海藻糖的生物合成与分解途经及其生物学功能

海藻糖是一类在干旱、低温、热击或脱水等逆境环境下具有独特抗逆保护作用的二糖,广泛分布于藻类、细菌、真菌和动植物体内。近年来,随着对海藻糖研究的深入,海藻糖已经被广泛应用到食品、医药、化妆品和分子生物学研究等领域。该文简述了海藻糖在生物体内的代谢途径、生物学功能和研究进展,并对灭蚊真菌Pythiumsp.GY1938菌株海藻糖代谢酶基因的研究前景加以展望。     

昆虫海藻糖及其合成酶基因的特性与功能研究进展

海藻糖广泛存在于细菌、真菌、昆虫、无脊椎动物和植物等大量生物中。它不仅可以作为昆虫的能量来源,而且在抗逆等方面起着重要作用。海藻糖合成酶(Trehalose-6-phosphate synthase,TPS)是海藻糖合成过程中的一个关键酶。目前细菌、真菌和植物中都已经被发现和克隆,但其不存在于哺乳动物中。海藻糖是昆虫的"血糖",主要通过海藻糖合成酶和海藻糖-6-磷酸脂酶(Trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase,TPP)在脂肪体中催化合成。TPS基因所编码的蛋白序列一般都包含两个保守的结构域:TPS和TPP,分别对应着酵母中的Ots A和Ots B基因。昆虫海藻糖合成酶的基因表达和酶活性的变化与昆虫的多项生理过程有着密切的关系,海藻糖合成酶有可能成为控制害虫的新靶标。     

海藻糖酶法合成途径及其酶基因的重组表达研究

在生物抗逆研究中,海藻糖合酶基因是继甘露醇、脯氨酸、甜菜碱合成酶基因之后又一个与抗逆相关的基因。海藻糖具有独特的生物学功能,能提高生物体对干旱、高温、冷冻和渗透压的抗性,发现以来就受到人们的普遍关注。随着对海藻糖化学性质、生理功能、作用机理及代谢途径等方面研究的深入,其在生物制品、食品、医药、作物育种及精细化工等领域广阔的应用前景日益显现。就海藻糖在生物体中的合成途径,以及海藻糖合成酶的基因工程研究进展进行了综述。     

海藻糖的生产制备及其应用前景

海藻糖是一种广泛分布于细菌、真菌和动植物体内的双糖。在生物体内 ,它不仅作为结构成分和能量物质存在 ,而且在热击和脱水等协迫条件下 ,对生物体和生物大分子起着良好的非特异性保护作用。由于其独特的生物学功能 ,它在食品、分子生物学、医药、化妆品、农业等方面具有广阔的应用前景。简述海藻糖的生产制备、应用研究及其前景展望。     

海藻糖——昆虫的血糖

海藻糖(trehalose)是由2个葡萄糖分子通过α,α-1,1糖苷键连接的一种非还原性双糖。海藻糖作为昆虫的血糖,对于生物的能量代谢和抗逆等方面具有重要的作用。文章从昆虫海藻糖的发现、海藻糖的化学性质、昆虫中海藻糖的生理作用、代谢途径等方面进行综述,并对昆虫中海藻糖的进一步研究作了展望。     

大肠杆菌海藻糖的代谢调控

海藻糖是一种重要的抗逆物质。大肠杆菌中otsBA操纵子编码的两种酶负责海藻糖合成。otsBA基因的表达受渗透压诱导和σs因子的调节。细胞的周质海藻糖酶(treA)将外源海藻糖分解成两个葡萄糖分子。尽管大肠杆菌中渗透压诱导合成的海藻糖并不能保护细胞抗干燥,我们将otsA单个基因通过农杆菌转入烟草时,转基因株提高了耐盐和抗干燥特性,同时在转基因烟草提取物中检测到海藻糖,证明otsA基因在烟草中表达并合成海藻糖。我们认为若将otsA基因转入其它植物,可望改善这些植物的抗干旱、耐盐碱特性和延长采摘后的保鲜期 。     

