伴矿景天植物螯合肽合酶基因的克隆及功能分析

重金属超积累植物由于长期生长在高浓度的重金属环境中,使得经由植物螯合肽（phytochelatins, PCs）解毒途径来应对重金属毒害代价高昂。我们从Zn/Cd超积累植物伴矿景天（Sedum plumbizincicola）中克隆了植物螯合肽合酶（phytochelatin synthase, PCS）基因SepPCS。该基因在裂殖酵母和拟南芥中表达后都具有PCS活性,而且能够互补它们的PCs缺失突变体的Cd敏感表型。SepPCS在伴矿景天中的表达受到高浓度Cd处理的诱导。与其近亲非超积累生态型东南景天（S. alfredii）相比,虽然伴矿景天地上部PCs与Cd的摩尔比远低于东南景天,但是在高浓度Cd处理时PCs含量以及PCs与Cd的摩尔比急剧增加。我们推测在伴矿景天应对Cd毒害的过程中, PCs起到一定的作用,并且在高浓度Cd胁迫时地上部PCs依赖的解毒作用有所加强。     

苎麻植物螯合肽合成酶(BnPCS1)基因的克隆和表达

根据苎麻转录组测序中的PCS基因片段,利用RT-PCR结合RACE技术从中苎1号中克隆获得了该基因的全长cDNA序列,命名为BnPCS1。该基因的cDNA序列全长为1956 bp,其中开放读码框长1512 bp,编码503个氨基酸,预测其分子量和等电点分别为56.02 kD和7.01。与长喙田菁(ACT87974)、百脉根(Q2TSC7)、狼牙刺(AFM38979)、荷花(BAN08523)和杜梨(AEY68568)的PCS氨基酸序列相似性分别为74%、73%、75%、73%和77%。荧光定量PCR分析表明,BnPCS1在根、茎、茎尖、幼叶、成熟叶中均有表达,其中在成熟叶中的表达量最高,茎中表达量最低,并且该基因受镉和ABA诱导上调表达。BnPCS1基因的克隆将为苎麻抗重金属分子育种和进一步的功能分析奠定基础。     

拟南芥漆酶基因AtLAC2调控植物生长发育的研究

拟南芥漆酶基因家族有17个成员,但其功能还不清楚。本文采用过量表达的方法初步分析了拟南芥漆酶基因AtLAC2的功能。GUS染色显示AtLAC2在拟南芥不同生长发育时期的多个组织和器官中都有较强的表达,且在叶片和茎尖中的表达最强。AtLAC2的过量表达植株开花时间推迟,花序轴分枝变多,叶片变小。以上结果表明AtLAC2基因在调控植物生长发育中具有重要作用。     

长喙田菁植物螯合肽合成酶基因在烟草中的表达

以pHANNIBAL及pART27为基础,构建了CaMV35S启动子驱动的长喙田菁(Sesbania rostrata)植物螯合肽合成酶SrPCS1基因植物超量表达载体pAM22,采用电击转化方法将pAM22导入根癌农杆菌EHA105,并用该菌株对烟草进行了转化,通过抗生素筛选、PCR及Northern-blotting检测了目的基因的表达水平,并用ClustalW对SrPCS1进行了进化分析.结果表明:SrPCS1编码233个氨基酸与豆科植物PCSs的同源性较高;得到27株抗性植株,23株PCR阳性植株,Northern-blotting证明得到了超量表达该基因的烟草14株,但基因的表达水平不同.     

