Regulation of photoreceptor phosphodiesterase (PDE6) by phosphorylation of its inhibitory gamma subunit re-evaluated.

Phosphorylation of the inhibitory gamma subunit (Pgamma) of rod cGMP phosphodiesterase (PDE6) has been reported to turn off visual excitation without the requirement for inactivation of the photoreceptor G-protein transducin. We evaluated the significance of Pgamma phosphorylation for PDE6 regulation by preparing Pgamma stoichiometrically phosphorylated at Thr(22) or at Thr(35). Phosphorylation of Pgamma at either residue caused a minor decrease--not the previously reported increase--in the ability of Pgamma to inhibit catalysis at the active site of purified PDE6 catalytic dimers. Likewise, Pgamma phosphorylation had little effect on its potency to inhibit transducin-activated PDE6 depleted of its endogenous Pgamma subunits. The strength of Pgamma interaction with the regulatory GAF domain of PDE6 was reduced severalfold upon Pgamma phosphorylation at Thr(22) (but not Thr(35)), as judged by allosteric changes in cGMP binding to these noncatalytic sites on the enzyme (Mou, H., and Cote, R. H. (2001) J. Biol. Chem. 276, 27527-27534). In contrast, the effects of Pgamma phosphorylation on its interactions with activated transducin were much more pronounced. Phosphorylation of Pgamma at either Thr(22) or Thr(35) greatly diminished its ability to bind activated transducin, consistent with earlier work. In situ phosphorylation of Pgamma by endogenous rod outer segment kinases was enhanced severalfold upon light activation, but only approximately 10% of the endogenous Pgamma was phosphorylated. This is attributed to Pgamma being a poor substrate for protein kinases when associated with the PDE6 holoenzyme. We conclude that, contrary to previous reports, Pgamma phosphorylation at either Thr(22) or Thr(35) modestly weakens its direct interactions with PDE6. However, Pgamma phosphorylation subsequent to its dissociation from PDE6 is likely to abolish its binding to activated transducin and may serve to make phosphorylated Pgamma available to regulate other signal transduction pathways (e.g. mitogen-activated protein kinase; Wan, K. F., Sambi, B. S., Frame, M., Tate, R., and Pyne, N. J. (2001) J. Biol. Chem. 276, 37802-37808) in photoreceptor cells.     

Flow-Cytometric Cell Sorting and Subsequent Molecular Analyses for Culture-Independent Identification of Bacterioplankton Involved in Dimethylsulfoniopropionate Transformations

Marine bacterioplankton transform dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) into the biogeochemically important and climatically active gas dimethylsulfide. In order to identify specific bacterial taxa mediating DMSP processing in a natural marine ecosystem, we amended water samples from a southeastern U.S. salt marsh with 20 μM DMSP and tracked community shifts with flow cytometry (FCM) coupled to 16S rRNA gene analyses. In two out of four seasons studied, DMSP amendments induced the formation of distinct bacterioplankton populations with elevated nucleic acid (NA) content within 24 h, indicative of cells actively utilizing DMSP. The 16S rRNA genes of the cells with and without elevated NA content were analyzed following cell sorting and PCR amplification with sequencing and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism approaches. Compared to cells in the control FCM populations, bacteria with elevated NA content in the presence of DMSP were relatively enriched in taxa related to Loktanella, Oceanicola, and Sulfitobacter (Roseobacter lineage, α-Proteobacteria); Caulobacter (α-Proteobacteria); and Brachymonas and Xenophilus (β-Proteobacteria) in the May-02 sample and to Ketogulonicigenium (Roseobacter lineage, α-Proteobacteria) and novel γ-Proteobacteria in the Sept-02 sample. Our study suggests that diverse bacterioplankton participate in the metabolism of DMSP in coastal marine systems and that their relative importance varies temporally.     

内蒙古大青山华北落叶松人工林乔木层碳密度年增量与气象因子的关系

以内蒙古大青山华北落叶松人工林为研究对象，通过树木年轮法和异速生长方程法，计算华北落叶松人工林生物量、碳密度及其年增量的年际变化，并分析碳密度年增量与气温、降水、湿度等气象因子的关系。研究发现：华北落叶松人工林碳密度随着林龄增加的变化曲线可用逻辑斯谛生长方程拟合，在1979—2016年，碳密度由1.05 t/hm~2增加到76.83 t/hm~2。华北落叶松人工林碳密度年增量存在显著的年际差异，总体上呈波动性的“慢-快-慢”趋势，碳密度年增量最高达到3.72 t hm^-2 a^-1,多年平均为2.05 t hm^-2 a^-1。华北落叶松人工林碳密度年增量与上年6月和当年6—8月的降水量显著正相关，与上年11月降水显著负相关；与上年11—12月、当年2月和12月的温度和大气相对湿度分别呈正、负相关；与上年7月、9月及当年8—9月的温度保持显著或极显著正相关。研究表明，温度、湿度和降水主要通过生长季的长短和土壤可利用水分及冬季的雪害冻害影响华北落叶松人工林的碳汇潜力，在未来该地区升温增湿的气候变化趋势下华北...     

