Photosynthetic Properties of Photosystem Ⅱ in Arabidopsis thaliana Ipa1 Mutant

In a previous study, we characterized a high chlorophyll fluorescence Ipal mutant of Arabidopsis thallana, in which approximately 20% photosystem （PS） Ⅱ protein is accumulated. In the present study, analysis of fluorescence decay kinetics and thermoluminescence profiles demonstrated that the electron transfer reaction on either the donor or acceptor side of PSII remained largely unaffected in the Ipa1 mutant. In the mutant, maximal photochemical efficiency （Fv/Fm, where Fm is the maximum fluorescence yield and Fv is variable fluorescence） decreased with increasing light intensity and remained almost unchanged in wildtype plants under different light conditions. The Fv/Fm values also increased when mutant plants were transferred from standard growth light to low light conditions. Analysis of PSll protein accumulation further confirmed that the amount of PSll reaction center protein is correlated with changes in Fv/Fm in Ipal plants. Thus, the assembled PSll in the mutant was functional and also showed increased photosensitivity compared with wild-type plants.     

外源茉莉酸诱导植物反应对小菜蛾生长发育的影响

Jasmonic acid (JA) is a naturally occurred growth regulator found in higher plants and a main signal molecule carrying information about injury. Its increased concentration in plants infested by herbivores can induce the wounded plants to produce defense responses which will affect herbivores. The application of exogenous JA to plants could imitate the effects of herbivores infestation. This study showed that applying exogenous JA on cabbage plants did not affect the survival of Plutella x vlostella larvae, but retarded their development and reduced the pupal weight and female fecundity.     

Molecular Characterization of a Dehydroascorbate Reductase from Pinus bungeana

Dehydroascorbate reductase （DHAR） plays a critical role in the ascorbate-glutathione recycling reaction for most higher plants. To date, studies on DHAR in higher plants have focused largely on Arabidopsis and agricultural plants, and there is virtually no information on the molecular characteristics of DHAR in gymnosperms. The present study reports the cloning and characteristics of a DHAR （PbDHAR） from a pine, Pinus bungeana Zucc. ex Endl. The PbDHAR gene encodes a protein of 215 amino acid residues with a calculated molecular mass of 24.26 kDa. The predicted 3-D structure of PbDHAR showed a typical glutathione S-transferase fold. Reverse transcripUon-polymerase chain reaction revealed that the PbDHAR was a constitutive expression gene in P. bungeana. The expression level of PbDHAR mRNA in P. bungeana seedlings did not show significant change under high temperature stress. The recombinant PbDHAR was overexpressed in Escherichia coil following purification with affinity chromatography. The recombinant PbDHAR exhibited enzymatic activity （19.84 i.mnol/min per mg） and high affinity （a Krn of 0.08 mM） towards the substrates dehydroascorbate （DHA）. Moreover, the recombinant PbDHAR was a thermostable enzyme, and retained 77% of its initial activity at 55℃. The present study is the first to provide a detailed molecular characterization of the DHAR in P. bungeana.     

Heat Shock Factors HsfB 1 and HsfB2b Are Involved in the Regulation of Pdf1.2 Expression and Pathogen Resistance in Arabidopsis

In order to assess the functional roles of heat stress-induced class B-heat shock factors in Arabidopsis, we investigated T-DNA knockout mutants of AtHsfB1 and AtHsfB2b. Micorarray analysis of double knockout hsfB1/hsfB2b plants revealed as strong an up-regulation of the basal mRNA-levels of the defensin genes Pdfl.2a/b in mutant plants. The Pdfexpression was further enhanced by jasmonic acid treatment or infection with the necrotrophic fungus Alternaria brassicicola. The single mutant hsfB2b and the double mutant hsfB 1/B2b were significantly improved in disease resistance after A. brassicicola infection. There was no indication for a direct interaction of Hsf with the promoter of Pdf1.2, which is devoid of perfect HSE consensus Hsf-binding sequences. However, changes in the formation of late HsfA2-dependent HSE binding were detected in hsfB1/B2b plants. This suggests that HsfB1/B2b may interact with class A-Hsf in regulating the shut-off of the heat shock response. The identification of Pdfgenes as targets of Hsf-dependent negative regulation is the first evidence for an interconnection of Hsf in the regulation of biotic and abiotic responses.     

