that are genetically depauperate are found in the NW and NE diploid groups. On the other hand, the diploid relic subspecies austriaca from the NE Prealps and Alps is highly variable. Subspecies laevigata appears to be a genetical autotetraploid with multiple origins involving several diploid progenitors (the NW diploids, subspecies austriaca and B. prealpina). Received April 6, 2001; accepted March 6, 2002 Published online: October 14, 2002 Addresses of the authors: Karin Tremetsberger (e-mail: k.tremetsberger@gmx.net), Christiane K?nig, Rosabelle Samuel, Tod F. Stuessy, Department of Higher Plant Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Botany, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, A-1030 Vienna, Austria. Wilhelm Pinsker, Institute of Medical Biology, University of Vienna, Waehringerstra?e 10, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.     

Cladistic and phenetic analysis of relationships in Vicia subgenus Vicia (Fabaceae) by morphology and isozymes

 Variation of 80 multistate morphological characters and isozymes encoded by 13 loci among 23 vetch species of the type subgenus of the genus Vicia in comparison with V. dumetorum, V. pisiformis and V. sylvatica of the subgenus Cracca is described and analyzed with cladistic parsimony and phenetic neighbour-joining methods by using two different ways of coding. Morphological analyses showed the subgenus Vicia monophyletic and revealed subgroups in a general agreement with traditionally recognized sections, except showing V. faba nested within section Narbonensis and ambiguity in the position of V. lathyroides and V. bithynica. Parsimony analysis of orthozymes as presence/absence characters revealed in the subgenus two basic monophyletic clades: 1) V. faba and three species of the section Peregrinae, V. michauxii, V. aintabensis and V. peregrina, in one subclade linked with species of the Narbonensis and Hyperchusa sections together with V. pisiformis of subgenus Cracca in a second subclade; 2) species belonging to sections Vicia, Sepium, Pseudolathyrus and Lathyroides together with V. sylvatica of the subgenus Cracca. Neighbour-joining analysis of orthozymes revealed the same two basic groups, differing only in the relative position of some species in subclusters. Both isozyme analyses showed paraphyly of the subgenera Vicia and Cracca. Parsimony analysis of orthozymes as character states of isozymes yielded a largely unresolved strict consensus cladogram of 209 most parsimonious trees, and reweighting of characters failed to produce a stable tree. Phylogenetic congruence and discordance among morphological and isozyme analyses, coding ways, homoplasy and weighting of characters are discussed. Received November 20, 2001 Accepted January 31, 2002     

Comparative study of the antioxidant activity of the essential oils of five plants against the H2O2 induced stress in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The purpose of this work was to investigate the protective effect of five essential oils (EOs); Rosmarinus officinalis, Thymus vulgaris, Origanum compactum Benth., Eucalyptus globulus Labill. and Ocimum basilicum L.; against oxidative stress induced by hydrogen peroxide in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The chemical composition of the EOs was analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The in vitro antioxidant activity was evaluated and the protective effect of EOs was investigated. Yeast cells were pretreated with different concentrations of EOs (6.25–25 µg/ml) for an hour then incubated with H₂O₂ (2 mM) for an additional hour. Cell viability, antioxidants (Catalase, Superoxide dismutase and Glutathione reductase) and metabolic (Succinate dehydrogenase) enzymes, as well as the level of lipid peroxidation (LPO) and protein carbonyl content (PCO) were evaluated. The chemical composition of EOs has shown the difference qualitatively and quantitatively. Indeed, O. compactum mainly contained Carvacrol, O. basilicum was mainly composed of Linalool, T. vulgaris was rich in thymol, R. officinalis had high α-Pinene amount and for E. globulus, eucalyptol was the major compound. The EOs of basil, oregano and thyme were found to possess the highest amount of total phenolic compounds. Moreover, they have shown the best protective effect on yeast cells against oxidative stress induced by H₂O₂. In addition, in a dose dependent manner of EOs in yeast medium, treated cells had lower levels of LPO, lower antioxidant and metabolic enzymes activity than cells exposed to H₂O₂ only. The cell viability was also improved. It seems that the studied EOs are efficient natural antioxidants, which can be exploited to protect against damages and serious diseases related to oxidative stress.     

Regulation of autophagy protects against liver injury in liver surgery-induced ischaemia/reperfusion

Transient ischaemia and reperfusion in liver tissue induce hepatic ischaemia/reperfusion (I/R) tissue injury and a profound inflammatory response in vivo. Hepatic I/R can be classified into warm I/R and cold I/R and is characterized by three main types of cell death, apoptosis, necrosis and autophagy, in rodents or patients following I/R. Warm I/R is observed in patients or animal models undergoing liver resection, haemorrhagic shock, trauma, cardiac arrest or hepatic sinusoidal obstruction syndrome when vascular occlusion inhibits normal blood perfusion in liver tissue. Cold I/R is a condition that affects only patients who have undergone liver transplantation (LT) and is caused by donated liver graft preservation in a hypothermic environment prior to entering a warm reperfusion phase. Under stress conditions, autophagy plays a critical role in promoting cell survival and maintaining liver homeostasis by generating new adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and organelle components after the degradation of macromolecules and organelles in liver tissue. This role of autophagy may contribute to the protection of hepatic I/R-induced liver injury; however, a considerable amount of evidence has shown that autophagy inhibition also protects against hepatic I/R injury by inhibiting autophagic cell death under specific circumstances. In this review, we comprehensively discuss current strategies and underlying mechanisms of autophagy regulation that alleviates I/R injury after liver resection and LT. Directed autophagy regulation can maintain liver homeostasis and improve liver function in individuals undergoing warm or cold I/R. In this way, autophagy regulation can contribute to improving the prognosis of patients undergoing liver resection or LT.     

