甜叶菊葡糖基转移酶基因UGT76G2的克隆及生物信息学分析

本研究利用RT-PCR方法从甜叶菊(Stevia rebaudian)叶片中分离了与甜叶菊UGT76G1高度同源的UGT76G2基因,该基因编码一条分子量为52.029 kD的由458个氨基酸残基组成的多肽,含有c-端所特有的高度保守的信号序列PSPG基序和N-端膜结合序列,属于植物中特有PSPG基序的UGT家族成员.半定量RT-PCR分析表明:UGT76G2在甜叶菊根、茎、叶、花不同组织中具有组织表达特异性,在叶组织中的表达丰度略高,在根中不表达而在茎中表达较低.推断的UGT76G2编码产物与其它参与植物次级代谢产物的糖基转移相关酶同源比对和系统发生分析表明该蛋白与康乃馨(Dianthus caryophyllus)DicGT4、棉花(Gossypi-um hirsutum)GhUGT1、甜叶菊(Stevia rebaudian)UGT76H1及玉米(Zea mays)BX8的一致性较高,分别为41%、35%、35%和32%.对UGT76G2和UGT76G1的次级结构和立体结构分析发现,苜蓿(Medicago sativa)UGT71G1与二者的一致性皆为23%,它们有类似的次级结构.在C-端的PSPG信号区内具有10个相同的基质结合位点.但在UGT76G2和UGT76G1之间也有个别位置氨基酸存在差异.它们的N-端含有保守的组氨酸H25和天冬氨酸D124残基,可能与受体的结合有关.     

磷和葡萄糖及细胞分裂素对拟南芥SEN1基因表达的影响

拟南芥SEN1基因受衰老诱导.将该基因启动子融合报告基因萄聚糖酶(glucuronidase,GUS)基因转入拟南芥,通过染色并测定GUS活性发现,缺氮、缺磷、缺钾诱导叶中SEN1表达,而只有缺磷能导根中SEN1表达.缺磷对根叶中SEN1的诱导被3%葡萄糖和细胞分裂素抑制.3%葡萄糖胺在根和叶中均诱导SEN1表达,外源细胞分裂素不能抑制这种效应.结果表明:SEN1基因可受缺磷信号特异调控,并受糖信号和细胞分裂素负调控;葡萄糖胺能大大促进根和叶中SEN1表达,且不受细胞分裂素的负调控.     

拟南芥中4种细胞分裂素的高效液相色谱法测定

应用高效液相色谱法同时测定拟南芥中4种细胞分裂素组分玉米素(Z)、玉米素核苷(ZR)、6-r,r-二甲基烯丙基氨基嘌呤(2ip)和6-r,r-二甲基烯丙基氨基嘌呤核苷(2ipr)含量。结果表明,采用反相色谱柱Waters C₁₈柱(4.6×250 mm,5 μm),在35℃以乙腈和三乙胺缓冲液为流动相梯度洗脱,流速1 ml/min,在270 nm处能准确检测出拟南芥中4种细胞分裂素组分的含量,检测限达0.001 μg/ml。     

植物源UDP-糖基转移酶及其分子改造*

糖基化能够增加化合物的结构多样性,有效改善水溶性、药理活性和生物利用度,对植物天然产物的药物开发至关重要。UDP-糖基转移酶(UGTs)能够催化糖基从活化的核苷酸糖供体转移到受体形成糖苷键,植物中天然产物的糖基化修饰主要通过UGTs实现。但是大多数天然UGTs的催化活性、稳定性和底物特异性较低,难以满足工业用酶的要求,限制了它们的工业化应用。近年来,通过分子改造技术改进天然UGTs的催化特性取得了突破性的研究进展。为此,概述了植物源UGTs的挖掘与表征、三维结构和催化机制,归纳了UGTs分子改造的思路和方法,包括理性设计和定向进化,重点介绍了结构域替换、序列保守分析和结构分析与定点突变的结合,总结了定向进化中的高通量筛选方法,为植物天然产物酶法糖基化的工业应用提供了参考和借鉴。     

植物细胞分裂素的糖苷物生物活性分析

用附加细胞分裂素及其糖苷物的MS培养基,垂直培养拟南芥并测定根的伸长,以此分析细胞分裂素及其糖苷物的生物学活性的结果表明,细胞分裂素的N-糖苷物几乎完全失去细胞分裂素活性,而D-糖苷仍具有细胞分裂素活性。推测两类糖苷物对植物体内细胞分裂素活性可能有不同的调控作用。     

