Structure of the Linear Repeating Unit of Succinoglycan Accumulated in Cultures of Alcaligenes faecalis var. myxogenes

A new and efficient synthesis of γ-homocyclogeranial (4), γ-dihydroionone (3) and their derivatives, 5, 6, 7 and 8, volatile components of ambergris, is described. Their compounds were synthesized via Claisen rearrangement of (3,3-dimethylcyclohexenyl)methyl vinyl ether (14).     

Changes in Structural Features of Free N-Glycan and Endoglycosidase Activity during Tomato Fruit Ripening

In developing plants, free N-glycans occur ubiquitously at micromolar concentrations. Such oligosaccharides have been proposed to be signaling molecules in plant development. As a part of a study to elucidate the physiological roles of de-N-glycosylation machinery involved in fruit ripening, we analyzed changes in the amounts and structural features of free N-glycans in tomato fruits at four ripening stages. The amount of high-mannose type free N-glycans increased significantly in accordance with fruit ripening, and the relative amounts of high-molecular size N-glycans, such as Man_8-9GlcNAc₁, became predominant. These observations suggest that the de-N-glycosylation machinery, including endo-β-N-acetylglucosaminidase (ENGase) activity, is stimulated in the later stages of fruit ripening. But contrary to expectation, we found that total ENGase activities in the tomato fruits did not vary significantly with the ripening process, suggesting that ENGase activity must be maintained at a certain level, and that the expression of α-mannosidase involved in the clearance of free N-glycans decreases during tomato fruit ripening.     

USF-19A,a New Lipoxygenase Inhibitor from Streptomyces sp.

USF-19A, a soybean Jipoxygenase (SBL) and human 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO) inhibitor, was isolated from Streptomyces sp. USF-19 strain. Its chemical structure was determined by spectroscopic evidence to be a new member of the antimycin antibiotic family. The IC₅₀ value of USF-19A against 5-LO was 28.0 μM.     

Racemization of l-Proline during Trifluoroacetylation Detection of Unexpected Stereoisomers in Trifluoroacetylprolyl-valine t-Butyl Ester

The genome sequencing project on alkaliphilic Bacillus halodurans C-125 revealed a putative endo-β-N-acetylglucosaminidase (Endo-BH), which consists of a signal peptide of 24 amino acids, a catalytic region of 634 amino acids exhibiting 50.1% identity with the endo-β-N-acetylglucosaminidase from Arthrobacter protophormiae (Endo-A), and a C-terminal tail of 220 amino acids. Transformed Escherichia coli cells carrying the Endo-BH gene exhibited endo-β-N-acetylglucosaminidase activity. Recombinant Endo-BH hydrolyzed high-mannose type oligosaccharides and hybrid type oligosaccharides, and showed transglycosylation activity. On deletion of 219 C-terminal amino acid residues of Endo-BH, the wild type level of activity was retained, whereas with deletions of the Endo-A homolog domain, the proteins were expressed as inclusion bodies and these activities were reduced. These results suggest that the enzymatic properties of Endo-BH are similar to those of Endo-A, and that the C-terminal tail does not affect the enzyme activity. Although the C-terminal tail region is not essential for enzyme activity, the sequence is also conserved among endo-β-N-acetylglucosaminidases of various origins.     

苜蓿链霉菌内切β-N-乙酰氨基葡萄糖苷酶的克隆、表达及酶学性质

内切β-N-乙酰氨基葡萄糖苷酶广泛应用于糖生物学研究和工业生产。本研究从苜蓿链霉菌Streptomyces alfalfae ACCC 40021中克隆并原核表达了一个新的内切β-N-乙酰氨基葡萄糖苷酶,该酶最适反应温度为35℃,最适pH为6.0,具有良好的pH稳定性、温度稳定性和高比活(1×10⁶ U/mg)的特性,可催化不同蛋白底物去糖基化,具有作为工具酶和生物催化剂的潜力。     

A Novel Fungal Endo-β-N-acetylglucosaminidase that Specifically Acts on Plant Glycoproteins

