Field investigations of ammonia exchange between barley plants and the atmosphere. II. Nitrogen realiocation, free ammonium content and activities of ammonium-assimilating enzymes in different leaves

The activities of glutamine synthetase (GS) and glutamate synthase (GOGAT) in different leaves of field-grown spring barley were measured during the reproductive growth phase in 2 consecutive years. Concurrently, the contents of soluble ammonium ions and free amides in the leaves were determined. The studies were carried out to investigate the relationship between variations in these parameters and emission of NH3 from the plant foliage. GS and GOGAT activities declined very rapidly with leafage. The decline in enzyme activities was followed by an increase in soluble ammonium ions and amides in the leaf tissues. During the same period, about 75% of leaf and stem nitrogen was reallocated to the developing ear. The amount of NH₃ volatilized from the foliage during the reproductive growth phase amounted to about 1% of the reallocated nitrogen. The experimental years were characterized by very favourable conditions for grain dry matter formation and for re-utilization of nitrogen mobilized from leaves and stems. Ammonia volatilization occurring under conditions with declining GS and GOGAT activities and increasing tissue concentrations of NH₄⁺ may be useful in protecting the plant from accumulation of toxic NH₃ and NH₄⁺ concentrations in the tissues.     

Identification of amino compounds synthesized and translocated in symbiotic Parasponia

We investigated the synthesis and translocation of amino compounds in Parasponia, a genus of the Ulmaceae that represents the only non-legumes known to form a root nodule symbiosis with rhizohia. In the xylem sap of P. andersonii we identified asparagine. aspartate. glutamine, glutamated significant quantities of a non-protein amino acid. 4-methylglutamte(2-amino-4-methylpentanedioic acid). This identification was confirmed by two methods, capillary gas chromatography (GC) electron ionization (El) mass spectrometry (MS) and reverse phase high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of derivatized compounds. In leaf, root and nodule samples from P. andersonii and P. parviflora we also identified the related compounds 4-methyleneglutamate and 4-methyleneglulamine. Using ¹⁵N₂ labelling and GC-Ms analysis of root nodule extracts we followed N₂ fixation and ammonia assimilation in P. andersonii root nodules and observed Label initially in glutamine and subsequently in glutamate, suggesting operation of the glutamine synthetase/glutamine:2-oxoglutarate aminotransferase (GS/GOGAT) pathway. Importantly, we observed the incorporation of significant quantities of ¹⁵N into 4-methylglutamate in nodules, demonstrating the de nova synthesis of this non protein amino acid and suggesting a role in the translation of N in symbioticParasponia.     

非人灵长类个性化麻醉方案的探讨

目的 比较氯胺酮、舒泰、速眠新Ⅱ、戊巴比妥钠等4种全身麻醉药或其组合对非人灵长类的麻醉效果,探寻能替代或者减少氯胺酮使用的个性化麻醉方案。方法 以单独使用氯胺酮麻醉的方案作为对照,另设单独使用舒泰、氯胺酮复合速眠新Ⅱ、舒泰复合速眠新Ⅱ和戊巴比妥钠复合速眠新Ⅱ等麻醉4个实验组,每组选取5只食蟹猴进行实验,记录麻醉后的心率、体温、血氧饱和度、以及麻醉诱导时间和维持时间,以比较各方案的麻醉效果。结果 与单独使用氯胺酮麻醉比较,其他四种麻醉方案在心率、体温、血氧饱和度和麻醉诱导时间上均无显著性差异,不同方案麻醉维持时间分布在30~200min之间。在非人灵长类的全身麻醉中,舒泰可以很好地替代氯胺酮;氯胺酮复合速眠新Ⅱ麻醉可取得较长的麻醉维持时间,并减少氯胺酮的使用量;舒泰与速眠新Ⅱ联用、戊巴比妥钠与速眠新Ⅱ联用的方案也可替代氯胺酮,且麻醉维持时间较长。结论 在一定的麻醉时间内,联合用药可以降低氯胺酮的使用量,不同麻醉方案灵活运用可满足不同实验对麻醉维持时间的需求。     

