Cloning in Escherichia coli of a mitochondrial DNA fragment from Acremonium chrysogenum containing a region responsible for DNA replication

A bireplicone plasmid pSU901,4.6 kb in length, was constructed on the basis of plasmid pUC19 and the pstIB fragment, 1.9 kb in length, from mitochondrial DNA of A. chrysogenum. Based on the hybrid plasmid pSU901 and kanamycin resistance determinant, an autonomically replicating vector for A. chrysogenum, a culture producing cephalosporin C, is being constructed.     

Construction of a new high-copy number shuttle vector of Bacillus thuringiensis

AIMS: Construction and characterization of a new cloning shuttle vector for gene transfer and expression in Bacillus thuringiensis. METHODS AND RESULTS: A novel short and high-copy number shuttle vector called pHBLBIV, was constructed for gene transfer and expression in Bacillus thuringiensis. A 1.6-kbp replicon of a relatively high-copy number endogenous plasmid of a selected B. thuringiensis strain was ligated to Escherichia coli pUC18 replicon containing the ampicillin and the erythromycin resistance genes used for the selection of respectively E. coli and B. thuringiensis transformants. The constructed vector was shown to have a high copy number compared with the conventional B. thuringiensis vectors, and used successfully for the transfer of vegetative insecticidal protein-encoding gene (vip) in between B. thuringiensis strains. CONCLUSIONS: A new shuttle vector of B. thuringiensis-E. coli named pHBLBIV was constructed. It was characterized by its high copy number, small size and segregational stability. This vector was successfully used for vip gene cloning and transfer in B. thuringiensis. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: A novel shuttle vector has been constructed, which has demonstrated potential for the cloning and expression of genes in B. thuringiensis.     

Tables for estimating the mean of distribution of logarithms of titers based on data with a pooled serum sample.

A table was constructed for use in estimating the mean of distribution of logarithms of titers based on data obtained with a pooled material instead of those with individuals in a sample. A table of standard errors of the estimator was also constructed. Examples showing the utility and applicability of the tables were presented. Several relating problems were discussed.     

潜流湿地和表面流湿地的净化效果与植物生长比较

分别以砾石和土壤为填料构建成潜流人工湿地和表面流人工湿地,处以较大水力负荷的污水处理。比较了两种湿地对污水的净化效果,结果表明在较大水力负荷条件下两种湿地的净化效果都较差,但潜流湿地对各种污染物的净化能力都优于表面流湿地;土柱法测量了湿地植物的根系生物量,结果显示湿地植物地上部分长势差异不明显,但潜流湿地的根系生物量显著低于表面流湿地的根系生物量(P<0.05)。结合前期实验结果得出湿地净化效果不仅与湿地植物根系生物量有相关关系,还与其他因素有一定的相关关系。     

Split-marker 重组技术构建泛素C 末端水解酶基因缺失菌株

目的:对烟曲霉(Aspergillus fumigatus)泛素末端水解酶(creB)基因进行敲除。方法:通过氨基酸序列分析软件初步分析烟曲霉CreB蛋白结构.利用split-marker重组技术构建重组片段,并通过PEG-原生质体方法对烟曲霉野生菌株进行转化,采用PCR方法对转化子进行筛选,最后选取初步筛选的转化子进行测序鉴定。结果:结构分析显示烟曲霉CreB蛋白具有泛素特异蛋白酶(ubiquitin-processing protease)UBP亚家族六个结构域。本实验构建了转化片段并转化,在抗性平板中获得了25个Hyg抗性转化子,进一步采用PCR方法筛选到20个转化子,最终通过测序分析获得一株creB基因缺失菌株。结论:Split-marker重组技术是对烟曲霉creB基因进行敲除的快速有效的方法。获得的creB缺失菌株可用于基因功能研究。     

High-level expression of self-processed HIV-1 protease in Escherichia coli using a synthetic gene

A synthetic gene coding for HIV-1 protease (PR) has been constructed and a system for its efficient expression in E. coli has been established: PR is synthesized as a fusion protein with E. coli dihydrofolate reductase under the control of a bacteriophage T7 promoter. The synthetic gene was constructed to enable rapid construction of defined mutants by restriction fragment replacement. A set of mutants has been constructed which may facilitate elucidation of the mechanism of PR self-cleavage from polyprotein precursors. We have demonstrated that the C-terminal residue (Phe99 in the native sequence) of the processing intermediate is absolutely required for subsequent cleavage at the N-terminal cleavage site. The potential structural role of this residue is discussed with reference to the recently published HIV-1 PR structure.     