An endo-β-N-acetylglucosaminidase specific for plant glycoprotein oligosaccharides was purified from the culture fluid of a fungus. The Mr of the purified enzyme was 89,000. This enzyme was stable at pH 5.5-7.0, up to 30°C, and showed the highest activity at pH 6.0. Among sugar chains tested, xylose-containing sugar chains (M3X, M3FX, and M2FX) were the most favored substrates. Oligomannose type (M3, M5, and M9) and hybrid type (GNM3) sugar chains were hydrolyzed much more slowly than xylose-containing sugar chains, and a complex type sugar chain (GN2M3) was not hydrolyzed at all by the enzyme. Moreover, the enzyme released sugar chains from native horseradish peroxidase and stem bromelain, which were not hydrolyzed by other endo-β-N-acetylglucosaminidases (Endo H, D, and F). The enzyme could transfer the xylose-containing sugar chain from bromelain to DNS-Asn-GlcNAc-Fuc.     

Construction of a Genetic Transformation System for a Freeze-tolerant Yeast Kluyveromyces thermotolerans

We have developed a genetic transformation system for a freeze-tolerant yeast Kluyveromyces thermotolerans. K. thermotolerans spheroplasts could be transformed with a YRp-type vector containing an autonomously replicating sequence (ARS) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. However, transformation with a YEp-type vector containing a replication origin of S. cerevisiae 2 μM DNA was not successful. The cycloheximide resistance gene (RIM-C) of Candida maltosa and the URA3 gene of S. cerevisiae were successfully used to transform a prototrophic strain of K. thermotolerans and an Ura^? mutant of this yeast isolated in this study, respectively. Transformation was also possible by using intact cells treated with lithium salts or thiol compounds. The YRp-type vectors were maintained as plasmids in the transformants under selective conditions. This is the first report of successful transformation of K. thermotolerans.     

Changes in N-Linked Oligosaccharides during Seed Development of Ginkgo biloba

Structural changes in N-linked oligosaccharides of glycoproteins during seed development of Ginkgo biloba have been explored to discover possible endogenous substrate(s) for the Ginko endo-β-N-acetylglucosaminidase (endo-GB; Kimura, Y., et al. (1998) Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem., 62, 253-261), which should be involved in the production of high-mannose type free N-glycans.

The structural analysis of the pyridylaminated oligosaccharides with a 2D sugar chain map, by ESI-MS/MS spectroscopy, showed that all N-glycans expressed on glycoproteins through the developmental stage of the Ginkgo seeds have the xylose-containing type (GlcNAc_2~0Man₃Xyl₁Fuc_1~0GlcNAc₂) but no high-mannose type structure. Man3Xyl1Fuc1GlcNAc2, a typical plant complex type structure especially found in vacuolar glycoproteins, was a dominant structure through the seed development, while the amount of expression of GlcNAc₂Man₃Xyl₁Fuc₁GlcNAc₂ and GlcNAc₁Man₃Xyl₁Fuc₁GlcNAc₂ decreased as the seeds developed. The dominantly occurrence of xylose-containing type structures and the absence of the high-mannose type structures on Ginkgo glycoproteins were also shown by lectin-blotting and immunoblotting of SDS-soluble glycoproteins extracted from the developing seeds at various developmental stages.

Concerning the endogenous substrates for plant endo-β-N-acetylglucosaminidase, these results suggested that the endogenous substrates might be the dolicol-oligosaccharide intermediates or some glycopeptides with the high-mannose type N-glycan(s) derived from misfolded glycoproteins in the quality control system for newly synthesized glycoproteins.     

