cDNA cloning,expression, and enzymatic activity of a novel endogenous cellulase from the beetle Batocera horsfieldi

In this study, we report a novel cellulase [β-1,4-endoglucanase (EGase), EC 3.2.1.4] cDNA (Bh-EGase II) belonging to the glycoside hydrolase family (GHF) 45 from the beetle Batocera horsfieldi. The Bh-EGase II gene spans 720 bp and consists of a single exon coding for 239 amino acid residues. Bh-EGase II showed 93.72% protein sequence identity to Ag-EGase II from the beetle Apriona germari. The GHF 45 catalytic site is conserved in Bh-EGase II. Bh-EGase II has three putative N-glycosylation sites at 56–58 (N–K–S), 99–101 (N–S–T), and 237–239 (N–Y–S), respectively. The cDNA encoding Bh-EGase II was expressed in baculovirus-infected insect BmN cells and Bombyx mori larvae. Recombinant Bh-EGase II from BmN cells and larval hemolymph had an enzymatic activity of approximately 928 U/mg. The enzymatic catalysis of recombinant Bh-EGase II showed the highest activity at 50 °C and pH 6.0.     

cDNA,genomic sequence and overexpression of crystallin alpha-B Gene (CRYAB) of the Giant Panda

αB-crystallin, a small heat-shock protein, has been shown to prevent the aggregation of other proteins under various stress conditions. Here we have cloned the cDNA and the genomic sequence of CRYAB gene from the Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) using RT-PCR technology and Touchdown-PCR, respectively. The length of cDNA fragment cloned contains an open reading frame of 528bp encoding 175 amino acids and the length of the genomic sequence is 3189bp, containing three exons and two introns. Alignment analysis indicated that the nucleotide sequence and the deduced amino acid sequence are highly conserved to other four species studied, including Homo sapiens, Mus musculus, Rattus norvegicus and Bos taurus. The homologies for nucleotide sequences of Giant Panda CRYAB to that of these species are 93.9%, 91.5%, 91.5% and 95.3%, respectively, and the homologies for amino acid sequences are 98.3%, 97.1%,97.7% and 99.4%, respectively. Topology prediction shows that there are only four Casein kinase II phosphorylation sites in the CRYAB protein of the Giant Panda. The cDNA of CRYAB was transfected into E. coli, and the CRYAB fused with the N-terminally His-tagged protein gave rise to the accumulation of an expected 24KDa polypeptide, which accorded with the predicted protein. The expression product obtained could be used for purification and study of its function further.     

麻疯树鲨烯合酶基因SQS的克隆及生物信息学分析

以麻疯树(Jatropha curcas L.)总RNA为模板,根据已报道的鲨烯合酶基因序列设计简并引物,用RACE方法克隆得到麻疯树鲨烯合酶基因全长cDNA,命名为JcSQS。JcSQS全长1609 bp,包含1个1242 bp的开放阅读框,预测麻疯树鲨烯合酶基因编码的蛋白含有413个氨基酸。JcSQS具有鲨烯合酶类的保守结构域,JcSQS 蛋白与蓖麻、柿、木榄等植物中SQS基因编码的氨基酸序列具有高度同源性。这为研究麻疯树萜烯类物质的生物合成和调控机制奠定了基础。     

苦荞和甜荞查尔酮合成酶基因的克隆及序列比较

以苦荞品种‘西农9920’和甜荞品种‘西农9976’为材料,根据其它植物查尔酮合成酶(chalcone synthase,CHS)基因DNA序列的保守区域设计的一对简并引物,进行PCR扩增,从2种荞麦基因组中克隆出了长度均为860 bp的CHS基因片段,对其进行回收、克隆,挑选阳性克隆测序;序列分析表明这2个片段含有CHS基因的N端和C端的结构域,分别为苦荞和甜荞的CHS基因片段,命名为FtCHS和FeCHS。对获得的2种荞麦CHS基因的DNA序列进行比较分析,发现两者间存在多达43处单碱基多态性,这些单碱基多态性可能是苦荞和甜荞种子中类黄酮含量差异的重要原因之一。苦荞和甜荞CHS与其它植物CHS的氨基酸序列的进化分析表明,其与同为蓼科的掌叶大黄和石竹科的满天星的同源性较近。     

Analysis of genetic variability and relationships among Mentha L. using the limonene synthase gene, LS