糖基转移酶基因双敲除对依博素生物合成的影响

以往研究已确定链霉菌胞外多糖依博素的生物合成基因簇(ste), ste15 和ste22 分别编码葡萄糖糖基转移酶和鼠李糖糖基转移酶。现通过基因同源重组双交换,在ste15基因缺失突变株Streptomyces sp. 139 (ste15-) 基础上,再进行ste22 基因阻断,经Southern 杂交验证,得到了ste15 和ste22 双基因缺失突变株Streptomyces sp. 139 (ste15-ste22-),并对该菌株进行了基因互补研究。双基因缺失株产生的胞外多糖与依博素相比,葡萄糖与鼠李糖含量明显降低,分子量下降,生物活性明显变弱。基因互补株产生的胞外多糖中葡萄糖与鼠李糖含量基本恢复至依博素水平,生物活性也显著提高。因此,进一步阐明了ste15和ste22基因参与了依博素生物合成中葡萄糖和鼠李糖重复单元序列的形成过程,在依博素的生物合成中起重要作用,变株产生的依博素新衍生物体内外生物学活性正在深入研究中。     

在ipt-GUS转基因拟南芥中双组分信号传导基因应答体内细胞分裂素的增加

ipt—GUS转录融合基因在拟南芥植物中表达,其体内细胞分裂素的含量可达到野生型的20-30倍。从拟南芥种子萌发后的6、12、20和30d四个时间分析了植物体内细胞分裂素含量的提高对其双组分信号传导系统中基因的影响。研究发现：细胞分裂素受体基因CRE1比CKI1基因更容易被增加的植物细胞分裂素诱导表达。拟南芥植物细胞分裂素反应调节基因ARR4和ARR5在植物发育的不同时期应答植物体内增加的植物细胞分裂素,ARR4的应答反应比ARR5早,种子萌发后的第6天幼苗真叶形成初期,ARR4基因被明显涛导;而ARR5的应答反应在幼苗真叶形成后的几个时间段均能检测到,并且在种子萌发后的第20天,花枝形成开始时特别明显。在双组分信号传导途径中,从受体到反应调节基因传导磷酸基团的传导基因AHP4在幼苗发育的后期种子萌发后的第20和30天,应答植物体内增加的植物细胞分裂素,并且在花枝形成初期比较明显。     

亚位点+1处突变提高软化类芽胞杆菌环糊精糖基转移酶底物麦芽糊精特异性

通过改造来源于软化类芽胞杆菌Paenibacillus macerans的环糊精糖基转移酶(Cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase,CGT酶)的+1亚位点提高其对麦芽糊精的底物特异性,并进一步提高以麦芽糊精为糖基供体催化合成2-O-D-吡喃葡糖基-L-抗坏血酸(AA-2G)的效率。首先对+1亚位点附近的3个氨基酸残基Leu194、Ala230和His233分别进行定点饱和突变,得到3个优势突变体L194N(亮氨酸→天冬酰胺),A230D(丙氨酸→天冬氨酸),H233E(组氨酸→谷氨酸),然后以这3个优势突变体为模板进一步进行两点和三点复合突变,获得7个复合突变体。研究结果表明,突变体L194N/A230D/H233E以麦芽糊精为底物合成AA-2G的产量最高,达到1.95 g/L,比野生型CGT酶提高了62.5%。对获得的突变体进行动力学分析,发现高浓度的底物L-AA对突变型CGT酶催化的酶促反应具有抑制作用。确定了突变体酶促反应的最适温度、pH和反应时间。模拟突变体的三维结构并进行分析,突变体底物特异性的改善可能与CGT酶第194位、230位和233位的氨基酸残基的亲水性及与底物分子间的作用力的改变有关。     

癌基因ras对β-1,4-半乳糖基转移酶活性的调节

 研究癌基因ras对细胞表面的 β 1,4 半乳糖基转移酶活性的调节 构建Ha ras表达载体并转染NIH 3T3细胞株 ,测定细胞表面和细胞内 β 1,4 半乳糖基转移酶活性和其mRNA的水平 结果发现ras使NIH 3T3细胞表面的 β 1,4 半乳糖基转移酶活性降低 ,而高尔基体内的活性不变 此外用Northern印迹检测后发现 ,ras不能改变细胞内 β 1,4 半乳糖基转移酶的mRNA水平 这说明癌基因ras能够调节细胞表面β 1,4 半乳糖基转移酶活性 ,但不能改变其转录水平     

对紫云英根瘤菌突变株的生长情况及产生细胞分裂素能力的考察

紫云英根瘤菌突变株96号,只有增强了原来培养基的缓冲能力并增加了氮源后,才能使其正常生长。96号突变株产生细胞分裂素的能力随着生长过程的不同而异。它产生细胞分裂素的最大量在菌体生长的稳定初期,为15.01μg/L,比出发菌株的2.18 μg/L提高了近7倍。经修改后的根瘤菌常规培养基能用于该菌株的发酵培养,并能正常产生细胞分裂素类物质。在培养液中加入腺嘌呤对菌体合成细胞分裂素类物质有强烈的诱导效应。     

