Comparative analysis of the pig BAC sequence involved in the regulation of myostatin gene

Myostatin (GDF-8, MSTN) is a member of trans- forming growth factors (TGF-β) superfamily, which was first described by McPherron et al. in 1997[1]. Myostatin appears to act as a negative regulator of muscle development and controls not only fibre size but also fibre number[2,3]. Mutations in the third exon of the myostatin gene have been shown to cause dou- ble muscling in cattle[4]. By knocking out the gene of myostatin in mice, they were able to show that the transgenic mice developed …     

Ectopic Expression of the Pttknl Gene Induces Alterations in the Morphology of the Leaves and Flowers in Petunia hybrida Vilm.

A novel knottedl-like homeobox （knox） gene, Pttknl （Populus tremulaxtremuloides knottedl）, isolated from the cambial region of hybrid aspen, was introduced into Petunia hybrida Vilm. using the leafdisc method mediated by Agrobacterium. A series of novel phenotypes was observed in transgenic petunia plants, including the formation of ectopic spikes on the adaxial surface of corollas and small petals on the abaxial surface of corollas, fusion of floral organs, shortening of corolla midribs, the formation of tumor-like knots along the midrib on the abaxial surface and serrated lobs of corolla margins, and alterations in petal color; except for changes in the leaves and plant architecture, RT-PCR showed that the Pttknl gene was expressed in the leaves of different petunia transgenic plants, whereas no signal was detected in wild-type plants. The possible function of Pttknl in leaf and flower development is discussed.     

Newly discovered insect RNA viruses in China

Insects are a group of arthropods and the largest group of animals on Earth,with over one million species described to date.Like other life forms,insects suffer from viruses that cause disease and death.Viruses that are pathogenic to beneficial insects cause dramatic economic losses on agriculture.In contrast,viruses that are pathogenic to insect pests can be exploited as attractive biological control agents.All of these factors have led to an explosion in the amount of research into insect viruses in recent years,generating impressive quantities of information on the molecular and cellular biology of these viruses.Due to the wide variety of insect viruses,a better understanding of these viruses will expand our overall knowledge of their virology.Here,we review studies of several newly discovered RNA insect viruses in China.     

花生苗期耐盐性评价及耐盐指标筛选

评价鉴选耐盐品种对于盐碱地花生生产具有重要意义。采用盆栽试验,设置不同盐胁迫浓度,对200个花生品种(系)萌发至幼苗期通过出苗速度、植株形态和生物量等指标进行耐盐性系统评价。结果表明,随盐胁迫浓度的增加,出苗时间延长,植株形态建成抑制加重,物质积累减少。鉴选花生品种耐盐性强弱的适宜盐胁迫浓度为0.30%—0.45%,超过此浓度不能出苗。地上部形态和生物量可作为耐盐评价的首选指标,主根长和出苗速度可作为辅助指标用以判断花生品种的综合耐盐能力。200个品种(系)在不同盐胁迫浓度下均可分成高度耐盐型、耐盐型、盐敏感型和高度盐敏感型4组。耐盐品种数量随盐胁迫强度加大而下降,盐敏感品种数量则上升。0.15%浓度下200个品种全部出苗,4个类型品种数分别占供试材料的29.0%、39.0%、27.5%和4.5%;0.30%浓度下185个品种出苗,4个类型品种数分别占供试材料的5.5%、34.5%、23.5%和29.0%;0.45%浓度下107个品种出苗,4个类型品种数分别占供试材料的5.5%、5.5%、20.0%和22.5%。14个品种在各盐浓度胁迫下均表现耐性,10个品种在各盐浓度胁迫下均表现敏感,为花生耐盐机理研究及生产应用提供了不同类型材料。     

Screening and identification of Shigella flexneri 2a virulence-related genes induced after invasion of epithelial cells