Extensive profiling of the expressions of tRNAs and tRNA-derived fragments (tRFs) reveals the complexities of tRNA and tRF populations in plants

Evidence is emerging that t RNA-derived fragments(t RFs) are regulatory molecules. Studies of t RFs in plants have been based on conventional small RNA sequencing, and focused on profiling of t RF-5 and t RF-3 species. A more comprehensive and quantitative analysis of the entire t RF population is highly necessary. Here, we employ t RNA-seq and YAMAT-seq, and develop a bioinformatics tool to comprehensively profile the expressions of t RNAs and t RFs in plants. We show that in Arabidopsis,approximately half of t RNA genes are extremely weakly expressed, accounting for only 1% of total t RNA abundance, while～12% of t RNA genes contribute to ～80% of t RNA abundance. Our t RNA sequencings in various plants reveal that t RNA expression profiles exhibit a cross-species conserved pattern. By characterizing the composition of a highly heterogeneous t RF population, we show that t RNA halves and previously unnoticed 10–16-nt tiny t RFs represent substantial portions. The highly accumulated 13-nt and 16-nt tiny t RFs in Arabidopsis indicate that tiny t RFs are not random t RNA degradation products. Finally,we provide a user-friendly database for displaying the dynamic spatiotemporal expressions of t RNAs and t RFs in the model plants Arabidopsis and rice.     

Between a Rock and a Dry Place： The Water-Stressed Moss

The earliest land plants faced a suite of abiotic stresses largely unknown to their aquatic algal ancestors. The descendants of these plants evolved two general mechanisms for survival in the relatively arid aerial environment. While the vascular plants or ＇tracheophytes＇ developed tissue specializations to transport and retain water, the other main lineages of land plants, the bryophytes, retained a simple, nonvascular morphology. The bryophytes--mosses, hornworts, and liverworts--continually undergo a co-equilibration of their water content with the surrounding environment and rely to a great extent on intrinsic cellular mechanisms to mitigate damage due to water stress. This short review will focus on the cellular and molecular responses to dehydration and rehydration in mosses, and offer insights into general plant responses to water stress.     

马铃薯Y病毒N株HC-pro基因的序列分析与表达

The HC-pro gene was amplified by RT-PCR from total RNA of tobacco leaves infected with a N strain of Potato virus Y in Shaanxi, and cloned into the PMD 18-T vector. This HC-pro gene is consisted of 1371 nucleotides, encoding 457 amino acids. It shared the sequence homologyof 82.5%-96.4% nucleotide acid and 92.5%-98.0% in amino acids compared to 9 species of PVY N HC-pro abroad. The HC-pro gene was inserted into prokaryotic expressing vector pBV221, to obtain pBVHC recombinant plasmid in E. coli BL21. SDS-PAGE indicated that HC-pro proteins are successfully expressed in E. coli, Western blotting analysis demonstrated that the antibody against the expressed HC-pro can be used to identify the infected plants .     

灭蚊真菌－贵阳腐霉对植物的安全性试验

The aim of this study is to investigate whether Pythium guiyangense, a mosquito-killing fungus isolated in Guiyang, Guizhou Province of China in 1994, is pathogenic to plants. Six common crops, Cucumis sativa, Lycopersicon esculentum, Capsicum annuum, Nicotiana tabacum, Brassica campestris and Oryza sativa were used as subjects for test. Zoospores of the fungus were used to infect the plants with soil inoculation method, caudex injection method and foliage spray method. Both positive control (using P. aphanidermatum) and negative control (using sterile water) were set up in all the experiments. The results showed that no infection was found on the tested plants in soil inoculation experiments. In caudex injection test, callus grew around the wounded tissue in most of the plants. Brownish rottenness could be found only in the injected wounds in a few plants, probably caused by saprophytic bacteria or other fungi, and the germ-carrying plants grew normally. No abnormal appearance was found on the six crops in foliage spray test. It was demonstrated that P. guiyangense could hardly infect plants in nature, and was a safe and promising agent for mosquito biological control.     

Endogenous Small RNA Clusters in Plants

In plants, small RNAs（sRNAs） usually refer to non-coding RNAs（ncRNAs） with lengths of 20–24 nucleotides. sRNAs are involved in the regulation of many essential processes related to plant development and environmental responses. sRNAs in plants are mainly grouped into microRNAs（miRNAs） and small interfering RNAs（siRNAs）, and the latter can be further classified into trans-acting siRNAs（ta-siRNAs）, repeat-associated siRNAs（ra-siRNAs）, natural anti-sense siRNAs（nat-siRNAs）, etc. Many sRNAs exhibit a clustered distribution pattern in the genome. Here, we summarize the features and functions of cluster-distributed sRNAs, aimed to not only provide a thorough picture of sRNA clusters（SRCs） in plants, but also shed light on the identification of new classes of functional sRNAs.     