啤酒酵母AS2.1416海藻糖合成酶基因tps1的cDNA克隆及序列分析

海藻糖 (Ｔｒｅｈａｌｏｓｅ,α ｇｌｕｃｏｐｙｒａｎｏｓｙｌ α 1,1 Ｄ ｇｌｕｃｏｐｙｒａ ｎｏｓｅ)是一种非还原性二糖 ,广泛存在于藻类、细菌、昆虫、无脊椎动物及酵母等许多生物体内。海藻糖除了作为一种储存性碳源外 ,业已被证明在许多逆境 ,诸如高温、高盐、干旱、重金属离子污染、冷冻、辐射等情况下 ,可以有效地保护生物的细胞膜、蛋白质及核酸[1～ 6] 。海藻糖合成酶为一多酶体系。在酵母细胞中 ,其合成分为两步进行。第一步 ,在 6 磷酸海藻糖合成酶 (Ｔｐｓ1)的作用下 ,由ＵＤＰ 葡萄糖和葡萄糖 6 磷酸合成海藻糖 6 磷酸 …     

大肠杆菌海藻糖的代谢调控

海藻糖是一种重要的抗逆物质。大肠杆菌中ｏｔｓＢＡ操纵子编码的两种酶负责海藻糖合成。ｏｔｓＢＡ基因的表达受渗透压诱导和σ＾ｓ因子的调节。细胞的周质海藻糖酶（ｔｒｅＡ）将外源海藻藻分解成两个葡萄糖分子。尽管大肠杆菌中渗透压诱导合成的海藻糖并不能保护细胞抗干燥,我们将ｏｔｓＡ单个基因通过农杆菌转入烟草时,转基因株提高了耐盐和抗干燥特性,同时在转基因烟草提取物中检测到海藻糖,证明ｏｔｓＡ基因在烟草中表达并合成海藻糖。我们认为若将ｏｔｓＡ基因转入其它植物,可望改善这些植物的抗干旱、耐盐碱特性和延长采摘后的保鲜期。     

昆虫海藻糖与海藻糖酶的特性及功能研究

海藻糖作为昆虫的血糖,对昆虫的能量代谢、滞育、抗逆等具有重要作用。海藻糖酶是海藻糖代谢过程中一个重要的酶类,特异性地将一分子海藻糖水解为两分子葡萄糖而被昆虫利用,其基因表达和酶活性与昆虫各项生理过程密切相关。本文从昆虫海藻糖与海藻糖酶的特性、代谢途径以及它们在昆虫体内的重要作用进行综述,并对海藻糖和海藻糖酶在授粉昆虫方面的研究作了展望。     

植物多胺代谢途径研究进展

多胺是一类小分子生物活性物质,广泛存在于生物体内,与植物的生长发育、衰老及抗逆性都有着密切的联系。目前,在植物中的多胺合成途径已经基本揭示,其生理作用在分子水平上逐步得到阐明。对多胺合成突变体和各种转基因植物的研究也使得人们更深入地了解了多胺以及其合成代谢相关酶在植物生长发育等生理过程中的重要作用。以下概述了植物多胺代谢途径,重点综述了代谢途径中各基因的功能及遗传操作的最新进展,并对将来的研究方向尤其是相关基因在植物抗逆境 (包括生物和非生物逆境) 基因工程方面的应用作了讨论。     

Race and Racism in America and in Anthropology

Race in North America: Origin and Evolution of a Worldview . Audrey Smedley
Anthropology and Race . Eugenia Shanklin     

Degradation and conversion of somatostatin in normal and diabetic rats in vivo and in vitro

