定位于类囊体膜的PPF1在转基因拟南芥中的表达影响叶绿体的发育

PPF1是一个与植物营养生长相关的基因。它编码的产物可能是一个膜蛋白并与拟南芥叶绿体中的类囊体蛋白ALB3有很高的同源性。免疫电镜分析表明PPF1蛋白同样主要定位于类囊体膜 ,而且在短日照G2豌豆开花两周后仍发育良好的叶绿体中有很高的表达 ,在长日照豌豆同时期非正常叶绿体中丰度非常低。对转基因拟南芥和野生型植株的叶片衰老进程比较发现 ,PPF1在拟南芥中的过量表达可以延缓叶片的衰老 ,而用PPF1反义mRNA抑制拟南芥中的同源基因ALB3则明显加快叶片衰老速度。对转基因拟南芥的超微结构分析显示 ,PPF1在拟南芥中过量表达时 ,转基因植株的叶绿体比野生型植株的叶绿体大并含有更多的基粒和基质类囊体膜 ;相反 ,反义PPF1表达抑制其在拟南芥中的同源物时 ,转基因植株的叶绿体比野生型植株的叶绿体小并含有较少的基粒和发育较差的类囊体膜系统。这些数据表明叶绿体的发育状况与PPF1或拟南芥同源物ALB3的表达水平呈正相关。我们的结果提示PPF1基因可能通过控制叶绿体的发育状况来调节植物的发育。     

转PSAG12-ipt基因水稻叶片中叶绿体超微结构的变化

研究了转PSAG12-ipt基因水稻和对照植株发育过程中叶片中的叶绿体结构的变化。发现水稻发育到乳熟期,转基因植株叶片中的叶绿体与对照植株开始出现明显的差别。对照叶绿体中嗜锇体体积增大,数目增多,大部分基粒的类囊体膜膨胀、裂解,片层结构解体。而转基因植株叶片中的叶绿体结构变化不大,嗜锇体相对有所增加,但体积较小,大部分基粒类囊体片层结构仍然排列整齐,少数类囊体垛叠化丧失。     

拟南芥ASL25/LBD28基因过量表达对叶片形态建成的影响

为研究ASL25/LBD28基因在植物发育过程中的作用,该研究构建了拟南芥ASL25/LBD28的过量表达载体并将其转入野生型拟南芥中,结果发现,ASL25/LBD28基因的过量表达可导致转基因拟南芥的叶片变得狭长;在叶极性发育突变体as2中,ASL25/LBD28基因过量表达导致部分转基因植株在形成1～3片畸形叶后顶端分生组织的发育会终止;而许多转基因植株则会形成许多"针状"叶.扫描电镜观察表明,不正常的叶片近轴面或"针状"叶的表皮细胞具有远轴面化的长条形细胞,说明在as2突变体中过量表达ASL25/LBD28基因影响叶片的极性发育.     

拟南芥热激转录因子耐高温功能分析

从拟南芥基因组中克隆了热激转录因子(At Hsf A6a),构建了过量表达(over-expression,OE)和反义(anti-sense,AS)植物表达载体并转化拟南芥,获得了拟南芥纯合转基因株系。对其进行耐高温处理,结果显示:43℃处理2 h,过量表达转基因植株存活率(86%)远高于野生型(59%);而反义转基因植株存活率则只有43%,显著低于野生型。43℃处理0.5 h,过量表达转基因植株的离子渗漏水平显著低于野生型,而反义转基因植株则大幅度升高。基因表达分析证明,AtHsfA6a的表达受热胁迫诱导,并且Hsp70是受AtHsfA6a调控的下游靶基因。上述结果表明,拟南芥AtHsfA6a可能通过调节Hsp70表达,提高植物耐受高温胁迫的能力。     

小麦黄化突变体叶绿体超微结构研究

利用透射电镜对小麦自然黄化突变体及其突变亲本(西农1718)叶片细胞叶绿体的数目、形态及超微结构进行比较分析。结果发现:(1)3种不同黄化程度突变体的叶绿体分布、数目、形状及大小与突变亲本无明显差异;(2)突变体叶绿素含量为野生型58%的黄绿植株与其突变亲本叶绿体超微结构无明显差异,基质类囊体与基粒类囊体高度分化,基粒数目以及基粒片层数目较多;(3)突变体金黄和绿黄植株的叶绿素含量分别为野生型的17%、24%,其叶绿体超微结构与突变亲本明显不同,突变体的叶绿体发育存在明显缺陷,其中突变体金黄植株的叶绿体内无基粒、基质片层清晰可见,有淀粉粒,嗜锇颗粒较多,而突变体绿黄植株的叶绿体内有基粒,但明显少于突变亲本,且基粒片层较少,基质类囊体较发达。结果表明该黄化突变体叶绿体超微结构的改变,是由于叶绿素含量降低造成,推测,该黄化突变是由于叶绿素合成受阻导致的。     

