真核生物转录的发现

转录过程是遗传信息传递过程中一个非常重要的阶段,是生命研究中一个重要方面.该文阐述真核转录的研究进程,重点介绍卢德(Roeder RG)在此过程中发挥的重要作用,以熟悉这位科学家的贡献和真核转录发现的历史过程.     

真核生物转录的延伸机理

由于对真核生物基因转录延伸期研究的忽视,现有的真核生物基因转录理论存在种种的偏颇.然而,新近的研究发现却使人们逐渐认识到,真核基因转录延伸阶段其实是真核细胞调节基因转录的一个高度有序、而又极为复杂的调控平台.本文尝试对近年来真核生物基因转录延伸领域的研究进展,包括转录延伸与mRNA加工的偶联、基因转录延伸调控的分子机理以及转录延伸调控对发肯和应激反应产生的影响,作概括性的综述.     

丰富的古生菌

为确定土壤中存在的氨氧化古生菌（AOA）数量,挪威卑尔根大学的Christa Schleper等人从三个气候区的12种类型的土壤中筛出amoA——编码一个关键性氨氧化酶的一个亚单位的基因。PCR检测揭示土壤中古生菌amoA的含量超过细菌amoA3,000倍,颠覆了几十年来的细菌是土壤硝化的最大贡献者的观点。     

嗜盐古生菌br基因的遗传分析

从新疆阿尔金山地区阿乌拉仔盐湖分离纯化到几株极端嗜盐古生菌AJ11, AJ12和AJ13, 采用PCR技术分别扩增了其16S rRNA基因(16S rDNA)和编码螺旋C至螺旋G的细菌视紫红质(bacteriorhodopsin, BR)蛋白基因片段, 测定了基因的核苷酸序列。基于16S rDNA序列的同源性比较以及系统发育学研究表明, 分离到的菌株是Natrinema属中成员, 并构成一个独立的微生物种群。随后的遗传分析, 包括GC含量、转换与颠换的比率、同义突变率分析, 表明br基因间具有较高的遗传分歧程度, 并面临着净化选择和偏倚突变压的双重抑制。研究为物种资源及BR蛋白资源的进一步利用打下基础。     

真核生物转录机理的结构基础——2006年诺贝尔化学奖简介

罗杰·科恩伯格通过利用X射线衍射技术和相关方法在分子水平上第1次阐明了真核生物转录的基本机制,从而独享了2006年的诺贝尔化学奖。通过对真核生物转录研究的回顾、罗杰·科恩伯格在该领域的贡献及研究意义等几个方面介绍了本年度的诺贝尔奖,从而能对真核生物的转录机制有一个轮廓性的认识。     

真核生物转录因子对DNA序列的识别

真核生物转录因子对ＤＮＡ序列的识别杨岐生（浙江大学生物科学与技术系,杭州３１００２７）关键词真核生物转录因子,蛋白质－ＤＮＡ识别研究蛋白质和ＤＮＡ两类生物大分子的相互作用,以阐明基因表达、调控及信息传递的分子机制,是认识生命活动本质的核心问题。本文介...     

真核生物转录调控中阻遏蛋白的作用机制

真核生物转录调控中阻遏蛋白的作用机制明亮（杭州大学生命科学学院,杭州３１００１２）关键词转录调控,阻遏蛋白,真核生物真核基因表达在转录水平的调控机制极为复杂。据估计,真核细胞的基因大约有十分之一是用以编码参与转录调控尤其是转录起始调控的蛋白质的。目前...     

诱导溶源性嗜盐古生菌产生噬菌体的方法

目的:用简单易行的诱导手段,从溶源性的嗜盐古生菌中诱导产生新的噬菌体,为分离嗜盐古生菌噬菌体提供一种新的途径.方法:分别用紫外线与丝裂霉素C对10株对数期的嗜盐古生菌菌株进行诱导,上清液采用双层平板法进行噬菌斑鉴定,并用脉冲场凝胶电泳对噬菌体基因组进行分析.结果:经1 μg/mL丝裂霉素C诱导的嗜盐古生菌融合子F5产生了一株新的嗜盐古生菌噬菌体SNJ1,该噬菌体能感染Natrinema属的菌株J7.结论:丝裂霉素C能诱导原噬菌体从宿主中分离,为嗜盐古生菌噬菌体分离提供了一条新的途径.     