Plasma somatostatin-like immunoreactivity in the portal and jugular veins of streptozotocin diabetic rats was compared with that in normal control rats. In the diabetic group, somatostatin levels in the portal (p less than 0.05) and jugular (p less than 0.01) veins were both elevated compared with those in the control group. Moreover, the degree of elevation was greater in the jugular vein than in the portal vein. To further investigate the role of the liver in the clearance of somatostatin-28 in vivo, 2 micrograms of somatostatin-28 was administered as a bolus into the external jugular vein of intact and functionally hepatectomized rats. The mean half-time of somatostatin-28 was significantly longer in intact diabetic rats than in controls (p less than 0.05). The functional hepatectomy did not cause a significant difference in the half-time in diabetic rats but made it longer in control rats. These results suggest that the longer half-time of somatostatin-28 in diabetic rats in vivo is due to its slower hepatic clearance. The hepatic clearance of somatostatin-28 and somatostatin-14 was further studied in vitro using a recirculating liver perfusion method. The hepatic clearance of 1.2 nM of either somatostatin-28 or somatostatin-14 was significantly lower in diabetic rats than in controls (p less than 0.01). This indicates that elevated plasma somatostatin levels in diabetic rats are caused at least in part by decreased hepatic clearance of somatostatin.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

MPD and DNA Bending in Crystals and in Solution

Bending of 15 to 24° is observed within crystal structures ofB-DNA duplexes, is strongly sequence-dependent, and exhibits no correlation with the concentration of MPD (2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol) in the crystallizing solution. Two types of bends are observed: facultative bends or flexible hinges at junctions between regions of G·C and A·T base-pairs, and a persistent and almost obligatory bend at the center of the sequence R-G-C-Y. Only A-tracts are characteristically straight and unbent in every crystal structure examined to date. A detailed examination of normal vector plots for individual strands of a double helix provides an explanation, in terms of the stacking properties of guanine and adenine bases. The effect of high MPD concentrations, in both solution and crystal, is to decrease local bending somewhat without removing it altogether. MPD gel retardation experiments provide no basis for choosing among the three models that seek to explain macroscopic curvature of DNA by means of microscopic bending: junction bending, bent A-tracts, or bent general- sequence DNA. Crystallographic data on the straightness of A-tracts, the bendability of non-A sequences, and the identity of inclination angles in A-tract and non-A-tractB-DNA support only the general-sequence bending model. The pre-melting transition observed in A-tract DNA probably represents a relaxation of stiff adenine stacks to a flexible conformation more typical of general-sequence DNA.     

Update in research and methods in proteomics and bioinformatics

The 3rd International Conference on Proteomics & Bioinformatics (Proteomics 2013)

Philadelphia, PA, USA, 15–17 July 2013

The Third International Conference on Proteomics & Bioinformatics (Proteomics 2013) was sponsored by the OMICS group and was organized in order to strengthen the future of proteomics science by bringing together professionals, researchers and scholars from leading universities across the globe. The main topics of this conference included the integration of novel platforms in data analysis, the use of a systems biology approach, different novel mass spectrometry platforms and biomarker discovery methods. The conference was divided into proteomic methods and research interests. Among these two categories, interactions between methods in proteomics and bioinformatics, as well as other research methodologies, were discussed. Exceptional topics from the keynote forum, oral presentations and the poster session have been highlighted. The topics range from new techniques for analyzing proteomics data, to new models designed to help better understand genetic variations to the differences in the salivary proteomes of HIV-infected patients.     

Parasitism and epibiosis in native and non-native gammarids in freshwater in Ireland

The introduced amphipod crustaceans Gammarus pulex and G. tigrinus are displacing the native G. ducheni celticus in a number of freshwater sites in Northern Ireland. We investigated parasite and epibiont infection in populations in the Rivet Lagan and Lough Neagh where both native and invading species occur. Prevalence of the four parasites and epibionts observed was higher in the native G. d. celticus than in the invading amphipods at both field sites. In Lough Neagh. G. d. celticus individuals suffered higher burdens of the rotifer Embata parasitica and the protozoan Epistylis in comparison with the invading species. These patterns may reflect host specificity by the parasites or may result from different susceptibilities of the native and invading host species. We consider the influence of parasitism on host invasions and resulting species distributions.