Protein folding pathways of adenylate kinase from E. coli: hydrostatic pressure and stopped-flow studies.

Adenylate kinase (AKe) from E. coli is a small, single-chain, monomeric enzyme with no tryptophan and a single cysteine residue. We have constructed six single-Trp mutants of AKe to facilitate optical studies of these proteins and to specifically examine the interrelationship between their structure, function, dynamics, and folding reactions. In this study, the effects of hydrostatic pressure on the folding reactions of AKe were studied. The native structure of AKe was transformed to a non-native, yet pressure stable, conformation by hydrostatic pressure of about 300 MPa. This pressure lability of AKe is rather low for a monomeric protein and presumably may be attributed to substantial conformational flexibility and a correspondingly large volume change. The refolding of AKe after pressure-induced denaturation was reversible under ambient conditions. At low temperature (near 0 degrees C), the refolding process of pressure-exposed AKe mutants displayed a significant hysteresis. The observation of a slow refolding rate in the 193 region and a faster folding rate around the active site (86, 41, 73 regions) leads us to suggest that in the folding process, priority is afforded to functional regions. The slow structural return of the 193 region apparently does not hinder the more rapid return of enzymatic activity of AKe. Circular dichroism studies on the pressure-denatured Y193W mutant show that the secondary structure (calculated from far-UV spectra) returned at a rapid rate, but the tertiary structure alignment (calculated from near-UV spectra) around the 193 region occurred more slowly at rates comparable to those detected by fluorescence intensity. Denaturation of AKe mutants by guanidine hydrochloride and subsequent refolding experiments were also consistent with a much slower refolding process around the 193 region than near the active site. Fast refolding kinetic traces were observed in F86W, S41W, and A73W mutants using a fluorescence detection stopped-flow rapid mixing device, while only a slow kinetic trace was observed for Y193W. The results suggest that the differences in regional folding rates of AKe are not derived from the specific denaturation methods, but rather are inherent in the structural organization of the protein.     

Pre‐copulation intervals,copulation frequencies,and initial progeny sex ratios in two biotypes of whitefly,Bemisia tabaci

The whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) is a species complex, and its systematic classification requires controlled crossing experiments among its genetic groups. Accurate information on pre‐copulation intervals, copulation frequencies, and initial frequency of egg fertilization of newly emerged adults is critical for designing procedures for collecting the virgin adults necessary for these experiments. In the literature, considerable variation is reported between B. tabaci populations, with respect to the length of the pre‐copulation interval and the initial frequency of egg fertilization. Here, we used a video‐recording method to observe continuously the copulation behaviour of the Mediterranean/Asia Minor/Africa (B biotype) and the Asia II (ZHJ1 biotype) groups of B. tabaci. We also recorded the initial frequency of egg fertilization, as determined by the sex of the progeny. When adults were caged in female–male pairs on leaves of cotton plants, the earliest copulation events occurred 2–6 h after emergence; at 12 h after emergence 56–84% of the females had copulated at least once, and nearly all (92–100%) had copulated at least once by 36 h after emergence. Both females and males copulated repeatedly. Approximately 80 and 20% of copulation events occurred during the photophase and scotophase, respectively. By 72 h post‐emergence, the females of the B and ZHJ1 biotypes had copulated on average 6.1 and 3.9 times, respectively. When adults were caged in groups on plants 1–13 h after emergence, 30–35% of the eggs deposited during this period were fertilized, and approximately 90% of females were fertilized by the end of the 13 h. Although timing of copulation differed in detail between the two genetic groups, the results demonstrate that B. tabaci adults can start to copulate as early as 2–6 h post‐emergence and the majority of females can become fertilized on the day that they emerge.     

重楼属植物甾体皂甙的高效液相色谱分析

应用高效液相层析技术,对重楼属十八个种植物的甾体皂甙进行了定性、定量分析。植物用甲醇提取,抽出物经DIAION柱,以90％甲醇洗出总甙。在HPLC上,用ODS柱先将总甙以用醇:水(9:1)洗脱分为三馏段,每馏再在ODS柱或Rp-8柱上以甲醇:水(8:2;7:3.5)洗脱,使各个皂甙成分完全分离。被分离的每个色谱峰与已知重楼皂甙的保留时间进行比较并配合HPLC的加入法,TLC分析及用HPLC制备少量样品做MS测定来加以定性鉴定。定量采用内标及校正曲线法。     

Identification of the Serratia marcescens hemolysin determinant by cloning into Escherichia coli.

