热胁迫下中甸角蒿叶片SSH文库的构建及初步分析

高温可能是限制中甸角蒿（Incarvillea zhongdiannensis）向低海拔地区引种驯化的主要因素之一。为了从基因表达水平研究中甸角蒿高温胁迫响应的分子机制,本研究利用SSH技术构建了中甸角蒿对高温（30℃）处理响应的正反向抑制性差减杂交文库。文库质量检测表明抑制性差减杂交效率较高,质量较好。通过对正反向文库中部分EST进行序列测定,获得了60条高质量的表达序列标签,平均长度为537bp。对序列进行BLAST比对及功能注释,50条EST为功能已知的基因,分别参与信号转导与转录、植物抗逆性反应、光合作用、代谢与能量、蛋白质合成与转运、蛋白质命运、细胞结构和细胞生长等过程。6个EST与功能未知基因的同源性较高。获得的4个未匹配的EST推测为新基因,可能在植物热耐受性方面具有重要的作用。     

热胁迫下中旬角蒿叶片SSH文库的构建及初步分析

高温可能是限制中甸角蒿（Incarvillea zhongdiannensis）向低海拔地区引种驯化的主要因素之一。为了从基因表达水平研究中甸角蒿高温胁迫响应的分子机制,本研究利用SSH技术构建了中甸角蒿对高温（30℃）处理响应的正反向抑制性差减杂交文库。文库质量检测表明抑制性差减杂交效率较高,质量较好。通过对正反向文库中部分EST进行序列测定,获得了60条高质量的表达序列标签,平均长度为537bp。对序列进行BLAST比对及功能注释,50条EST为功能已知的基因,分别参与信号转导与转录、植物抗逆性反应、光合作用、代谢与能量、蛋白质合成与转运、蛋白质命运、细胞结构和细胞生长等过程。6个EST与功能未知基因的同源性较高。获得的4个未匹配的EST推测为新基因,可能在植物热耐受性方面具有重要的作用。     

植物逆境胁迫耐受性功能基因组研究进展

为了更加高效地利用基因工程技术提高植物对逆境胁迫的耐受性,需要在全基因组水平上对植物逆境胁迫耐受性的复杂机制进行整合性研究.植物逆境胁迫耐受性功能基因组的研究可概括为：利用胁迫特异性的表达序列标签(EST)及cDNA微阵列（或基因芯片）技术筛选与胁迫相关的候选基因,然后利用反向遗传学等技术对候选基因的功能进行研究,利用酵母双杂交、正向遗传学等技术对基因及基因产物间的相互关系进行研究.通过这些研究可以全面地了解植物对胁迫（渗透、干旱、极端温度）响应的复杂机制和相互作用以及相应的信号转导途径,从而为更加高效地利用基因工程技术提高植物对逆境胁迫的耐受性奠定基础.     

火炬松热胁迫cDNA文库的表达谱分析

以火炬松热胁迫cDNA文库的EST序列为材料,对EST序列进行聚类、拼接等处理后,再进行Blast同源比对以及基因GO注释分析。研究结果如下:从Forest TreeDB数据库中下载了火炬松热胁迫cDNA文库的所有EST序列,共4 283条。EST序列经CAP3拼接后,获得2 062个UniGene,其中934个Contig,1 128个Singletons。对UniGene进行同源检索,按照GO的分子功能、生物过程和细胞组分三个不同分类角度分类,被赋予功能的基因数累计达4 661个,但365个(17.7%)的序列与核酸和蛋白数据库无序列同源性,即17.7%为新发现的基因。经对所有具有功能的基因研究发现,受外界胁迫表达的抗逆相关基因含量较高。上述研究结果对于研究火炬松热胁迫基因表达特征与抗逆分子机制具有一定的借鉴价值,以及开发火炬松新分子标记与开展分子辅助育种具有一定的指导意义。     

