Normal cutaneous sensibility of the face

Normal values for facial sensibility were determined in 36 healthy subjects. Sensation was evaluated using static and moving two-point discrimination and pressure and vibratory threshold in four major regions of the head and neck. Each region was directly related to the area innervated by a particular peripheral sensory nerve (supraorbital, infraorbital, inferior alveolar-mental, or the great auricular nerve). Cutaneous sensibility varied from region to region but was consistent from one normal individual to another and in the same subject on different days. Measurements of pressure and vibratory thresholds provided the most reliable, reproducible data. A relationship of these data to the types of sensory receptors in facial skin and vermilion is postulated.     

云南含笑天然居群的表型多样性分析

为揭示云南含笑天然居群表型变异程度和变异规律,以云南昆明地区天然分布的云南含笑为研究对象,调查了6个居群180个单株的14个表型性状,采用巢式方差分析、变异系数、相关分析、Shannon-Weaver多样性指数分析和聚类分析等方法,分析了居群间和居群内表型多样性.结果表明:(1)云南含笑表型性状在居群间和居群内存在极其丰富的多样性,14个表型性状平均表型分化系数(24.38％)小于居群内变异(75.62％),居群内变异是表型变异的主要来源;14个表型性状的变异系数(CV)在16.20％～60.11％之间,表明云南含笑居群内表型性状离散程度较高.(2)对云南含笑各居群的Shannon-Weaver指数分析表明,云南含笑各居群具有丰富的多样性,总体表型多样性指数为1.772.(3)利用居群间欧氏距离进行的UPGMA聚类分析结果表明,云南含笑6个天然居群可以聚为3类,而且表型性状并没有严格依地理距离而聚类.     

The Minimal Deneddylase Core of the COP9 Signalosome Excludes the Csn6 MPN(-) Domain

The COP9 signalosome (CSN) is a eukaryotic protein complex, which regulates a wide range of biological processes mainly through modulating the cullin ubiquitin E3 ligases in the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. The CSN possesses a highly conserved deneddylase activity that centers at the JAMM motif of the Csn5 subunit but requires other subunits in a complex assembly. The classic CSN is composed of 8 subunits (Csn1-8), yet in several Ascomycota, the complex is smaller and lacks orthologs for a few CSN subunits, but nevertheless contains a conserved Csn5. This feature makes yeast a powerful model to determine the minimal assemblage required for deneddylation activity. Here we report, that Csi1, a diverged S. cerevisiae CSN subunit, displays significant homology with the carboxyl terminal domain of the canonical Csn6, but lacks the amino terminal MPN(-) domain. Through the comparative and experimental analyses of the budding yeast and the mammalian CSNs, we demonstrate that the MPN(-) domain of the canonical mouse Csn6 is not part of the CSN deneddylase core. We also show that the carboxyl domain of Csn6 has an indispensable role in maintaining the integrity of the CSN complex. The CSN complex assembled with the carboxyl fragment of Csn6, despite its lack of an MPN(-) domain, is fully active in deneddylation of cullins. We propose that the budding yeast Csi1 is a functional equivalent of the canonical Csn6, and thus the composition of the CSN across phyla is more conserved than hitherto appreciated.     

桂东不同林龄马尾松人工林的生物量及其分配特征

根据5a、15a、21a、32a、60a生的5个不同林龄的15块1 000m2样地(3次重复)调查资料,利用21株不同年龄和径阶的马尾松样木数据,建立以胸径(D)为单变量的生物量回归方程.采用样木回归分析法(乔木层)和样方收获法(灌木层、草本层、地上凋落物)获取不同林龄马尾松人工林的生物量,并分析了其组成、分配特征及不同林龄生物量的变化趋势.结果表明:(1)林分的总生物量随林龄而增加,5a、15a、21a、32a和60a生马尾松人工林生物量分别为15.03、125.93、183.51、191.53、405.31 Mg/hm2,其中活体植物占75.01％～94.19％,地上凋落物占0.86％～24.99％.(2)层次分配方面乔木层占绝对优势,占90.20％～98.35％,且随林龄的增加而增大,其次为地上凋落物,占0.86％～24.99％;草本层和灌木层生物量较小,分别占0.47％～34.85％和0.32％～27.00％,均随林龄的增加呈递减趋势.(3)乔木层器官分配以干所占比例最高,占49.93％～83.10％,且随林龄而增加;根相对比较稳定,占6.97％～12.82％;枝、叶分别占11.75％～14.83％、1.33％～23.65％,均随林龄增大而下降.灌木层器官分配除幼龄林为根＞枝＞叶,其余的均呈枝＞根＞叶的趋势.草本层中龄林和近熟林生物量地下＞地上,其他林龄生物量地上＞地下.(4)各林龄凋落物生物量在3.48～6.68Mg/hm2,规律性不强.(5)马尾松人工林乔木层各器官及林分生物量具有良好的优化增长模型,其32a生林分生物量高于同林龄的楠木人工林,低于热带雨林,是一种速生丰产、固碳潜力大的优良造林树种.     

