中华蜜蜂精子介导egfp基因转移

中华蜜蜂Apis cerana cerana是一种真社会性昆虫,也是我国重要的经济昆虫。本实验目的是为了检测精子是否可以作为载体将外源egfp基因介导转入中华蜜蜂。首先将雄蜂精子与线性化的质粒DNA共浴,然后通过人工授精技术将精子导入处女王,再对实验蜂群后代进行分析。结果显示EGFP蛋白在一群实验组蜂的1～2日龄小幼虫中表达较强,能检测到0.01%～0.02%荧光阳性小幼虫个体;通过PCR和RT-PCR技术分析,证实转入的外源egfp基因获得表达。实验结果表明精子载体法能够用于中华蜜蜂外源基因的转移和表达。     

云南食用蜜蜂种类调查及鉴定

在云南,人们有食用蜜蜂幼虫和蛹的习俗。市场上销售的蜜蜂幼虫和蛹多经热水烫过或煮过,因而缺少成虫形态,俗名易混用,食用种类长期未予明确。本文在市场调查的基础上,收集其中部分样品,通过形态学和mtDNA的COI基因部分序列初步鉴定其分类地位,以明确食用种类。结果表明,云南蜜蜂的食用集中在横断山脉南部地区,接受人群广泛,食用方式多样;云南食用本地分布的全部5种野生蜜蜂,包括东方蜜蜂(Apis cerana)、小蜜蜂(A.florea)、大蜜蜂(A.dorsata)、黑大蜜蜂(A.laboriosa)和黑小蜜蜂(A.andreniformis);基于COI序列构建的邻接法(NJ)和最大简约法(MP)系统发育树支持现有的蜜蜂属系统发育关系;现有的食用蜜蜂大多采集自野外,亟待开展遗传资源保护。本研究为食用蜜蜂的鉴定提供了数据支持,也为蜜蜂自然资源的利用和保护提供参考。     

蜜蜂体内王浆主蛋白基因mrjp9的转录表达研究

蜜蜂体内有9种王浆蛋白基因(major royal jelly protein,MRJPs1～9),其中MRJPs1～5在蜂王浆中含量较高,是蜂王浆生物学功能的基础。MRJPs6～9在王浆中没有或含量极少,且功能未知。为研究非王浆蛋白组分的MRJP9的生物学功能,本研究用RT-PCR的方法对意大利蜜蜂Apis mellifera ligustica Spinola不同组织,不同部位,不同级型样本中mrjp9的转录水平进行检测和定量。结果发现mrjp9在蜜蜂的幼虫、蛹和成年蜜蜂的各组织部位均广泛转录表达,但其在幼虫、蛹和刚出房的成年蜜蜂体内表达水平较低,而在成年采集蜂体内表达水平则较高,其表达与蜜蜂的发育时期有关。通过对在成年蜜蜂体内各组织部位的表达水平进行检测的结果显示该基因主要在蜜蜂的头、胸和王浆腺等组织部位的表达较高,其他组织部位表达较少。此外,该基因也在雄蜂和蜂王体内广泛表达,不受蜜蜂性别和级型的影响。这些结果说明mrjp9是一与蜜蜂发育有关的基因,可能与蜜蜂的行为发育和分工调控有关。     

人促红细胞生成素基因在家蚕体中的高效表达

人促红细胞生成素(EPO)是一种调控红系干细胞增殖、分化和成熟的糖蛋白激素。将合成的EPO cDNA插入杆状病毒转移载体pBlueBacⅢ,使其置于Ph基因强启动子控制之下,获得了转移载体pBlueBacEPO。将pBlueBacEPO DNA与野生型BmNPV DNA共转染BmN细胞,经空斑纯化,获插入EPO cDNA的重组病毒rBmNPVEPO。经Sonthern杂交和PCR扩增鉴定证明人EPO基因已正确组建于BmNPV的预定位置。将重组病毒rBmNPVEPO穿刺接种5龄幼虫和蛹,收集感染第3～5d的幼虫血淋巴和3～6.5d蛹血淋巴。用ELISA检测幼虫血淋巴中EPO表达量高达62800u/mL,蛹血淋巴中表达量达74000u/mL。Western blot结果显示幼虫血淋巴和蛹血淋巴均有一条明显的免疫杂交带,分子量均约为26kD。用TF1细胞对幼虫表达产物进行了生物活性测定,每毫升血淋巴中EPO活性约为63000u。     