β-氨基丁酸对拟南芥叶片花色素苷的影响

研究发现β-氨基丁酸（BABA）处理减少了拟南芥（Arabidopsis thaliana）叶片花色素苷的积累,而且BABA处理降低了花色素苷合成基因（CHS,LDOX,UF3GT）的表达,却上调了苯丙氨酸解氨酶（PAL）的表达,同时促进了花色素苷降解酶多酚氧化酶（PPO）的活性。叶片对DPPH（1,1-二苯基-2-苦基苯肼）的清除能力、总酚和类黄酮含量以及电导率和细胞死亡率的测定表明BABA降低了叶片的抗氧化能力、电导率及细胞死亡率。结果表明BABA处理抑制了花色素苷在叶片中的积累。     

拟南芥盐胁迫应答相关基因AtGRP9的克隆及表达

利用拟南芥cDNA文库在裂殖酵母中的功能性表达 ,从拟南芥中分离了一个编码富甘氨酸蛋白 (glycine richprotein ,GRP)的cDNA克隆 (其基因被命名为AtGRP9)。在裂殖酵母中大量表达AtGRP9cDNA能显著提高细胞的耐盐性。在拟南芥中 ,AtGRP9基因的表达受盐胁迫诱导 ,其表达具有根器官特异性 ;而且 35S启动子组成形成超量表达植株的耐盐性明显提高。这些实验结果表明拟南芥AtGRP9可能是一盐胁迫应答相关基因。     

Structural Analysis of Free N-Glycans Occurring in Soybean Seedlings and Dry Seeds

The structures of unconjugated or free N-glycans in stems of soybean seedlings and dry seeds have been identified. The free N-glycans were extracted from the stems of seedlings or defatted dry seeds. After desalting by two kinds of ion-exchange chromatography and a gel filtration, the free N-glycans were coupled with 2-aminopyridine. The resulting fluorescence-labeled (PA-) N-glycans were purified by gel filtration, Con A affinity chromatography, reverse-phase HPLC, and size-fractionation HPLC. The structures of the PA-sugar chains purified were analyzed by the combination of two-dimensional sugar chain mapping, jack bean α-mannosidase digestion, α-1,2-mannosidase digestions, partial acetolysis, and ESI-MS/MS. The free N-glycan structures found showed that two categories of free N-glycans occur in the stems of soybean seedlings. One is a high-mannose type structure having one GlcNAc residue at the reducing end (Man_9~5GlcNAc₁, 93%), that would be derived by endo-GM (Kimura, Y. et al., Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 1381, 27-36 (1998)). The other small component is a xylose-containing type one having two GlcNAc residues at the reducing end (Man₃Xyl₁GlcNAc₂, 7%), which would be derived by PNGase-GM (Kimura, Y. and Ohno, A., Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem., 62, 412-418 (1998)). The detailed structural analysis of free glycans showed that high-mannose type free N-glycans (Man_9~5GlcNAc₁) in the soybean seedlings have a common core structural unit; Manα1- 6(Man1-3)Manα1-6(Manα1-3)Manβ1-4GlcNAc.

Comparing the amount of free N-glycans in the seedling stems and dry seeds, the amount in the stems of seedlings was much higher than that in the dry seeds; approximately 700 pmol per one stem, 8 pmol in one dry seed. This fact suggested that free N-glycans in soybean seedlings could be produced by two kinds of N-glycan releasing enzymes during germination or seedling-development.     

拟南芥雄性不育突变体ms1142的遗传定位与功能分析

经EMS诱变野生型拟南芥(Arabidopsis thaliana)群体筛选得到一株雄性不育突变体ms1142, 突变体的果荚短小, 不含种子。细胞学观察和扫描电镜结果表明, 突变体花药发育过程中, 花药中小孢子外壁异常、破裂, 最后没有花粉形成。遗传分析表明, 该突变体为隐性单核基因突变所致; 利用图位克隆的方法将MS1142基因定位于第1条染色体的BAC克隆F16P17上44 kb区间内, 目前尚未见该区间内有雄性不育基因的报道。以上结果结合生物信息学分析表明, MS1142是一个新的调控花药发育的关键基因。该工作为花药发育关键基因MS1142的克隆及功能分析奠定了基础。     

