Cu胁迫对拟南芥幼苗错配修复基因表达的影响

采用半定量反转录聚合酶链式反应(RT-PCR)技术,以18S rRNA为内参基因,研究了Cu胁迫对拟南芥(Arabidopsis thaliana)幼苗错配修复相关基因(MLH1、MSH2、MSH3、MSH6、MSH7)表达的影响,并结合幼苗的形态和生理指标,选取Cu胁迫敏感的生物标记物.结果表明,Cu处理10 d后,对拟南芥种子发芽率、地上部鲜重及叶绿素含量的影响不大;根的长度明显受到抑制;拟南芥幼苗地上部可溶性蛋白质含量随着Cu浓度增加明显降低;5个错配修复相关基因的表达均受到不同程度的抑制,Cu浓度与拟南芥幼苗上述指标之间存在明显的剂量-效应关系.以上结果表明,地上部可溶性蛋白含量变化与上述错配修复相关基因表达量的改变趋势一致,且均对Cu胁迫较敏感,可以作为检测Cu污染对植物遗传毒性效应的生物标记物.     

镉胁迫对不同品种小麦幼苗生长和生理特性的影响

以4个小麦品种(豫麦4、扬麦15、宝丰7228和宁麦13)为材料,研究了镉胁迫对水培条件下小麦幼苗生长和抗氧化酶系统的影响.结果表明:镉胁迫条件下植株的生长、叶绿素合成及硝酸还原酶活性明显受到抑制;植株体内与氧化胁迫有关的CAT和POD活性下降,H2O2和MDA含量上升;4个品种在镉处理后生长抑制和氧化胁迫程度上表现不同,显示出对镉耐性的差异,其中扬麦15对镉耐性高于其他3个品种.     

镉胁迫下红树植物木榄幼苗的生理生化特性

用含CdCl2的Hoagland营养液处理了沙培中的木榄(Bruguiera gymnorrhiza)幼苗.2个月后对幼苗丙二醛(MDA)、叶绿素含量、过氧化物酶(POD)、超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)和过氧化氢酶(CAT)活性及其同工酶进行分析.结果表明,镉引起幼苗膜质过氧化,导致总叶绿素含量显著下降.镉主要影响迁移率大的阴离子型POD同工酶的活性.1 mmol·L-1镉显著抑制根中2条CAT同工酶RC-1和RC-2的活性.木榄根CAT和叶POD同工酶分析可作为红树林镉污染的监测手段之一.     

镉胁迫对拟南芥幼苗基因组DNA多态性的影响

应用随机扩增多态性DNA(RAPD)技术,检测了镉(Cd)胁迫对拟南芥幼苗叶片DNA多态性的影响,并结合其形态和生理指标,选取Cd污染敏感的生物标记物.结果表明:0.125～3.0 mg·L-1Cd处理21 d后,拟南芥幼苗叶片的可溶性蛋白质含量随Cd浓度的增加呈倒U字型曲线变化,但其鲜重和叶绿素含量变化均不明显;12条寡核苷酸引物中,有5条引物扩增出稳定、特异的PCR产物;拟南芥幼苗叶片基因组的RAPD图谱中,对照组RAPD图谱中分辨出44条清晰的条带;Cd胁迫使拟南芥幼苗叶片基因组的RAPD图谱发生了改变,包括条带的增加、缺失和条带荧光强度的改变,且与Cd剂量相关.实验证明,Cd影响基因组模板的稳定性,即DNA多态性对Cd污染敏感,可以作为检测Cd污染及其相关生物学效应的潜在生物标记物.     

Functional analysis of the Arabidopsis thaliana mismatch repair gene MSH2.

The Arabidopsis thaliana MSH2 (AtMSH2) gene encodes a protein that belongs to a family of highly conserved proteins (MutS homologues (MSH)) involved in DNA mismatch repair. Sequence analysis strongly suggests that this single copy gene is indeed a homologue of MSH2, a gene known to play a central role in eukaryotic mismatch repair. In this report, we show that the AtMSH2 protein has functional attributes characteristic of previously described mismatch repair proteins. First, over-expression of this protein in Escherichia coli leads to a mutator phenotype similar to that reported previously for known functional homologues. Second, gel retardation assays revealed that the AtMSH2 protein has a 10-fold greater affinity for DNA containing a single pair of mismatched nucleotides versus perfectly matched DNA. These results provide experimental evidence that AtMSH2 is indeed a functional homologue of MutS.     

Effects of gene expression on molecular evolution in Arabidopsis thaliana and Arabidopsis lyrata

We analyzed the complete genome sequence of Arabidopsis thaliana and sequence data from 83 genes in the outcrossing A. lyrata, to better understand the role of gene expression on the strength of natural selection on synonymous and replacement sites in Arabidopsis. From data on tRNA gene abundance, we find a good concordance between codon preferences and the relative abundance of isoaccepting tRNAs in the complete A. thaliana genome, consistent with models of translational selection. Both EST-based and new quantitative measures of gene expression (MPSS) suggest that codon preferences derived from information on tRNA abundance are more strongly associated with gene expression than those obtained from multivariate analysis, which provides further support for the hypothesis that codon bias in Arabidopsis is under selection mediated by tRNA abundance. Consistent with previous results, analysis of protein evolution reveals a significant correlation between gene expression level and amino acid substitution rate. Analysis by MPSS estimates of gene expression suggests that this effect is primarily the result of a correlation between the number of tissues in which a gene is expressed and the rate of amino acid substitution, which indicates that the degree of tissue specialization may be an important determinant of the rate of protein evolution in Arabidopsis.     

铜胁迫对拟南芥幼苗生长和基因组DNA甲基化的影响

通过Murashige and Skoog(MS)培养实验,利用甲基化敏感扩增多态性(methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism,MSAP)技术研究Cu2+胁迫对拟南芥幼苗基因组DNA甲基化水平与甲基化模式的变化,同时比较其与幼苗鲜重、根系生长对Cu2+胁迫的敏感性。结果表明:0、0.25、1.0 mg獉L-1Cu2+处理15 d后,幼苗根长及鲜重变化差异不显著,而幼苗基因组MSAP率随Cu2+浓度的增加呈先增高后降低的趋势,分别为15.93%、16.28%和15.83%;高浓度Cu2+胁迫下(3.0 mg獉L-1),根长显著变短,鲜重显著降低,MSAP率为14.26%;Cu2+胁迫(0.25~3.0 mg獉L-1)下,拟南芥幼苗基因组超甲基化(M型)位点及去甲基化(D型)位点数均呈显著增加趋势,Msp I酶较Hpa II酶对胁迫反应更敏感。因此,拟南芥幼苗MSAP变化对低浓度Cu2+胁迫响应敏感,可作为Cu污染的早期诊断和生态风险评价。     

Hydrogen peroxide-induced gene expression in Arabidopsis thaliana

Hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) is generated in plants after exposure to a variety of biotic and abiotic stresses, and has been shown to induce a number of cellular responses. Previously, we showed that H(2)O(2) generated during plant-elicitor interactions acts as a signaling molecule to induce the expression of defense genes and initiate programmed cell death in Arabidopsis thaliana suspension cultures. Here, we report for the first time the identification by RNA differential display of four genes whose expression is induced by H(2)O(2). These include genes that have sequence homology to previously identified Arabidopsis genes encoding a late embryogenesis-abundant protein, a DNA-damage repair protein, and a serine/threonine kinase. Their putative roles in H(2)O(2)-induced defense responses are discussed.