Efficient large-scale protein production of larvae and pupae of silkworm by Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus bacmid system

Silkworm is one of the most attractive hosts for large-scale production of eukaryotic proteins as well as recombinant baculoviruses for gene transfer to mammalian cells. The bacmid system of Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcNPV) has already been established and widely used. However, the AcNPV does not have a potential to infect silkworm. We developed the first practical Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus bacmid system directly applicable for the protein expression of silkworm. By using this system, the green fluorescence protein was successfully expressed in silkworm larvae and pupae not only by infection of its recombinant virus but also by direct injection of its bacmid DNA. This method provides the rapid protein production in silkworm as long as 10 days, is free from biohazard, thus will be a powerful tool for the future production factory of recombinant eukaryotic proteins and baculoviruses.     

苜蓿尺蠖核多角体病毒(AcNPV)DNA的提纯及多角体蛋白基因片段的克隆

本文报道了从被AcNPV感染的大蜡螟中提纯到AcNPV DNA,以质粒pBR325作为载体,从AcNPV基因组DNA EeoRI片段克隆中得到含AcNPV多角体蛋白基因片段的重组质粒。经原位杂交,酶切鉴定,DNA顺序分析,并与Hooft Van Iddekinge等人测定的结果比较,证明筛选到的7.3kb EcoRI片段包含了AcNPV多角体蛋白结构基因及其启动基因。核多角体病毒多角体蛋白启动基因是迄今为止在真核细胞中所发现的最强启动基因之一,是理想的表达外源基因的启动子。     

Baculovirus-mediated gene transfer into mammalian cells

Ａｕｔｏｇｒａｐｈａｃａｌｉｆｏｒｎｉｃａｎｕｃｌｅａｒｐｏｌｙｈｅｄｒｏｓｉｓｖｉｒｕｓ(ＡｃＮＰＶ)ｉｓｏｎｅｏｆｔｈｅｍｏｓｔｉｎｔｅｎｓｉｖｅｌｙｓｔｕｄｉｅｄｍｅｍｂｅｒｓｏｆｔｈｅｆａｍｉｌｙＢａｃｕｌｏｖｉｒｉｄａｅ.Ｉｔｉｓｗｉｄｅｌｙｕｓｅｄａｓａｖｅｃｔｏｒｔｏｅｘｐｒｅｓｓｇｅｎｅｓｏｆｉｎｔｅｒｅｓｔｂｙｉｎｓｅｒｔｉｏｎｏｆｆｏｒｅｉｇｎｇｅｎｅｓｉｎｔｏｔｈｅｌｏｃｕｓｏｆｔｈｅｐｏｌｙｈｅｄｒｉｎｇｅｎｅｗｈｉｃｈｉｓｎｏｎｅｓｓｅｎｔｉａｌｔｏｒｅｐｌｉｃａｔｉｏｎ…     

Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediated transformation of marine microalgae Schizochytrium

Schizochytrium was a known docosahexaenoic acid producing marine microalgae. In this study, we have developed a novel transformation approach of Schizochytrium using the Agrobacterium tumefaciens (A. tumefaciens) binary vector system. After co-cultivation of Schizochytrium protoplasts with A. tumefaciens harboring pCAMBIA2301 containing the neomycin phosphotransferase II (NPT II) gene as the selectable marker which confers resistance to G418, the Schizochytrium transformants were successfully obtained on the G418-containing plates. The integration and expression of the transgenes were confirmed by PCR analysis and GUS activity assay. To further validate the transformation system, pCAMBIA2301-EGFP containing the egfp gene was introduced into Schizochytrium. The following results demonstrated that the exogenous egfp gene has been successfully incorporated into the genome of Schizochytrium. In addition, the introduced egfp gene expressed efficiently according to the Western blot and fluorescence assay results. More importantly, the majority of the transformants displayed similar biomass and fatty acid production comparing with the wild type strain. Our results demonstrated that exogenous genes could be expressed efficiently in transgenic Schizochytrium, suggesting that genetically engineered Schizochytrium could be explored by this system.     

