Comparative analysis of complete chloroplast genome sequences of two subtropical trees, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Phoebe sheareri</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Phoebe omeiensis</Emphasis> (Lauraceae)

Phoebe is an economically important genus from the family Lauraceae. It is widely distributed in tropical and subtropical Asia, but systematics of the genus is unclear, and currently there is no species-level phylogeny. Here, we determined the complete chloroplast genome sequences of two species with long-range PCR and next genome sequencing technologies, and identified mutation sites and highly variable regions. These highly variable sites were used to reconstruct the phylogeny. The plastomes of Phoebe sheareri and P. omeiensis were 152, 876, and 152, 855 bp, respectively. Comparative genomic analysis indicated that there are 222 mutation sites including 146 substitutions, 73 indels, and 3 microinversions in both plastomes. Fifty-six single-nucleotide changes were identified in gene-coding regions, and 45 microsatellite sites were found for use in species identification. Fourteen divergence hotspots of 38 variable regions were located. Phylogeny was reconstructed using a Bayesian and maximum likelihood approach for 12 Phoebe species and other five related Lauraceae based on 15 of the highly variable regions including accD-psaI, atpB-rbcL, ndhC-trnV, ndhF-rpl32, petA-psbJ, psaA, psbA-trnH, rbcL, rps8-rpl14, rps16-trnQ, rpl32-trnL, trnC-petN, trnL-trnF, trnS-trnG, and ycf1 indicated that variability in the chloroplast regions proposed as variable is enough to detect divergence events among 12 taxa of Phoebe, and that maybe also useful to help to elucidate further relationships among other taxa of the genus.     

Temperature Sensor Based on Hollow Fiber Filled with Graphene-Ag Composite Nanowire and Liquid

A temperature sensor based on hollow fiber (HF) filled with graphene-Ag composite nanowire and liquid is presented. The coupling properties and sensing performance are numerically analyzed by finite element method using wavelength and amplitude interrogations. Results show that the sensor exhibiting strong birefringence with x-polarized peak provides much higher sensitivities and better signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) than y-polarized, which is more suitable for temperature detection. The graphene-Ag composite nanowire can not only solve the oxidation problem but also avoid the metal coating. Moreover, it provides better performance than other similar works like Au-Ag nanowire-filled, Au nanowire-filled, and Ag nanowire-filled sensors. Contrary to the blue shift of traditional SPR temperature sensors, the resonance peak shifts to the longer wavelength in our device when temperature increases and the high sensitivity 9.44 nm/ °C is obtained. The influences of nanowire diameter, grapheme-layer thickness on the designed sensor, are also investigated. This work can provide a reference for developing a high sensitivity, real-time, remote sensing, and distributed temperature SPR sensor.     

Application of Rice-Straw Biochar and Microorganisms in Nonylphenol Remediation: Adsorption-Biodegradation Coupling Relationship and Mechanism

Biochar adsorption presents a potential remediation method for the control of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) pollution in the environment. It has been found that HOCs bound on biochar become less bioavailable, so speculations have been proposed that HOCs will persist for longer half-life periods in biochar-amended soil/sediment. To investigate how biochar application affects coupled adsorption-biodegradation, nonylphenol was selected as the target contaminant, and biochar derived from rice straw was applied as the adsorbent. The results showed that there was an optimal dosage of biochar in the presence of both adsorption and biodegradation for a given nonylphenol concentration, thus allowing the transformation of nonylphenol to be optimized. Approximately 47.6% of the nonylphenol was biodegraded in two days when 0.005 g biochar was added to 50 mg/L of nonylphenol, which was 125% higher than the relative quantity biodegraded without biochar, though the resistant desorption component of nonylphenol reached 87.1%. All adsorptive forms of nonylphenol (f _rap, f _slow, f _r) decreased gradually during the biodegradation experiment, and the resistant desorption fraction of nonylphenol (f _r) on biochar could also be biodegraded. It was concluded that an appropriate amount of biochar could stimulate biodegradation, not only illustrating that the dosage of biochar had an enormous influence on the half-life periods of HOCs but also alleviating concerns that enhanced HOCs binding by biochar may cause secondary pollution in biochar-modified environment.     

Structural Insight of a Trimodular Halophilic Cellulase with a Family 46 Carbohydrate-Binding Module

Cellulases are the key enzymes used in the biofuel industry. A typical cellulase contains a catalytic domain connected to a carbohydrate-binding module (CBM) through a flexible linker. Here we report the structure of an atypical trimodular cellulase which harbors a catalytic domain, a CBM46 domain and a rigid CBM_X domain between them. The catalytic domain shows the features of GH5 family, while the CBM46 domain has a sandwich-like structure. The catalytic domain and the CBM46 domain form an extended substrate binding cleft, within which several tryptophan residues are well exposed. Mutagenesis assays indicate that these residues are essential for the enzymatic activities. Gel affinity electrophoresis shows that these tryptophan residues are involved in the polysaccharide substrate binding. Also, electrostatic potential analysis indicates that almost the entire solvent accessible surface of CelB is negatively charged, which is consistent with the halophilic nature of this enzyme.     

