Nitric Oxide：from a mysterious labile factor to the molecule of the Nobel Prize Recent progress in nitric oxide ressarch

NO is now known to be an important messenger molecule in biology.It regulates a variety of functions within cells and tissues including vasodilation,neurotransmission and immunological process.This review will focus on the nitric oxide synthase gene family and recent progress on molecular genetic analysis of NOS1,NOS2 and NOS3 genes.     

吡咯赖氨酸：第 22 种参与蛋白质生物合成的氨基酸

吡咯赖氨酸在产甲烷菌的甲胺甲基转移酶中发现,是目前已知的第 22 种参与蛋白质生物合成的氨基酸,与标准氨基酸不同的是,它由终止密码子 UAG 的有义编码形成 . 与之对应的在产甲烷菌中也含有特异的吡咯赖氨酰 -tRNA 合成酶 (PylRS) 和吡咯赖氨酸 tRNA (tRNA^Pyl). tRNA^Pyl具有不同于经典 tRNA 的特殊结构 . 产甲烷菌通过直接途径和间接途径这两种途径生成吡咯赖氨酰 -tRNA^Pyl(Pyl-tRNA^Pyl) ,它还可能通过 mRNA 上的特殊结构以及其他还未发现的机制,控制 UAG 编码成为终止密码子或者吡咯赖氨酸 . 比较了吡咯赖氨酸与另一种非标准氨基酸,第 21 种氨基酸———硒代半胱氨酸的相似点与不同点 .     

外源乙烯对月季(Rosa hybrida)切花花朵开放的影响与乙烯生物合成相关基因表达的关联

以探讨外源乙烯对月季切花花朵开放的影响及其与花瓣内源乙烯生物合成相关基因表达之间的关联为目的. 试材选用外源乙烯对花朵开放进程影响截然相反的两个品种, 其中, Samantha明显被促进, 而Kardinal则明显被抑制. 经外源乙烯处理, 两品种花瓣乙烯生成量、1-氨基环丙烷-1-羧酸(1-aminocyclopropane -1-carboxylate, ACC)合成酶(ACC synthase, ACS)和ACC氧化酶(ACC oxidase, ACO)活性都被诱导升高. 但是, 以上指标两品种间变化有差异, 其中, Samantha主要表现为峰值提前, 即由未经处理对照的盛开期(开花级数4级)提早到初开期(3级); 而Kardinal主要表现为绝对值剧烈升高, 且远高于Samantha. 从花瓣中克隆到3个ACS (Rh-ACS1, Rh-ACS2和Rh-ACS3)和1个ACO(Rh-ACO1)基因的cDNA, 非放射性Northern检测结果表明, Rh-ACS3和Rh-ACO1基因的表达受到乙烯的诱导, 并且其表达变化在两个品种中都与ACS活性和乙烯生成量相一致. 由此推测, 外源乙烯对切花月季品种间花朵开放影响的差异, 可能与花瓣内乙烯生物合成关键酶转录水平上的诱导差异有关, 并且Kardinal可能对外源乙烯更为敏感. 还明确了月季切花3个ACS基因之间的表达存在发育时间和诱导方式上的特异性.     

UV-B照射培养对酵母菌生理活性物质的影响

研究了UV-B照射培养过程中酵母细胞内各种生理活性物质的变化。实验结果显示,UV-B照射培养过程中,酵母细胞中RNA、蛋白质、海藻糖、麦角甾醇和葡聚糖含量均有不同程度的提高,其中RNA含量由0h的8.94%增加到72h的9.88%;蛋白质含量在72h时达到最大值,比培养初期提高0.28%;海藻糖在60h达到最高值,约为113.9mg·g-1酵母;麦角甾醇含量在84h达到最大值为15.43mg·g-1酵母;葡聚糖在72h时的含量占细胞壁干重的22.60%。而酵母细胞中谷胱甘肽的含量和超氧化物歧化酶活性则均呈下降趋势。说明UV-B照射对酵母生长产生较大影响,多种生理活性物质的含量出现不同变化。     

蔗糖磷酸合成酶(SPS)与果实品质及成熟衰老的研究进展

从蔗糖磷酸合成酶（sucrose phosphate synthase,SPS）基本性质、SPS与果实糖的积累、相关酶类和外源刺激、乙烯和呼吸、果实软化的火系及SPS基因的克隆与表达调控等几方面综述了国内外近年来对SPS的研究进展。     