棉花乙烯合成基因促进拟南芥和烟草不定根发生的研究

从棉花纤维cDNA中克隆获得乙烯合成基因GhACO3,构建了植物过量表达载体p35S::GhACO3.通过花序侵染法和叶盘法分别转化拟南芥和烟草,利用卡那霉素筛选及分子检测获得转基因阳性拟南芥和烟草植株.结果表明,GhACO3基因已整合到拟南芥和烟草基因组中;经过纯合筛选后获得转基因T2代拟南芥植株;与野生型拟南芥相比,GhACO3基因对拟南芥不定根发生具有显著促进作用;与野生型烟草植株相比,转GhACO3基因烟草不定根发生得到了显著的促进.研究表明,GhACO3基因的过量表达能够促进拟南芥和烟草不定根的形成发育,为进一步探讨GhACO3的生物学功能和进行转基因育种奠定了基础.     

利用Cre/lox重组系统建立反义基因工程雄性不育恢复系

利用Cre/lox重组系统中的Cre重组酶能特异性识别并介导两个同向lox位点之间DNA序列发生重组删除的特点,将TA29驱动下的反义豌豆卷须肌动蛋白基因置于两个同向lox位点之间并与Bar基因连锁,转化烟草Wisconsin 38后获得抗除草剂Basta的转基因植株.将Cre基因导入烟草Wisconsin 38建立雄性不育工程恢复系.反义Actin转基因植株与Cre转基因植株杂交获得F1,通过Cre重组酶将F1中的反义肌动蛋白基因表达盒删除实现育性的恢复.结果显示:来自豌豆卷须的肌动蛋白基因在Wisconsin 38烟草绒毡层中反义表达但未能导致明显的雄性不育,转基因植株在花器官形态、花粉形状、活力、结实、结籽等方面与野生型植株间无明显的差异.而获得的烟草Cre转基因工程恢复系除少量植株出现叶片褪绿、结果少等异常外,绝大多数植株形态结构及开花结果习性与野生型一致;其中3个Cre转基因工程恢复系与Actin反义肌动蛋白转基因植株TAA-3杂交后,杂交后代中的绝大多数反义肌动蛋白基因表达盒均被精确删除,表明将Cre/lox重组系统用于建立基于反义基因工程雄性不育的恢复系是可行的.     

大豆GmcpSecA基因的克隆及表达特异性

Sec途径是将核编码的叶绿体蛋白输入到类囊体腔的蛋白分选途径之一,对叶绿体正确行使其功能有重要作用。前期研究获得了拟南芥AtcpSecA功能缺失的突变体agyl,其叶片呈黄白色,叶绿体发育缺陷,内部缺少类囊体片层结构。我们从大豆中克隆了拟南芥AtepSecA的同源基因GmcpSecA基因的全长cDNA序列和5’端ATG上游1．5kb的启动子序列,通过RT-PCR的方法对GmcpSecA基因表达的器官特异性进行了初步分析;并构建了GmcpSecA：：GUS和35S：：GmcpSecA融合基因,以农杆菌介导的转化方法获得转基因拟南芥。GUS组织化学染色结果表明：在转基因拟南芥的子叶、叶片、花萼等绿色组织中都有较强的GUS表达,而在非绿色组织中没有GUS表达。通过将过表达载体p35S：：GmcpSecA转化agyl,结果表明GmcpSecA能够部分回补拟南芥agyl突变体的表型。推测GmcpSecA基因具有与AtcpSecA基因相似的功能,在叶绿体发育过程中发挥重要作用。     

过表达大豆类受体蛋白激酶基因RLPK2促进转基因拟南芥叶片的衰老北大核心CSCD

大豆RLPK2基因(GenBank登录号:AY687391)是一个编码N-末端富含亮氨酸重复序列的类受体蛋白激酶基因。为分析大豆RLPK2基因的功能,该研究以野生型拟南芥和大豆RLPK2基因过表达拟南芥植株为材料,通过农杆菌介导法转化野生型拟南芥,构建了大豆RLPK2基因过表达载体,分析了叶片衰老过程中叶绿素荧光参数、抗氧化酶活性及衰老相关基因表达量的变化。结果表明:(1)无论是野生型还是转基因拟南芥,随着叶片衰老进程的进行,光系统Ⅱ(PSⅡ)的最大光化学效率(F_(v)/F_(m))、PSⅡ实际光化学效率(Φ_(PSⅡ))、光化学淬灭系数(qP)和光合电子传递速率(ETR)均呈下降趋势,但后者下降趋势更明显;(2)激发压(1-qP)在叶片衰老前期的变化较为平稳,后期则急剧增加,且转基因型比野生型拟南芥增加更明显;(3)在叶片衰老的各个时期,转基因拟南芥叶片丙二醛(MDA)含量均显著高于野生型,而超氧化物岐化酶(SOD)、过氧化物酶(POD)和过氧化氢酶(CAT)活性均显著低于野生型;(4)实时荧光定量PCR检测结果表明,RLPK2转基因拟南芥中衰老标志基因ATSAG12,衰老关键转录因子ATNAP、ATWRKY6和叶绿素降解关键酶编码基因ATACD1表达量显著上调。综上认为,大豆类受体蛋白激酶基因RLPK2参与调控植物叶片衰老进程,其表达对叶片衰老具有促进作用。     

