基因捕捉及其在植物基因分离和功能基因组学上的应用

基因捕捉是一种报告基因的随机整合技术。基因捕捉系统已成为分离基因、鉴定基因功能的重要手段。基因捕捉(gene traps)包括增强子捕捉(enhancer trap)、启动子捕捉(promoter trap)和基因捕捉(gene trap),通称为基因捕捉(gcne traps)。在增强子捕捉中,报告基因与一个基本启动子融合,这个启动子不能使报告基因表达,但可被临近的增强子激活。在启动子捕捉和基因捕捉中,报告基因的启动子被去除,融合基因只有以正确的方向插入到转录单元内才能表达。对基因捕捉系统的结构特征、构建方法、应用范围、研究现状和应用前景等作了系统论述,并对有关问题进行了讨论。     

利用套叠PCR技术进行基因突变和拼接

利用套叠PCR技术（又称重叠区扩增基因拼接法）对hGM-CSF基因内第28位氨基酸处的糖基化位点进行突变和进行人促性腺激素基因,腺苷酸激酶短肽与胰岛素样生长因子－基因三者之间的拼接,结果表明采用该技术能在体外实行有效的基因重组和定点突变,其成功率为100％,这一技术不需要内切酶消化和连接酶处理,技术操作员简单易行,在基因拼接,基因内部突变方面具有良好的应用价值。     

人α-心钠素全基因的化学合成

用固相亚磷酰胺法(solid-phase phosphoramidite method)合成了人α-心钠素(简称α-hANP)的全基因。合成的α-hANP基因全长为96bp,包括编码α-hANP的结构基因、基因5＇端的谷氨酸(作为表达产物用内肽酶Glu-C专一裂解的位点)密码子GAA、基因3＇端的终止信号TGA及基因两端的接头部分。基因分7个寡聚核苷酸片段在DNA合成仪上合成,然后一次性酶促连接成为完整的α—hANP双链基因。化学合成的基因克隆到M13载体上,经分子杂交鉴定筛选出的α-hANP基因克隆株,用双脱氧链终止法进行序列分析,证明核苷酸顺序正确。     

The evolution of the novel Sdic gene cluster in Drosophila melanogaster

The origin of new genes and of new functions for existing genes are fundamental processes in molecular evolution. Sdic is a newly evolved gene that arose recently in the D. melanogaster lineage. The gene encodes a novel sperm motility protein. It is a chimeric gene formed by duplication of two other genes followed by multiple deletions and other sequence rearrangements. The Sdic gene exists in several copies in the X chromosome, and is presumed to have undergone several duplications to form a tandemly arrayed gene cluster. Given the very recent origin of the gene and the gene cluster, the analysis of the composition of this gene cluster represents an excellent opportunity to study the origin and evolution of new gene functions and the fate of gene duplications. We have analyzed the nucleotide sequence of this region and reconstructed the evolutionary history of this gene cluster. We found that the cluster is composed by four tandem copies of Sdic; these duplicates are very similar but can be distinguished by the unique pattern of insertions, deletions, and point mutations in each copy. The oldest gene copy in the array has a 3' exon that has undergone accelerated diversification, and also shows divergent regulatory sequences. Moreover, there is evidence that this might be the only gene copy in the tandem array that is transcribed at a significant level, expressing a novel sperm-specific protein. There is also a retrotransposon located at the 3' end of each Sdic gene copy. We argue that this gene cluster was formed in the last two million years by at least three tandem duplications and one retrotransposition event.     

利用Red重组系统敲除大肠杆菌 O157:H7的waaL 基因

目的:利用λ噬菌体Red重组系统敲除大肠杆菌O157:H7的waaL基因。方法:以pKD4为模板扩增出与waaL基因上下游同源的、含有卡那霉素抗性基因的PCR产物。然后电击转化到大肠杆菌 O157:H7 中,利用Red重组系统,通过卡那霉素抗性基因两侧的waaL基因序列在体内与waaL基因发生同源重组,置换了 O157:H7 基因组中的waaL基因。并进一步利用卡那霉素抗性基因两侧的FRT位点,通过FLP位点专一性重组将卡那霉素抗性基因敲除。结果:成功构建了敲除waaL基因且不带卡那霉素抗性基因的菌株。     

Efficient gene targeting mediated by adeno-associated virus and DNA double-strand breaks

