Hydrogen Peroxide in Plants： a Versatile Molecule of the Reactive Oxygen Species Network

Plants often face the challenge of severe environmental conditions, which include various biotic and abiotic stresses that exert adverse effects on plant growth and development. During evolution, plants have evolved complex regulatory mechanisms to adapt to various environmental stressors. One of the consequences of stress is an increase in the cellular concentration of reactive oxygen species （ROS）, which are subsequently converted to hydrogen peroxide （H2O2）. Even under normal conditions, higher plants produce ROS during metabolic processes. Excess concentrations of ROS result in oxidative damage to or the apoptotic death of cells. Development of an antioxidant defense system in plants protects them against oxidative stress damage. These ROS and, more particularly, H2O2, play versatile roles in normal plant physiological processes and in resistance to stresses. Recently, H2O2 has been regarded as a signaling molecule and regulator of the expression of some genes in cells. This review describes various aspects of H2O2 function, generation and scavenging, gene regulation and cross-links with other physiological molecules during plant growth, development and resistance responses.     

Identification and characterization of new plant microRNAs using EST analysis

Seventy-five previously known plant microRNAs (miRNAs) were classified into 14 families according to their gene sequence identity. A total of 18,694 plant expressed sequence tags (EST) were found in the GenBank EST databases by comparing all previously known Arabidopsis miRNAs to GenBank‘s plant EST databases with BLAST algorithms. After removing the EST sequences with high numbers (more than 2) of mismatched nucleotides, a total of 812 EST contigs were identified. After predicting and scoring the RNA secondary structure of the 812 EST sequences using mFold software, 338 new potential miRNAs were identified in 60 plant species, miRNAs are widespread. Some microRNAsmay highly conserve in the plant kingdom, and they may have the same ancestor in very early evolution. There is no nucleotide substitution in most miRNAs among many plant species. Some of the new identified potential miRNAs may be induced and regulated by environmental biotic and abiotic stresses. Some may be preferentially expressed in specific tissues, and are regulated by developmental switching. These findings suggest that EST analysis is a good alternative strategy for identifying new miRNA candidates, their targets, and other genes. A large number of miRNAs exist in different plant species and play important roles in plant developmental switching and plant responses to environmental abiotic and biotic stresses as well as signal transduction. Environmental stresses and developmental switching may be the signals for synthesis and regulation of miRNAs in plants. A model for miRNA induction and expression, and gene regulation by miRNA is hypothesized.     

Cloning and identification of a novel RNF6 transcriptional splice variant Spg2 in human development

RING finger proteins are zinc finger proteins containing the RING motifs. They act mainly as E3 ubiq-uitin ligases, bind the ubiquitin E2 conjugating enzyme and promote degradation of targeted proteins, Many novel genes have been isolated and differentially expressed in human adult and embryo testis by a testis cDNA-array differential display technique. A novel RING finger cDNA is highly expressed in adult testis and at low level in fetal testis. It was named Spg2. It contains a 2055 nucleotide ORF, en-codes a 685-amino-acid RNF6 protein, and has a RING finger in its C terminal. NCBI Blast shows that the gene is located on chromosome 13 and contains five exons. A multiple tissue expression profile also indicates that it is highly expressed in human testis, so we speculate that it may be associated with human spermatogenesis by virtue of the action of its RING domain.     

苹果一个锌指蛋白基因的cDNA克隆及其表达特性分析(英文)

A cDNA library was created from stem apex tissue from Jonathan apples (Malus domestica Borkh.), harvested in June to August, during which the plant transitions from vegetative growth to reproductive growth. From this library, we isolated an expressed sequence tag (EST) sequence containing a zinc finger motif, using this sequence, a 779 bp cDNA fragment was obtained by using 5‘ RACE, and a final full-length cDNA encoding an apple zinc finger protein (named MdZF1; GenBank accession number AB116545) was obtained by further PCR. This zinc finger motif of MdZF1 has high homology with INOETERMINATE1 (ID1) gene from maize which seemed to be involved in the transition to flowering. Northern blot and RT-PCR analyses showed that the MdZF1 expressed in the root, stem, leaves, shoot apex and floral organs of the apple, with expression levels higher in root, stem, leaves and floral shoot apex than that in floral organs (sepals, petals, stamens and pistils). Genomic Southern analysis showed that there was a single copy gene in apple genome.     