拟南芥AtLH基因过量表达引起叶向下性卷曲和晚开花

AtLH基因是BcpLH基因在拟南芥(Arapsis thaliana L.)中的同源基因,含有两个编码双链RNA结合蛋白的结构域.在大白菜叶球发育过程中,BcpLH基因与包叶的卷曲有关.为研究AtLH的基因对叶卷曲这一重要生物学现象的调控作用,构建了35S:AtLH基因的正义表达载体并转化拟南芥.与野生型比较页言,转基因植株的花和叶中AtLH的表达量有显著增加,成为AtLH基因过量的植株.这些植株的莲座叶向外或向下卷曲,呈现明显的偏上性生长;而且抽苔和开花时间延迟;在营养生长期其短缩茎的叶腑处着生数个侧茎,表现为顶端优势减弱;在生殖生长期二级花序减少使得主花序更加发达,表现为顶端优势增强,转基因植株对激素的敏感性改变,IAA剌激根生长的作用增强,ABA抑制根生长的作用减弱.由此可见,AtLH基因的过量表达可引起转基因植株的叶片向下卷曲.     

PPF1 may suppress plant senescence via activating TFL1 in transgenic Arabidopsis plants

Senescence, a sequence of biochemical and physiological events, constitutes the final stage of development In higher plants and is modulated by a variety of environmental factors and intemal factors. PPF1 possesses an important biological function in plant development by controlling the Ca2 storage capacity within chloroplasts. Here we show that the expression of PPF1 might play a pivotal role in negatively regulating plant senescence as revealed by the regulation of overexpression and suppression of PPF1 on plant development. Moreover, TFL1, a key regulator in the floral repression pathway, was screened out as one of the downstream targets for PPF1 in the senescence-signaling pathway. Investigation of the senescence-related phenotypes in PPF1(-) tfl1-1 and PPF1( ) tfl1-1 double mutants confirmed and further highlighted the relation of PPF1 with TFL1 in tranegenic plants. The activation of TFL1 expression by PPF1 defines an important pathway possibly essential for the negative regulation of plant senescence in transgenic Arabidopsis.     

PPF1基因C端片段在大肠杆菌中的融合表达和纯化以及抗体制备

PPF1是与G2豌豆短日不衰老现象紧密相关的基因之一 .以pSK PPF1为模板 ,用PCR方法得到了编码该蛋白C端的基因片段 ,称为PPFC .进一步将该基因片段克隆到中间载体pGEM T easy ,再酶切得到PPFC片段插入到pGEX 4T 1载体中 ,构建成表达质粒pGEX 4T PPFC .在BL2 1细胞中经IPTG诱导表达 ,得到GST PPFC融合蛋白 .用GST亲和柱纯化得到PPFC蛋白 ,将其作为抗原得到兔源的多克隆抗体 .Western杂交分析表明所得到的抗体具有较强的特异性 ,ELISA分析证实其效价为 10 6.该抗体的获得为用免疫沉淀等免疫分析技术研究PPF1与其它蛋白质的相互作用 ,从而阐明PPF1在延缓G2豌豆衰老中的分子机制提供了可能     

Transgenic expression of a putative calcium transporter affects the time of Arabidopsis flowering

PPF1 is a gibberellin-induced, vegetative growth-specific gene, first isolated from short-day (SD)-grown G2 pea plants. In the current work, we found that transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing the PPF1 gene (PPF1 (+)) flowered much later and had a significantly longer lifespan compared to control plants, whereas suppression of this gene (PPF1 (-)) resulted in a very rapid reproductive cycle. Western blotting analyses of PPF1 (+) and (-) plant lines revealed a positive correlation between the amount of antibody-reactive protein and the time of flowering. Green fluorescent protein (GFP) co-expression assays showed that the PPF1 protein is likely localized in chloroplast membranes. Transgenic expression of PPF1 affected the calcium storage capacities since chloroplasts isolated from PPF1 (+) plants contained high Ca2+ levels while chloroplasts of PPF1 (-) plants contained very low amounts of calcium ion. Using Novikoff human hepatoma cells, we demonstrated that expression of PPF1 leads to a significant inward calcium ion current that was absent in untransformed cells. We conclude that, as a putative calcium ion carrier, PPF1 affects the flowering time of higher plants by modulating Ca2+ storage capacity within chloroplasts.     

