Recent horizontal transfer of mellifera subfamily mariner transposons into insect lineages representing four different orders shows that selection acts only during horizontal transfer

We report the isolation and sequencing of genomic copies of mariner transposons involved in recent horizontal transfers into the genomes of the European earwig, Forficula auricularia; the European honey bee, Apis mellifera; the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata; and a blister beetle, Epicauta funebris, insects from four different orders. These elements are in the mellifera subfamily and are the second documented example of full-length mariner elements involved in this kind of phenomenon. We applied maximum likelihood methods to the coding sequences and determined that the copies in each genome were evolving neutrally, whereas reconstructed ancestral coding sequences appeared to be under selection, which strengthens our previous hypothesis that the primary selective constraint on mariner sequence evolution is the act of horizontal transfer between genomes.     

piggyBac转座子AgoPLE1.1在黑腹果蝇种系转化中的应用

[目的]通过检测黑腹果蝇 DDrosophiila melanogaster中piggyBac(PB)转座子AgoPLE1.1的转化活性,明确AgoPLE1.1开发为昆虫转基因载体的潜力.[方法]构建AgoPLE1.1转座酶辅助质粒pAgoHsp和带有红色荧光标记的供体质粒pXLAgo-PUbDsRed,辅助质粒和供体...     

苏云金芽胞杆菌转座因子的转座机理及其与杀虫晶体蛋白基因的关系

各种苏云金芽胞杆菌在杀虫毒力和杀虫谱上有很大差异。研究表明,这种特异性的杀虫毒力与存在于苏云金芽胞杆菌内的转座因子有密切关系,不同类型的转座因子其转座方式各异,总的来说可分为３种,即同源重组、转座重组和特异位点重组。这种转座过程的发生往往伴随着苏云金芽胞杆菌杀虫晶体蛋白的变异,这在基因工程菌的构建和杀虫多样性的研究上有着重要意义。     

piggyBac转座系统的功能改进及在哺乳动物中的应用

piggyBac (PB)转座系统具有转座效率高、删除精确、半随机插入和携带片段较大等优点。但是作为一种转基因实验的工具,特别是在哺乳动物个体水平的转基因方面,还需要提高其转基因效率,并降低外源基因随机插入对内源基因破坏的风险。近年来的研究结果显示,PB转座系统得到了进一步改进：采用PB转座酶与DNA特异性结合蛋白融合而构成的融合型转座酶,表现出外源片段有插入到染色体靶向位点的倾向;采用突变体筛选的方法提高了PB转座酶的活性,获得了只具有切除活性而没有插入活性的新型PB转座酶;采用PB转座系统与细菌人工染色体(Bacterial artificial chromosomes, BAC)载体联合使携带的外源片段长度提高到了207 kb。改进后的PB转座系统在基因组研究、基因治疗、诱导多能干细胞(Induced pluripotent stem cells, iPSCs)诱导及其分化方面发挥了较大的作用。文章对PB转座系统的最新研究进展和应用前景进行了综述。     

水稻双子房突变体中类copia逆转座子同源序列的研究

以水稻双子房突变体的总ＤＮＡ为模板,用简并引物扩增类ｃｏｐｉａ逆转座子的逆转录酶区域。从ＰＣＲ产物中分离到代表３个不同的类ｃｏｐｉａ逆转座子的片段,其中两个在水稻（Ｏｒｙｚａ ｓａｔｉｖａ Ｌ．）品种“窄叶青８号”和“京系１７”间产生的多态性杂交带分别定位于水稻７条染色体的９个位点。Ｒ３３－８含大量的终止码,Ｒ３３－１及Ｒ３３－４为连续的编码区,推测的氨基酸序列含８１个氨基酸残基。Ｒ３３－１的拷贝     

Gene Transfer and Cloning of Flanking Chromosomal Regions Using the Medaka Fish Tol2 Transposable Element