Transcriptome Analysis of Honeybee (Apis Mellifera) Haploid and Diploid Embryos Reveals Early Zygotic Transcription during Cleavage

In honeybees, the haplodiploid sex determination system promotes a unique embryogenesis process wherein females develop from fertilized eggs and males develop from unfertilized eggs. However, the developmental strategies of honeybees during early embryogenesis are virtually unknown. Similar to most animals, the honeybee oocytes are supplied with proteins and regulatory elements that support early embryogenesis. As the embryo develops, the zygotic genome is activated and zygotic products gradually replace the preloaded maternal material. The analysis of small RNA and mRNA libraries of mature oocytes and embryos originated from fertilized and unfertilized eggs has allowed us to explore the gene expression dynamics in the first steps of development and during the maternal-to-zygotic transition (MZT). We localized a short sequence motif identified as TAGteam motif and hypothesized to play a similar role in honeybees as in fruit flies, which includes the timing of early zygotic expression (MZT), a function sustained by the presence of the zelda ortholog, which is the main regulator of genome activation. Predicted microRNA (miRNA)-target interactions indicated that there were specific regulators of haploid and diploid embryonic development and an overlap of maternal and zygotic gene expression during the early steps of embryogenesis. Although a number of functions are highly conserved during the early steps of honeybee embryogenesis, the results showed that zygotic genome activation occurs earlier in honeybees than in Drosophila based on the presence of three primary miRNAs (pri-miRNAs) (ame-mir-375, ame-mir-34 and ame-mir-263b) during the cleavage stage in haploid and diploid embryonic development.     

Heterologous promoter recognition leading to high-level expression of cloned foreign genes in Bombyx mori cell lines and larvae

The baculovirus expression system using the Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcNPV) has been extensively utilized for high-level expression of cloned foreign genes, driven by the strong viral promoters of polyhedrin (polh) and p10 encoding genes. A parallel system using Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus (BmNPV) is much less exploited because the choice and variety of BmNPV-based transfer vectors are limited. Using a transient expression assay, we have demonstrated here that the heterologous promoters of the very late genes polh and p10 from AcNPV function as efficiently in BmN cells as the BmNPV promoters. The location of the cloned foreign gene with respect to the promoter sequences was critical for achieving the highest levels of expression, following the order + 35 > + 1 > − 3 > − 8 nucleotides (nt) with respect to the polh or p10 start codons. We have successfully generated recombinant BmNPV harboring AcNPV promoters by homeologous recombination between AcNPV-based transfer vectors and BmNPV genomic DNA. Infection of BmN cell lines with recombinant BmNPV showed a temporal expression pattern, reaching very high levels in 60–72 h post infection. The recombinant BmNPV harboring the firefly luciferase-encoding gene under the control of AcNPV polh or p10 promoters, on infection of the silkworm larvae led to the synthesis of large quantities of luciferase. Such larvae emanated significant luminiscence instantaneously on administration of the substrate luciferin resulting in ‘glowing silkworms’. The virus-infected larvae continued to glow for several hours and revealed the most abundant distribution of virus in the fat bodies. In larval expression also, the highest levels were achieved when the reporter gene was located at +35 nt of the polh.     

转Bt-cry1Ah基因玉米花粉对意大利蜜蜂幼虫的影响

新型杀虫蛋白基因crylAh基因是中国农业科学院植物保护研究所从Bt菌株BT8中鉴定克隆的,其编码蛋白对鳞翅目害虫具有强毒力,尤其对亚洲玉米螟Ostriniafurnacalis（Guen6e）的毒力强于目前使用的crylA类基因。转crylAh基因抗虫玉米具有很好的应用前景。花粉是蜜蜂重要的食物来源,蜜蜂是转基因植物安全性评价的关键测试生物。因此,开展转crylAh基因玉米对蜜蜂的安全性研究很有必要。给意大利蜜蜂ApismelliferoligusticoSpirola蜂群中4-6日龄幼虫饲喂转基因玉米花粉、常规玉米花粉、杂花粉,哺育蜂饲喂为对照。转基因玉米花粉对意大利蜜蜂封盖率、出房率和发育历期没有显著影响。表明转crylAh基因玉米花粉对意大利蜜蜂幼虫的存活和发育没有不良影响。     

Development of baculovirus triple and quadruple expression vectors: co-expression of three or four bluetongue virus proteins and the synthesis of bluetongue virus-like particles in insect cells.