金属离子胁迫产生植物膜脂过氧化的能力与离子的极化能力正相关

金属离子胁迫导致植物产生多种生理损伤,其中包括膜脂的过氧化。不同的金属离子诱导植物产生膜脂过氧化差异很大,迄今对这些差异与金属离子性质之间的具体关系所知甚少。金属离子对阴离子和其他分子的作用主要取决于其电荷数量、半径大小和电子层结构,亦即取决于其极化作用。作者以水培拟南芥与油菜为材料,以不同极化作用的金属离子（Li^＋、Na^＋、K^＋、ca^2＋、Fe^2＋与Fe^3＋）为研究对象,检测了极化作用不同的金属离子胁迫拟南芥与油菜1、3、5 d后膜脂过氧化产物丙二醛（Malondialdehyde,MDA）的含量变化。结果发现,相同浓度的一价离子Li^＋、Na^＋与K^＋’胁迫5 d后,离子半径较小的Li^＋诱导拟南芥与油菜产生的丙二醛比Na^＋与K^＋高2倍以上;相同浓度下电子层结构相同的Fe^3＋与Fe^2＋胁迫5 d后,电荷高的Fe^3＋诱导拟南芥产生的丙二醛比Fe^2＋高2倍以上,而Fe^3＋诱导油菜产生的丙二醛比Fe^2＋高5倍以上;相同浓度的二离子Fe^2＋与ca^2＋胁迫,电子层结构复杂的Fe^2＋比ca^2＋诱导更多的丙二醛产生。运用离子势综合表征离子极化能力,则丙二醛的含量与离子势大小显著正相关。上述结果说明,金属离子诱导膜脂过氧化的胁迫能力与金属极化作用正相关,即电荷越高、离子半径越小及电子层越复杂,产生氧化胁迫程度越强。     

拟南芥DNA探针的比较基因组原位杂交揭示的拟南芥与远缘植物基因组间的同源性

采用生物素标记的拟南芥基因组DNA探针在75%杂交严谨度下对双子叶植物番茄、蚕豆和单子叶植物水稻、玉米、大麦的染色体进行了比较基因组荧光原位杂交（comparative genomic in situ hybridization,cGISH）分析,以揭示拟南芥与远缘植物基因组间的同源性.cGISH信号代表了拟南芥基因组DNA中的重复DNA与靶物种染色体上同源序列的杂交.探针DNA在所有靶物种的全部染色体上都产生了杂交信号.杂交信号为散在分布,并呈现随基因组增大,杂交信号增多,且分布更加分散的趋势.所有靶物种的核仁组织区（NOR）都显示了明显强于其他区域的杂交信号,表明拟南芥基因组DNA探针可用于植物NOR的物理定位.在所有的靶物种中,信号主要分布在染色体的臂中间区和末端,着丝粒或近着丝粒区有少数信号分布.大麦染色体显示了与C-和N-带不同的独特的cGISH信号带型,表明此探针可用于不同植物染色体的识别.这些结果表明,拟南芥基因组与远缘植物基因组之间,除rDNA和端粒重复序列外,还存在其它同源的重复DNA;一些重复DNA序列在被子植物分歧进化为单子叶和双子叶植物之前就已存在,虽经历了长期的进化过程,至今在远缘物种之间仍保持了较高的同源性.结果还提示,大基因组中古老而保守的重复DNA在进化过程中发生了明显的扩增.     

Expression Profiles of Arabidopsis thaliana VQ Gene Family in Defense Related Hormones Treatments

Several VQ proteins are recently identified as WRKY factors interacting partners in Arabidopsis and involved in regulating physiological processes. Searching of genomic databases found that VQ gene family is specific to land plants and these VQ genes encode proteins characteristic of a conserved VQ motif. It consists of 34 representatives in Arabidopsis and can be divided into two groups based on the similarity of the amino acid sequences. To understand the functions of Arabidopsis VQ proteins, we examined the expression profiles of AtVQ genes in various defense related hormones treatments. qRT PCR analysis revealed that a majority of them were differently regulated in response to salicylic acid (SA), methyl jasmonate (MeJA), or 1 aminocyclopropane 1 carboxylate (ACC). And some members are induced by two of these three hormones. Moreover, four members (AtVQ3, AtVQ18, AtVQ23 and AtVQ24) are induced by SA, MeJA and ACC simultaneity. However, there is only one AtVQ gene (AtVQ27) is up regulated after spraying of abscisic acid (ABA). These results suggest that Arabidopsis VQ genes may be involved in plant defense responses.     

