A Drosophila receptor-type tyrosine kinase (DFR1) acts as a fibroblast growth factor receptor in Xenopus embryos

Members of the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) family play important roles in various developmental processes in vertebrates. Since two genes closely related to the vertebrate FGF receptor (FGFR) genes DFR1 and DFR2/breathless have already been reported in Drosophila , the existence of a Drosophila FGF has been predicted. In the present study, we examined whether DFR1 is functionally interchangeable with a vertebrate FGFR in the Xenopus system. First, we found that the expression of DFR1 promoted Ca²⁺ efflux in response to human basic (b)FGF in Xenopus oocytes, whereas the coexpression of a dominant negative form of DFR1 (ΔDFR1) with a chick FGFR1/cek1 inhibited promotion of Ca²⁺ efflux induced by the expression of cek1 in the oocyte. Second, the expression of ΔDFR1 was observed to induce a defect in the posterior structure of the Xenopus embryo at stage 30, as observed with a dominant negative form of cek1 (Δcek1). Third, we found that the expression of ΔDFR1 inhibited the expression of FGF-regulated genes such as Xbra, Xnot , and Xshh in Xenopus embryos at stage 11, while the coexpression of DFR1 with ΔDFR1 could rescue the inhibited expression of FGF-regulated genes. These results indicate that DFR1 acts as an FGFR in Xenopus embryos and that an FGF is likely to exist in Drosophila .     

基于转录组测序的细风轮花青素合成途径及关键酶基因分析

为进一步理解细风轮花青素合成途径,本研究利用华大基因BGISEQ-500平台对细风轮中的根、茎、叶、花4个组织进行了转录组测序,从头组装后得到128 856个Unigene。KEGG通路表明有40个Unigene编码了细风轮的花青素生物合成途径中6个关键酶。我们对其中的关键酶DFR（二氢黄酮醇还原酶）进行同源比对和空间结构模拟,结果显示DFR序列和结构均具有良好的保守性,且具有高度保守的NAD⁺结合位点,其二级结构主要由α螺旋和β折叠组成,在空间上α螺旋包裹着β折叠,形成“夹心饼干”样结构。     

Crystal structure of vestitone reductase from alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)

Isoflavonoids are commonly found in leguminous plants, where they play important roles in plant defense and have significant health benefits for animals and humans. Vestitone reductase catalyzes a stereospecific NADPH-dependent reduction of (3R)-vestitone in the biosynthesis of the antimicrobial isoflavonoid phytoalexin medicarpin. The crystal structure of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) vestitone reductase has been determined at 1.4 A resolution. The structure contains a classic Rossmann fold domain in the N terminus and a small C-terminal domain. Sequence and structural analysis showed that vestitone reductase is a member of the short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase (SDR) superfamily despite the low levels of sequence identity, and the prominent structural differences from other SDR enzymes with known structures. The putative binding sites for the co-factor NADPH and the substrate (3R)-vestitone were defined and located in a large cleft formed between the N and C-terminal domains of enzyme. Potential key residues for enzyme activity were also identified, including the catalytic triad Ser129-Tyr164-Lys168. A molecular docking study showed that (3R)-vestitone, but not the (3S) isomer, forms favored interactions with the co-factor and catalytic triad, thus providing an explanation for the enzyme's strict substrate stereo-specificity.     

不同红光/远红光比例(R/FR)的光照影响番茄幼苗叶片中花青素合成的研究

硫灯或氙灯具有不同的红光／远红光比例(R／FR,前者为1．5,而后者为1)。研究结果表明,硫灯照射下生长的番茄幼苗叶片与太阳光下相似,能正常合成花青素;而氙灯照光生长的番茄幼苗叶片中的花青素合成受到严重抑制,通过分光光度法测定的花青素含量仅为前者的1／9。进一步在硫灯下培养红光／远红光受体(光敏素B族)单突变和双突变的番茄幼苗中,发现单突变体phyB1和双突变体phyB1phyB2的叶片花青素含量显著低于野生型,分别为野生型的1／3和1／15,由此推测花青素合成途径受到了红光／远红光比例的影响。HPLC结果又表明,硫灯和氙灯照光生长的番茄幼苗叶片中黄酮醇总量没有显著差异。我们推测氙灯下番茄幼苗花青素合成过程可能抑制位点是二氢黄酮醇还原酶或白花色素双氧酶两个催化步骤。     