G蛋白与整合素αⅡbβ3的双向信号转导

整合素是一类细胞表面受体家族分子,通过双向信号转导参与细胞与细胞外基质、细胞与细胞的粘附以及细胞的迁移.整合素αⅡbβ3(GPⅡb-Ⅲa)特异表达于巨核/血小板系,并且是其含量最多的膜糖蛋白,介导血小板的粘附、伸展、聚集等.G蛋白在整合素αⅡbβ3双向信号转导中发挥重要作用,其中较受关注的是:异源三聚体G蛋白和小G蛋白Rap1参与整合素αⅡbβ3的内向外信号转导;小G蛋白(Rho A、Rac等)和Gα13参与整合素αⅡbβ3的外向内信号转导.在蛋白质结构与功能关系的层面,本文总结了G蛋白的结构、分类、功能以及近年来G蛋白在整合素αⅡbβ3双向信号转导中作用的研究进展.     

干旱胁迫对玉米苗期叶片光系统Ⅱ性能的影响

以陕单609为材料,采用盆栽试验,设置中度、重度干旱胁迫2个处理,研究干旱胁迫对苗期玉米叶片光系统Ⅱ(PSⅡ)性能、干物质积累、保护酶活性及脯氨酸含量的影响.结果表明:随着干旱胁迫程度的增加,玉米于物质积累量、叶面积、株高下降显著;PSⅡ复合体的不稳定性加重(L-band ＞0),供体侧放氧复合体受到伤害(K-band ＞0),受体侧电子传递链受到抑制(Ψ0显著下降),进而导致光系统Ⅱ整体性能下降(PIABS显著下降).在中度和重度干旱胁迫下,超氧化物歧化酶、过氧化氢酶和过氧化物酶活性,以及脯氨酸含量均显著增加,分别为对照的1.3、1.1、1.2、5.8倍和1.1、3.3、1.5、15.0倍.这表明干旱胁迫引起的玉米叶片光系统Ⅱ供受体侧的损伤是光系统Ⅱ性能下降的原因,导致玉米干物质生产下降,而保护酶和脯氨酸对玉米抵御干旱胁迫起到了积极的作用.     

Prediction accuracies for growth and wood attributes of interior spruce in space using genotyping-by-sequencing

Background

Genomic selection (GS) in forestry can substantially reduce the length of breeding cycle and increase gain per unit time through early selection and greater selection intensity, particularly for traits of low heritability and late expression. Affordable next-generation sequencing technologies made it possible to genotype large numbers of trees at a reasonable cost.

Results

Genotyping-by-sequencing was used to genotype 1,126 Interior spruce trees representing 25 open-pollinated families planted over three sites in British Columbia, Canada. Four imputation algorithms were compared (mean value (MI), singular value decomposition (SVD), expectation maximization (EM), and a newly derived, family-based k-nearest neighbor (kNN-Fam)). Trees were phenotyped for several yield and wood attributes. Single- and multi-site GS prediction models were developed using the Ridge Regression Best Linear Unbiased Predictor (RR-BLUP) and the Generalized Ridge Regression (GRR) to test different assumption about trait architecture. Finally, using PCA, multi-trait GS prediction models were developed. The EM and kNN-Fam imputation methods were superior for 30 and 60% missing data, respectively. The RR-BLUP GS prediction model produced better accuracies than the GRR indicating that the genetic architecture for these traits is complex. GS prediction accuracies for multi-site were high and better than those of single-sites while multi-site predictability produced the lowest accuracies reflecting type-b genetic correlations and deemed unreliable. The incorporation of genomic information in quantitative genetics analyses produced more realistic heritability estimates as half-sib pedigree tended to inflate the additive genetic variance and subsequently both heritability and gain estimates. Principle component scores as representatives of multi-trait GS prediction models produced surprising results where negatively correlated traits could be concurrently selected for using PCA2 and PCA3.