Towards a semantic lexicon for biological language processing

This paper explores the use of the resources in the National Library of Medicine's Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) for the construction of a lexicon useful for processing texts in the field of molecular biology. A lexicon is constructed from overlapping terms in the UMLS SPECIALIST lexicon and the UMLS Metathesaurus to obtain both morphosyntactic and semantic information for terms, and the coverage of a domain corpus is assessed. Over 77% of tokens in the domain corpus are found in the constructed lexicon, validating the lexicon's coverage of the most frequent terms in the domain and indicating that the constructed lexicon is potentially an important resource for biological text processing.     

Isolation and characteristics of clones complementary to mRNA of the murine cellular tumor antigen p53

43 cDNA clones specific for murine cellular tumor antigen p53 were isolated from a library constructed using 17S fraction of mRNA from the SV40 transformed murine fibroblasts (SVT2). These clones contain the whole coding region of p53 mRNA and the most of non-translated sequences. A plasmid containing 1.8 kb insert of p53 cDNA was constructed. The p53 specific insert in this plasmid was colinear with p53 mRNA, as revealed by S1 nuclease analysis. 5'-region of the p53 gene comprising non-translated and promoter areas was cloned from the mouse genomic library. A combined clone containing promoter and the whole region, corresponding to p53 mRNA has been constructed.     

敲低GATA1慢病毒表达载体的构建及敲低效果检测

目的：为了探讨与人血细胞相关的GATA1转录因子在实体肿瘤发生发展中的功能,构建GATA1的慢病毒干扰载体,并验证其敲低效果。方法：根据人GATA1的cDNA序列,设计含有小发卡结构的寡核苷酸序列,将其克隆到慢病毒表达载体上;将重组质粒转染人胚肾293T细胞,通过实时定量RT-PCR及Western印迹检测GATA1的表达水平。结果和结论：构建了具有明显干扰效果的GATA1基因的小干扰RNA（siRNA）慢病毒表达载体,能够有效抑制GATA1 mRNA和蛋白水平,为后续的GATA1生物学作用研究奠定了基础。     

A set of cassettes and improved vectors for genetic and biochemical characterization of Pseudomonas genes

A set of broad-host-range vectors allowing direct selection of recombinant DNA molecules to facilitate subcloning and expression analyses of Pseudomonas genes was constructed using Bg/II lacZ alpha cassette. Controlled expression vectors pVDtac39 and pVDtac24 were shown to be useful for determination of enzymatic activities encoded by the cloned DNA fragments and Mr determination of the corresponding polypeptides. A set of Pseudomonas putida xylE gene cassettes truncated at the 5' end was constructed for translational (protein) fusion studies. A protein fusion of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa algD gene, coding for GDPmannose dehydrogenase, and the truncated xylE gene cassette was used to verify the putative coding region and translational signals predicted from the algD nucleotide sequence.     

构建胸膜肺炎放线杆菌apxIC基因插入突变株

目的：构建胸膜肺炎放线杆菌（APP）apxIC基因插入突变菌株,以鉴定ApxⅠ毒素的生物学特性。方法：根据apxⅠ核酸序列（U05042）设计1对引物,用于自APP血清10型参考菌株（D13039）基因组DNA中扩增apxIC基因及其上下游约2．8kb的基因片段,经克隆测序后在apxIC基因下游xbI酶切位点处插入约0．9kb的氯霉素（Chl）抗性基因表达盒,构建用于转化的转移载体pUIC-Chl^r,将转移载体DNA经电转化导入APP血清10型参考菌株中进行同源重组,以获得突变菌株。结果：在含有氯霉素的培养基中经筛选获得2株丧失溶血活性的突变菌株（D13039C-Chl^r）;利用PCR和Southern blot对突变菌株鉴定,显示氯霉素抗性基因已被插入细菌基因组中。结论：利用电转化和同源重组技术构建成功APP apxIC基因插入突变菌株,为分析ApxⅠ毒素的生物学特性,进而研制APP基因工程减毒活疫苗奠定了基础。     

