Morphology and Phylogeny of the Soil Ciliate Metopus yantaiensis n. sp. (Ciliophora,Metopida), with Identification of the Intracellular Bacteria

The morphology and infraciliature of a new ciliate, Metopus yantaiensis n. sp., discovered in coastal soil of northern China, were investigated. It is distinguished from its congeners by a combination of the following features: nuclear apparatus situated in the preoral dome; 18–21 somatic ciliary rows, of which three extend onto the preoral dome (dome kineties); three to five distinctly elongated caudal cilia, and 21–29 adoral polykinetids. The 18S rRNA genes of this new species and two congeners, Metopus contortus and Metopus hasei, were sequenced and phylogenetically analyzed. The new species is more closely related to M. hasei and the clevelandellids than to other congeners; both the genus Metopus and the order Metopida are not monophyletic. In addition, the digestion‐resistant bacteria in the cytoplasm of M. yantaiensis were identified, using a 16S rRNA gene clone library, sequencing, and fluorescence in situ hybridization. The detected intracellular bacteria are affiliated with Sphingomonadales, Rhizobiales, Rickettsiales (Alphaproteobacteria), Pseudomonas (Gammaproteobacteria), Rhodocyclales (Betaproteobacteria), Clostridiales (Firmicutes), and Flavobacteriales (Bacteroidetes).     

抗蚜基因及其转基因植物的研究进展

在我国目前的环境条件下，蚜虫作为农业害虫和植物病毒的传播者，已经成为严重威胁农业生产发展重要的害虫之一。抗蚜植物基因工程可以有效抑制蚜虫危害，并且随着对生命科学的深入理解和技术手段的日益成熟，得到广泛的关注和重视。抗蚜植物基因工程的核心是抗蚜基因的筛选、转抗蚜基因植物的培育以及生物安全性。本文讨论了多种抗蚜基因，并重点论述雪花莲凝集素和苋菜凝集素基因在目前科学研究和生产实践的应用。     

Discovery of 4-hydroxy-2-oxo-1,2-dihydroquinolines as potential inhibitors of Streptococcus pneumoniae,including drug-resistant strains

New therapies for treating drug-resistant pneumococcal infections are urgently needed. The novel scaffold 6-hydroxy-4-oxo-1,2-dihydro-4H-quinoline was shown to have similar efficacies against all three different serotypes of S. pneumoniae, ATCC 49617™ (19F), ATCC BAA-1663™ (15B), and ATCC 700904™ (19A), in a resazurin-based high-throughput screen using the Korea Chemical Bank library. Further studies to identify a new lead with this scaffold, including tricyclic pyrrolo[3,2,1-ij]quinolone and pyrido[3,2,1-ij]quinolone derivatives, led to the identification of 6d, 7d and 12a. Compound 6d (IC₅₀ = 0.92, 0.75, and 0.77 µM), 7d (IC₅₀ = 0.57, 0.66, and 0.38 µM) and 12a (IC₅₀ = 0.27, 1.03, and 0.62 µM) showed submicromolar IC₅₀ values against 19F, 15B, and 19A, respectively, and thus serve as a starting point for further optimization. While some of compounds in this series exhibited acceptable pharmacokinetic profiles in preliminary in vivo rat experiments, the most active compound 12a showed poor solubility and high plasma protein binding. Our current research efforts are focused on optimizing compounds to improve physicochemical properties as well as potency.     

The Cytological Recognition of African Siderosis On Bone Smears

Eight cases of African siderosis primarily recognized on cytological smears are presented and discussed. All the smears were obtained from Jamshidi needle biopsies of vertebral bodies. Six cases showed siderosis only, while a seventh showed two pathological processes on one slide, namely metastatic keratinizing squamous carcinoma and siderosis. The remaining case showed cytological evidence of tuberculosis and siderosis. All cases were histologically confirmed, an additional feature in two cases being osseous tuberculosis which was not evident on the cytological smears. A search of the literature failed to reveal any report on the cytological recognition of this disease, or its association with tuberculosis.     