A cosmid bank of Serratia marcescens was established from which DNA fragments were cloned into the plasmid pBR322, which conferred the chromosomally encoded hemolytic activity to Escherichia coli K-12. By transposon mutagenesis with Tn1000 and Tn5 IS50L::phoA (TnphoA), the coding region was assigned to a DNA fragment, designated hly, comprising approximately 7 kilobases. Two proteins with molecular weights of 61,000 (61K protein) and 160,000 (160K protein) were expressed by the pBR322 derivatives and by a plasmid which contained the hly genes under the control of a phage T7 promoter and the T7 RNA polymerase. When strongly overexpressed the 160K protein was released by E. coli cells into the extracellular medium concomitant with hemolytic activity. The genes encoding the 61K and the 160K proteins were transcribed in the same direction. Mutants expressing a 160K protein truncated at the carboxy-terminal end were partially hemolytic. Hemolysis was progressively inhibited by saccharides with increasing molecular weights from maltotriose (Mr 504) to maltoheptaose (Mr 1,152) and was totally abolished by dextran 4 (Mr 4,000). This result and the observed influx of [14C]sucrose into erythrocytes in the presence of hemolytic E. coli transformants under osmotically protective conditions suggest the formation of defined transmembrane channels by the hemolysin.     

用免疫荧光单克隆抗体对脊髓灰质炎病毒抗原表位的分析

用间接免疫荧光与中和试验筛选出来的抗脊髓灰质炎2型与3型不同毒株的12个单克隆抗体,其中3个仅有免疫荧光活性,9个具有中和与免疫荧光活性。用免疫荧光活性的单克隆抗体进行试验,发现它们在识别特异性抗原表位方面与中和性单克隆抗体相似,显示出株特异的、几个毒株共同特异的或型特异的抗原表位。根据表位分布关系及特征,可以用来鉴别型内毒株的特征、毒株的抗原分析、抗原变异的研究以及疫苗相关病例的鉴别。所得结果与中和性单克抗隆抗体及T1-寡核苷酸指纹图谱分析一致。而免疫荧光单克隆抗体识别抗原表位的活性范围比中和性单克隆抗体更广。另外还发现某些兼有荧光与中和两活性的同一个单克隆抗体,用不同方法(IF与NT)进行试验时,与相同毒株出现不同表位反应,这点是值得引起注意需待进一步证实的重要问题。     

Hysteresis and conformational drift of pressure-dissociated glyceraldehydephosphate dehydrogenase

Pressure dissociation of yeast glyceraldehydephosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) was studied by fluorescence spectroscopy. Observations in the range of -5 to 30 degrees C indicate that monomer association into the tetramer proceeds with an enthalpy change of -14 kcal mol-1 and a large increase in entropy which at 25 degrees C amounts to 18 kcal mol-1. The large conformational drift and the low-temperature stability of the tetramer recovered after decompression facilitated a comparison of its properties with those of the native tetramer. Significant differences in absorption and fluorescence-excitation polarization spectra, yield of tryptophan fluorescence, and binding of anilinonaphthalenesulfonate and NADH were observed. At 0 degree C the standard free energies of association of the monomers into the native and drifted tetramers were respectively -32 and -29 kcal mol-1. The volume change upon association measured from the pressure span of the compression curves was 200-230 mL mol-1 but four times as large when derived from the displacement of the compression curves with total protein concentration. This large discrepancy can be explained by the existence in the native tetramer population of a distribution of free energies of association with a dispersion from the mean of about 6 kcal mol-1. At 0 degree C and 1 bar ATP and ADP decreased the stability of the GAPDH tetramer by changes in free energy of association of +3.7 and +4.1 kcal mol-1, respectively. NAD and c-AMP stabilized it by -2.3 and -1.3 kcal mol-1. The variation in sign and magnitude of the ligand-induced changes in free energy of association observed in this case, and previously in hexokinase [Ruan, K., & Weber, G. (1988) Biochemistry 27, 3295], and the heterogeneity of the free energy of association of GAPDH, revealed as indicated above, lead to the conclusion that oligomeric aggregates exist in a variety of conformations that depend upon the protein concentration, temperature, pressure, and the presence of specific ligands. The multiplicity of species revealed by the energetics raises questions about the significance of the structures of oligomeric proteins determined by X-ray crystallography.     