For the ultimate purpose of developing genetic tools using the medaka fish Tol2 transposable element, we examined whether it can transfer a marker gene into the fish genome and also be applied for cloning of chromosomal regions adjacent to insertion points. An internal region of Tol2 was removed and replaced with the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene and a bacterial plasmid replication origin. This modified Tol2 clone was microinjected into fertilized eggs together with messenger RNA for the Tol2 transposase. The GFP gene was found to be integrated into chromosomes and transmitted to subsequent generations. Restriction enzyme digestion of genomic DNA of a transformant fish, followed by ligation and introduction into bacteria, produced a plasmid containing the entire element and flanking chromosomal regions. Sequencing analysis of this clone demonstrated transposition of the element in the germline of the first generation. Thus, the basic requirements for a gene transfer vector and gene tagging system were fulfilled. Received July 30, 2001; accepted October 4, 2001     

Identification of a defective transposable element in tobacco

A putative defective transposable element has been identified in tobacco. This element has been found and characterised in two separate parts of the tobacco genome, specifically within the 3rd intron of the pollen-specific polygalacturonase gene (Npg1) and upstream of the endochitinase gene (Chn50). The element is ca. 0.4 kb in length and is bounded by conserved inverted repeats and putative target site duplications. It appears to fall into the category of non-autonomous transposable elements.     

烟田烟青虫药剂防治研究

在室内外研究了５种低毒（或中等毒性）,低残留杀虫剂和１种微生物杀虫剂（ＨＤ－１）对烟青虫的防治效果。其中有４种可专用于防治烟青虫,２种既可防治烟青虫,亦可兼治烟蚜,效果为９４％－１００％。可以认为,溴氰菊酯,氯氰菊脂,杀灭菊酯,乙酰甲甲胺磷,杀虫双和ＨＤ－１可代替高毒农度药甲胺磷防治烟青虫。     

表达短lef-1 dsRNA的转化细胞对家蚕核型多角体病毒的抗性

为了探讨RNAi抑制家蚕核型多角体病毒(BmNPV)增殖的效果,用带有lef-1 dsRNA表达盒的转基因载体pigA3-LEF- Neo转染家蚕BmN培养细胞,通过G418(750～800 mg/L)筛选,获得了稳定转化细胞系．病毒感染试验显示,稳定转化细胞的病毒感染率比正常细胞低53%、转化细胞形成的多角体数量为普通细胞中的2/3、细胞培养上清中的游离病毒减少了90%以上,表明病毒在转化细胞中的增殖受到明显抑制;半定量RT-PCR结果显示,转化细胞中病毒lef-1的转录水平仅为正常细胞的2/5～3/5,表明转化细胞表达的lef-1 dsRNA抑制了病毒lef-1基因的表达．通过反向PCR分析外源DNA片段插入基因组位点,结果表明,在转化细胞中外源DNA可通过随机整合或按照piggyBac特定的转座位点TTAA插入细胞基因组．     

Characterization of Growth and Reproduction Performance,Transgene Integration,Expression, and Transmission Patterns in Transgenic Pigs Produced by piggyBac Transposition-Mediated Gene Transfer

Previously we successfully produced a group of EGFP-expressing founder transgenic pigs by a newly developed efficient and simple pig transgenesis method based on cytoplasmic injection of piggyBac plasmids. In this study, we investigated the growth and reproduction performance and characterized the transgene insertion, transmission, and expression patterns in transgenic pigs generated by piggyBac transposition. Results showed that transgene has no injurious effect on the growth and reproduction of transgenic pigs. Multiple copies of monogenic EGFP transgene were inserted at noncoding sequences of host genome, and passed from founder transgenic pigs to their transgenic offspring in segregation or linkage manner. The EGFP transgene was ubiquitously expressed in transgenic pigs, and its expression intensity was associated with transgene copy number but not related to its promoter DNA methylation level. To the best of our knowledge, this is first study that fully described the growth and reproduction performance, transgene insertion, expression, and transmission profiles in transgenic pigs produced by piggyBac system. It not only demonstrates that piggyBac transposition-mediated gene transfer is an effective and favorable approach for pig transgenesis, but also provides scientific information for understanding the transgene insertion, expression and transmission patterns in transgenic animals produced by piggyBac transposition.     