Land surface phenology as an indicator of biodiversity patterns

With the rapid decline in biodiversity worldwide it is imperative to develop procedures for assessing changes in biodiversity across space. The synoptic view provided by imaging remote sensors constitutes a suitable approach for analyzing biodiversity from local to regional scales. A procedure based on the close relationship between floristic similarity and the similarity in land surface phenology was recently developed and successfully applied to assess diversity patterns using time series imagery acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer (MODIS). However, as it depends on high temporal resolution remotely sensed data (e.g., MODIS), the procedure is constrained by the coarse spatial resolution characterizing these high temporal resolution data. Using an optimized technique for image fusion, we combined high temporal resolution data acquired by the MODIS sensor system with moderate spatial resolution data acquired by the Landsat TM/ETM+ sensor systems. Our results show that the MODIS/Landsat data fusion allows the characterization of land surface phenology at higher spatial resolutions, which better corresponded with information acquired within vegetation survey plots established in temperate montane forests located in Wolong Nature Reserve, Sichuan Province, China. As such, the procedure is useful for capturing changes in biodiversity induced by disturbances operating at large spatial scales and constitutes a suitable tool for monitoring and managing biodiversity.     

结核休眠菌与巨噬细胞自噬

结核休眠菌是残存于人体巨噬细胞内处于代谢静止期的极微量结核分枝杆菌(MTB),了解其生物学特性和相关作用机制对MTB潜伏感染新靶点药物的研究具有重要意义。巨噬细胞作为机体固有免疫和适应性免疫的重要组成部分,是清除胞内感染的MTB的首要屏障。巨噬细胞可以通过自噬途径清除MTB,而处于休眠状态的MTB可以逃避巨噬细胞的杀伤而持续存在。此外,目前有关休眠菌如何逃逸巨噬细胞自噬的具体机制也并不十分明确,本文则对休眠菌及其与巨噬细胞自噬相关研究的最新进展作一综述。     

Contribution of multidrug efflux pumps to multiple antibiotic resistance in veterinary clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The contribution of efflux pumps to multidrug resistance in 12 Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from various animal sources was assessed. Western immunoblot analyses demonstrated that all twelve isolates expressed significant levels of the MexAB OprM efflux system whereas two isolates simultaneously expressed the MexEF OprN or MexXY systems, respectively. One strain contained a single mutation in mexR, a regulator of mexAB-oprM expression, that did not adversely affect the MexR amino acid sequence, and three isolates contained the same, single base change in the mexA-mexR intergenic region. The MexXY-expressing strain contained two base substitutions in its mexZ regulatory gene which did not alter the MexR sequence.     

Psoralen reverses docetaxel-induced multidrug resistance in A549/D16 human lung cancer cells lines

Chemotherapy is the recommended treatment for advanced-stage cancers. However, the emergence of multidrug resistance (MDR), the ability of cancer cells to become simultaneously resistant to different drugs, limits the efficacy of chemotherapy. Previous studies have shown that herbal medicine or natural food may be feasible for various cancers as potent chemopreventive drug. This study aims to explore the capablility of reversing the multidrug resistance of docetaxel (DOC)-resistant A549 cells (A549/D16) of psoralen and the underlying mechanisms. In this study, results showed that the cell viability of A549/D16 subline is decreased when treated with psoralen plus DOC, while psoralen has no effect on the cell proliferation on A549 and A549/D16 cells. Furthermore, mRNA and proteins levels of ABCB1 were decreased in the presence of psoralen, while decreased ABCB1 activity was also revealed by flow cytometry. Based on these results, we believe that psoralen may be feasible for reversing the multidrug resistance by inhibiting ABCB1 gene and protein expression. Such inhibition will lead to a decrease in ABCB1 activity and anti-cancer drug efflux, which eventually result in drug resistance reversal and therefore, sensitizing drug-resistant cells to death in combination with chemotherapeutic drugs.     

An ancestral mycobacterial effector promotes dissemination of infection

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