小麦的分类、起源与进化

小麦是世界历史上最古老的作物之一,约在一万年以前,在西南亚,人类首先成功地将小麦进行栽培生产粮食,因此小麦栽培历史和人类开化有着密切的相互关系。在现代世界农业中,小麦也是最重要的作物之一。它分布面积很广,从北纬67°的挪威、芬兰和苏联到南纬45°的阿根庭都有栽培。世界生产小麦的地区有苏联南部、美国中部平原和加拿大相邻地区、地中海地区、中国、印度、阿根廷北部和澳大利亚的西南部。这类作物在比较宽的环境 范围内都能获得高产。据统计,全世界有1/3的人口以小麦为主要粮食.消费的小麦食物卡值占全世界的20%以上。     

小麦染色体组的起源与进化

小麦是世界上最重要也是最古老的作物之一,同时它还是典型的多倍体植物,关于它的起源与进化至今还是１个未彻底揭开的谜。长期以来各国学者在这方面进行了大量研究。１小麦属的分类小麦属禾本科（Ｃｒａｍｉｎｅａｅ）、小麦族（Ｔｒｉｔ－ｉｃｅａｅ）、小麦亚族（Ｔｒ...     

变豆菜属分类、起源与进化研究进展

变豆菜属(Sanicula)是典型的东亚-北美间断分布属,属于北极-第三纪古老区系成分。目前全世界有40种,中国(17种,11个特有种)和美国(22种,13个特有种)是2个分布中心。近年来有关变豆菜属分子系统发育研究表明该属并非单系,不同学者采用了不同的属下分类标准,但属下分类系统和种间界限仍存在争议,特别是药用植物的种类较易混淆。变豆菜属的系统进化研究主要集中在北美Sanicora DC.组及夏威夷Sandwicensis Shan and Constance组的类群,缺少对中国特有种的研究,因此该属的系统位置、起源地、迁移、扩散模式和种间进化关系均不清楚。本文对变豆菜属的分类系统、分类方法、起源和进化的研究进展进行了综述,并提出存在的问题和解决方法。     

动物眼睛的起源与进化研究进展

动物眼睛的起源与进化过程是人类在探索自然奥秘过程中遇到的一个非常有趣且引人注目的研究热点,目前这方面的研究已取得了丰硕的成果。从眼睛出现的过程、眼睛进化所需的时间、眼睛的单起源论、眼睛的类型与进化、光感受器与眼睛进化的关系、光感受器和视蛋白的类型与进化这6个方面简要概述了动物眼睛起源与进化的主要研究进展。     

蕨类植物和裸子植物的起源与进化

最近笔者拜读了由中山大学生物系与南京大学生物系合编的《植物学》(系统、分类部分),高等教育出版社,1984年3月第四次印刷本,发现在该书的157—188页,即于论述“蕨类植物的起源与进化”和“裸子植物的起源与进化”两节中,存在一些值得与作者商榷的问题,现评论如下,谨希同行专家广为讨论。     

细胞的起源和进化（一）

现代地球上绝大部分的生命都是以单个细胞或多个细胞的形式存在的。生命起源后细胞基本结构的形成和细胞结构在进化过程中的发展都是一些重大的生物进化事件。因此对细胞本身的起源和进化的研究是探索生物进化的重要组成部分。１最原始的细胞细胞是如何产生的呢？要解决这...     

植物多倍体起源与分子进化研究进展

杂交和多倍化是植物最重要的进化方式之一 ,在自然界普遍存在着多倍体物种 ,约 50 %的被子植物和 80 %的蕨类植物进化历史上都曾经历过这种活动 〔1,2〕。在动物界 ,随着大量分子生物学证据的积累 ,有关杂交 -多倍化物种形成的报道也越来越多〔3〕。随着时间的流逝 ,杂种与祖先种在遗传分化上的积累越来越多 ,这使得探讨多倍体物种起源及其进化成为一个极具挑战性的研究领域。早在二十世纪二三十年代 ,生物学家们就对植物多倍体进行了大量的研究 〔4〕,不过 ,由于当时研究方法的限制 ,他们只能在外部形态、生化特性等方面对多倍体植物进行一…     

禾本科植物的起源,进化及分布

禾本科植物的起源、进化及分布韩建国樊奋成李枫（中国农业大学草地研究所,北京１０００９４）ＯＲＩＧＩＮ,ＥＶＯＬＵＴＩＯＮＡＮＤＤＩＳＴＲＩＢＵＴＩＯＮＯＦＴＨＥＧＲＡＭＩＮＥＡＥＨａｎＪｉａｎ－ｇｕｏＦａｎＦｅｎ－ｃｈｅｎｇＬｉＦｅｎｇ（Ｇｒａｓｓｌ...     