Use of the glucosyltransferase UGT71B6 to disturb abscisic acid homeostasis in Arabidopsis thaliana

A glucosyltransferase (GT) of Arabidopsis, UGT71B6, recognizing the naturally occurring enantiomer of abscisic acid (ABA) in vitro, has been used to disturb ABA homeostasis in planta. Transgenic plants constitutively overexpressing UGT71B6 (71B6-OE) have been analysed for changes in ABA and the related ABA metabolites abscisic acid glucose ester (ABA-GE), phaseic acid (PA), dihydrophaseic acid (DPA), 7'-hydroxyABA and neo-phaseic acid. Overexpression of the GT led to massive accumulation of ABA-GE and reduced levels of the oxidative metabolites PA and DPA, but had marginal effect on levels of free ABA. The control of ABA homeostasis, as reflected in levels of the different metabolites, differed in the 71B6-OEs whether the plants were grown under standard conditions or subjected to wilt stress. The impact of increased glucosylation of ABA on ABA-related phenotypes has also been assessed. Increased glucosylation of ABA led to phenotypic changes in post-germinative growth. The use of two structural analogues of ABA, known to have biological activity but to differ in their capacity to act as substrates for 71B6 in vitro, confirmed that the phenotypic changes arose specifically from the increased glucosylation caused by overexpression of 71B6. The phenotype and profile of ABA and related metabolites in a knockout line of 71B6, relative to wild type, has been assessed during Arabidopsis development and following stress treatments. The lack of major changes in these parameters is discussed in the context of functional redundancy of the multigene family of GTs in Arabidopsis.     

Adenine Phosphoribosyl Transferase 1 is a Key Enzyme Catalyzing Cytokinin Conversion from Nucleobases to Nucleotides in Arabidopsis

In plants, the cytokinin metabolic processes, including cytokinin biosynthesis, interconversion, inactivation, and degradation, play critical roles in the regulation of cytokinin homeostasis and plant development. Purine meta- bolic enzymes have been implied to catalyze the cytokinin interconversion in previous works. In this study, we report that Adenine Phosphoribosyl Transferase 1 （APT1） is the causal gene of the high-dose cytokinin-resistant mutants. APT1 catalyzes the cytokinin conversion from free bases to nucleotides, and is functionally predominant among the five members of the Arabidopsis Adenine Phosphoribosyl Transferase family. Loss of APT1 activity in plants leads to excess accumulation of cytokinin bases, thus evoking myriad cytokinin-regulated responses, such as delayed leaf senescence, anthocyanin accumulation, and downstream gene expression. Thus, our study defines APT1 as a key metabolic enzyme participating in the cytokinin inactivation by phosphoribosylation.     

Differential Responses in Activity of Antioxidant Enzymes to Different Environmental Stresses in Arabidopsis thaliana

Arabidopsis thaliana . Three-week-old plants were exposed to a high temperature (30 C), an enhanced light intensity (200 μE/m²/sec), water deficiency (water deprivation for 2 days), a chilling temperature (5 C), or ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation (0.25 or 0.094 W/m²) for 1 week (except for water deficiency). The high temperature and enhanced light treatments increased only dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR) activity. Water deficiency enhanced the activities of DHAR and guaiacol peroxidase (PER). Chilling temperature increased the activities of ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and glutathione reductase (GR), whereas it decreased catalase (CAT) activity. UV-B at an intensity of 0.25 W/m² elevated the activities of APX, monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR), GR, PER and superoxide dismutase (SOD). It was suggested that the amounts of phenylpropanoid compounds increased during treatments of plants with enhanced light intensity, chilling temperature, and UV-B. These results suggest that some differences exist among the oxidative stress conditions caused by the different treatments, although all of these treatments seem to be related to active oxygen production. We propose that in A. thaliana, environmental stresses may be classified into those which induce DHAR activity and those which induce APX activity. Received 11 January 1999/ Accepted in revised form 22 April 1999     

The glucosyltransferase UGT72E2 is responsible for monolignol 4-O-glucoside production in Arabidopsis thaliana