草甘膦诱导表达的大豆与棉花EST序列的分离

利用差异显示PCR方法分离了63个草甘膦诱导后在大豆和棉花中差异表达的片段,测序分析结果表明属于33个草甘膦诱导的大豆和棉花EST序列。通过在GenBank中进一步比时研究发现:约85％的EST序列与水杨酸、冷、创伤、氧化等非生物胁迫诱导后表达库中的EST序列有高达95％以上的同源性,由此可推测这些基因参与了植物对非生物胁迫的反应过程。草甘膦诱导后高表达EST、序列的获得将有利于进一步分离相关非生物胁迫诱导表达基因及启动子,研究其转录调控的机理,有望建立草甘膦诱导系统。从而解决组成型表达造成外源基因在植物体所有发育阶段和所有组织部位表达,造成植物体能量浪费。     

辣根属和豆瓣菜属(十字花科)系统位置的分子证据

对十字花科葶苈族的辣根属、南芥族的豆瓣菜属及相关属种植物的叶绿体DNA的trnL内含子和trnL-F基因间隔区序列进行了测定分析。结果表明,辣根属植物与南芥族的山芥属、蔊菜属、豆瓣菜属、碎米荠属在系统发育树中聚成一支,与葶苈族的模式属葶苈属植物相隔较远,结合形态特征,本研究认为辣根属应从葶苈族移出,其系统位置应靠近山芥属、蔊菜属、豆瓣菜属、碎米荠属植物;此外,系统发育树中,豆瓣菜属植物并入碎米荠属中,表明二者具有更近的亲缘关系,本研究结果不支持《中国植物志》第33卷对辣根属和豆瓣菜属的系统位置的处理。     

铝胁迫下柱花草SSH文库构建及表达序列标签分析

柱花草栽培种热研2号（Stylosanthes guianensis‘Reyan2’）对铝毒有较强的耐受性。为了鉴定其在铝胁迫下的诱导基因,利用抑制消减杂交（SSH）技术构建在300μmol·L-1铝胁迫下正向cDNA文库。挑选插入片段大于300bp的600个克隆进行测序,共获得504条表达序列标签（EST）。序列重复性分析表明,其中12.1%的EST只有1次重复,61.4%的EST有2-16次重复,重复出现次数较高的EST是细胞色素P450（53次,占10.5%）、病原诱导型胰蛋白酶抑制剂（44次,占8.7%）和衰老相关蛋白（37次,占7.3%）。BLASTX分析显示,504条EST中有97种非冗余基因,其中包括46条功能已知基因和51条功能未知序列。46条功能已知EST中有30个为已报道铝胁迫相关基因,16个是新发现的铝胁迫相关基因。SSHcDNA文库提供的信息为阐明柱花草耐铝毒的分子机制提供了重要线索。     

果生刺盘孢CfHAC1调控应答二硫苏糖醇胁迫的转录组分析

果生刺盘孢Colletotrichum fructicola是油茶炭疽病优势病原菌。前期研究发现bZIP转录因子CfHac1参与调控该菌的生长发育和致病性。为了揭示转录因子CfHac1调控果生刺盘孢响应内质网压力和致病机理,本研究测定了ΔCfhac1突变体对内质网压力胁迫剂的敏感性,发现突变体对二硫苏糖醇（dithiothreitol,DTT）的耐受性下降,说明CfHAC1基因可能参与调控果生刺盘孢响应内质网压力胁迫过程。进一步利用高通量RNA-seq技术对该病菌野生型菌株和CfHAC1敲除突变体菌株在DTT胁迫下的转录组进行了比较分析,结果表明差异表达基因共有2 680个,其中上调表达基因有1 181个,下调表达基因有1 499个。Gene Ontology 功能分析结果显示,差异表达基因主要参与催化活性、结合、代谢过程、细胞过程、细胞成分合成、生物过程调控和应激反应等生物学过程。KEGG功能富集分析表明,上调表达基因主要被富集到核糖体、真核细胞的核糖体生物合成、RNA转运和氰基氨基酸代谢通路中;下调表达基因显著富集在内质网蛋白质加工、N-聚糖生物合成、类固醇合成和蛋白质分泌等通路中。分析发现转录因子CfHac1调控内质网胁迫应答和致病相关基因的表达。本研究提供了在全基因组水平上对CfHAC1基因与内质网压力胁迫应答之间关联的新认识,为阐明果生刺盘孢响应内质网压力胁迫和致病机制奠定了基础。     

