快速提取肠道微生物基因组DNA的方法

目的:肠道微生物的研究日益成为热点,如何获取高质量、较完整的肠道菌群基因组DNA是肠道微生物研究中的关键。本文通过对酚/氯仿法提取总DNA过程进行考察和优化,建立一种简便酚/氯仿抽提法。方法:考察和优化酚/氯仿法提取总DNA的过程,并根据DNA产量、纯度以及ERIC-PCR及16S rNDA-RFLP所反映的微生物群落结构特性的指标,并与QIAamp?DNA Stool Mini Kit提取的进行比较,评价了所建立的快速提取方法。结果:用简便酚/氯仿法得到基本完整的基因组DNA,ERIC-PCR和16S rDNA-RFLP结果与QIAamp?DNA Stool Mini Kit法基本相同。结论:该方法快速并成本低,适合肠道微生物研究中总DNA提取,尤其适合处理大批量的样品。     

一种适于PCR反应的快速提取食用菌基因组DNA的方法

目的:建立一种以食用菌菌丝体和子实体为原材料的快速提取其基因组DNA的方法,从而提高基因组DNA的提取效率,为食用菌分子生物学提供便利.方法:分别以平菇黑平王的菌丝体和子实体为材料,快速提取其基因组DNA,并以此为模板进行ITS序列扩增.结果:采用方法提取的基因组DNA结构完整,无明显拖尾现象,浓度大约为10ng/μl,以此为模板能够获得预期的ITS条带.结论:该方法具有简便、快速、经济、无污染等优点,提取的基因组DNA适用于PCR反应等分子生物学研究,提高了提取效率,可作为高通量的提取方法.     

利用改良CTAB法快速小量提取微胚乳玉米基因组DNA

为了能快速小量提取微胚乳玉米基因组DNA,以微胚乳玉米幼叶为试材,采用改良CTAB法和传统CTAB法提取微胚乳玉米基因组DNA,并对所提取的DNA通过紫外分光光度计、琼脂糖凝胶电泳和PCR扩增等方法进行检测。两种方法所得基因组DNA的OD260/OD280在1.8~1.9之间,电泳条带清晰,无蛋白质和RNA污染,DNA无明显降解,其浓度和纯度都适合基因工程实验操作的条件。改良CTAB法与传统CTAB法相比更简便快捷,可实现大批量的不同样本基因组DNA的同时提取,提供了一种简便、快捷、有效和实用的微量提取微胚乳玉米基因组DNA方法,可满足以PCR为基础的分子生物学研究。     

一种通用的基因组DNA提取方法

目的:探讨一种通厢的基因组DNA提取方法.方法:采用改良的膜法分别从动植物组织、外周血、细菌、细胞等标本提取基因组DNA,DNA样品经紫外吸收、琼脂糖凝胶电泳、PCR扩增和酶切进行榆测.结果:该方法提取的基因组DNA纯度较高,电泳条带清晰,DNA质量能满足下游分子生物学研究的需要.结论:该方法简便快速、适用范围广,是提取基因组DNA的一种有效方法.     

一种从PAXgene全血RNA管内提取基因组DNA的方法

目的:从同一生物样本同步提取RNA和DNA,能提高样本的利用率,而且对于基因组学、转录组学和表观遗传学检测数据之间的比对和匹配分析也十分重要。本研究在不影响RNA样品制备的前提下,建立一种从PAXgene全血RNA管内提取基因组DNA的方法。方法:取一定量PAXgene全血RNA管血液样本,使用QIAamp DNA试剂盒提取血细胞基因组DNA,系统优化提取过程中的离心参数、洗脱量以及初始血液样本量等实验参数,并对提取的基因组DNA质量进行检测。结果:用PAXgene全血RNA管3 mL血液样本能够提取出8.918±1.100μg基因组DNA,紫外分光光度计检测DNA样品的OD 260/280比值为1.89±0.09,琼脂糖凝胶电泳结果显示DNA样品完整无降解。结论:利用本方法提取的DNA样品能够满足下游DNA芯片、DNA甲基化测序等实验要求。该方法有助于从有限的临床血液样本中获取全面的遗传信息,并且提高后续不同实验方法所生成数据之间的可比性和匹配度。     

一种提取全血基因组DNA的改良方法

目的:将碘化钾法和试剂盒法相结合,建立一种安全无毒、快速、经济、有效的提取全血基因组DNA的方法。方法:用0.2%Na Cl裂解红细胞收集全血中的白细胞,用5 mol/L KI裂解白细胞膜,再用试剂盒提取DNA,采用紫外分光光度仪、凝胶电泳、荧光定量PCR进行检测。结果:本法提取300μL抗凝血可得基因组DNA 5~12μg,D260nm/D280nm为1.86±0.02。原本提取100次全血基因组DNA的试剂量提升到可提取200次。结论:改良法提高了试剂盒的使用率,所得基因组DNA稳定,是一种操作简便、快速高效并节省试验经费的提取方法。     