棉花蔗糖合成酶(SuSy)分子结构特征与功能预测分析

从生物信息学角度,利用http://www.us.expasy.org、http://www.ch.embnet.org和NCBI的核酸/蛋白质结构特征在线分析工具,对棉花蔗糖合成酶（SuSy,sucrose synthase E.C.2.4.1.13）基因及其推导的氨基酸序列进行结构特征和功能域预测分析,探讨了棉花蔗糖合成酶的亲/疏水性、信号肽、跨膜拓扑结构、卷曲螺旋结构及功能域。结果表明该酶具有2个卷曲螺旋区段;20-30和190-215氨基酸区域,没有信号肽,是一个非跨膜的亲水性稳定蛋白,包含两个功能结构域7-555（Sucrosc-synth）和568-747（Glycose-transf-1）,分别行使蔗糖合成功能,糖基化合物（UDP、ADP、GDP或CMP）转移功能。     

海藻糖及其在生物工程方面的应用

自海藻糖发现以来对其化学性质、生理功能、作用机理、代谢途径等已进行了较为深入的研究,其分子生物学的研究也渐渐兴起。研究表明海藻糖能提高生物体对干旱、低温、高温、pH、盐渍等逆境条件下的抗性。离体试验表明海藻糖能保护生物膜、蛋白质的结构并能保持逆境下的酶活性,同时,外源海藻糖同样对生物体有保护作用。由于海藻糖具有这些独特的生物学功能,它已在许多方面得以应用,可作为食品工业的一种添加剂和甜味剂,使干燥食品在得水后保持原有的色、香、味;也可作为医药工业的非特异性生物制品和生化药品保护剂,使其在常温下保存,从而降低运输与储存费用;另外,在农业研究中可利用现代分子生物技术培育表达海藻糖的转基因作物,提高农作物的抗旱、抗冻等抗逆性能。     

谷氨酰胺合成酶基因GS1和GS2的高效表达增强转基因水稻对氮素缺乏的耐性

构建了同时含有胞质谷氨酰胺合成酶(GS1)cDNA和叶绿体谷氨酰胺合成酶(GS2)cDNA的植物表达载体p2GS,通过农杆菌介导法用它们转化了水稻品种"中花10号"的成熟胚愈伤组织,经潮霉素(Hyg)筛选培养及分化再生,获得了抗Hyg的转基因水稻植株.PCR和基因组Southern杂交分析结果证明,GS1和GS2基因均已经整合到转基因水稻的基因组内.Northern杂交实验结果证实,GS1和GS2基因在转基因水稻的转录水平上得到了有效表达.在以0.7 mmol/L的(NH4)2SO4取代了其中氮成分的MS培养基上测试植株生长量,结果表明转基因植株鲜重增长量显著高于对照,证明高效表达GS增强了转基因水稻对土壤氮素缺乏的耐性.     

Genetic Transformation of Tobacco with the Trehalose Synthase Gene from Grifola frondosa Fr. Enhances the Resistance to Drought and Salt in Tobacco

Trehalose is a non-reducing disaccharide of glucose that functions as a protectant in the stabilization of biological structures and enhances the tolerance of organisms to abiotic stress. In the present study, we report on the expression of the Grifolafrondosa Fr. trehalose synthase (TSase) gene for manipulating abiotic stress tolerance in tobacco (Nicotiana tabaccum L.). The expression of the transgene was under the control of two tandem copies of the CaMV35S promoter and was transferred into tobacco by Agrobacterium tumefaciens EHA105. Compared with non-transgenic plants, transgenic plants were able to accumulate high levels of products of trehalose, which were increased up to 2.126-2.556 mg/g FW, although levels were undetectable in non-transgenic plants. This level of trehalose in transgenic plants was 400-fold higher than that of transgenic tobacco plants cotransformed with Escherichia coli TPS and TPP on independent expression cassettes, twofold higher than that of transgenic rice plants transformed with a bifunctional fusion gene (TPSP) of the trehalose-6-phosphate (T-6-P) synthase (TPS) and T-6-P phosphatase(TPP) of E. coil, and 12-fold higher than that of transgenic tobacco plants transformed the yeast TPS1 gene.It has been reported that transgenic plants with E. coil TPS and/or TPP were severely stunted and had morphological alterations of their roots. Interestingly, our transgenic plants have obvious morphological changes, including thick and deep-coloured leaves, but show no growth inhibition; moreover, these morphological changes can restore to normal type in T2 progenies. Trehalose accumulation in 35S-35S:TSase plants resulted in increased tolerance to drought and salt, as shown by the results of tests on drought, salt tolerance, and drought physiological indices, such as water content in excised leaves, malondialdehyde content, chlorophyll a and b contents, and the activity of superoxide dismutase and peroxidase in excised leaves. These results suggest that transgenic plants transformed with the TSase gene can accumulate high levels of trehalose and have enhanced tolerance to drought and salt.