miRNA在植物响应高温胁迫中的研究进展

microRNA(miRNA)是一类由20-24个核苷酸组成的小的非编码RNA,通常通过序列互补降解或抑制其靶标基因转录后的翻译过程,从而在转录后水平上调控基因的表达。miRNA在植物基因组中普遍存在,作为一类重要的调节因子参与到植物的生长发育与逆境响应中。目前,已有研究表明高温除了诱导植物编码基因表达发生改变之外,一些非编码RNA的表达也发生了显著改变,其中miRNA作为重要的非编码RNA,参与了植物的高温胁迫响应。对植物miRNA的合成途径,作用机制以及主要功能进行了扼要阐述,重点阐述了高温胁迫下植物miRNA的作用机制,旨在为mi RNA在植物抵抗高温胁迫中的研究与应用提供新的思路。     

水稻OsCatB敲除突变体的构建及耐逆性初步分析

水稻过氧化氢酶B (catalase B, CatB)主要在非光合组织、愈伤组织、根和种子中表达,参与调控活性氧动态水平的平衡和根系的生长。目前, CatB参与非生物胁迫响应的功能在很大程度上是未知的。本研究利用基因编辑技术CRISPR/Cas9获得OsCatB基因敲除的纯合突变体catb,并分析了catb在盐、高温和氧化等胁迫处理下的生理和生化表型。研究结果发现,在盐处理下,突变体catb的生理和生化表型与野生型植株无显著差异;在热胁迫下, catb的过氧化氢酶活性和存活率与野生型植株相比显著降低,而H2O2含量显著升高;在氧化胁迫下, catb的幼苗高度低于野生型。这些结果说明,水稻CatB参与盐胁迫响应的调控不明显,而主要参与了高温和氧化胁迫响应,并正调控水稻的高温和氧化胁迫耐受性。该研究为进一步探究Os CatB参与逆境响应的分子机制和培育抗逆水稻品种提供了一定的理论指导和遗传材料。     

Regulation of estrogen activity by sulfation in human Ishikawa endometrial adenocarcinoma cells.

Sulfation is an important conjugation reaction in the metabolism of steroids. Steroids sulfates do not interact with the appropriate hormone receptors; additionally, the presence of the charged sulfate moiety increases the aqueous solubility and excretion of most steroids. Estrogen sulfotransferase (EST) is the major form of human cytosolic ST involved in the conjugation of estrogens. EST is important in the inactivation of beta-estradiol (E2) during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. EST has a significantly higher affinity for the sulfation of E2 and 17alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE2) than for other potent estrogens such as diethylstilbestrol (DES) and equine estrogens. The ability of EST to sulfate these estrogenic compounds at physiologic concentrations is important in regulating their activation of the ER in estrogen responsive cells. Human Ishikawa endometrial adenocarcinoma (ISH) cells possess an estrogen receptor (ER)-regulated alkaline phosphatase (AlkPhos) which is used to assay ER activation. To study the effects of EST activity on the ER activation of different estrogenic compounds, ISH cells were stably transformed with an EST expression vector. Dose-response curves for the induction of AlkPhos activity by the different estrogenic compounds were generated with EST/ISH and control pcDNA/ISH cells. EST/ISH cells were 200-fold less sensitive to E2 and EE2 than were control cells. No differences were observed in the dose response curves for DES between EST/ISH and pcDNA/ISH cells. EST/ISH cells were approximately 3-10-fold less sensitive to the equine estrogens equilin and 17-equilin as compared to control cells. The ability of EST to decrease the ER activation of an estrogen correlates with the sulfation of these compounds at nanomolar concentrations by EST/ISH and pcDNA/ISH ISH cells. These results indicate that EST is capable of efficiently inactivating E2 and EE2 but is significantly less effective in inhibiting the ER binding of other potent estrogenic compounds.     