磷脂酶Dβ在拟南芥低温信号中的转导作用

磷脂酶D(PLD)不仅是植物中一类主要的磷脂水解酶,而且是一类重要的跨膜信号转导酶类.PLD的磷脂降解功能和信号转导功能均影响植物的抗冻性.本研究以PLDβ基因被敲除的拟南芥突变体及其野生型植株为材料,进行低温驯化和冻害胁迫处理,并分析其作用途径.结果表明,PLDβ基因介导低温信号转导作用,参与渗透调节途径中脯氨酸的调控和抗氧化系统中过氧化氢酶(CAT)活性的调控,并且与低温信号激素ABA不在同一条信号转导途径.本研究为探索通过调控PLD的活性提高植物抗冻性提供了新的途径,并为深入揭示植物的抗冻机理以及磷脂信号转导机制提供实验支持.     

Activation of the NaCl- and drought-induced RD29A and RD29B promoters by constitutively active Arabidopsis MAPKK or MAPK proteins

Mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases mediate cellular responses to a wide variety of stimuli. Activation of a MAP kinase (MAPK) occurs after phosphorylation by an upstream MAP kinase kinase (MAPKK). The Arabidopsis thaliana genome encodes 10 MKKs, but few of these have been shown directly to activate any of the 20 Arabidopsis MAPKs (AtMPKs) and NaCl-, drought- or abscisic acid (ABA)-induced genes RD29A or RD29B. We have constructed the constitutively activated form for nine of the 10 AtMKK proteins, and tested their ability to activate the RD29A and RD29B promoters and also checked the ability of the nine activated AtMKK proteins to phosphorylate 11 of the AtMPK proteins in transient assays. The results show that three proteins, AtMKK1, AtMKK2 and AtMKK3, could activate the RD29A promoter, while these three and two additional AtMKK6/8 proteins could activate the RD29B promoter. Four other proteins, AtMKK7/AtMKK9 and AtMKK4/AtMKK5, can cause hypersensitive response (HR) in tobacco leaves using transient analysis. The activation of the RD29A promoter correlated with four uniquely activated AtMPK proteins. A novel method of activating AtMPK proteins by fusion to a cis-acting mutant of a human MAPK kinase MEK1 was used to confirm that specific members of the AtMPK gene family can activate the RD29A stress pathway.     

A large scale analysis of cDNA in Arabidopsis thaliana: generation of 12,028 non-redundant expressed sequence tags from normalized and size-selected cDNA libraries.

For comprehensive analysis of genes expressed in the model dicotyledonous plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were accumulated. Normalized and size-selected cDNA libraries were constructed from aboveground organs, flower buds, roots, green siliques and liquid-cultured seedlings, respectively, and a total of 14,026 5'-end ESTs and 39,207 3'-end ESTs were obtained. The 3'-end ESTs could be clustered into 12,028 non-redundant groups. Similarity search of the non-redundant ESTs against the public non-redundant protein database indicated that 4816 groups show similarity to genes of known function, 1864 to hypothetical genes, and the remaining 5348 are novel sequences. Gene coverage by the non-redundant ESTs was analyzed using the annotated genomic sequences of approximately 10 Mb on chromosomes 3 and 5. A total of 923 regions were hit by at least one EST, among which only 499 regions were hit by the ESTs deposited in the public database. The result indicates that the EST source generated in this project complements the EST data in the public database and facilitates new gene discovery.     

拟南芥——一把打开植物生命奥秘大门的钥匙

在过去的20年中,拟南芥作为模式植物广泛用于植物生命科学研究。历时10年的模式植物拟南芥的全基因组测序工作于2000年完成,通过测序获得的拟南芥基因组核苷酸序列全部公布在互联网上,有力地推动了植物生命科学研究向前发展。科学家提出的“2010计划”旨在通过全世界植物科学家的努力,到2010年能够尽可能多地了解拟南芥基因的功能。通过拟南芥研究所获得的信息将有助于人类对控制不同植物复杂生命活动机制的认识。