口蹄疫病毒三价复合多表位佐剂DNA疫苗构建及其免疫原性

以O型、A型口蹄疫病毒(FMDV)结构蛋白VP1全基因和AsiaI型FMDV两个基因拓扑型的结构蛋白VP1基因上的5个抗原表位基因作为主要免疫原基因,以来源于非结构蛋白3ABC和结构蛋白VP4上的3个Th2细胞表位基因作为辅助基因,构建了O型、A型和Asia1型FMDV复合多表位基因工程疫苗表达盒OAAT,在此基础上,以金黄色葡萄球菌肠毒素A(SEA)为基因佐剂,通过分子设计构建了SEA与OAAT融合表达基因。将构建好的表达盒OAAT与SEA融合表达基因克隆至真核表达载体PVAX1PCMV启动子下游,构建了口蹄疫三价基因佐剂DNA疫苗pEA。经Western blotting和IFA检测,目的蛋白在Hela细胞中获得正确表达。小鼠免疫实验表明,pA和pEA免疫组的血清抗体均能分别与O型、A型和AsiaI抗原反应,与对照组相比差异较显著,且pEA免疫组和灭活疫苗免疫组抗体水平均显著高于pA免疫组;同时pA和pEA免疫小鼠细胞因子IL-2、IFN-γ、IL-4和IL-10较对照组显著提高,且pEA免疫组的IL-2、IFN-γ和IL-4水平明显高于pA免疫组。用O/NY00和Asia1/YNBS/58株FMDV进行...     

基于密码对使用的基因组进化

以密码对使用偏好性和密码对中二核苷酸频率分别构建了系统发育树。发现用40种模式生物编码序列中密码对的二核苷酸频率构建的系统发育树,明显将生物按进化分成细菌,古菌,真核生物;用密码对使用偏好性指标构建的系统发育树与基于密码对中二核苷酸频率的系统发育树基本一致。结果表明密码对中二核苷酸组分是密码对偏好的决定因素之一。     

Construction of a cDNA library of Aphis gossypii Glover for use in RNAi

Aphis gossypii Glover is an important insect pest that functions as a viral vector and mediates approximately 45 different viral diseases. As part of a strategy for control of A. gossypii, we investigated the functions of genes using RNAi. To this end, a cDNA library was constructed for various genes and for selecting appropriate targets for RNAi mediated silencing. The cDNA library was constructed using the Gateway cloning system with site‐specific recombination of bacteriophage λ. It was used to carry out single step cloning of A. gossypii cDNAs. As a result, a cDNA library with a titer of 8.4 × 10⁶ was constructed. Since the sequences in this library carry att sites, they can be cloned into various binary vectors. This library will be of value for various studies. For later screening of selected genes, it is planned to clone the library into virus‐induced gene silencing (VIGS) vectors, which makes it possible to analyze gene function and allow subsequent transfection of plants. Such transfection experiments will allow testing of RNAi‐induced insecticidal activity or repellent activity to A. gossypii, and result in the identification of target genes. It is also expected that the constructed cDNA library will be useful for analysis of gene functions in A. gossypii.     

A genetically engineered purpurin/retinol-binding protein hybrid that binds to transthyretin.

A mini-gene encoding rat retinol-binding protein (RBP) and a cDNA encoding chicken purpurin were separately transfected into HeLa cells. In contrast to RBP, expressed purpurin did not bind to transthyretin (TTR). A purpurin/RBP hybrid protein was constructed by substituting the cDNA sequence encoding the N-terminal 29 amino acids of purpurin for the corresponding part of RBP. The expressed hybrid molecule bound to the TTR-Sepharose. These results demonstrate that purpurin does not bind to TTR, that a functional purpurin/RBP hybrid can be constructed, and that the N-terminal coil of RBP is not required for TTR binding.     