基于AFLP分析用吴茱萸叶高质量DNA的提取

目的：研究吴茱萸叶基因组DNA的提取方法,以用于扩增片段长度多态性（AFLP）分析。方法：设计了一种改良CTAB法：以石英砂代替液氮研磨;抽提前用不溶性PVP结合酚形成络合物,然后用缓冲液除去;抽提中加入Vc。将改良CTAB法所提吴茱萸叶DNA与传统的SDS法、CTAB法所提DNA进行比较。利用植物的核糖体DNA（rDNA）保守序列设计引物行PCR扩增鉴定吴茱萸DNA及其质量。并确定提取方法中最佳样本含量和β-巯基乙醇浓度。结果：改良CTAB法提取石虎、疏毛吴茱萸总DNA呈白色,A260/A280为1.721~1.886,DNA分子完整,约20kb左右,PCR扩增条带清晰、明亮,无杂带和脱尾。并确定0.10g为最佳样本量,2.0%为最佳β-ME浓度。结论：石英砂研磨简便、迅速、均匀,该实验所建立的改良CTAB法可有效避免次生代谢物的氧化褐变,是一种小量、快速提取吴茱萸叶DNA优化方法。     

一种快速、经济提取外周凝血基因组DNA 方法的建立

目的:建立一种经济、快速且高质量提取人体外周凝血DNA的方法。方法:摸索最佳的匀浆条件,对外周凝血块进行匀浆,采用KI法对匀浆液进行基因组DNA的提取,通过凝胶电泳、单重PCR和多重PCR检测凝血基因组DNA的提取产量和质量,并分别与常规的凝血基因组DNA提取方法,即蛋白酶K消化法,以及提取抗凝血基因组DNA的KI法进行比较分析。结果:最佳的匀浆条件为:39000 rmp,15秒。在此条件下提取的基因组DNA完整性好,纯度和产量与蛋白酶K消化法提取凝血DNA和KI法提取抗凝血DNA的结果相比,没有统计学差异。单重PCR和多重PCR也获得了理想的扩增结果。结论:与常规的外周凝血提取方法相比(蛋白酶K消化法),本方法节省了时间和成本,能快速、经济、有效地提取外周凝血基因组DNA,可用于后续的科研和临床诊断需要,解决了部分科研机构血液基因组DNA的样本来源问题。     

氯化苄法提取染色体DNA

本文介绍了一种简便、快速提取细菌和真菌的基因组DNA的方法一氯化苄法。使用氯化苄法抽提基因组DNA,不仅具有快迅、简便、耗资少的优点;而且得到的基因组DNA纯度高,质量好,可直接用于酶切、杂交和PCR扩增等用途。该法可用于多种细菌和真菌基因组DNA的提取。     

蚜虫基因组DNA提取方法的改进

蚜虫基因组DNA的提取是蚜虫分子生物学研究中的难点。参照动物基因组DNA的提取方法,根据蚜虫体型微小,体表有外骨骼的特点,对SDS法作了改进。改进的方法无需用组织捣碎棒破碎虫体,操作简便。与现在常用的提取方法相比,改进的SDS法能快速、有效地提取单头蚜虫的基因组DNA,适用于RAPD随机引物和测序引物的PCR扩增。     

Distributions of Topological States in Circular DNA

A distinctive feature of closed circular DNA molecules is their particular topological state, which cannot be altered by any conformational rearrangement short of breaking at least one strand. This topological constraint opens unique possibilities for experimental studies of the distributions of topological states created in different ways. Primarily, the equilibrium distributions of topological properties are considered in the review. It is described how such distributions can be obtained and measured experimentally, and how they can be computed. Comparison of the calculated and measured equilibrium distributions over the linking number of complementary strands, equilibrium fractions of knots and links formed by circular molecules has provided much valuable information about the properties of the double helix. Study of the steady-state fraction of knots and links created by type II DNA topoisomerases has revealed a surprising property of the enzymes: their ability to reduce these fractions considerably below the equilibrium level.     