植物纤维素合酶基因研究进展

纤维素合酶催化合成的 β_1 ,4糖苷链构成植物细胞壁中含量最丰富的组份纤维素。植物体中存在着众多纤维素合酶 ,同时还具多种与之相关的纤维素合酶相似蛋白 ,它们组成了一个庞大的纤维素合酶超家族。纤维素合酶的催化机理尚不清楚 ,纤维素合酶相似蛋白的功能更有待于深入研究。本文综述了近年植物纤维素合酶及其相似蛋白编码基因的研究进展。     

植物纤维素合酶基因研究进展

纤维素合酶催化合成的β_1,4糖苷链构成植物细胞壁中含量最丰富的组份纤维素。植物体中存在着众多纤维素合酶,同时还具多种与之相关的纤维素合酶相似蛋白,它们组成了一个庞大的纤维素合酶超家族。纤维素合酶的催化机理尚不清楚,纤维素合酶相似蛋白的功能更有待于深入研究。本文综述了近年植物纤维素合酶及其相似蛋白编码基因的研究进展。     

植物螯合肽及其功能

植物螯合肽（phytochelatin,PC）是一类富含Cys、由PC合酶以GSH为底物催化合成的小分子多肽,能通过Cys的-SH络合重金属.研究PC的合成机理及其重金属解毒机制、研究PC合酶和PC合酶基因的表达模式及其功能对于运用植物修复技术治理重金属污染的土壤和水体具有重要意义.     

马氏珠母贝前列腺素E合酶2基因PGES-2的克隆与表达分析

前列腺素E合酶2 (prostaglandin E synthase, PGES-2)是一种核周蛋白,是前列腺素E_2(prostaglandin E_2, PGE_2)合成的末段限速酶之一。研究发现,PGES-2通过与上游诱导酶偶合形成通路调节PGE_2产生方式参与有机体炎症反应、神经系统疾病、促进组织溃疡等各种病理生理事件。为探索马氏珠母贝前列腺素E合酶2 (Pinctada fucata martensii, Pm-PGES-2)的序列特征及其表达情况,本实验通过RACE技术克隆出马氏珠母贝PGES-2基因的cDNA全长序列(Pm-PGES-2),并通过生物信息学软件分析该序列的功能结构;运用实时荧光定量技术检测马氏珠母贝PGES-2基因在各组织中的相对表达量。实验结果显示马氏珠母贝PGES-2基因cDNA序列全长1 419 bp,其中开放阅读框993 bp,编码330个氨基酸,非翻译区5 UTR长170 bp,3 UTR长256 bp。荧光定量PCR检测结果显示该基因在肝胰腺中表达量最高,鳃、边缘膜次之,各组织表达量差异具统计学意义(p0.05)。本研究为进一步探究PGES-2在马氏珠母贝中的生物学功能提供研究基础。     

前列腺素内过氧化物合酶2基因的研究进展

前列腺素内过氧化物合酶2是前列腺素生物合成的限速酶。本文介绍了前列腺素内过氧化物合酶2基因的结构、表达、调控机理及其与繁殖性能的关系。     

植物基因的人工调控表达

通过增加或减少特定诱导物,可精确调节目的基因上游构建的“基因开关”,实现外源目的基因的准确调控,使外源基因在植物体内适时、适量、有效地表达。因此构建一个拥有“基因开关”的人工调控表达系统是势在必行的,该系统的成功构建也将有利于提高转基因植物广泛应用的可能性 。     

拟南芥IQM3基因的表达分析及其突变体的鉴定

对拟南芥(Arabidopsis thaliana)IQM3基因的功能进行了分析.结果表明,推定IQM3的启动子中存在多种光、非生物胁迫和植物激素反应的顺式作用元件,可能参与植物对环境变化的反应.RT-PCR分析表明,IQM3在拟南芥莲座叶、花序叶、茎、花和根中的表达较强,但在荚果中的表达很弱;IQM3基因的T-DNA插入突变体iqm3-1和iqm3-2分别是功能缺失和超表达突变体,对这些突变体的表型分析表明,IQM3基因与种子萌发及幼苗子叶膨大有密切关系.     