Phenotypic Profiling of Scedosporium aurantiacum,an Opportunistic Pathogen Colonizing Human Lungs

Genotyping studies of Australian Scedosporium isolates have revealed the strong prevalence of a recently described species: Scedosporium aurantiacum. In addition to occurring in the environment, this fungus is also known to colonise the respiratory tracts of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. A high throughput Phenotype Microarray (PM) analysis using 94 assorted substrates (sugars, amino acids, hexose-acids and carboxylic acids) was carried out for four isolates exhibiting different levels of virulence, determined using a Galleria mellonella infection model. A significant difference was observed in the substrate utilisation patterns of strains displaying differential virulence. For example, certain sugars such as sucrose (saccharose) were utilised only by low virulence strains whereas some sugar derivatives such as D-turanose promoted respiration only in the more virulent strains. Strains with a higher level of virulence also displayed flexibility and metabolic adaptability at two different temperature conditions tested (28 and 37°C). Phenotype microarray data were integrated with the whole-genome sequence data of S. aurantiacum to reconstruct a pathway map for the metabolism of selected substrates to further elucidate differences between the strains.     

Exposure to high glutamate concentration activates aerobic glycolysis but inhibits ATP‐linked respiration in cultured cortical astrocytes

Astrocytes play a key role in removing the synaptically released glutamate from the extracellular space and maintaining the glutamate below neurotoxic level in the brain. However, high concentration of glutamate leads to toxicity in astrocytes, and the underlying mechanisms are unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether energy metabolism disorder, especially impairment of mitochondrial respiration, is involved in the glutamate‐induced gliotoxicity. Exposure to 10‐mM glutamate for 48 h stimulated glycolysis and respiration in astrocytes. However, the increased oxygen consumption was used for proton leak and non‐mitochondrial respiration, but not for oxidative phosphorylation and ATP generation. When the exposure time extended to 72 h, glycolysis was still activated for ATP generation, but the mitochondrial ATP‐linked respiration of astrocytes was reduced. The glutamate‐induced astrocyte damage can be mimicked by the non‐metabolized substrate d ‐aspartate but reversed by the non‐selective glutamate transporter inhibitor TBOA. In addition, the glutamate toxicity can be partially reversed by vitamin E. These findings demonstrate that changes of bioenergetic profile occur in cultured cortical astrocytes exposed to high concentration of glutamate and highlight the role of mitochondria respiration in glutamate‐induced gliotoxicity in cortical astrocytes. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

人免疫缺陷病毒早期蛋白Nef的表达、纯化及免疫原性研究

目的：通过原核细胞表达人免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）Nef抗原，制备特异抗血清，为Nef抗原检测提供技术方法。方法：以HIVBotswana毒株基因组为模板，用PCR法获得Nef蛋白编码基因，将其克隆到pET30a载体中，在大肠杆菌中表达Nef融合蛋白；用纯化的融合蛋白免疫BALB／c小鼠获得抗血清，用真核表达的Nef抗原对其特异性进行分析。结果：构建的Nef融合基因在大肠杆菌中获得表达，相对分子质量约为36x103，免疫BALB／c小鼠获得针对融合蛋白的高效价抗血清，ELISA抗体滴度为1：6400；免疫荧光和Westemblot检测表明，该抗血清能特异地与重组痘苗病毒表达的Nef抗原反应。结论：在大肠杆菌中表达了HIVNef融合蛋白，制备了Nef融合蛋白的高效价小鼠免疫血清，该血清能特异性识别HIVNef抗原，为HlVNef抗原检测提供了技术方法。     

Use of an A-T-rich DNA clone for identification and detection of Peronosclerospora sorghi

A recombinant plasmid, pMLY12-1, screened from a Peronosclerospora sorghi library hybridizes only to DNA of P. sorghi, or to DNA from leaves infected with P. sorghi, not to DNA of P. sorghi Thailand isolate, P. philippinensis, P. sacchari, or P. maydis. The terminal sequences of the 1.3-kb insert, which appears to contain mitochondrial DNA, are 85% A and T. No polymorphisms were detected when the probe was hybridized to Southern blots containing DNA from P. sorghi pathotype 1, pathotype 3, or a Botswana isolate digested with any of the eight restriction endonucleases tested. The banding patterns were the same whether DNA was extracted directly from the fungus or from infected leaves.     

绞股蓝总皂甙提取方法的比较研究

目的：探讨绞股蓝总皂甙最佳的提取方法。方法：首先选用水、80％甲醇、75％乙醇和氯仿等作为溶剂提取绞股蓝总皂甙，从中选择出2种较优试剂，再以回流提取法、索氏提取法、超声波法等提取方法对绞股蓝的总皂甙进行提取，从而选出一种优良的提取方法。并且采用分光光度法测定了绞股蓝总皂甙的含量。结果：研究表明，75％乙醇为绞股蓝总皂甙提取的最佳溶剂，乙醇回流提取法为最优方法。结论：以75％乙醇为提取溶剂的回流提取法是一种高效、简便、节能的绞股蓝总皂甙的提取方法。