The effect of temperature change on gene expression in Paramecium primaurelia

When paramecia grown at 24°C are transferred rapidly to 32°C, DNA and protein synthesis continue uninterrupted but at higher rates. Electron microscopic observations indicate that more of the macronuclear chromatin is transcribed at the elevated temperature. This interpretation is supported by hybridization experiments which show that the percentage of the macronuclear genome transcribed into poly(A)⁺ RNA is 24°C and 35% at 32°C. Kinetic analysis of cDNA-poly(A)⁺ RNA hybridizations reveals three abundance classes of poly(A)⁺ RNA and indicates that the number of genes expressing low abundance sequences is about 9000 at 24°C and 13000 at 32°C. The intermediately abundant and highly abundant classes are represented by 100–200 and 1–3 different kinds of RNA sequence, respectively. Cross hybridization shows that changes occur throughout the distribution of abundance classes of poly(A)⁺ RNA with increase in temperature.     

Redescription of Folsomia loftyensis Womersley with notes on the sensillary arrangement of the genital segment in the genus (Collembola: Isotomidae)

Folsomia loftyensis Womersley is redescribed based on material from South Australia, Victoria and Queensland. The species exhibits, for the genus, an unusual sensillary pattern on the posterior abdominal segments. The arrangement and form of the five sensilla on the genital segment of most described species of Folsomia from the Palearctic are analysed and species divided into groups based on these characters. Several different lineages are detected.     

巨桉扩展蛋白EgrEXPA8和EgrEXPA10基因的克隆和表达特性分析

为探讨扩展蛋白在桉树生长发育中的作用,以在桉树初生生长到次生生长转换转录组测序中筛选出的差异表达基因EgrEXPA8和EgrEXPA10为基础,从巨桉(Eucalyptusgrandis)中克隆了2个扩展蛋白基因EgrEXPA8和EgrEXPA10,分别编码249和244个氨基酸,属于亲水蛋白,但Egr EXPA8稳定性高于Egr EXPA10。q RT-PCR分析表明,Egr EXPA8和Egr EXPA10基因均在幼叶和茎尖组织中表达量较高,在木质部和韧皮部表达量较低;且在茎顶端初生生长阶段表达量较高,而在下部次生生长节间表达量较低,可能其主要参与巨桉的初生生长或者负调控次生生长;另外在盐胁迫、茉莉酸甲酯处理下其均被抑制表达;而在水杨酸、缺硼、缺磷处理下均上调表达。这说明EgrEXPA8和EgrEXPA10在巨桉响应逆境胁迫时起到重要作用,且呈现出相似的调控方式。     

Morphological adaptations of hot springs panic grass (Dichanthelium lanigunosum var sericeum (Schmoll) to thermal stress

Although growth and productivity of most crops are significantly reduced by exposure to temperatures in excess of 35 °C, some plants thrive in geothermally heated soils characterized by chronic temperatures in excess of 40 °C. The morphological adaptations that enable these plants to colonize thermal environments are poorly understood. We characterized trichome development, silica accumulation, stomatal density, and waxy cuticle development in populations of Dichanthelium lanuginosum var sericeum (Schmoll) isolated from thermal and non-thermal environments to determine whether morphological changes existed in populations adapted to thermal environments. Plants isolated from thermal environments of Yellowstone National Park developed an extensive series of trichomes when exposed to chronic temperatures of 45/35 °C (day/night). In contrast, isolates from non-thermal environments of western Oregon showed minimal trichome development during exposure to the elevated temperatures. Leaves that developed during exposure to elevated temperatures had reduced thickness, though the reduction was less marked in plants from populations isolated from thermal environments. Plants isolated from thermal environments also had greater numbers of stomata on adaxial leaf surfaces relative to biotypes isolated from non-thermal environments. These results suggest phenotypic characteristics that may be useful in selection of new varieties of crop species with improved tolerance to supraoptimal temperatures.     