The phenylpropanoid pathway in plants leads to the synthesis of a wide range of soluble secondary metabolites, many of which accumulate as glycosides. In Arabidopsis, a small cluster of three closely related genes, UGT72E1-E3, encode glycosyltransferases shown to glucosylate several phenylpropanoids in vitro, including monolignols, hydroxycinnamic acids and hydroxycinnamic aldehydes. The role of these genes in planta has now been investigated through genetically downregulating the expression of individual genes or silencing the entire cluster. Analysis of these transgenic Arabidopsis plants showed that the levels of coniferyl and sinapyl alcohol 4-O-glucosides that accumulate in light-grown roots were significantly reduced. A 50% reduction in both glucosides was observed in plants in which UGT72E2 was downregulated, whereas silencing the three genes led to a 90% reduction, suggesting some redundancy of function within the cluster. The gene encoding UGT72E2 was constitutively overexpressed in transgenic Arabidopsis to determine whether increased glucosylation of monolignols could influence flux through the soluble phenylpropanoid pathway. Elevated expression of UGT72E2 led to increased accumulation of monolignol glucosides in root tissues and also the appearance of these glucosides in leaves. In particular, coniferyl alcohol 4-O-glucoside accumulated to massive amounts (10 micromol g(-1) FW) in root tissues of these plants. Increased glucosylation of other phenylpropanoids also occurred in plants overexpressing this glycosyltransferase. Significantly changing the pattern of glycosides in the leaves also led to a pronounced change in accumulation of the hydroxycinnamic ester sinapoyl malate. The data demonstrate the plasticity of phenylpropanoid metabolism and the important role that glucosylation of secondary metabolites can play in cellular homeostasis.     

The effects of pathogen infection and mutation on life-history characters in Arabidopsis thaliana

The nature of the interaction among deleterious mutations is important to models in many areas of evolutionary biology. In addition, interactions between genetic and environmental factors may affect the predictions of such models. Individuals of unknown genotypes of Arabidopsis thaliana, ecotype Marburg, were exposed to five levels of chemical (EMS) mutagenesis and three levels of Pseudomonas syringae infection. Survival, growth and flowering characteristics of each individual were measured. The logarithm of fitness is expected to be a linear function of mutation number if mutations act independently. Furthermore, the expected number of mutations should be approximately a linear function of time of exposure to mutagen. Therefore, nonlinear effects of mutagen exposure on the logarithm of fitness characters would suggest epistasis between mutations. Similarly, if pathogen infection and mutation act independently of each other, their effects should be additive on a log scale. Statistical interactions between these factors would suggest they do not act independently; particularly, if highly mutated individuals suffer more when infected than do less mutated individuals, this suggests that pathogens and mutations act synergistically. Pseudomonas-infected individuals were shown to have an increased probability of flowering under conditions of short day length, but to ultimately produce fewer flowers than uninfected individuals. This suggests a plastic response to stress and, despite that response, an ultimately deleterious effect of infection on fitness. Leaf rosette growth was negatively and linearly related to the expected number of mutations, and the effects of mutation on different life-cycle stages appeared to be uncorrelated. No significant interactions between pathogen and mutation main effects were found. These results suggest that mutations act multiplicatively with each other and with pathogen infection in determining individual fitness.     

拟南芥叶片数目变化突变体对营养生长时相转变的影响

拟南芥(Arabidopsis thaliana)的营养生长可以分为2个阶段: 幼龄期与成熟期。由幼龄期向成熟期的转变(VPC)与叶片的形态学特征、茎顶端分生组织(SAM)形状、远轴面表皮毛的出现以及SPL家族转录因子表达水平的变化相关。研究表明, 造成这种转变的信号来源于叶原基。该研究利用2种莲座叶数目改变了的突变体和对野生型切除叶片的方法, 分析了叶片数目对VPC的影响。结果表明, 莲座叶数目的减少推迟了VPC的发生; 而莲座叶数目增多突变体amp1-1并未使VPC的发生提前, 推测叶源信号的产生受到了光合作用的影响。     

低磷供应对拟南芥根系构型的影响

在人工气候箱中,采用Johnson培养基对拟南芥在低磷供应条件下根系构型的变化进行了研究,结果表明：拟南芥在磷饥饿诱导下,主根缩短,侧根密度、根毛的数量和长度显著增加,并且,根尖到第一侧根和第一根毛的距离也大大缩短。这些改变增加了根系比表面积,并且使得根系分布更加靠近土壤表层,有利于提高植物吸收土壤中有机磷的效率。低磷胁迫还导致拟南芥根系分生组织区细胞形状变异,柱细胞数量减少;主根生长和细胞伸长的动力学分析显示,磷饥饿促使拟南芥主根生长变缓,细胞长度随磷饥饿程度的加深迅速缩小。CycB1;1:GUS染色分析结果表明,低磷破坏拟南芥根系分生组织细胞分裂能力,这些结果说明磷胁迫同时抑制了细胞的伸长和分裂,从而引起拟南芥主根的缩短。     

拟南芥抗盐突变体的RAPD分析

以筛选得到可以稳定遗传的抗盐单基因突变体2^#和15^#以及野生型拟南芥为材料进行RAPD分析,150条引物中有3条引物在突变体之间扩增出多态性,不仅证明了DNA水平突变的发生,而且表明它们之间遗传背景相似,是一系列抗盐性不同的近似等位基因系。1条引物在突变体的扩增产物比在野生型的扩增产物多出一个大小约为1200bp的片段,初步认为该片段与抗盐的主效基因有关。