Enhanced Toxic Metal Accumulation in Engineered Bacterial Cells Expressing Arabidopsis thaliana Phytochelatin Synthase

Phytochelatins (PCs) are metal-binding cysteine-rich peptides, enzymatically synthesized in plants and yeasts from glutathione in response to heavy metal stress by PC synthase (EC 2.3.2.15). In an attempt to increase the ability of bacterial cells to accumulate heavy metals, the Arabidopsis thaliana gene encoding PC synthase (AtPCS) was expressed in Escherichia coli. A marked accumulation of PCs was observed in vivo together with a decrease in the glutathione cellular content. When bacterial cells expressing AtPCS were placed in the presence of heavy metals such as cadmium or the metalloid arsenic, cellular metal contents were increased 20- and 50-fold, respectively. We discuss the possibility of using genes of the PC biosynthetic pathway to design bacterial strains or higher plants with increased abilities to accumulate toxic metals, and also arsenic, for use in bioremediation and/or phytoremediation processes.     

Phytochelatin is not a primary factor in determining copper tolerance

Phytochelatin (PC) is involved in the detoxification of harmful, non-essential heavy metals and the homeostasis of essential heavy metals in plants. Its synthesis can be induced by either cadmium (Cd) or copper (Cu), and can form stable complexes with either element. This might suggest that PC has an important role in determining plant tolerance to both. However, this is not clearly apparent, as evidenced by a PC-deficient and Cd-sensitiveArabidopsis mutant (cad1-3) that shows no significant increase in its sensitivity to copper. Therefore, we investigated whether the mechanism for Cu tolerance differed from that for Cd by analyzing copper sensitivity in Cd-tolerant transgenics and Cd-sensitive mutants ofArabidopsis. Cadmium-tolerant transgenic plants that over-expressedA. thaliana phytochelatin synthase 1 (AtPCS1) were not tolerant of copper stress, thereby supporting the hypothesis that PC is not primarily involved in this tolerance mechanism. We also investigated Cu tolerance incad2-1, a Cd-sensitive and glutathione (GSH)-deficientArabidopsis mutant. Paradoxically,cad2-1 was more resistant to copper stress than were wild-type plants. This was likely due to the high level of cysteine present in that mutant. However, when the growth medium was supplemented with cysteine, the wild types also exhibited copper tolerance. Moreover,Saccharomyces cerevisiae that expressedAtPCS1 showed tolerance to Cd but hypersensitivity to Cu. All these results indicate that PC is not a major factor in determining copper tolerance in plants.     

Enhanced Accumulation of Cd2+ by a Mesorhizobium sp. Transformed with a Gene from Arabidopsis thaliana Coding for Phytochelatin Synthase

We expressed the Arabidopsis thaliana gene for phytochelatin synthase (PCS_At) in Mesorhizobium huakuii subsp. rengei B3, a microsymbiont of Astragalus sinicus, a legume used as manure. The PCS_At gene was expressed under the control of the nifH promoter, which regulates the nodule-specific expression of the nifH gene. The expression of the PCS_At gene was demonstrated in free-living cells under low-oxygen conditions. Phytochelatin synthase (PCS) was expressed and catalyzed the synthesis of phytochelatins [(γ-Glu-Cys)_n-Gly; PCs] in strain B3. A range of PCs, with values of n from 2 to 7, was synthesized by cells that expressed the PCS_At gene, whereas no PCs were found in control cells that harbored the empty plasmid. The presence of CdCl₂ activated PCS and induced the synthesis of substantial amounts of PCs. Cells that contained PCs accumulated 36 nmol of Cd²⁺/mg (dry weight) of cells. The expression of the PCS_At gene in M. huakuii subsp. rengei B3 increased the ability of cells to bind Cd²⁺ approximately 9- to 19-fold. The PCS protein was detected by immunostaining bacteroids of mature nodules of A. sinicus containing the PCS_At gene. When recombinant M. huakuii subsp. rengei B3 established the symbiotic relationship with A. sinicus, the symbionts increased Cd²⁺ accumulation in nodules 1.5-fold.