Identification and annotation of abiotic stress responsive candidate genes in peanut ESTs

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) ranks fifth among the world oil crops and is widely grown in India and neighbouring countries. Due to its large and unknown genome size, studies on genomics and genetic modification of peanut are still scanty as compared to other model crops like Arabidopsis, rice, cotton and soybean. Because of its favourable cultivation in semi-arid regions, study on abiotic stress responsive genes and its regulation in peanut is very much important. Therefore, we aim to identify and annotate the abiotic stress responsive candidate genes in peanut ESTs. Expression data of drought stress responsive corresponding genes and EST sequences were screened from dot blot experiments shown as heat maps and supplementary tables, respectively as reported by Govind et al. (2009). Some of the screened genes having no information about their ESTs in above mentioned supplementary tables were retrieved from NCBI. A phylogenetic analysis was performed to find a group of utmost similar ESTs for each selected gene. Individual EST of the said group were further searched in peanut ESTs (1,78,490 whole EST sequences) using stand alone BLAST. For the prediction as well as annotation of abiotic stress responsive selected genes, various tools (like Vec-Screen, Repeat Masker, EST-Trimmer, DNA Baser, WISE2 and I-TASSER) were used. Here we report the predicted result of Contigs, domain as well as 3D structure for HSP 17.3KDa protein, DnaJ protein and Type 2 Metallothionein protein.     

SSCP-SNP-based conserved ortholog set (COS) markers for comparative genomics in cassava (Manihot esculenta crantz)

The ever increasing body of information on genomics and functional genomics from model plants, and new tools of comparative genomics, provide an opportunity to accelerate the development of molecular markers for increasing the efficiency of breeding of lesser studied crops, so-called “orphan crops.” Conserved ortholog set (COS) markers represent orthologous genes in widely divergent plant species, and are currently the principal tool of choice for comparative genomics. EST sequences of 3 drought tolerance related genes—chalcone synthase (CHS), dihydroflavonol-4-reductase (DHRF) and drought responsive element binding factor 1 (DREB-1) fromMusa sp—were used to identify cassava EST homologs that were then scanned against the Arabidopsis genome database to identify them as COS markers. The CHS and DHRF ESTs were demonstrated to be COS markers, while the DREB EST was shown to belong to a gene family. The three genes were evaluated as single strand conformation polymorphism—single nucleotide polymorphism (SSCP-SNP) markers in the parents of an F1 mapping population and subsequently in the progenies. The DHRF COS marker mapped to linkage group R of the female-derived map while the DREB-1 EST mapped at an end of the male-derived linkage group K. The CHS COS marker could not be mapped because it was not polymorphic in the parents of the mapping population. These new marker tools should accelerate the development of markers associated with genes controlling traits of agronomic interest via the candidate gene loci (CGL) QTL-mapping approach.     

Correlation between PAP-dependent steroid binding activity and substrate specificity of mouse and human estrogen sulfotransferases