Gene targeting is the in situ manipulation of the sequence of an endogenous gene by the introduction of homologous exogenous DNA. Presently, the rate of gene targeting is too low for it to be broadly used in mammalian somatic cell genetics or to cure genetic diseases. Recently, it has been demonstrated that infection with recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) vectors can mediate gene targeting in somatic cells, but the mechanism is unclear. This paper explores the balance between random integration and gene targeting with rAAV. Both random integration and spontaneous gene targeting are dependent on the multiplicity of infection (MOI) of rAAV. It has previously been shown that the introduction of a DNA double-stranded break (DSB) in a target gene can stimulate gene targeting by several-thousand-fold in somatic cells. Creation of a DSB stimulates the frequency of rAAV-mediated gene targeting by over 100-fold, suggesting that the mechanism of rAAV-mediated gene targeting involves, at least in part, the repair of DSBs by homologous recombination. Absolute gene targeting frequencies reach 0.8% with a dual vector system in which one rAAV vector provides a gene targeting substrate and a second vector expresses the nuclease that creates a DSB in the target gene. The frequencies of gene targeting that we achieved with relatively low MOIs suggest that combining rAAV vectors with DSBs is a promising strategy to broaden the application of gene targeting.     

绿色荧光蛋白GFP基因与新生隐球菌荚膜基因的融合表达系统

目的构建新生隐球菌荚膜基因与绿色荧光蛋白的融合表达系统。方法PCR法扩增CAP60基因片段,测序验证其准确性。将其与多个必需基因共同连人穿梭质粒。结果获得6150bps大小的质粒,该质粒含有荚膜基因启动子、终止子及荧光蛋白的基因。结论将新生隐球菌荚膜基因与荧光蛋白基因融合表达,将会有利于对荚膜的生化合成途径作进一步研究。     

Reconstructing the evolution of genes along the species tree

A model and algorithm are proposed to infer the evolution of a gene family described by the corresponding gene tree, with respect to the species evolution described by the corresponding species tree. The model describes the evolution using the new concept of a nested tree. The algorithm performance is illustrated by the example of several orthologous protein groups. The considered evolutionary events are speciation, gene duplication and loss, and horizontal gene transfer retaining the original gene copy. The transfer event with the loss of the original gene copy is considered as a combination of gene transfer and loss. The model maps each evolutionary event onto the species phylogeny.     

The problem of the gene

During the early 20th century the diverse practices of genetics were unified by the concept of the gene. This classical gene was simultaneously a unit of structure, function, mutation, and recombination. Starting in the 1940s, however, the classical gene began to fragment. Today when we speak of a gene for some malady, a regulatory gene, a structural gene, or a gene frequency, it is entirely possible that we are deploying different gene concepts even though we are using the same term. The problem of the gene addresses the fragmentation of the classical gene concept by asking to what extent a comprehensive and unifying gene concept is possible or desirable. Fully comprehensive gene concepts seem untenable today, but, within different disciplinary domains, unifying, but non-comprehensive, gene concepts can be epistemically worthwhile. The problem of the gene persists, however, not because of its epistemic value, but because of its political value. Using both the arguments for newly proposed gene concepts and the historical dispute over the classical gene, I argue that the desirability of gene concepts rests in part on the political ramifications of their deployment and contestation.     

Rank of Correlation Coefficient as a Comparable Measure for Biological Significance of Gene Coexpression

Information regarding gene coexpression is useful to predict gene function. Several databases have been constructed for gene coexpression in model organisms based on a large amount of publicly available gene expression data measured by GeneChip platforms. In these databases, Pearson''s correlation coefficients (PCCs) of gene expression patterns are widely used as a measure of gene coexpression. Although the coexpression measure or GeneChip summarization method affects the performance of the gene coexpression database, previous studies for these calculation procedures were tested with only a small number of samples and a particular species. To evaluate the effectiveness of coexpression measures, assessments with large-scale microarray data are required. We first examined characteristics of PCC and found that the optimal PCC threshold to retrieve functionally related genes was affected by the method of gene expression database construction and the target gene function. In addition, we found that this problem could be overcome when we used correlation ranks instead of correlation values. This observation was evaluated by large-scale gene expression data for four species: Arabidopsis, human, mouse and rat.     

渐狭叶烟草高效基因编辑体系的建立

渐狭叶烟草(Nicotiana attenuata)是烟草属植物中研究植物与昆虫、植物与病原菌互作的模式植物。本研究以八氢番茄红素脱氢酶基因(PDS)为靶标基因，建立一套以pHSE401为基因编辑载体，以潮霉素为抗性筛选标记的渐狭叶烟草高效基因编辑体系。利用该体系，获得PDS基因约80%的基因编辑效率，远远超过目前在渐狭叶烟草中报道的约30%的基因编辑效率。进一步使用WRKY70基因为靶标，对该体系对进行编辑效率验证，经测序发现WRKY70基因编辑材料中的基因编辑效率为83%，其中发生大片段缺失突变的频率为50%。因此，本研究成功建立了渐狭叶烟草高效基因编辑体系，为以后渐狭叶烟草的基因功能研究奠定基础。     