水稻基因组上一个Ds切离及其双位点插入行为的分子鉴定

玉米转座元件Ac/Ds是hAT转座子家族的成员, 导入水稻基因组后具有转座活性, 尽管转座机制还不完全清楚, 但它们通常经保守的非复制型“剪切-粘贴”过程转座。研究表明, 在Ac编码的转座酶作用下, Ds从原位点切离后常优先重新插入到连锁位点。文章利用TAIL-PCR技术从水稻一个Ds插入突变体及其回复突变体中分离Ds侧翼序列, 结合生物信息学分析方法, 对Ds在突变体上插入位点、回复突变体内切离足迹和重新插入位点进行了分子鉴定。结果显示, 突变体中Ds从3号染色体切离后, 在原插入位点残留了8 bp足迹序列(CATCATGA), 引起Ds标记基因外显子和内含子数目增加, 从而影响基因结构。切离后的Ds重新插入回复突变体第2和第6号染色体上, 分别编码烟草胺氨基转移酶和衰老相关蛋白的2个基因的编码区。因此, 典型的“剪切-粘贴”机制不能完全解释Ds的转座行为, Ds转座存在“剪切-复制-粘贴”的特点。     

玉米非自主性转座子rDt的体细胞转座序列特征

Dotted/rDt是玉米遗传学中最早发现的双元转座子系统之一。为了揭示玉米中非自主性转座子rDt在其自主性转座子Dt调控下的转座遗传特性,选取了a1-rDt;Dt和a1-m1::rDt;Dt 2个rDt转座子插入突变等位基因,检测玉米籽粒紫色斑点表型差异的遗传基础,利用巢式PCR与特异性酶切相结合的方法检测并鉴定了这2种材料叶片组织中rDt体细胞转座的印迹序列类型。通过构建遗传杂交群体,统计分析各群体的后代籽粒表型以及A1野生型基因的回复突变频率。结果显示,在籽粒糊粉层紫色斑点大小均一但数目极低的a1-rDt;Dt材料中,仅检测到2种体细胞转座的印迹序列类型,其中1种是没有转座子插入前A1野生型。而在籽粒糊粉层紫色斑点大小不一、排列密集的a1-m1::rDt;Dt材料中可以检测到5种体细胞转座的印迹序列类型,其中3种类型均保持A1'回复突变基因的开放阅读框;同时,a1-m1::rDt;Dt材料中A1'的回复突变频率是a1-rDt;Dt材料的大约2.6倍。研究表明,rDt在a1插入位点体细胞转座后的修复产物序列组成相对简单,与Ac/Ds等hAT超家族转座子相似,且rDt体细胞转座产生的印迹序列类型及丰富度是两个a1基因插入突变体中A1'回复突变频率高低及玉米籽粒糊粉层表型差异的遗传基础。     

Growth and development of Cardiochiles nigriceps viereck (hymenoptera,braconidae) larvae and their synchronization with some changes of the hemolymph composition of their host,Heliothis virescens (F.) (Lepidoptera,Noctuidae)

Larval development of the parasitoid Cardiochiles nigriceps Viereck occurs in the last instar larva of its host, Heliothis virescens (F.). This allows the parasitoid to exploit the nutritional increase in the biosynthetic activity occurring in the host in preparation for metamorphosis. To understand the biochemical basis of this host parasitoid developmental synchrony, we undertook host ligation studies and analyzed host hemolymph for proteins and glycerol esters. Parasitization affected the biochemical profile of the host. The hemolymph protein concentration of parasitized last instar H. virescens larvae increased through time, whereas unparasitized (control) larvae were characterized by a decrease in the protein titer when they reached the prepupal stage. The effect of parasitism on glyceride titers of host hemolymph was not as pronounced as the effect on proteins. Ligation conducted on 5th instar hosts, which were parasitized as 4th instars, affected parasitoid development in a time-dependent way. The percentage of successfully developing C. nigriceps larvae increased with the increase of the time interval between parasitization and ligation. Ligation performed before day 2 of the 5th larval instar of H. virescens completely inhibited parasitoid development. Ligations that disrupted parasitoid developmentwere associated with a low host hernolymph protein concentration. Parasitoid development was successful when hernolymph protein titer was high, as occurred when ligations were performed after day 3 of the 5th host instar in both control and parasitized larvae. Ligations in both situations resulted in a slight increase in glyceride titers. The results suggest that host proteins and/or some factor(s) associated with them may play a role in parasitoid growth and development. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.