~~Screening and identification of Shigella flexneri 2a virulence-related genes induced after invasion of epithelial cells1. Jin, Q., Yuan, Z., Xu, J., Wang, Y., Shen, Y., Lu, W., Wang, J., Liu, H., Yang, J., Yang, P., Zhang, X., Zhang, J., Yang, G, Wu, H., Qu, D., Dong, J., Sun, L., Xue, Y, Zhao, A., Gao, Y., Zhu, J., Kan, B., Ding, K.. Chen, S., Cheng, H., Yao, Z., He, B., Chen, R., Ma, D., Qiang, B., Wen, Y, Hou, Y., Yu, J., Genome sequence of Shigella flexneri 2…     

An expression profile of human α-lactalbumin in the milk of transgenic mouse

a-lactalbumin(a-Lac),amajorwheyprotein,isacalciummetalloprotein,thathasbeenfoundinallmilksstudiedsofar.ItinteractswithUDP-galactosyl-transferasetoformthelactosesynthetaseandthusmightbeakeyproteinforlactogenesis.Lactosesyn-thetaseispostulatedtobetherate-limitingenzymeforlactosebiosynthesis.Theincreaseda-Lacactivitycanproducesufficientlactosesynthetaseforthesynthesisoflactose,andinmilkyieldbydrawingwaterintomilk,sincelactoseisanosmoreactivemolecule.Transgenicswineoverexpressingbovinea-lactalbu…     

Increased leptin by hypoxic-preconditioning promotes autophagy of mesenchymal stem cells and protects them from apoptosis

Autophagy is the basic catabolic progress involved in cell degradation of unnecessary or dysfunctional cellular components.It has been proven that autophagy could be utilized for cell survival under stresses.Hypoxic-preconditioning(HPC)could reduce apoptosis induced by ischemia and hypoxia/serum deprivation(H/SD)in bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells(BMSCs).Previous studies have shown that both leptin signaling and autophagy activation were involved in the protection against apoptosis induced by various stress,including ischemia-reperfusion.However,it has never been fully understood how leptin was involved in the protective effects conferred by autophagy.In the present study,we demonstrated that HPC can induce autophagy in BMSCs by increased LC3-II/LC3-I ratio and autophagosome formation.Interestingly,similar effects were also observed when BMSCs were pretreated with rapamycin.The beneficial effects offered by HPC were absent when BMSCs were incubated with autophagy inhibitor,3-methyladenine(3-MA).In addition,down-regulated leptin expression by leptin-shRNA also attenuated HPC-induced autophagy in BMSCs,which in turn was associated with increased apoptosis after exposed to sustained H/SD.Furthermore,increased AMP-activated protein kinase phosphorylation and decreased mammalian target of rapamycin phosphorylation that were observed in HPC-treated BMSCs can also be attenuated by down-regulation of leptin expression.Our data suggests that leptin has impact on HPC-induced autophagy in BMSCs which confers protection against apoptosis under H/SD,possibly through modulating both AMPK and mTOR pathway.     

New lessons for combinatorial biosynthesis from myxobacteria. The myxothiazol biosynthetic gene cluster of Stigmatella aurantiaca DW4/3-1

The biosynthetic mta gene cluster responsible for myxothiazol formation from the fruiting body forming myxobacterium Stigmatella aurantiaca DW4/3-1 was sequenced and analyzed. Myxothiazol, an inhibitor of the electron transport via the bc(1)-complex of the respiratory chain, is biosynthesized by a unique combination of several polyketide synthases (PKS) and nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS), which are activated by the 4'-phosphopantetheinyl transferase MtaA. Genomic replacement of a fragment of mtaB and insertion of a kanamycin resistance gene into mtaA both impaired myxothiazol synthesis. Genes mtaC and mtaD encode the enzymes for bis-thiazol(ine) formation and chain extension on one pure NRPS (MtaC) and on a unique combination of PKS and NRPS (MtaD). The genes mtaE and mtaF encode PKSs including peptide fragments with homology to methyltransferases. These methyltransferase modules are assumed to be necessary for the formation of the proposed methoxy- and beta-methoxy-acrylate intermediates of myxothiazol biosynthesis. The last gene of the cluster, mtaG, again resembles a NRPS and provides insight into the mechanism of the formation of the terminal amide of myxothiazol. The carbon backbone of an amino acid added to the myxothiazol-acid is assumed to be removed via an unprecedented module with homology to monooxygenases within MtaG.