Factors controlling the effect of praziquantel on liver fibrosis in Schistosoma mansoni-infected patients

An association study of a cohort of 177 Sudanese patients infected with Schistosoma mansoni [82 (46%) males and 95 (54%) females] was conducted to evaluate the factors controlling the regression of liver fibrosis 39 months after treatment with praziquantel using ultrasound evaluation. Periportal fibrosis (PPF) was regressed in 63 (35.6%) patients, while the disease progressed to higher grades in 24 (13.6%) patients. The grade of PPF did not change in 90 (50.8%) patients. The mean values of portal vein diameter, splenic vein diameter and index liver size in subjects in whom PPF regressed after treatment were significantly lower than in subjects in whom the disease was progressed ( P <0.0001, P =0.031 and P =0.003, respectively). The progression of hepatic fibrosis in males (15, 8.5%) was greater than that in females (9, 5.1%). Patients with regression or progression phenotypes tend to cluster in certain families. Our study indicated that regression, progression and stabilization of PPF after praziquantel therapy is controlled by gender, age, grade of fibrosis and possibly inherited factors.     

Aeration volume and photosynthetic photon flux affect cell growth and secondary metabolite contents in bioreactor cultures ofMorinda citrifolia

To improve their growth and secondary metabolite production, we culturedMorinda citrifolia leaf cells for 3 weeks in bioreactors with different aeration volumes (0.05, 0.1, 0.2, or 0.3 vvm; or 0.05/0.1/0.2/0.3 vvm, as increased at 5-d interval), and photosynthetic photon fluxes (PPF; 0, 15, 30, or 45 μ,moL m^-2 s^-1). Cell growth was greatest (15.6 g L^-1 dry weight) at 0.3 vvm whereas the accumulation of secondary metabolites (total anthraquinones, phenolics, and flavonoids) was maximized at 0.1 vvm. A PPF of 15 μmoLm^-2 s^-1 accelerated the accumulation of both cell biomass and metabolites. Dark-culturing suppressed cell growth, while a high PPF (45 μmoLm^-2 s^-1) inhibited metabolite biosynthesis. Further studies are required to understand the reason for differences in the effect of light on cell growth and secondary metabolite contents inM. citrifolia cell cultures.     

Responses of Porphyra linearis (Rhodophyta) to environmental factors under controlled culture conditions

The effect of environmental parameters on the growthof Porphyra linearis gametophytes was examinedunder controlled conditions, and related to themultilinear regression growth model recently developedfor this seaweed under coastal conditions in theeastern Mediterranean. Growth chambers, a gradienttable, special culture devices and analytical methodswere combined for this culture study.The major factors significantly controlling thegrowth rate of the P. linearis gametophytein glass dishes were: photoperiod, temperature, agein culture, photosynthetic photon flux (PPF), salinityand water dynamics. Maximal growth occurred underdaylength of 12 h, medium temperature (15–20 ^°C), low PPF (70–140 mol photon m^-2s^-1), ambient salinity (30–40 ppt), 1–3 h ofdaily air exposure, and water velocity of 4 cm s^-1.Photosynthesis and respiration rates weredominantly affected by daylength and temperature,while the concentration of pigments was dominantlyaffected by PPF and temperature.These conditions correspond well to the optimalnatural growth environment of this local species andare in agreement with the optimum estimated throughthe recently developed outdoor mathematical growthmodel.     

Photosynthetic characteristics of coffee (Coffea arabusta) plantlets in vitro in response to different CO2 concentrations and light intensities

The photosynthetic characteristics of coffee ( Coffea arabusta) plantlets cultured in vitro in response to different CO₂ concentrations inside the culture vessel and photosynthetic photon flux (PPF) were investigated preliminarily. The estimation of net photosynthetic rate (P_n) of coffee plantlets involved three methods: (1) estimating time courses of actual P_n in situ based on measuring CO₂ concentrations inside and outside the vessel during a 45-day period, (2) estimating P_n in situ at different CO₂ concentrations and PPFs using the above measuring approach for 10-day and 30-day old in vitro plantlets, and (3) estimating P_n of a single leaf at different CO₂ concentrations and PPFs by using a portable photosynthesis measurement system for 45-day old in vitro coffee plantlets. The results showed that coffee plantlets in vitro had relatively high photosynthetic ability and that the P_n increased with the increase in CO₂ concentration inside the vessel. The CO₂ saturation point of in vitro coffee plantlets was high (4500–5000 μmol mol^-1); on the other hand, the PPF saturation point was not so high as compared to some other species, though it increased with increasing CO₂ concentration inside the vessel. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.