Effect of Ethanol on Differential Protein Production and Expression of Potential Virulence Functions in the Opportunistic Pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii

Acinetobacter baumannii persists in the medical environment and causes severe human nosocomial infections. Previous studies showed that low-level ethanol exposure increases the virulence of A. baumannii ATCC 17978. To better understand the mechanisms involved in this response, 2-D gel electrophoresis combined with mass spectrometry was used to investigate differential protein production in bacteria cultured in the presence or absence of ethanol. This approach showed that the presence of ethanol significantly induces and represses the production of 22 and 12 proteins, respectively. Although over 25% of the ethanol-induced proteins were stress-response related, the overall bacterial viability was uncompromised when cultured under these conditions. Production of proteins involved in lipid and carbohydrate anabolism was increased in the presence of ethanol, a response that correlates with increased carbohydrate biofilm content, enhanced biofilm formation on abiotic surfaces and decrease bacterial motility on semi-solid surfaces. The presence of ethanol also induced the acidification of bacterial cultures and the production of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), a ubiquitous plant hormone that signals bacterial stress-tolerance and promotes plant-bacteria interactions. These responses could be responsible for the significantly enhanced virulence of A. baumannii ATCC 17978 cells cultured in the presence of ethanol when tested with the Galleria mellonella experimental infection model. Taken together, these observations provide new insights into the effect of ethanol in bacterial virulence. This alcohol predisposes the human host to infections by A. baumannii and could favor the survival and adaptation of this pathogen to medical settings and adverse host environments.     

The Wavelet-Based Cluster Analysis for Temporal Gene Expression Data

A variety of high-throughput methods have made it possible to generate detailed temporal expression data for a single gene or large numbers of genes. Common methods for analysis of these large data sets can be problematic. One challenge is the comparison of temporal expression data obtained from different growth conditions where the patterns of expression may be shifted in time. We propose the use of wavelet analysis to transform the data obtained under different growth conditions to permit comparison of expression patterns from experiments that have time shifts or delays. We demonstrate this approach using detailed temporal data for a single bacterial gene obtained under 72 different growth conditions. This general strategy can be applied in the analysis of data sets of thousands of genes under different conditions.[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29]     

红毛菜丝状体核分裂研究

选择具异型世代交替的福建人工栽培的红毛菜为研究材料,对红毛菜丝状体世代的丝状藻丝及孢子囊枝等阶段进行了较系统的核分裂观察研究,探讨红毛菜核分裂特征.结果显示:红毛菜营养藻丝和孢子囊枝细胞均为二倍体细胞,2n=8,其核分裂显示为有丝分裂的过程;同时,丝状体阶段细胞核分裂至前期末均会出现同源染色体配对现象,显示有丝分裂同源染色体配对行为是红毛菜丝状体核分裂的一个重要特征.     

Stress response and virulence functions of the Acinetobacter baumannii NfuA Fe-S scaffold protein

To successfully establish an infection, Acinetobacter baumannii must overcome the iron starvation and oxidative stress imposed by the human host. Although previous studies have shown that ATCC 19606(T) cells acquire iron via the acinetobactin-mediated siderophore system, little is known about intracellular iron metabolism and its relation to oxidative stress in this pathogen. Screening of an insertion library resulted in the isolation of the ATCC 19606(T) derivative 1644, which was unable to grow in iron-chelated media. Rescue cloning and DNA sequencing showed that the insertion inactivated a gene coding for an NfuA Fe-S cluster protein ortholog, without any effect on the expression of the acinetobactin system. The nfuA mutant was also more sensitive to hydrogen peroxide and cumene hydroperoxide than the parental strain. The iron chelation- and oxidative-stress-deficient responses of this mutant were corrected when complemented with either the ATCC 19606(T) parental allele or the Escherichia coli MG1655 nfuA ortholog. Furthermore, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) analyses showed that the ATCC 19606(T) NfuA ortholog has iron-binding properties compatible with the formation of [Fe-S] cluster protein. Ex vivo and in vivo assays using human epithelial cells and Galleria mellonella, respectively, showed that NfuA is critical for bacterial growth independent of their capacity to acquire iron or the presence of excess of free iron. Taken together, these observations indicate that the A. baumannii NfuA ortholog plays a role in intracellular iron utilization and protection from oxidative-stress responses that this pathogen could encounter during the infection of the human host.