嗜盐碱古生菌新种的系统分类学研究

从内蒙古乌都淖咸性盐湖分离到嗜盐碱菌菌株Y21。其形态为杆状,能运动,红色菌落,通过生理生化、极性脂成分、基于16SrRNA序列的系统发育学分析和DNADNA杂交同源性比较,发现菌株Y21是Natrilba属中一个与其它成员不同的新种,命名为Natrilbawudunaoensissp.nov.。     

新疆艾比湖嗜盐菌的细菌视紫红质和16S rRNA基因序列的研究

为了研究分析嗜盐古生菌物种与细菌视紫红质(BR)蛋白基因资源,从40份土壤、湖水及淤泥样品中分离出148株嗜盐菌,对其中6株菌采用聚合酶链式反应(PCR)方法对其编码螺旋C至螺旋G的蛋白基因片段和16SrRNA基因进行了扩增,并测定了基因的核苷酸序列。与已报道的相应片段进行对比,ABDH10,ABDH1I和ABDH40中的螺旋C至螺旋G的蛋白与其他菌株差异显著。基于16SrRNA序列的同源性比较以及系统发育学研究表明,ABDH10和ABDH40是Natronorubrum属下的新成员和Natrinema属下的新成员,ABDH40的16SrRNA序列已登录到GenBank,其序列号为AY989910。ABDH11中的螺旋C至螺旋G的蛋白与其他菌株差异显著。     

Archaeal phylogenomics provides evidence in support of a methanogenic origin of the Archaea and a thaumarchaeal origin for the eukaryotes

We have developed a machine-learning approach to identify 3537 discrete orthologue protein sequence groups distributed across all available archaeal genomes. We show that treating these orthologue groups as binary detection/non-detection data is sufficient to capture the majority of archaeal phylogeny. We subsequently use the sequence data from these groups to infer a method and substitution-model-independent phylogeny. By holding this phylogeny constrained and interrogating the intersection of this large dataset with both the Eukarya and the Bacteria using Bayesian and maximum-likelihood approaches, we propose and provide evidence for a methanogenic origin of the Archaea. By the same criteria, we also provide evidence in support of an origin for Eukarya either within or as sisters to the Thaumarchaea.     

Microbial diversity in arctic freshwaters is structured by inoculation of microbes from soils

Microbes are transported in hydrological networks through many environments, but the nature and dynamics of underlying microbial metacommunities and the impact of downslope inoculation on patterns of microbial diversity across landscapes are unknown. Pyrosequencing of small subunit ribosomal RNA gene hypervariable regions to characterize microbial communities along a hydrological continuum in arctic tundra showed a pattern of decreasing diversity downslope, with highest species richness in soil waters and headwater streams, and lowest richness in lake water. In a downstream lake, 58% and 43% of the bacterial and archaeal taxa, respectively, were also detected in diverse upslope communities, including most of the numerically dominant lake taxa. In contrast, only 18% of microbial eukaryotic taxa in the lake were detected upslope. We suggest that patterns of diversity in surface waters are structured by initial inoculation from microbial reservoirs in soils followed by a species-sorting process during downslope dispersal of both common and rare microbial taxa. Our results suggest that, unlike for metazoans, a substantial portion of bacterial and archaeal diversity in surface freshwaters may originate in complex soil environments.     