Estrogen sulfotransferase (EST) is a cytosolic enzyme that catalyzes the sulfoconjugation and inactivation of estrogens using 3'-phosphoadenosine-5'-phosphosulfate (PAPS) as an activated sulfate donor. A finding of undetermined significance in the study of EST has been that the guinea pig EST is able to bind pregnenolone and estradiol with high affinity in the presence of PAP, the reaction by-product of the sulfate donor PAPS. This finding has raised the possibility that EST may have other physiological functions independent of its enzymatic activity as a sulfotransferase. To determine if the PAP-dependent steroid binding activity is a common property shared by other estrogen sulfotransferases, we have expressed the mouse and human EST in bacteria and used the purified protein to address this question. We found that, in the presence of PAP, both recombinant mouse and human EST were able to bind estradiol with high affinity but only the human EST was able to bind pregnenolone. In addition, we show that human but not the mouse EST was also able to bind dehydroepiandrosterone, a property that was not described for the guinea pig EST. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the promiscuity of human EST in steroid binding is mirrored by a correspondingly low substrate specificity in its enzymatic activity as a sulfotransferase. Reversely, the lack of stable binding of pregnenolone and dehydroepiandrosterone by the mouse EST is paralleled by a lack of sulfotransferase activity of this enzyme toward these two steroids. Mutagenesis of mouse EST within a domain critical for PAPS binding abolished both its sulfotransferase and PAP-dependent estrogen binding activity. These data suggest that stable binding of steroids such as pregnenolone or estrogen is not an independent property of estrogen sulfotransferases but rather is related to their catalytic activity.     

In situ estrogen metabolism in proliferative endometria from untreated women with polycystic ovarian syndrome with and without endometrial hyperplasia

The aim of the present investigation was to study whether the endocrinological status of women bearing polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) affects the endometrial in situ steroid metabolism. For this purpose, we evaluated the mRNA levels (RT-PCR), and the activity of steroid metabolic enzymes: P450 aromatase, steroid sulfatase (STS), estrogen sulfotransferase (EST) and 17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17beta-HSD) in 23 samples of normal endometria (CE), 18 PCOS endometria without treatment (PCOSE), 10 specimens from PCOS women with endometrial hyperplasia (HPCOSE), and 7 endometria from patients with endometrial hyperplasia not associated to PCOS (EH). The data showed lower levels of STS mRNA for PCOSE and HPCOSE (p<0.05, p<0.01, respectively) and of EST for HPCOSE and EH compared to control (p<0.05). However, higher levels for EST mRNA were obtained in PCOSE (p<0.05) versus CE. The mRNA and protein levels for P450 aromatase were undetectable in all analyzed endometria. The relationship between the activities of STS and EST was lower in PCOSE and HPCOSE (p<0.05) versus CE. The ratio between the mRNA from 17beta-HSD type 1/type 2 was higher in PCOSE (p<0.05), whereas, a diminution in the 17beta-HSD type 2 activity was observed in PCOSE (p<0.05). These results indicate that the activity of enzymes related to the steroid metabolism in analyzed PCOSE differ from those found in the CE. Consequently, PCOSE may present an in situ deregulation of the steroid metabolism.     

Schistosoma mansoni TGF-beta receptor II: role in host ligand-induced regulation of a schistosome target gene

Members of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) superfamily play pivotal roles in development in multicellular organisms. We report the functional characterization of the Schistosoma mansoni type II receptor (SmTbetaRII). Mining of the S. mansoni expressed sequence tag (EST) database identified an EST clone that shows homology to the kinase domain of type II receptors from different species. The amplified EST sequence was used as a probe to isolate a cDNA clone spanning the entire coding region of a type II serine/threonine kinase receptor. The interaction of SmTbetaRII with SmTbetaRI was elucidated and shown to be dependent on TGF-beta ligand binding. Furthermore, in the presence of human TGF-beta1, SmTbetaRII was able to activate SmTbetaRI, which in turn activated SmSmad2 and promoted its interaction with SmSmad4, proving the transfer of the signal from the receptor complex to the Smad proteins. Gynaecophoral canal protein (GCP), whose expression in male worms is limited to the gynaecophoric canal, was identified as a potential TGF-beta target gene in schistosomes. Knocking down the expression of SmTbetaRII using short interfering RNA molecules (siRNA) resulted in a concomitant reduction in the expression of GCP. These data provide evidence for the direct involvement of SmTbetaRII in mediating TGF-beta-induced activation of the TGF-beta target gene, SmGCP, within schistosome parasites. The results also provide additional evidence for a role for the TGF-beta signaling pathway in male-induced female reproductive development.