Topoisomerase II Regulates the Maintenance of DNA Methylation

The maintenance of DNA methylation in nascent DNA is a critical event for numerous biological processes. Following DNA replication, DNMT1 is the key enzyme that strictly copies the methylation pattern from the parental strand to the nascent DNA. However, the mechanism underlying this highly specific event is not thoroughly understood. In this study, we identified topoisomerase IIα (TopoIIα) as a novel regulator of the maintenance DNA methylation. UHRF1, a protein important for global DNA methylation, interacts with TopoIIα and regulates its localization to hemimethylated DNA. TopoIIα decatenates the hemimethylated DNA following replication, which might facilitate the methylation of the nascent strand by DNMT1. Inhibiting this activity impairs DNA methylation at multiple genomic loci. We have uncovered a novel mechanism during the maintenance of DNA methylation.     

FBH1 Helicase Disrupts RAD51 Filaments in Vitro and Modulates Homologous Recombination in Mammalian Cells

Efficient repair of DNA double strand breaks and interstrand cross-links requires the homologous recombination (HR) pathway, a potentially error-free process that utilizes a homologous sequence as a repair template. A key player in HR is RAD51, the eukaryotic ortholog of bacterial RecA protein. RAD51 can polymerize on DNA to form a nucleoprotein filament that facilitates both the search for the homologous DNA sequences and the subsequent DNA strand invasion required to initiate HR. Because of its pivotal role in HR, RAD51 is subject to numerous positive and negative regulatory influences. Using a combination of molecular genetic, biochemical, and single-molecule biophysical techniques, we provide mechanistic insight into the mode of action of the FBH1 helicase as a regulator of RAD51-dependent HR in mammalian cells. We show that FBH1 binds directly to RAD51 and is able to disrupt RAD51 filaments on DNA through its ssDNA translocase function. Consistent with this, a mutant mouse embryonic stem cell line with a deletion in the FBH1 helicase domain fails to limit RAD51 chromatin association and shows hyper-recombination. Our data are consistent with FBH1 restraining RAD51 DNA binding under unperturbed growth conditions to prevent unwanted or unscheduled DNA recombination.     

Human HEL308 localizes to damaged replication forks and unwinds lagging strand structures

HEL308 is a superfamily II DNA helicase, conserved from archaea through to humans. HEL308 family members were originally isolated by their similarity to the Drosophila melanogaster Mus308 protein, which contributes to the repair of replication-blocking lesions such as DNA interstrand cross-links. Biochemical studies have established that human HEL308 is an ATP-dependent enzyme that unwinds DNA with a 3' to 5' polarity, but little else is know about its mechanism. Here, we show that GFP-tagged HEL308 localizes to replication forks following camptothecin treatment. Moreover, HEL308 colocalizes with two factors involved in the repair of damaged forks by homologous recombination, Rad51 and FANCD2. Purified HEL308 requires a 3' single-stranded DNA region to load and unwind duplex DNA structures. When incubated with substrates that model stalled replication forks, HEL308 preferentially unwinds the parental strands of a structure that models a fork with a nascent lagging strand, and the unwinding action of HEL308 is specifically stimulated by human replication protein A. Finally, we show that HEL308 appears to target and unwind from the junction between single-stranded to double-stranded DNA on model fork structures. Together, our results suggest that one role for HEL308 at sites of blocked replication might be to open up the parental strands to facilitate the loading of subsequent factors required for replication restart.     

Studies on human DNA polymerase epsilon and GINS complex and their role in DNA replication

In eukaryotic cells, DNA replication is carried out by the coordinated action of three DNA polymerases (Pols), Pol α, δ, and ε. In this report, we describe the reconstitution of the human four-subunit Pol ε and characterization of its catalytic properties in comparison with Pol α and Pol δ. Human Pol ε holoenzyme is a monomeric complex containing stoichiometric subunit levels of p261/Pol 2, p59, p17, and p12. We show that the Pol ε p261 N-terminal catalytic domain is solely responsible for its ability to catalyze DNA synthesis. Importantly, human Pol (hPol) ε was found more processive than hPol δ in supporting proliferating cell nuclear antigen-dependent elongation of DNA chains, which is in keeping with proposed roles for hPol ε and hPol δ in the replication of leading and lagging strands, respectively. Furthermore, GINS, a component of the replicative helicase complex that is composed of Sld5, Psf1, Psf2, and Psf3, was shown to interact weakly with all three replicative DNA Pols (α, δ, and ε) and to markedly stimulate the activities of Pol α and Pol ε. In vivo studies indicated that siRNA-targeted depletion of hPol δ and/or hPol ε reduced cell cycle progression and the rate of fork progression. Under the conditions used, we noted that depletion of Pol ε had a more pronounced inhibitory effect on cellular DNA replication than depletion of Pol δ. We suggest that reduction in the level of Pol δ may be less deleterious because of its collision-and-release role in lagging strand synthesis.     