Comparative and phylogenomic analyses of cinnamoyl-CoA reductase and cinnamoyl-CoA-reductase-like gene family in land plants

The biosynthesis of monolignols, the main components of lignin, involves many intermediates and enzymes. The cinnamoyl-CoA reductase (CCR) enzyme catalyzes the conversion of cinnamoyl-CoAs to cinnamaldehydes, i.e. the first specific step in lignin synthesis. The CCR and CCR-like gene family was studied partially in several plant species. This is a comprehensive study of the CCR and CCR-like gene family including genome organization, gene structure, phylogeny across land plant species, and, expression profiling in Populus. Analysis of amino acid motifs enabled the identification of sequence variations in the CCR catalytic site and annotates CCR and CCR-like genes. CCR and CCR-like genes were distributed in three major phylogenetic classes of which one includes the bona fide CCR genes. The other two classes include CCR and CCR-like, of which several genes present a high similarity to cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase, or dihydroflavonol reductase (DFR) genes. All CCR, CCR-like, and DFR classes were deeply rooted in the phylogeny of land plants suggesting that their evolution preceded the evolution of lycophytes. Over two thirds of CCR and CCR-like Populus genes were physically distributed on duplicated regions. This suggests that these duplication/retention processes contributed significantly to the size of the CCR and CCR-like gene family. The Populus CCR and CCR-like genes showed six expression patterns in the tissues studied with a preferential expression of PoptrCCR12 in xylem. The other genes present divergent expression profiles with some preferentially expressed in leaves, bark, or both. Several CCR and CCR-like genes were induced or repressed under various abiotic stresses suggesting that their duplication was followed by the evolution of divergent expression profiles and divergence of functions.     

不同危险分层急性肺栓塞患者D-二聚体与纤维蛋白原比值、中性粒细胞与淋巴细胞比值、白蛋白的变化及其与预后的关系研究

摘要 目的：探讨不同危险分层急性肺栓塞（APE）患者D-二聚体与纤维蛋白原比值（DFR）、中性粒细胞与淋巴细胞比值（NLR）、白蛋白（Alb）的变化及其与预后的关系。方法：选择2019年3月至2021年12月我院收治的APE患者154例作为APE组,根据《肺血栓栓塞症的诊断与治疗指南(2015)》分为低危组48例、中危组69例和高危组37例,另选择同期我院体检健康志愿者40例作为对照组,比较各组DFR、NLR、Alb水平。根据不同预后将APE患者分为存活组125例,死亡组29例,比较两组DFR、NLR、Alb水平。应用受试者工作特征（ROC）曲线分析DFR、NLR、Alb对APE预后的预测价值。结果：APE组DFR、NLR显著高于对照组,Alb水平显著低于对照组（P<0.05）。随着危险分层增加,APE患者DFR、NLR逐渐升高,Alb水平逐渐降低,不同危险分层APE患者DFR、NLR、Alb水平比较有统计学意义（P<0.05）。死亡组DFR、NLR显著高于存活组,Alb水平显著低于存活组（P<0.05）。ROC曲线分析显示,DFR、NLR、Alb对APE死亡预测具有较高的敏感度、特异度,其中DFR、NLR、Alb联合检测对APE死亡预测的曲线下面积（AUC）、敏感度、特异度最高。结论：APE患者DFR、NLR异常升高,Alb异常降低与APE危险分层增加及不良预后相关,DFR、NLR、Alb联合检测对APE患者预后不良的预测价值更高。