利血平和丘脑下部促黄体素释放激素类似物(LHRH-A)对大鳞副泥鳅促性腺激素细胞的分泌活动和排卵的促进作用

利血平能使神经分泌细胞的儿茶酚胺贮存量减少甚至消耗殆尽,导致多巴胺作为GRIF的作用减弱,从而显著增强LHRH-A促进GtH分泌和诱导排卵的效应。对大鳞副泥鳅,利血平和LHRH-A同时注射或者利血平比LHRH-A提前3小时注射,都能激活GtH细胞,显著增强其分泌活动并诱导排卵。利血平的最低有效剂量为1—5微克/克体重。利血平(25微克/克体重) LHRH-A(0.05微克/克体重)的催产效果和多巴胺拮抗物pimozide(1微克/克体重) LHRH-A(0.05微克/克体重)的催产效果一样,排卵率都达到了100％。     

梨小食心虫性外激素不同诱芯对诱蛾活性及持效期的影响

梨小食心虫[Grapholitha molesta(Busck)]是一种为害梨、桃、李、杏和苹果等的果树大害虫。自从Roelofs等(1969)鉴定其性外激素的主要成份为顺-8-十二碳烯-1-基醋酸酯以来,用合成的性外激素防治梨小食心虫的研究迅速开展。目前,包括我国在内的许多国家已经成功地将性外激素诱捕器用作虫情测报;大量诱杀和迷向法防治梨小食心虫也取得了可喜的进展(Roelofs,1975;孟宪佐,1979)。 诱芯,也叫散发器,是释放合成性外激素的载体,其性能对性外激素的诱蛾效果有很大影响。本文对天然橡胶、硅橡胶和聚乙烯塑料等载体以及性外激素的剂量、载体的配比、诱芯的形状等对性外激素的诱蛾活性和持效期的影响等进行了研究,现将结果报道如下。     

克氏针茅草原土壤生态化学计量特征对放牧强度的响应

生态化学计量学是研究生态系统中各元素间平衡的科学,对于探究土壤有机碳（C）、全氮（N）、全磷（P）元素循环以及土壤养分限制状况具有重要意义。为了解克氏针茅（Stipa kirschnii）草原土壤生态化学计量特征,以内蒙古克氏针茅草原区为研究对象,在不同放牧强度草场进行采样分析。结果表明：随着放牧强度的增加,C、P含量先降低后升高,N含量先升高后降低;土壤C/N先降低后升高、C/P逐渐升高、N/P先升高后降低。C/N随着放牧强度的增加与有机碳相关性逐渐增大、与全氮的相关性逐渐减小;轻牧区的C/P受有机碳作用有所增强;中牧区N/P受全氮作用增强。C/N主要限制因素是有机碳含量,C/P和N/P主要限制因素是全磷含量。不同放牧强度会影响土壤化学计量比与其他物质的关系,也会改变土壤化学计量比各制约因素的强度。     

Unravelling mitochondrial retrograde regulation in the abiotic stress induction of rice ALTERNATIVE OXIDASE 1 genes

Mitochondrial retrograde regulation (MRR) is the transduction of mitochondrial signals to mediate nuclear gene expression. It is not clear whether MRR is a common regulation mechanism in plant abiotic stress response. In this study, we analysed the early abiotic stress response of the rice OsAOX1 genes, and the induction of OsAOX1a and OsAOX1b (OsAOX1a/b) was selected as a working model for the stress‐induced MRR studies. We found that the induction mediated by the superoxide ion (O_2·^‐)‐generating chemical methyl viologen was stronger than that of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). The addition of reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavengers demonstrated that the stress induction was reduced by eliminating O_2·^‐. Furthermore, the stress induction did not rely on chloroplast‐ or cytosol‐derived O_2·^‐. Next, we generated transgenic plants overexpressing the superoxide dismutase (SOD) gene at different subcellular locations. The results suggest that only the mitochondrial SOD, OsMSD, attenuated the stress induction of OsAOX1a/b specifically. Therefore, our findings demonstrate that abiotic stress initiates the MRR on OsAOX1a/b and that mitochondrial O_2·^– is involved in the process.     

Effects of light heterogeneity on growth of a submerged clonal macrophyte

Many studies have examined the effects of spatial heterogeneity in light supply on clonal plants in terrestrial environments, but few have examined those in aquatic conditions. In a greenhouse experiment, we grew the rhizomatous submerged macrophyte Vallisneria spiralis L. in containers in three homogeneous light treatments (100%, 65%, and 30% of ambient light coded as high, medium, and low light, respectively) and two heterogeneous ones differing in patch scale (small and large patch). The growth of V. spiralis decreased significantly with decreasing light availability. In the low light conditions, V. spiralis allocated greater biomass to shoots and developed elongated leaves. In the patchy treatments, ramets distributed in the light‐rich patches had significant costs in the large patch treatment, but not in the small patch treatment, while both small and large patch treatments had no significant benefits in the light‐poor patches. We conclude that V. spiralis could escape from adverse habitats and occupy the favorable habitats. Providing the same amount of light, responses of V. spiralis to different patch scales were different at the patch level, but not at the whole clone level. Together, growth of V. spiralis could not benefit from different patch scales in heterogeneous environments at the patch as well as the whole clone level.     