Conclusions

The application of GS to open-pollinated family testing, the simplest form of tree improvement evaluation methods, was proven to be effective. Prediction accuracies obtained for all traits greatly support the integration of GS in tree breeding. While the within-site GS prediction accuracies were high, the results clearly indicate that single-site GS models ability to predict other sites are unreliable supporting the utilization of multi-site approach. Principle component scores provided an opportunity for the concurrent selection of traits with different phenotypic optima.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-015-1597-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Enrichment of a common wheat genetic map and QTL mapping for fatty acid content in grain

DArT and SSR markers were used to saturate and improve a previous genetic map of RILs derived from the cross Chuan35050 × Shannong483. The new map comprised 719 loci, 561 of which were located on specific chromosomes, giving a total map length of 4008.4 cM; the rest 158 loci were mapped to the most likely intervals. The average chromosome length was 190.9 cM and the marker density was 7.15 cM per marker interval. Among the 719 loci, the majority of marker loci were DArTs (361); the rest included 170 SSRs, 100 EST-SSRs, and 88 other molecular and biochemical loci. QTL mapping for fatty acid content in wheat grain was conducted in this study. Forty QTLs were detected in different environments, with single QTL explaining 3.6-58.1% of the phenotypic variations. These QTLs were distributed on 16 chromosomes. Twenty-two QTLs showed positive additive effects, with Chuan35050 increasing the QTL effects, whereas 18 QTLs were negative with increasing effects from Shannong483. Six sets of co-located QTLs for different traits occurred on chromosomes 1B, 1D, 2D, 5D, and 6B.     

定点突变改变近平滑假丝酵母SCRⅡ催化苯乙酮衍生物底物谱

【目的】通过定点突变技术,改变近平滑假丝酵母短链羰基还原酶Ⅱ(SCRⅡ)催化苯乙酮衍生物的功能,为数种手性芳香醇的生产提供一种高效、安全的新型制备方法。【方法】通过氨基酸序列和蛋白结构比对的方法,选择SCRⅡ的底物结合域中关键氨基酸位点E228实施突变,构建相应的突变株Escherichia coliBL21/pET28a-E228S;以苯乙酮衍生物为底物,对突变株的酶活和生物转化功能进行了分析。【结果】酶活测定结果表明:突变株E.coli BL21/pET28a-E228S催化原始底物2-羟基苯乙酮的酶活仅为原始酶活的25%左右;而催化苯乙酮、4’-甲基苯乙酮、4’-氯苯乙酮的酶活是突变前的7-20倍。突变株E.coli BL21/pET28a-E228S生物转化2-羟基苯乙酮,获得产物(S)-苯基乙二醇的得率不超过10%,而以苯乙酮、4’-甲基苯乙酮、4’-氯苯乙酮为底物时,生物转化产物光学纯度维持在99%,得率高达80%以上。【结论】对底物结合域中的关键氨基酸实施突变,提高了SCRⅡ催化苯乙酮衍生物的底物广谱性,拓展了该酶的生物功能,为理性改造短链羰基还原酶的不对称还原催化功能和手性芳香醇的制备提供了新型途径。     

产Ⅱ类细菌素乳酸菌群体感应及其应用

群体感应(quorum sensing,QS)是微生物通过感知与细胞密度相关的信号分子的浓度来调控基因表达的一种行为。许多产Ⅱ类细菌素乳酸菌通过自诱导肽介导的QS系统调控其细菌素的合成。本文综述了乳酸菌Ⅱ类细菌素合成的QS调控现象、调控机制、QS系统组分以及QS的应用。产Ⅱ类细菌素乳酸菌QS的研究,必将为揭示发酵调控机理、调控发酵过程提供新的研究平台,为食品级基因表达系统的开发提供新的选择。