The genus Mentha comprises a group of aromatic plants with worldwide distribution. Because of frequent interspecific hybridization, the genetic relationships within the genus are not clearly understood. Limonene synthase, which catalyses the first committed step in the essential oil monoterpene biosynthetic pathway, is considered to be a possible rate limiting enzyme. With the homology-based cloning method, primers were designed according to cDNA sequence to amplify full-length DNA sequences in 13 Mentha samples from five species, using Perilla as an outgroup. Analyses of gene structure, length variation, GC-content, Ts/Tv ratio and evolutionary diversity were carried out. Consensus phylogenetic trees were obtained using maximum likelihood, neighbor-joining, and maximum parsimony, respectively, based on the full-length genomic DNA sequences, complete ORF coding sequences and predicted amino acid sequences. The results presented here based on the sequence of MhLS provide the first credibly supported genetic relationships for Mentha, which enables a basis for further mint taxonomy, cultivation and breeding.     

Isolation, molecular cloning and antimicrobial activity of novel defensins from common chickweed (Stellaria media L.) seeds

Two novel highly homologous defensins, Sm-AMP-D1 and Sm-AMP-D2, were isolated from seeds of common chickweed Stellaria media L. (family Cariophyllaceae). They show sequence homology to defensins of the Brassicaceae plants and display strong inhibitory activity against phytopathogenic fungi and oomycetes in the micromolar range (IC₅₀ ≤ 1 μM). The cDNA sequences coding for Sm-AMP-D1 and Sm-AMP-D2 were obtained. They code for highly homologous precursor proteins, consisting of a signal peptide of 32 amino acid residues and the mature peptide domain of 50 amino acid residues. The Sm-AMP-D1 and Sm-AMP-D2 precursors differ by two amino acids: one in the signal peptide region, and the other, in the mature peptide domain. Two Sm-D1-encoding genes were identified in S. media genome by PCR amplification from the genomic DNA using Sm-D1-specific primers. They contain a single 599-bp intron in the signal peptide domain and differ from each other by nucleotide substitutions in the intron and 3′-untranslated regions, while the coding sequences are well conserved. One of the genes matched perfectly the sm-D1 cDNA sequence. The sm-D genes show promise for engineering pathogen resistance in crops and expand our knowledge on weed genomics.     

一种苦荞主要过敏原基因cDNA的克隆及序列分析

为了获得苦荞中主要过敏原的cDNA和由此推导的蛋白质序列 ,分析其结构特点 ,以苦荞幼根根尖为材料 ,提取总RNA并反转录mRNA为cDNA第一链 .通过RT PCR、3′RACE、基因克隆及序列测定 ,获得一种苦荞主要过敏蛋白基因的cDNA片段 (GenBank登录号为AY0 4 4918) .该cDNA片段由 76 8bp组成 ,包括 3′端非编码区 180个bp ,开放阅读框 5 88bp .可编码一个由 195个氨基酸残基组成的功能蛋白及一个终止密码 .苦荞主要过敏原基因与甜荞 2 2kD过敏蛋白、豆球类蛋白的核苷酸序列分别有 95 %和 93%的同源性 .其推导的氨基酸序列与甜荞球蛋白、刀豆蛋白、甜橙柠檬素分别有 93%、83%和 5 7%的同源性 .该过敏蛋白 183～ 188位氨基酸残基KEEEKE在多数不同过敏原中均存在 ,推测可能为其中的抗原决定簇序列     

Cloning of TPS gene from eelgrass species Zostera marina and its functional identification by genetic transformation in rice

The full-length cDNA sequence (2613 bp) of the trehalose-6-phosphate synthase (TPS) gene of eelgrass Zostera marina (ZmTPS) was identified and cloned. Z. marina is a kind of seed-plant growing in sea water during its whole life history. The open reading frame (ORF) region of ZmTPS gene encodes a protein of 870 amino acid residues and a stop codon. The corresponding genomic DNA sequence is 3770 bp in length, which contains 3 exons and 2 introns. The ZmTPS gene was transformed into rice variety ZH11 via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation method. After antibiotic screening, molecular characterization, salt-tolerance and trehalose content determinations, two transgenic lines resistant to 150 mM NaCL solutions were screened. Our study results indicated that the ZmTPS gene was integrated into the genomic DNA of the two transgenic rice lines and could be expressed well. Moreover, the detection of the transformed ZmTPS gene in the progenies of the two transgenic lines was performed from T₁ to T₄ generations; and results suggested that the transformed ZmTPS gene can be transmitted from parent to the progeny in transgenic rice.     