The DDN Catalytic Motif Is Required for Metnase Functions in Non-homologous End Joining (NHEJ) Repair and Replication Restart

Metnase (or SETMAR) arose from a chimeric fusion of the Hsmar1 transposase downstream of a protein methylase in anthropoid primates. Although the Metnase transposase domain has been largely conserved, its catalytic motif (DDN) differs from the DDD motif of related transposases, which may be important for its role as a DNA repair factor and its enzymatic activities. Here, we show that substitution of DDN⁶¹⁰ with either DDD⁶¹⁰ or DDE⁶¹⁰ significantly reduced in vivo functions of Metnase in NHEJ repair and accelerated restart of replication forks. We next tested whether the DDD or DDE mutants cleave single-strand extensions and flaps in partial duplex DNA and pseudo-Tyr structures that mimic stalled replication forks. Neither substrate is cleaved by the DDD or DDE mutant, under the conditions where wild-type Metnase effectively cleaves ssDNA overhangs. We then characterized the ssDNA-binding activity of the Metnase transposase domain and found that the catalytic domain binds ssDNA but not dsDNA, whereas dsDNA binding activity resides in the helix-turn-helix DNA binding domain. Substitution of Asn-610 with either Asp or Glu within the transposase domain significantly reduces ssDNA binding activity. Collectively, our results suggest that a single mutation DDN⁶¹⁰ → DDD⁶¹⁰, which restores the ancestral catalytic site, results in loss of function in Metnase.     

Contribution of the intrinsic curvature to measured DNA persistence length

The persistence length of DNA, a, depends both on the intrinsic curvature of the double helix and on the thermal fluctuations of the angles between adjacent base-pairs. We have evaluated two contributions to the value of a by comparing measured values of a for DNA containing a generic sequence and for an "intrinsically straight" DNA. In each 10 bp segment of the intrinsically straight DNA an initial sequence of five bases is repeated in the sequence of the second five bases, so any bends in the first half of the segment are compensated by bends in the opposite direction in the second half. The value of a for the latter DNA depends, to a good approximation, on thermal fluctuations only; there is no intrinsic curvature. The values of a were obtained from measurements of the cyclization efficiency for short DNA fragments, about 200 bp in length. This method determines the persistence length of DNA with exceptional accuracy, due to the very strong dependence of the cyclization efficiency of short fragments on the value of a. We find that the values of a for the two types of DNA fragment are very close and conclude that the contribution of the intrinsic curvature to a is at least 20 times smaller than the contribution of thermal fluctuations. The relationship between this result and the angles between adjacent base-pairs, which specify the intrinsic curvature, is analyzed.     

A procedure for large-scale isolation of RNA-free plasmid and phage DNA without the use of RNase

A preparative procedure for the large-scale isolation of plasmid DNA without the use of RNAse is described. Crude plasmid DNA is prepared using a standard boiling method. High-molecular-weight RNA is removed by precipitation with LiCl, and low-molecular-weight RNA is removed by sedimentation through high-salt solution. The procedure is inexpensive, rapid, simple, and particularly suitable for processing several large-scale preparations simultaneously. A similar procedure has been developed for preparation of lambda-phage DNA.     

Formation of a stable RuvA protein double tetramer is required for efficient branch migration in vitro and for replication fork reversal in vivo

In bacteria, RuvABC is required for the resolution of Holliday junctions (HJ) made during homologous recombination. The RuvAB complex catalyzes HJ branch migration and replication fork reversal (RFR). During RFR, a stalled fork is reversed to form a HJ adjacent to a DNA double strand end, a reaction that requires RuvAB in certain Escherichia coli replication mutants. The exact structure of active RuvAB complexes remains elusive as it is still unknown whether one or two tetramers of RuvA support RuvB during branch migration and during RFR. We designed an E. coli RuvA mutant, RuvA2(KaP), specifically impaired for RuvA tetramer-tetramer interactions. As expected, the mutant protein is impaired for complex II (two tetramers) formation on HJs, although the binding efficiency of complex I (a single tetramer) is as wild type. We show that although RuvA complex II formation is required for efficient HJ branch migration in vitro, RuvA2(KaP) is fully active for homologous recombination in vivo. RuvA2(KaP) is also deficient at forming complex II on synthetic replication forks, and the binding affinity of RuvA2(KaP) for forks is decreased compared with wild type. Accordingly, RuvA2(KaP) is inefficient at processing forks in vitro and in vivo. These data indicate that RuvA2(KaP) is a separation-of-function mutant, capable of homologous recombination but impaired for RFR. RuvA2(KaP) is defective for stimulation of RuvB activity and stability of HJ·RuvA·RuvB tripartite complexes. This work demonstrates that the need for RuvA tetramer-tetramer interactions for full RuvAB activity in vitro causes specifically an RFR defect in vivo.