Overexpression and Immunological Characterization of the Serine Protease AgSp24D from the Malaria Mosquito, Anopheles gambiae

ABSTRACT Serine proteases are a class of proteolytic enzymes that play regulatory roles in protein processing and degradation. Previous molecular characterization of a mosquito serine protease, AgSp24D , indicated that it is a nondigestive chymotrypsin-like enzyme that is developmentally regulated, and is strongly expressed during the adult stage. Since the biological role of AgSp24D is unknown, we were interested in further characterizing the gene product. Thus, a polyclonal antibody against an AgSp24D fusion protein was produced. The antiserum recognizes two polypeptides of 50 kDa and 60 kDa in immunoblots of whole body homogenates from adult mosquitoes. Western blot analysis showed the strongest signal in a homogenate of thoraces. The signal was also detected in the head, midgut, cuticle plus fat body, ovary, and Malpighian tubules. No signal was detected in the hemolymph. A comparison of Anopheles gambiae, Aedes aegypti, Armigeres subalbatus, Drosophila melanogaster, Acheta domesticus, Manduca sexta , and bovine cardiac muscle and skeletal muscle showed that the polyclonal antibody cross-reacted to similarly sized polypeptides in all samples.     

GABA_B受体变构剂药学研究进展

γ-氨基丁酸B受体（GABAB receptor,GABABR）是最具有药理学意义的药物靶点之一,具有复杂而精细的激活机制。传统的GABABR靶点药物开发集中于激动剂和拮抗剂,这类药物受到多种因素的制约,包括较强的副作用、药物代谢困难、机体耐药性明显等。变构剂结合于正构位点之外,能够调节GABABR异源二聚体亚基或结构域间的相互作用。正向变构剂（positiveallosteric modulators,PAMs）和负向变构剂（negative allosteric modulators,NAMs）分别可以提高或降低GABABR的活性,并具有较高的特异性和药物安全性,同时还能够保持GABABR信号在时间和空间上的可控性。变构剂为GABABR靶点药物开发提供了新思路。     

Environmentally induced post‐spin property changes in spider silks: influences of web type,spidroin composition and ecology

Many spiders use silk to construct webs that must function for days at a time, whereas many other species renew their webs daily. The mechanical properties of spider silk can change after spinning under environmental stress, which could influence web function. We hypothesize that spiders spinning longer‐lasting webs produce silks composed of proteins that are more resistant to environmental stresses. The major ampullate (MA) silks of orb web spiders are principally composed of a combination of two proteins (spidroins) called MaSp1 and MaSp2. We expected spider MA silks dominated by MaSp1 to have the greatest resistance to post‐spin property change because they have high concentrations of stable crystalline β‐sheets. Some orb web spiders that spin three‐dimensional orb webs, such as Cyrtophora, have MA silks that are predominantly composed of MaSp1. Hence, we expected that the construction of three‐dimensional orb webs might also coincide with MA silk resistance to post‐spin property change. Alternatively, the degree of post‐spin mechanical property changes in different spider silks may be explained by factors within the spider's ecosystem, such as exposure to solar radiation. We exposed the MA silks of ten spider species from five genera (Nephila, Cyclosa, Leucauge, Cyrtophora, and Argiope) to ecologically high temperatures and low humidity for 4 weeks, and compared the mechanical properties of these silks with unexposed silks. Using species pairs enabled us to assess the influence of web dimensionality and MaSp composition both with and without phylogenetic influences being accounted for. We found neither the MaSp composition nor the three‐dimensionality of the orb web to be associated with the degree of post‐spin mechanical property changes in MA silk. The MA silks in Leucauge spp. are dominated by MaSp2, which we found to have the least resistance to post‐spin property change. The MA silk in Argiope spp. is also dominated by MaSp2, but has high resistance to post‐spin property change. The ancestry of Argiope is unresolved, but it is largely a tropical genus inhabiting hot, open regions that present similar stressors to silk as those of our experiment. Ecological factors thus appear to influence the vulnerability of orb web spider MA silks to post‐spin property change. © 2012 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, 106 , 580–588.     

棕榈酰化修饰对G蛋白偶联受体功能的调节作用

G蛋白偶联受体(G-protein-coupled receptors,GPCRs)作为跨膜蛋白,其结构和功能同时受相互作用的蛋白质和脂质分子调控.S-棕榈酰化(S-palmitoylation)能够影响GPCRs与信号蛋白及膜脂分子的相互作用,在GPCRs相关的多项生理进程中发挥重要调节作用.棕榈酸与GPCRs的半胱氨酸间形成不稳定的硫酯键,其修饰动力学过程受棕榈酰转移酶(protein acly transferases,PATs)与硫酯酶(thioesterases)之间的可逆性双重调控,与受体活性及生理状态密切相关.棕榈酰化修饰多发生在GPCRs的C末端,通过棕榈酸侧链插入到质膜内侧而形成第4和/或第5个胞内环,从而影响GPCRs的构象,促进其正确折叠与成熟,并对GPCRs胞内转运、分选、下游信号转导、失敏、内化、寡聚化等活动产生影响.此外,棕榈酰化还与磷酸化、泛素化及亚硝基化等多种翻译后修饰机制相互作用,共同参与调节GPCRs的功能.GPCRs的棕榈酰化修饰酶学机制以及GPCRs蛋白复合体棕榈酰化修饰胞内动力学过程将是未来的研究热点.