Evolutionary significance of gene expression divergence

Recent large-scale studies of evolutionary changes in gene expression among mammalian species have led to the proposal that gene expression divergence may be neutral with respect to organismic fitness. Here, we employ a comparative analysis of mammalian gene sequence divergence and gene expression divergence to test the hypothesis that the evolution of gene expression is predominantly neutral. Two models of neutral gene expression evolution are considered: 1-purely neutral evolution (i.e., no selective constraint) of gene expression levels and patterns and 2-neutral evolution accompanied by selective constraint. With respect to purely neutral evolution, levels of change in gene expression between human-mouse orthologs are correlated with levels of gene sequence divergence that are determined largely by purifying selection. In contrast, evolutionary changes of tissue-specific gene expression profiles do not show such a correlation with sequence divergence. However, divergence of both gene expression levels and profiles are significantly lower for orthologous human-mouse gene pairs than for pairs of randomly chosen human and mouse genes. These data clearly point to the action of selective constraint on gene expression divergence and are inconsistent with the purely neutral model; however, there is likely to be a neutral component in evolution of gene expression, particularly, in tissues where the expression of a given gene is low and functionally irrelevant. The model of neutral evolution with selective constraint predicts a regular, clock-like accumulation of gene expression divergence. However, relative rate tests of the divergence among human-mouse-rat orthologous gene sets reveal clock-like evolution for gene sequence divergence, and to a lesser extent for gene expression level divergence, but not for the divergence of tissue-specific gene expression profiles. Taken together, these results indicate that gene expression divergence is subject to the effects of purifying selective constraint and suggest that it might also be substantially influenced by positive Darwinian selection.     

真核生物的V形基因调控模型和基因调控关系的预测

我们研究发现,有些果蝇基因的外显子和插入序列的碱基组成没有明显区别.这种基因编码的蛋白质C-末端氨基酸序列与其转录的mRNA尾随片段高度亲和.这种母基因与其编码的子蛋白质高度亲和的特性,我们称为母子相亲机制.用这些基因的尾随片段进行同源搜索,然后再分析同源序列所在位置的RNA结构,结果发现:1)位于基因启动子位置的,其结构为茎环结构,说明该同源序列是基因启动子的重要组成部分;2)位于插入序列中的,出现了一种象钥匙一样的结构,它的一端为回文形成的茎环结构,为钥匙的柄,另一端为单链结构,为钥匙的舌.这两种序列可能参与了基因的调控.由此,我们建立了一个的V形的基因调控模型.这个模型包括3个主体:被控基因、编程基因、启动基因.编程基因提供蛋白质与被调控基因的启动子序列结合,决定被调控基因是否可以表达的.而启动基因转录成的RNA通过剪切等加工,产生一种结构象钥匙的microRNA(miRNA),它可以启动被调基因.根据母子相亲机制和V形调控模型,以及回文规则,我们设计出了一种尾随片段搜索筛选法,预测真核生物基因的互控关系.     

Organ-specific and dosage-dependent expression of a leaf/stem specific gene from potato after tagging and transfer into potato and tobacco plants.

ST-LS1, a single copy gene from potato displaying a leaf/stem specific gene expression, was tagged by an exon modification and introduced into both potato and tobacco cells using Agrobacterium vectors. After regeneration of whole plants, the expression of the tagged gene was analyzed with respect to its organ specificity and compared to the expression of the corresponding resident gene. The expression of the transferred gene in transgenic plants closely followed the expression of the resident gene. No marked influence of the plant species serving as host was observed. The level of expression of the introduced gene varied by a factor of at least 100 in independent transformants when normalized to the expression of the resident gene. Southern analysis performed on the transformed plants indicated a correlation between copy number of the introduced gene and its expression level. The activity of the tagged gene as well as of the resident gene was significantly inhibited by treatment of the transgenic plants with the herbicide norfluorazon, indicating that this gene activity is dependent on the presence of functional chloroplasts in the leaves.     

全鱼基因的构建及其在鲫鱼体内的整合与转录

利用PCR技术删除大麻哈鱼生长激素基因的启动序列,通过基因重组构建出全鱼基因（鲤鱼MT启动子－大麻哈鱼生长激素基因）;以融合全鱼基因为外源基因,通过显微注射方法将其线性片段导入鲫鱼受精卵内,研究其整合与转录效率。结果表明,全鱼基因在鲫鱼基因组中的整合率为36．4％（16／44）,对转基因阳性鱼的RNA样本进行Northern印迹杂交检测,转录率为25％（1／4）。因此,该全鱼基因可以作为转基因鱼研究和应用的外源基因。