黄土高原丘陵沟壑区小流域植被净第一性生产力模型

构建了机理性植被净第一性生产力模型(Vegetation—Soil—Integrated—Model,VSIM)。该模型将土壤水分动态过程与植被生长过程相耦合,用以分析黄土高原丘陵沟壑区土壤水分对植被生产力的影响。模型考虑了叶片尺度上气孔导度对净光合过程和蒸腾过程的影响,在此基础上通过考虑植被冠层结构和地形因素的影响对模型进行尺度转换,并以位于黄土高原丘陵沟壑区纸坊沟流域的观测数据对模型进行参数化和验证。结果表明对于生物量的模拟草本和半灌木比乔、灌木好．主要植被类型LAI的季节变化与观测结果具有很好的一致性,模型能够反映出流域降雨一产流过程,并且基本上也能够反映土壤水分的时空变化范围。模拟结果表明,刺槐林和苹果林属于高光合一低蒸腾类型,农作物、白羊草群落和达乌里胡枝子群落属于高光合一高蒸腾类型,铁杆蒿群落和茭蒿群落属于低光合一低蒸腾类型,而沙棘灌丛和柠条灌丛的净第一性生产力居中,但蒸腾量较高。流域内土壤水分在多年序列上基本平衡,而在不同的水文年表现出失衡。其中刺槐林、苹果林和沙棘灌丛的多年平均土壤水分在年内存在少量亏缺,铁杆蒿群落和茭蒿群落略有增加,而其它植被类型基本保持平衡。丰水年不同植被类型土壤含水量都明显高于欠水年,土壤水分含量的变化在丰水年表现为盈余,而在欠水年表现为明显的亏缺。     

二月兰形态性状的变异分析

二月兰(Orychophragmus violaceus)是集食用、保健、饲用和观赏于一身的优良地被植物。其遗传背景单一、生长周期短,是发展模式植物的优良材料。为了开发其育种价值,我们对二月兰的形态变异式样进行了初步分析。共选取了北京和南京地区的7个居群的34个表型性状进行观测。通过计算分析发现:株高、茎和花序分枝等性状受环境影响较大,因而其分类价值不大;叶形、毛被、叶缘锯齿等性状的变异在居群内是连续的,所以也不是可靠的分类性状;而花部性状的一些变异,包括花瓣的颜色、大小、形态,基本不受环境影响,且这些变异在居群内是不连续的,所以其分类价值相对较高。对17个数值性状的方差分析和多重比较结果表明,在同一年度内,大部分性状在不同地区间差异不显著,在居群间差异极显著;而在不同年度内,居群间差异不显著。最后,对7个居群和30个表型性状进行了数量分类:Q分析表明北京颐和园、南京紫金山山顶公园和南京中山植物园居群比较相似,而北京圆明园、北京海淀区后八家苗圃、南京情侣园和北京天坛公园居群较相似。R分析揭示了二月兰花部、叶部、反映植株毛被和颜色以及表现植株生长量的性状间均具有一定的相关性。这些研究可为种下等级的划分和进一步的遗传研究以及品种培育提供一定的参数资料。     

玉米转录因子zmCBF1的凝胶阻滞分析

凝胶阻滞试验是分析核酸与蛋白质相互作用的有效方法,在转录因子的功能分析中得到了广泛应用。以玉米转录因子zmCBF1与顺式元件CRT的结合为例,建立了用于转录因子分析的GRA/EMSA实验体系,并对其在应用中可能出现的问题进行了分析。     

微生物脂肽的结构

根据结构特征,将脂肽分为环状脂肽和线形脂肽;按脂肪酸链和肽链的连接方式不同,进一步将环状脂肽分为3类。在此基础上,对脂肽的产生菌和脂肽结构进行了综述,并对脂肽的活性、作用机理及其应用进行了展望。     

Obesity-related genetic variants, human pigmentation, and risk of melanoma

Previous biological studies showed evidence of a genetic link between obesity and pigmentation in both animal models and humans. Our study investigated the individual and joint associations between obesity-related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and both human pigmentation and risk of melanoma. Eight obesity-related SNPs in the FTO, MAP2K5, NEGR1, FLJ35779, ETV5, CADM2, and NUDT3 genes were nominally significantly associated with hair color among 5,876 individuals of European ancestry. The genetic score combining 35 independent obesity-risk loci was significantly associated with darker hair color (beta-coefficient per ten alleles = 0.12, P value = 4 × 10^?5). However, single SNPs or genetic scores showed non-significant association with tanning ability. We further examined the SNPs at the FTO locus for their associations with pigmentation and risk of melanoma. Among the 783 SNPs in the FTO gene with imputation R ² quality metric >0.8 using the 1,000 genome data set, ten and three independent SNPs were significantly associated with hair color and tanning ability respectively. Moreover, five independent FTO SNPs showed nominally significant association with risk of melanoma in 1,804 cases and 1,026 controls. But none of them was associated with obesity or in linkage disequilibrium with obesity-related variants. FTO locus may confer variation in human pigmentation and risk of melanoma, which may be independent of its effect on obesity.