Precise and imprecise somatic excision of the transposon Tc1 in the nematode C. elegans.

Eleven chromosomal products of somatic excision of Tc1 transposable elements have been cloned and sequenced. The cloning method did not involve genetic reversion; therefore the products analyzed should be representative. Six empty religated target sites were from excision of one Tc1 element inserted near actin genes on linkage group V; five were from a second Tc1 element inserted elsewhere on the same linkage group. All six products from the first element were identical in sequence to an empty target site from a second strain, indicating excision had been precise. Two of the products from the second element were also precise, whereas the other three contained four extra nucleotides at the point of excision, indicating an imprecise excision. The four nucleotides are the same in all cases and could represent two terminal nucleotides of the transposon plus a two-nucleotide target site duplication. The difference in the ratio of precise to imprecise excision at the two insertion sites suggests a possible chromosomal position effect on the pathway of Tc1 somatic excision.     

Rapid and sensitive assay for the phytotoxin rhizobitoxine.

Rhizobitoxine is a phytotoxin synthesized by some strains of the legume symbiont genus Bradyrhizobium and the plant pathogen Pseudomonas andropogonis. We demonstrate here a new enzymatic assay which is 100-fold more sensitive than previous assays and can detect as little as 1.0 pmol of rhizobitoxine. The assay is based on the inhibition of Salmonella typhimurium beta-cystathionase by rhizobitoxine. Interestingly, beta-cystathionase from Bradyrhizobium japonicum is insensitive to rhizobitoxine at concentrations lower than 75 microM.     

小麦黄花叶病毒的分离提纯及其血清学等特性

应用梯度离心和超速离心浓缩获得部分提纯的病毒制剂,产量约为7.45g/kg病叶提纯的病毒制剂的紫外吸收曲线呈典型的核蛋白吸收曲线,OD260/OD242和OD260/OD280的比值分别为1.24和1.38。病毒粒子呈线状,宽13—14nm,长度主要分布于250—300nm和550—700nm之间,1000nm以上的粒子也有检到。病毒外壳蛋白仅由一个分子量约为30Kd的亚基组成。在免疫电镜试验中、病毒粒子与日本WYMV抗血清发生强烈的血清学反应。新鲜病叶的超薄切片中可看到大量风轮体和膜状体。     

Up-regulation of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) receptors in murine peritoneal exudate macrophages by both GM-CSF and IL-3.

Murine peritoneal exudate macrophages (PEM) display multiple CSF receptors. In this study, the expression of granulocyte-macrophage (GM)-CSF receptors in PEM was studied. PEM displayed over 5000 single type, high affinity GM-CSF receptors/cell with a Kd = 38 to 42 pM and an apparent molecular mass of 86,000 Da. Treatment of PEM with low, but not high, concentrations of recombinant murine (rMu) GM-CSF continuously for 24 h resulted in a marked up-regulation of GM-CSF receptors in PEM. A similar up-regulation of GM-CSF receptors also was detected in PEM cultures treated with rMuIL-3 (1-100 ng/ml) for 24 h or longer, regardless the doses of rMuIL-3 added in this case. Scatchard analysis of equilibrium binding showed that the enhanced binding activities in both cases were due to an increase in total number of GM-CSF receptors rather than changes in receptor affinity. Contrariwise, treatment with recombinant human macrophage-CSF (greater than 100-1000 ng/ml) partially inhibited the expression of GM-CSF receptors in PEM. Removal of rMuGM-CSF from culture medium 24 h after treatment led to a further up-regulation of GM-CSF receptors over a 4 to 24-h period, depending on the doses of initial treatment. On the other hand, removal of rMuIL-3 from culture medium after prolonged treatment did not result in further increase in GM-CSF receptors. The protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide abrogated GM-CSF receptor up-regulation induced by both rMuIL-3 and rMuGM-CSF, whereas actinomycin D inhibited only the second (8-24 h) phase of GM-CSF receptor up-regulation induced by exposure to high concentrations rMuGM-CSF (10 ng/ml). These findings suggest that rMuGM-CSF and rMuIL-3 up-regulate GM-CSF receptors in PEM in part through similar or identical metabolic pathways and provide further evidence of a close linkage between IL-3 and GM-CSF receptors.