The construction and cloning of synthetic genes coding for artificial proteins and expression studies to obtain fusion proteins

Synthetic genes coding for artificial proteins with predefined and nutritionally valuable amino acid compositions have been constructed and cloned in bacterial plasmid vector pKK233-2. The genes were constructed from three easily interchangeable 'cassettes' encoding either essential, non-essential or branched-chain amino acid residues. A potential hairpin loop structure in the mRNA around the region of the ribosome binding site was probably the reason for blockage of translation from this vector. Two selected genes, AHB (containing one copy of each cassette) and A6 (consisting of six copies concatemerized A cassette) were cloned into pUR300, a beta-Gal fusion vector and expressed as fusion proteins beta-Gal-AHB and beta-Gal-A6.     

Construction and evaluation of drug-metabolizing cell line for bioartificial liver support system

Focusing on drug metabolism in liver, we constructed and evaluated a drug-metabolizing bioartificial liver (BAL) support system. In a previous study, we constructed ammonia-metabolizing CHO and hepatoma-derived HepG2 cell lines by recombination of the glutamine synthetase (GS) gene. For further mimicking of liver metabolism, the human hepatoma-derived cell line HepG2 was transformed by the pBudCE-GS-CYP3A4 vector, which contains GS and drug-metabolizing CYP 3A4 genes. The constructed GS-3A4-HepG2 cell line showed 3A4 activity higher than that of human primary hepatocytes. The drug-metabolizing activity of BAL (BAL clearance) was evaluated using this cell line. The estimated clearance was higher than that of the human hepatocyte system.     

Physical map of the genome of Acholeplasma oculi ISM1499 and construction of a Tn4001 derivative for macrorestriction chromosomal mapping.

A physical chromosomal map of Acholeplasma oculi ISM1499 was constructed by using field inversion gel electrophoresis. To assist in the ordering of the chromosomal fragments, a modified transposon, Tn4001.1064, was constructed. It was also used to rescue mycoplasmal chromosomal sequences adjacent to transposon insertion sites in a one-step cloning procedure. The total size of the A. oculi ISM1499 genome was estimated to be 1,633 kb. The restriction enzyme sites for ApaI, BssHII, EagI, and SmaI were positioned on the map along with several transposon insertion sites.     

A bovine whole-genome radiation hybrid panel and outline map

A 3000-rad radiation hybrid panel was constructed for cattle and used to build outline RH maps for all 29 autosomes and the X and Y chromosomes. These outline maps contain about 1200 markers, most of which are anonymous microsatellite loci. Comparisons between the RH chromosome maps, other published RH maps, and linkage maps allow regions of chromosomes that are poorly mapped or that have sparse marker coverage to be identified. In some cases, mapping ambiguities can be resolved. The RH maps presented here are the starting point for mapping additional loci, in particular genes and ESTs that will allow detailed comparative maps between cattle and other species to be constructed. Radiation hybrid cell panels allow high-density genetic maps to be constructed, with the advantage over linkage mapping that markers do not need to be polymorphic. A large quantity of DNA has been prepared from the cells forming the RH panel reported here and is publicly available for mapping large numbers of loci.     

A detailed multipoint map of human chromosome 4 provides evidence for linkage heterogeneity and position-specific recombination rates

Utilizing the CEPH reference panel and genotypic data for 53 markers, we have constructed a 20-locus multipoint genetic map of human chromosome 4. New RFLPs are reported for four loci. The map integrates a high-resolution genetic map of 4p16 into a continuous map extending to 4q31 and an unlinked cluster of three loci at 4q35. The 20 linked markers form a continuous linkage group of 152 cM in males and 202 cM in females. Likely genetic locations are provided for 25 polymorphic anonymous sequences and 28 gene-specific RFLPs. The map was constructed employing the LINKAGE and CRIMAP computational methodologies to build the multipoint map via a stepwise algorithm. A detailed 10-point map of the 4p16 region constructed from the CEPH panel provides evidence for heterogeneity in the linkage maps constructed from families segregating for Huntington disease (HD). It additionally provides evidence for position-specific recombination frequencies in the telomeric region of 4p.