Divergent evolution in the enolase superfamily: the interplay of mechanism and specificity

The members of the mechanistically diverse enolase superfamily catalyze different overall reactions. Each shares a partial reaction in which an active site base abstracts the alpha-proton of the carboxylate substrate to generate an enolate anion intermediate that is stabilized by coordination to the essential Mg(2+) ion; the intermediates are then directed to different products in the different active sites. In this minireview, our current understanding of structure/function relationships in the divergent members of the superfamily is reviewed, and the use of this knowledge for our future studies is proposed.     

On the similar spatial arrangement of active site residues in PAPS-dependent and phenolic sulfate-utilizing sulfotransferases

Mammalian sulfotransferases (STs) utilize exclusively the sulfuryl group donor 3′-phosphoadenosine 5′-phosphosulfate (PAPS) to catalyze the sulfurylation reactions based on a sequential transfer mechanism. In contrast, the commensal intestinal bacterial arylsulfate sulfotransferases (ASSTs) do not use PAPS as the sulfuryl group donor, but instead catalyze sulfuryl transfer from phenolic sulfate to a phenol via a Ping-Pong mechanism. Interestingly, structural comparison revealed a similar spatial arrangement of the active site residues as well as the cognate substrates in mouse ST (mSULT1D1) and Escherichia coli CFT073 ASST, despite that their overall structures bear no discernible relationship. These observations suggest that the active sites of PAPS-dependent SULT1D1 and phenolic sulfate-utilizing ASST represent an example of convergent evolution.     

The future of DNA-DNA hybridization studies

Summary This article draws on many vertebrate examples to assess the future of DNA-DNA hybridization studies. I first discuss whether applications of the method have reached the point of diminishing returns, or rather the start of a great leap forward, in our evolutionary understanding. Vertebrate groups whose relationships are especially likely to be illuminated include parrots, pigeons, bats, pinnipeds, mammalian carnivores, frogs, and rodents. There are at least two reasons why classifications based on DNA-DNA hybridization may prove to differ from classifications based on particular character, whether these be noncoding DNA sequences or protein sequences or anatomical characters. Because evolutionary relationships can now be deduced independently of anatomical characters, this should permit a renaissance in comparative anatomical studies of adaptation. The origin of major functional shifts from changes in a small fraction of the genome is illustrated by polar bears, sea otters, warblers, vultures, and especially by humans.     

Divergent and convergent synthesis of polymannosylated dibranched antigenic peptide of the immunodominant epitope MBP(83–99)

Multiple antigenic peptide (MAP) systems are dendrimeric structures bearing multiple copies of identical or different peptide epitopes, and they have been demonstrated to show enhanced immunogenicity. Herein, we report the direct (divergent) and indirect (convergent) synthesis, using contemporary synthetic approaches, of a di-branched antigenic peptide (di-BAP) containing the immunodominant epitope MBP(83–99), which is implicated in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model of multiple sclerosis (MS). The direct synthesis (di-BAP 1) was performed using microwave irradiation. The indirect synthesis (di-BAP 2) was carried out performing an efficient chemoselective coupling reaction through the formation of a thioether bond. Both di-BAPs were conjugated to polysaccharide mannan since mannosylation is a promising technique to achieve modulation in immune response. The conjugation was achieved through free amino groups of both di-BAPs via the formation of Schiff bases. The mannan-conjugated di-BAPs were further evaluated in vivo in a prophylactic vaccination protocol, prior to EAE induction in Lewis rats.     

Identification of Several Cytoplasmic HSP70 Genes from the Mediterranean Mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) and Their Long-Term Evolution in Mollusca and Metazoa