Cloning and Expression of a Chitinase Gene from Sanguibacter sp. C4

The chitinase Chi58 is an extracellular chitinase produced by Sanguibacter sp.strain C4. The gene-specific PCR primers were used to detect the presence of the chiA gene in strain C4. A chiA fragment (chiA-F) was amplified from the C4 genomic DNA and was used to blast-search the related sequences from the GenBank dadabase. By alignment and selection of the highly conserved regions of the homologous sequences, two pairs of primers were designed to amplify the open reading frame (ORF) of the chitinase from strain C4 by nested PCR. The results revealed that the Chi58 ORF consisted of 1 692 nucleotides encoding a protein of 563 amino acid residues. The molecular weight of the mature protein was predicted to be 58.544 kDa. The Chi58 ORF was a modular enzyme composed of a signal peptide sequence, a polycystic kidney disease I domain, and a glycosyl hydrolase family 18 domain. The chitinase of C4 exhibited a high level of similarity to the chitinase A of Serratia (88.9%-99.6%) at the amino acid sequence level. The Chi58 gene was cloned into the expression vector pET32a to construct the recombinant plasmid pChi58 and was expressed in E. coli BL-21 (DE3) cells with IPTG induction. The molecular weight of the Trx-Chi58 fusion protein was estimated to be 81.1 kDa by SDS-PAGE.     

Substrate recognition of holocytochrome c synthase: N-terminal region and CXXCH motif of mitochondrial cytochrome c

Holocytochrome c synthase (HCCS) attaches heme covalently to mitochondrial respiratory cytochromes c. Little is known about the reaction of heme attachment to apocytochromes c by HCCS, although recently it has been established that the CXXCH motif and the N-terminus of the apocytochrome polypeptide are important protein–protein recognition motifs. Here, we explore further the important features of the N-terminal sequence and investigate what variations in the CXXCH residues are productively recognised by HCCS in its substrate.     

Cloning, sequence analysis and crystal structure determination of a miraculin-like protein from Murraya koenigii

Earlier, the purification of a 21.4 kDa protein with trypsin inhibitory activity from seeds of Murraya koenigii has been reported. The present study, based on the amino acid sequence deduced from both cDNA and genomic DNA, establishes it to be a miraculin-like protein and provides crystal structure at 2.9 Å resolution. The mature protein consists of 190 amino acid residues with seven cysteines arranged in three disulfide bridges. The amino acid sequence showed maximum homology and formed a distinct cluster with miraculin-like proteins, a soybean Kunitz super family member, in phylogenetic analyses. The major differences in sequence were observed at primary and secondary specificity sites in the reactive loop when compared to classical Kunitz family members. The crystal structure analysis showed that the protein is made of twelve antiparallel β-strands, loops connecting β-strands and two short helices. Despite similar overall fold, it showed significant differences from classical Kunitz trypsin inhibitors.     

Molecular cloning,characterization and expression of a gene encoding phosphoketolase from Termitomyces clypeatus

A phosphoketolase (pk) gene from the fungus Termitomyces clypeatus (TC) was cloned and partially characterized. Oligonucleotide primers specific for the phosphoketolase gene (pk) were designed from the regions of homologies found in the primary structure of the enzyme from other fungal sources related to TC, using multiple sequence alignment technique. The cDNA of partial lengths were amplified, cloned and sequenced in three parts by 3′ and 5′ RACE and RT-PCR using these oligonucleotide primers. The full length ds cDNA was constructed next by joining these three partial cDNA sequences having appropriate overlapping regions using Overlap Extension PCR technique. The constructed full length cDNA exhibited an open reading frame of 2487 bases and 5′ and 3′ UTRs. The deduced amino acid sequence, which is of 828 amino acids, when analyzed with NCBI BLAST, showed high similarities with the phosphoketolase enzyme (Pk) superfamily with expected domains. The part of the TC genomic DNA comprising of the pk gene was also amplified, cloned and sequenced and was found to contain two introns of 68 and 74 bases that interrupt the pk reading frame. The coding region of pk cDNA was subcloned in pKM260 expression vector in correct frame and the protein was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) transformed with this recombinant expression plasmid. The recombinant protein purified by His-tag affinity chromatography indicated the presence of a protein of the expected size. In vivo expression studies of the gene in presence of different carbon sources indicated synthesis of Pk specific mRNA, as expected. Phylogenetic studies revealed a common ancestry of the fungal and bacterial Pk. The TC is known to secrete several industrially important enzymes involved in carbohydrate metabolism. However, the presence of Pk, a key enzyme in pentose metabolism, has not been demonstrated conclusively in this organism. Cloning, sequencing and expression study of this gene establishes the functioning of this gene in T. clypeatus. The Pk from TC is a new source for commercial exploitation.