Interaction of Ddc1 and RPA with single-stranded/double-stranded DNA junctions in yeast whole cell extracts: Proteolytic degradation of the large subunit of replication protein A in ddc1Δ strains

To characterize proteins that interact with single-stranded/double-stranded (ss/ds) DNA junctions in whole cell free extracts of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we used [³²P]-labeled photoreactive partial DNA duplexes containing a 3′-ss/ds-junction (3′-junction) or a 5′-ss/ds-junction (5′-junction). Identification of labeled proteins was achieved by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry peptide mass fingerprinting and genetic analysis. In wild-type extract, one of the components of the Ddc1-Rad17-Mec3 complex, Ddc1, was found to be preferentially photocrosslinked at a 3′-junction. On the other hand, RPAp70, the large subunit of the replication protein A (RPA), was the predominant crosslinking product at a 5′-junction. Interestingly, ddc1Δ extracts did not display photocrosslinking of RPAp70 at a 5′-junction. The results show that RPAp70 crosslinked to DNA with a 5′-junction is subject to limited proteolysis in ddc1Δ extracts, whereas it is stable in WT, rad17Δ, mec3Δ and mec1Δ extracts. The degradation of the RPAp70-DNA adduct in ddc1Δ extract is strongly reduced in the presence of the proteasome inhibitor MG 132. We also addressed the question of the stability of free RPA, using anti-RPA antibodies. The results show that RPAp70 is also subject to proteolysis without photocrosslinking to DNA upon incubation in ddc1Δ extract. The data point to a novel property of Ddc1, modulating the turnover of DNA binding proteins such as RPAp70 by the proteasome.     

New data on the Paederus biacutus species group from mainland China (Coleoptera,Staphylinidae, Paederinae)

Paederus jianyueae Peng & Li, sp. n. (Zhejiang: Qingliangfeng) is described and illustrated. Additional records of P. biacutus Li, Zhou & Solodovnikov, 2014 and P. parvidenticulatus Li, Zhou & Solodovnikov, 2014 are reported.     

Possible Link of a Compositional Change in Intestinal Microbiota with the Anti-Allergic Effect of Fructo-Oligosaccharides in NC/jic Mice

Food allergy was induced in two groups of NC/jic mice. Mice fed frucuto-oligosaccharides showed fewer allergic symptoms than control diet-fed mice. The cecal microbiota compositions were clearly different between the two groups, and the difference was partly attributable to Clostridia possession. A possible link of the compositional change in intestinal micriobiota with the anti-allergic effect of fructo-oligosaccharides is suggested.     

CRISPR/Cas9系统纳米递送及其在肿瘤治疗中应用

新兴的CRISPR/Cas9基因编辑技术可实现在分子水平上对基因进行操作,具有设计简单、易于操作、特异性好、效率高等优点,广泛应用于肿瘤发生、发展和转移的潜在机制以及临床治疗的研究.利用纳米技术研发的非病毒纳米载体可以将CRISPR/Cas9系统高效递送到体内,为CRISPR/Cas9技术在临床领域的应用提供新途径.本文介绍CRISPR/Cas9的作用原理,简要概括目前CRISPR/Cas9系统的递送形式和常用的纳米递送载体,总结在部分肿瘤治疗中应用该技术的研究进展,并进一步对此进行展望.     

Characterization of the SARS‐CoV‐2 E Protein: Sequence,Structure, Viroporin,and Inhibitors

The COVID‐19 epidemic is one of the most influential epidemics in history. Understanding the impact of coronaviruses (CoVs) on host cells is very important for disease treatment. The SARS‐CoV‐2 envelope (E) protein is a small structural protein involved in many aspects of the viral life cycle. The E protein promotes the packaging and reproduction of the virus, and deletion of this protein weakens or even abolishes the virulence. This review aims to establish new knowledge by combining recent advances in the study of the SARS‐CoV‐2 E protein and by comparing it with the SARS‐CoV E protein. The E protein amino acid sequence, structure, self‐assembly characteristics, viroporin mechanisms and inhibitors are summarized and analyzed herein. Although the mechanisms of the SARS‐CoV‐2 and SARS‐CoV E proteins are similar in many respects, specific studies on the SARS‐CoV‐2 E protein, for both monomers and oligomers, are still lacking. A comprehensive understanding of this protein should prompt further studies on the design and characterization of effective targeted therapeutic measures.