The HSP70 protein family consists one of the most conserved and important systems for cellular homeostasis under both stress and physiological conditions. The genes of this family are poorly studied in Mollusca, which is the second largest metazoan phylum. To study these genes in Mollusca, we have isolated and identified five HSP70 genes from Mytilus galloprovincialis (Mediterranean mussel) and investigated their short-term evolution within Mollusca and their long-term evolution within Metazoa. Both sequence and phylogenetic analyses suggested that the isolated genes belong to the cytoplasmic (CYT) group of the HSP70 genes. Two of these genes probably represent cognates, whereas the remaining probably represent heat-inducible genes. Phylogenetic analysis including several molluscan CYT HSP70s reveals that the cognate genes in two species have very similar sequences and form intraspecies phylogenetic clades, differently from most metazoan cognate genes studied thus far, implying either recent gene duplications or concerted evolution. The M. galloprovincialis heat-inducible genes show intraspecies phylogenetic clustering, which in combination with the higher amino acid than nucleotide identity suggests that both gene conversion and purifying selection should be responsible for their sequence homogenization. Phylogenetic analysis including several metazoan HSP70s suggests that at least two types of CYT genes were present in the common ancestor of vertebrates and invertebrates, the first giving birth to the heat-inducible genes of invertebrates, whereas the other to both the heat-inducible genes of vertebrates and the cognate genes of all metazoans. These analyses also suggest that inducible and cognate genes seem to undergo divergent evolution. Electronic Supplementary Material Electronic Supplementary material is available for this article at and accessible for authorised users. [Reviewing Editor: Dr. Yves Van de Peer] Elena Drosopoulou and Nikolas Nikolaidis contributed equally to the present report.     

The proximate control of pupal color in swallowtail butterflies: implications for the evolution of environmentally cued pupal color in butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)

The environmentally cued production of cryptic green/yellow or brown/melanized pupae is widespread in butterflies, occurring in the Nymphalidae, Pieridae, and the Papilionidae subfamily Papilioninae. The dimorphism is controlled by the hormone pupal melanization reducing factor (PMRF). In the nymphalid Inachis io dibutryl cAMP mimics PMRF, and inhibits pupal melanization. However, in the papilionid Papilio polyxenes PMRF stimulates browning, suggesting that the control of pupal color by PMRF has evolved independently in the swallowtail and nymphalid-pierid lineages. We examined this hypothesis by using ligatures to prevent hormone release in five species representing three Papilioninae tribes. One species, Papilio glaucus, produces only brown pupae. Ligatures resulted in green cuticle posterior to the ligature in all five swallowtail species, including P. glaucus, suggesting that the mode of action of PMRF is the same in the three tribes. We also found that in P. polyxenes injections of dibutryl cAMP into prepupal larvae mimic the effect of PMRF, by causing dose-dependent pupal browning. Our results support the hypothesis that the control of pupal color by PMRF has evolved independently in the two lineages. The observation that green pupal color can be induced in P. glaucus by ligature indicates that environmentally cued pupal color could evolve by facultative inhibition of PMRF release.     

Comparison of goose-type,chicken-type,and phage-type lysozymes illustrates the changes that occur in both amino acid sequence and three-dimensional structure during evolution

Summary The three-dimensional structure of goose-type lysozyme (GEWL), determined by x-ray crystallography and refined at high resolution, has similarities to the structures of hen (chicken) eggwhite lysozyme (HEWL) and bacteriophage T4 lysozyme (T4L). The nature of the structural correspondence suggests that all three classes of lysozyme diverged from a common evolutionary precursor, even though their amino acid sequences appear to be unrelated (Grütter et al. 1983).In this paper we make detailed comparisons of goose-type, chicken-type, and phage-type lysozymes. The lysozymes have undergone conformational changes at both the blobal and the local level. As in the globins, there are corresponding -helices that have rigid-body displacements relative to each other, but in some cases corresponding helices have increased or decreased in length, and in other cases there are helices in one structure that have no counterpart in another.Independent of the overall structural correspondence among the three lysozyme backbones is another, distinct correspondence between a set of three consecutive -helices in GEWL and three consecutive -helices in T4L. This structural correspondence could be due, in part, to a common energetically favorable contact between the first and the third helices.There are similarities in the active sites of the three lysozymes, but also one striking difference. Glu 73 (GEWL) spatially corresponds to Glu 35 (HEWL) and to Glu 11 (T4L). On the other hand, there are two aspartates in the GEWL active site, Asp 86 and Asp 97, neither of which corresponds exactly to Asp 52 (HEWL) or Asp 20 (T4L). (The discrepancy in the location of the carboxyl groups is about 10 Å for Asp 86 and 4 Å for Asp 97.) This lack of structural correspondence may reflect some differences in the mechanisms of action of three lysozymes. When the amino acid sequences of the three lysozyme types are aligned according to their structural correspondence, there is still no apparent relationship between the sequences except for possible weak matching in the vicinity of the active sites.