A novel strategy to inhibit the reproduction and translation of hepatitis C virus

Hepatitis C virus (HCV), a positive single-stranded RNA virus, is a major cause of liver disease in humans. Herein we report a novel strategy to inhibit the reproduction and translation of HCV using a short RNA, named an Additional RNA, to activate the endonuclease activity of Argonaute 2 (Ago2). In the presence of the Additional RNA, the HCV genome RNA has the requisite 12 nucleotides of base-pairing with microRNA-122. This activates the endonuclease activity of Ago2, resulting in cleavage and release of the HCV genome RNA from Ago2 and microRNA-122. The free HCV genome RNA would be susceptible to intracellular degradation, effectively inhibiting its reproduction and translation. This study presents a new method to inhibit HCV that may hold great potential for HCV treatment in the future.     

Protein-Repairing Methionine Sulfoxide Reductases in Photosynthetic Organisms： Gene Organization,Reduction Mechanisms,and Physiological Roles

Methionine oxidation to methionine sulfoxide （MetSO） is reversed by two types of methionine sulfoxide reducrases （MSRs）, A and B, specific to the S- and R-diastereomers of MetSO, respectively. MSR genes are found in most organisms from bacteria to human. In the current review, we first compare the organization of the MSR gene families in photosynthetic organisms from cyanobacteria to higher plants. The analysis reveals that MSRs constitute complex families in higher plants, bryophytes, and algae compared to cyanobacteria and all non-photosynthetic organisms. We also perform a classification, based on gene number and structure, position of redox-active cysteines and predicted sub-cellular localization. The various catalytic mechanisms and potential physiological electron donors involved in the regeneration of MSR activity are then de- scribed. Data available from higher plants reveal that MSRs fulfill an essential physiological function during environmental constraints through a role in protein repair and in protection against oxidative damage. Taking into consideration the ex- pression patterns of MSR genes in plants and the known roles of these genes in non-photosynthetic cells, other functions of MSRs are discussed during specific developmental stages and ageing in photosynthetic organisms.     

Functional properties of a chitinase promoter from cabbage （Brassica oleracea var.capitata）

The 5‘-region of the chitinase gene cabch29,derived from Brassica oleracea var.capitata,has been sequenced and analyzed for cis-acting elements important in controlling gene expression in transgenic tobacco plants.Different 5‘-deletion fragments were linked to reporter gene β-glucuronidase (GUS) as translational fusions,and the expression of these chimeric genes was analyzed in vegetative organs and tissues.Sequences up to-651 showed some basal GUS activity with nearly equal levels in wounded and intact tissues.The addition of further upstream sequences(-651 to-1284) enhanced expression level,and the expression driven by this fragment was inducible by a factor of two to three-fold by wounding.Histochemical analysis of different tissue from transgenic plants that contain cabch29 promoter-gus fusion gene demonstrated woundinducible and tissue-specific cabch29 promoter activity in plants containing the 1308 base pair fragment.The location of GUS activity appears to be cell-specific,being highest in vascular cells and epidermal cells of stem,leaf and roots.Meanwhile,the temporal and spatial expression of cabch29-GUS fusion gene has been investigated.Among the different vegetative organs,a high level of GUS activity was observed in stem and a moderate one in roots;whereas,wounding stress led to a high level of GUS in stem and moderate one in leaf.     

Influence of Nitrogen Fertilizer and Endophyte Infection on Ecophysiological Parameters and Mineral Element Content of Perennial Ryegrass

An experiment was designed to determine the effect of the fungal endophyte Neotyphodium Iolii on the growth, physiological parameters and mineral element content of perennial ryegrass （Lolium perennel L.）, when growing at two N supply levels. Endophyte infection had a significant positive effect on both shoot and root growth of ryegrass, but this difference was only significant in the high N supply treatment. At high N supply, endophyte-infected （El） plants accumulated more soluble sugar in the sheath and the root than endophyte-free （EF） plants. Endophyte infection affected mineral element concentrations in the root more than in the shoot. We found a significant effect of endophyte infection on B, Mn and Mg in the root, but significant effect was only found on B in the shoot. El plants tended to accumulate less B in the shoot at both N levels, but accumulated more B, Mn and Mg in the root at low N levels. The difference of growth parameters in different periods was significant. The content of soluble sugar and crude protein in the sheath were also dependent on the growth stages of both El and EF plants.