Genome Wide Identification of C2H2-Type Zinc Finger Proteins of Tomato and Expression Analysis Under Different Abiotic Stresses

In plants, C2H2-type zinc finger proteins play important roles in multiple processes, including plant growth and development, as well as biotic and abiotic responses. In the present study, based on the presence of the C2H2 domain (CX2~4CX3FX5LX2HX3~5H), 112 C2H2-type zinc finger proteins were predicted in tomato. Through gene and protein structures analyses and phylogenetic analysis, the 112 C2H2-type zinc finger proteins were divided into five subfamilies. Members of the same subfamily shared similarities in gene and protein structures, while members of different subfamilies contained different numbers of the C2H2 domain. The tissue expression pattern analysis showed that 24 C2H2-type zinc finger proteins are constitutively expressed in all tissues, indicating that they may play important roles in the growth and development of all tissues. In addition, under chilling (4 °C), heat (42 °C), high salinity (200 Mm NaCl), and osmotic (20% PEG) stresses, members of C2H2-type zinc finger family were induced to varying degrees, which suggested that these genes were involved in multiple abiotic stress responses. This study will provide theoretical basis for further research of C2H2-type zinc finger proteins in tomato.

     

烟草C2H2锌指蛋白转录因子家族成员的鉴定与表达分析

C2H2锌指蛋白转录因子家族在真核生物中具有重要的生物学功能,广泛参与植物叶的发生、花器官的调控、侧枝的形成及逆境胁迫等生命过程。植物C2H2锌指蛋白不仅结合DNA和RNA,而且与蛋白质之间相互作用。本研究利用普通烟草(Nicotiana tabacum)基因组数据库,运用Blastp比对,结合Pfam和SMART分析,鉴定了118条普通烟草C2H2锌指蛋白家族成员;对烟草C2H2锌指蛋白家族进行了进化树分析、结构域分析、物理化学性质分析、染色体定位、基因结构分析、三维结构分析及组织表达分析等。结果表明：不同成员的氨基酸长度差异较大;系统进化及结构域分析显示,所有C2H2家族成员可以被分为5个亚家族,同一亚家族成员之间在结构域和理化性质上呈现较高一致性;每个成员都含有C2H2结构域,在数量上存在较大差异;将所有基因家族成员定位在22条染色体上;组织表达分析表明,每个C2H2亚家族都有成员在不同组织中表达,在叶及根中有些基因的表达量较高。     

大豆C2H2型锌指蛋白基因SCTF-1的克隆及功能分析

锌指蛋白是一类具有手指型结构的蛋白质,其中一些锌指蛋白是转录因子,对真核生物的生长发育及非生物逆境胁迫的耐受能力都有着重要作用。文章从大豆(Glycine max(L.)Merr.)中克隆了一个新的C2H2型锌指蛋白基因SCTF-1(GenBank登录号:JQ692081),该基因包含一个699 bp的开放阅读框,编码233个氨基酸,无内含子,有两个典型的C2H2型锌指结构。锌指结构中有植物锌指蛋白特有的保守氨基酸序列QALGGH。经软件预测分析,其等电点pI=8.33,分子量24.9 kDa。农杆菌介导的洋葱表皮细胞GFP瞬时表达实验结果表明,SCTF-1蛋白能够定位到细胞核中。通过RT-PCR检测发现该基因在大豆叶和花中的表达量较高,在茎和根的表达量相对较低。在对大豆幼苗的低温胁迫中,SCTF-1基因的表达量明显增加。将SCTF-1基因转入烟草(Nicotiana tabacum L.)中,发现SCTF-1基因的过量表达能够明显提高转基因烟草的耐冷能力。     

水稻TFⅢA型锌指蛋白基因ZFP207的克隆和表达分析

锌指蛋白是一类重要的转录因子, 广泛参与植物的生长发育和胁迫应答过程。文章使用生物信息学方法从水稻中预测并克隆了一个TFⅢA型锌指蛋白基因ZFP207(GenBank 登陆号: AK063147.1), 该基因包含一个567 bp的开放阅读框, 编码一条188个氨基酸组成的多肽,其编码产物的预测分子量为20.72 kDa, 等电点为9.67。锌指蛋白ZFP207含有一个典型的TFⅢA型锌指结构, 并且在C端含有一个可能具有转录抑制功能的EAR-motif, 但不具有任何已知的核定位信号。系统发生分析结果表明, ZFP207与植物中已经发现的单锌指蛋白亲缘关系较近。通过RT-PCR方法分析了ZFP207基因在成株期水稻不同组织中的表达, 发现ZFP207在茎和叶中表达量较高, 而在穗和根中表达量较低。在酵母中的转录激活实验结果显示, ZFP207在酵母中不具有转录激活功能。     