毛竹miR398和miR408的克隆及其表达分析

为了解毛竹(Phyllostachys edulis)中miR398和miR408的表达情况,从毛竹叶片中分离了二者的前体序列,并用实时定量PCR技术对其表达模式进行了研究。结果表明,毛竹中miR398和miR408前体序列ped-MIR398和ped-MIR408长度分别为83 bp和92 bp,二者均能形成稳定的茎环结构,其中成熟miRNA序列(ped-miR398和ped-miR408)均位于5′端臂上。ped-miR398和ped-miR408均为组成型表达,在毛竹叶中表达量最高。强光、蔗糖和GA3处理后,叶片中ped-miR398与pedmiR408的表达量均上调;CuSO_4和ABA处理后,叶片中二者的表达量均下调;黑暗、NaCl和4℃处理后,前者表达量上调,后者表达量下调。因此,ped-miR398与ped-miR408在毛竹适应逆境胁迫过程中可能发挥着不同的调控作用。     

Statins and transcriptional regulation: the FXR connection

Farnesoid X receptor (FXR) is a nuclear receptor involved in lipoprotein as well as glucose metabolism. Statins are widely used hypolipidemic agents with many pleiotropic actions. It is known that statins affect other nuclear hormone receptors, but no reports are available on the effect of these drugs on FXR. Employing an animal model (Syrian hamsters), we hereby present evidence to demonstrate that Simvastatin, a broadly prescribed statin, decreases the expression of FXR at both the RNA and protein levels and down-regulates its DNA-binding activity. This novel property may have important implications on the mode statins influence on lipoprotein and carbohydrate homeostasis in the organism.     

Molecular cloning and characterization of cat, gpx1 and Cu/Zn-sod genes in pengze crucian carp (Carassius auratus var. Pengze) and antioxidant enzyme modulation induced by hexavalent chromium in juveniles

Hexavalent chromium (Cr^6 +) is a common pollutant transient metal with high toxicity in the environment. The toxicological effects partly result from oxidative damage due to the production of excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the reductive process of Cr^6 +. To explore the influence of ROS induced directly by Cr^6 + on the oxidative stress generation and antioxidant system, the full length cDNAs of antioxidant-related genes cat, gpx1 and Cu/Zn-sod were successfully acquired from pengze crucian carp first and analyzed. Furthermore, the mRNA expression of the antioxidant genes encompassing catalase (cat), copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-sod) and glutathione peroxidase (gpx1), antioxidant enzyme activities of CAT, SOD, and GPx and total protein content were further studied in the gill, intestine and liver of pengze crucian carp (Carassius auratus var. Pengze) juveniles upon acute exposure to Cr^6 + at concentrations of 0.1, 1.0, 10 and 100 mg/L for 4 days. Differential significant changes of the antioxidant enzymes and gene expression were observed in different tissues. The findings contribute to better understanding the antioxidant mechanisms induced by Cr^6 + and selecting the organic-specific sensitive biomarkers to monitor the safety of the aquatic ecosystem.     

Involvement of polyamines in plant response to abiotic stress

Environmental stresses are the major cause of crop loss worldwide. Polyamines are involved in plant stress responses. However, the precise role(s) of polyamine metabolism in these processes remain ill-defined. Transgenic approaches demonstrate that polyamines play essential roles in stress tolerance and open up the possibility to exploit this strategy to improve plant tolerance to multiple environmental stresses. The use of Arabidopsis as a model plant enables us to carry out global expression studies of the polyamine metabolic genes under different stress conditions, as well as genome-wide expression analyses of insertional-mutants and plants over-expressing these genes. These studies are essential to dissect the polyamine mechanism of action in order to design new strategies to increase plant survival in adverse environments.     

Detection of a Usp-like gene in Calotropis procera plant from the de novo assembled genome contigs of the high-throughput sequencing dataset

The wild plant species Calotropis procera (C. procera) has many potential applications and beneficial uses in medicine, industry and ornamental field. It also represents an excellent source of genes for drought and salt tolerance. Genes encoding proteins that contain the conserved universal stress protein (USP) domain are known to provide organisms like bacteria, archaea, fungi, protozoa and plants with the ability to respond to a plethora of environmental stresses. However, information on the possible occurrence of Usp in C. procera is not available. In this study, we uncovered and characterized a one-class A Usp-like (UspA-like, NCBI accession No. KC954274) gene in this medicinal plant from the de novo assembled genome contigs of the high-throughput sequencing dataset. A number of GenBank accessions for Usp sequences were blasted with the recovered de novo assembled contigs. Homology modelling of the deduced amino acids (NCBI accession No. AGT02387) was further carried out using Swiss-Model, accessible via the EXPASY. Superimposition of C. procera USPA-like full sequence model on Thermus thermophilus USP UniProt protein (PDB accession No. Q5SJV7) was constructed using RasMol and Deep-View programs. The functional domains of the novel USPA-like amino acids sequence were identified from the NCBI conserved domain database (CDD) that provide insights into sequence structure/function relationships, as well as domain models imported from a number of external source databases (Pfam, SMART, COG, PRK, TIGRFAM).