Zelloberflächenstrukturen der Bacteria und Archaea

Cell wall types of Bacteria and Archaea The acaryote microorganisms are divided into the two domains Bacteria and Archaea. The third domain represent the Eukarya. There is no universal cell wall polymer found in all Bacteria and Archaea. Due to their morphology several cell wall types can be identified, but the chemical diversity of the individual polymers is considerably greater. Certain cell wall polymers are limited to one of the two domains of Bacteria or Archaea like the murein of the Bacteria or the pseudomurein of some methanogens. Peptidoglycans (murein, pseudomurein) do not occur in eukaryotes. On the other hand individual cell wall polymers possess similarities to polymers of other domains. The structural principle of the methanochondroitin is also implemented in the eukaryotic connective tissue. The cell wall polymers consist frequently of glycoconjugates in which the amino acid content (glycoproteins) or the glycan moiety (proteoglycan‐like polymers) predominate. Both components (carbohydrates, amino acids) can also occur in similar amounts (peptidoglycan). There exist also cell wall polymers, which consist only of glycans (slimes, methanochondroitin) or amino acids (proteins, poly‐γ‐D‐glutamyl polymers). Cell wall‐free species (Mycoplasma) also occur. The chemical composition of the cell surface polymers was one of the first phenotypic characteristics that supported the 16 sRNA concept of Carl Woese to assign acaryote organisms into the two domains Bacteria and Archaea. A common feature of all Archaea is the lack of muramic acid and an outer membrane. The later occurs in the gramnegative Bacteria. During the evolution of Bacteria and Archaea a great variety of chemically different cell wall polymers has been developed which allow the growth and interaction of Bacteria and Archaea in different habitats. In this paper, some important surface polymers of Bacteria and Archaea are presented according to their chemical composition.     

Biogeographic patterns in below-ground diversity in New York City's Central Park are similar to those observed globally

Soil biota play key roles in the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems, however, compared to our knowledge of above-ground plant and animal diversity, the biodiversity found in soils remains largely uncharacterized. Here, we present an assessment of soil biodiversity and biogeographic patterns across Central Park in New York City that spanned all three domains of life, demonstrating that even an urban, managed system harbours large amounts of undescribed soil biodiversity. Despite high variability across the Park, below-ground diversity patterns were predictable based on soil characteristics, with prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities exhibiting overlapping biogeographic patterns. Further, Central Park soils harboured nearly as many distinct soil microbial phylotypes and types of soil communities as we found in biomes across the globe (including arctic, tropical and desert soils). This integrated cross-domain investigation highlights that the amount and patterning of novel and uncharacterized diversity at a single urban location matches that observed across natural ecosystems spanning multiple biomes and continents.     

Universal Sharing Patterns in Proteomes and Evolution of Protein Fold Architecture and Life

Protein evolution is imprinted in both the sequence and the structure of evolutionary building blocks known as protein domains. These domains share a common ancestry and can be unified into a comparatively small set of folding architectures, the protein folds. We have traced the distribution of protein folds between and within proteomes belonging to Eukarya, Archaea, and Bacteria along the branches of a universal phylogeny of protein architecture. This tree was reconstructed from global fold-usage statistics derived from a structural census of proteomes. We found that folds shared by the three organismal domains were placed almost exclusively at the base of the rooted tree and that there were marked heterogeneities in fold distribution and clear evolutionary patterns related to protein architecture and organismal diversification. These include a relative timing for the emergence of prokaryotes, congruent episodes of architectural loss and diversification in Archaea and Bacteria, and a late and quite massive rise of architectural novelties in Eukarya perhaps linked to multicellularity.Reviewing Editor : Dr. David Pollock     

极端嗜盐古菌遗传转化系统的研究

对极端嗜盐古菌遗传转化系统的研究进展进行了综述,内容包括抗性标记基因的选择,基因克隆和表达载体系统的发展以及受体系统的改造。     

Bacterial, archaeal, and eukaryal diversity in the intestines of Korean people

The bacterial, archaeal, and eukaryal diversity in fecal samples from ten Koreans were analyzed and compared by using the PCR-fingerprinting method, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). The bacteria all belonged to the Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes phyla, which were known to be the dominant bacterial species in the human intestine. Most of the archaeal sequences belonged to the methane-producing archaea but several halophilic archarea-related sequences were also detected unexpectedly. While a small number of eukaryal sequences were also detected upon DGGE analysis, these sequences were related to fungi and stramenopiles (Blastocystis hominis). With regard to the bacterial and archaeal DGGE analysis, all ten samples had one and two prominent bands, respectively, but many individual-specific bands were also observed. However, only five of the ten samples had small eukaryal DGGE bands and none of these bands was observed in all five samples. Unweighted pair group method and arithmetic averages clustering algorithm (UPGMA) clustering analysis revealed that the archaeal and bacterial communities in the ten samples had relatively higher relatedness (the average Dice coefficient values were 68.9 and 59.2% for archaea and bacteria, respectively) but the eukaryal community showed low relatedness (39.6%).