C2H2型锌指蛋白结合的DNA序列预测方法的研究进展

C2H2型锌指蛋白是哺乳动物中数量最多的一类转录调控因子.C2H2型锌指蛋白中含有的C2H2型锌指基序多是不相同的,表明它们很可能结合不同的DNA序列,从而调控不同的基因,行使多样化的调控功能.然而,目前大多数C2H2型锌指蛋白结合的DNA序列仍不明确,这阻碍了C2H2型锌指蛋白的功能研究.目前,针对C2H2型锌指蛋白的靶序列预测已有一些初步的研究.本文介绍了C2H2型锌指基序与DNA结合的经典模式,并对C2H2型锌指蛋白靶序列预测方法中所用到的算法、训练集、金标准数据集及相应工具进行了全面系统的总结归纳,旨在丰富对C2H2型锌指蛋白靶序列预测原理和工具的认识,为C2H2型锌指蛋白靶序列的精确预测和更深入的功能研究打下基础.     

植物Dof转录因子及其生物学功能

Dof(DNA binding with one finger)蛋白是植物特有的一类转录因子,包含一个C2-C2锌指,其N-末端保守的Dof结构域是既与DNA又和蛋白相互作用的双重功能域。在过去10多年的研究中,Dof蛋白在多种单子叶和双子叶植物中被分离。Dof蛋白作为转录的激活子或抑制子在植物的生长和发育中发挥重要作用。就Dof转录因子及其生物学功能的进展进行了综述。     

A novel rice C2H2-type zinc finger protein lacking DLN-box/EAR-motif plays a role in salt tolerance

A cDNA for the gene ZFP182, encoding a C2H2-type zinc finger protein, was cloned from rice by RT-PCR. ZFP182 codes an 18.2 kDa protein with two C2H2-type zinc finger motifs, one nuclear localization signal and one Leu-rich domain. The DLN-box/EAR-motif, which exists in most of plant C2H2-type zinc finger proteins, does not exist in ZFP182. The expression analysis showed that ZFP182 gene was constitutively expressed in leaves, culms, roots and spikes at the adult rice plants, and markedly induced in the seedlings by cold (4 degrees C), 150 mM NaCl and 0.1 mM ABA treatments. The approximate 1.4 kb promoter region of ZFP182 gene was fused into GUS reporter gene and transformed into tobacco. The histochemical analysis revealed that GUS expression could not be detected in transformed tobacco seedlings under normal conditions, but strongly observed in tobacco leaf discs and the vascular tissue of roots treated with NaCl or KCl. Expression of ZFP182 in transgenic tobacco and overexpression in rice increased plant tolerance to salt stress. These results demonstrated that ZFP182 might be involved in plant responses to salt stress.     

一个可能与T细胞发育相关的新的C2H2型锌指蛋白基因的克隆(英)

一些在组织和细胞分化中起重要作用的蛋白质包含锌指结构域.为了克隆分离和研究与造血细胞分化和发育成熟相关的蛋白基因,利用编码C2H2型锌指蛋白结构域中部分保守氨基酸序列设计简并引物,以骨髓cDNA为模板,进行PCR扩增,得到若干新的锌指蛋白基因EST.用其中一条为探针筛选人骨髓cDNA文库,获得了一个新的锌指蛋白基因全长cDNA,GenBank收录号为AF246126,长3 888 bp,包括一个完整阅读框,编码686个氨基酸,包括17个典型的和2个非典型的C2H2模体,命名为HZF2. RNA印迹、人多组织mRNA斑点杂交分析结果显示, 其在T淋巴细胞发育和定居的器官组织胸腺、淋巴结中有较高表达,在脾脏、胎肝有中度表达,在B淋巴细胞发育的骨髓中表达很低,在外周血几个淋巴细胞系中仅有极微量的表达,提示HZF2可能对于T淋巴细胞发育和增殖有重要功能.该基因也在脑组织的若干部位、胎盘及肾上腺有较高表达,在多种其他组织细胞有微量表达,说明其可能对维持这些组织细胞的生理功能也起一定作用.将编码HZF2读框的DNA顺序克隆到pEGFP-N1载体中,转染3T3细胞,证明表达的HZF2-GFP融合蛋白定位于细胞核,这与根据HZF2蛋白结构推测其可能作为DNA结合蛋白行使调节基因转录的功能是一致的.