Baculovirus multiple gene transfer vectors pAcAB3 and pAcAB4 have been developed to facilitate the insertion of three or four foreign genes respectively into the Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcNPV) genome by a single co-transfection experiment. The pAcAB3 vector contains a polyhedrin promoter and two p10 promoters on either side of the polyhedrin promoter but in opposite orientations. The pAcAB4 vector has an additional polyhedrin promoter in opposite orientation to the first copy that is in juxtaposition to the first p10 promoter. Each of these derived vectors (pAcAB3, pAcAB4) have been used for the simultaneous expression of three or four bluetongue virus (BTV) genes respectively. When Spodoptera frugiperda cells were infected with the recombinant virus (AcBT-3/2/7/5) expressing the four major structural genes of BTV, double-capsid, virus-like particles consisting of VP2, VP3, VP5 and VP7 of BTV were assembled.     

Mini transposon vector mediated foreign gene expression in Mesorhizobium huakuii subsp. rengei

Among the transposable elements, mini-Tn5 transposon vector has proven to be of greater utility for insertion mutagenesis of variety of Gram negative bacteria. The mini-Tn5 vector containing promoter less egfp gene and gentamycin resistant gene was used for the present study. The transposon vector was introduced to M. huakuii from E. coli S17 by conjugation. The conjugants were screened for stable expression of egfp both in free-living and in nodules of Astragalus sinicus. The result showed that the conjugant #3 showed stable expression of green fluorescent both in free-living and bacteroid stage. The visualization of sym plasmid of wild strain and conjugants showed that conjugant #3 had a fragmentation of large sized plasmid into two but without affecting the nodulating ability. These results clearly indicated that mini-Tn5 vectors (Transposon vectors) the best alternate tools for plasmid vectors for integration of foreign genes in chromosomal DNA or symbiotic plasmid and expression, both in free-living and bacteroid stage of Rhizobium.     

New and highly efficient method for silkworm transgenesis using Autographa californica nucleopolyhedrovirus and piggyBac transposable elements

We have developed a new method for the transgenesis of the silkworm, Bombyx mori. This method couples the use of recombinant baculoviruses with the use of the piggyBac transposable element. One recombinant AcNPV, designated the helper virus, is designed to express the piggyBac transposase under the control of the Drosophila hsp70 promoter. Another recombinant AcNPV encoded the gene to be incorporated into the silkworm genome, in this case a green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene, under the control of B. mori actin A3 promoter and franked by the piggyBac inverted terminal repeats. Preblastoderm eggs were inoculated with a fine needle coated with a mixture of these two recombinant baculoviruses. Most of the inoculated larvae hatched and a high proportion of the newly hatched G0 larvae expressed the GFP marker. Transgenesis was confirmed by Southern blot analysis of G1 insects, sequencing the insertion site junctions isolated by inverse PCR, and the marker segregated in Mendelian fashion, as evidenced by the appearance of green fluorescence in G2 insects. Thus, transgenic silkworms were easily and efficiently obtained using this new method.     

Targeted chromosomal insertion of large DNA into the human genome by a fiber-modified high-capacity adenovirus-based vector system

A prominent goal in gene therapy research concerns the development of gene transfer vehicles that can integrate exogenous DNA at specific chromosomal loci to prevent insertional oncogenesis and provide for long-term transgene expression. Adenovirus (Ad) vectors arguably represent the most efficient delivery systems of episomal DNA into eukaryotic cell nuclei. The most advanced recombinant Ads lack all adenoviral genes. This renders these so-called high-capacity (hc) Ad vectors less cytotoxic/immunogenic than those only deleted in early regions and creates space for the insertion of large/multiple transgenes. The versatility of hcAd vectors is been increased by capsid modifications to alter their tropism and by the incorporation into their genomes of sequences promoting chromosomal insertion of exogenous DNA. Adeno-associated virus (AAV) can insert its genome into a specific human locus designated AAVS1. Trans- and cis-acting elements needed for this reaction are the AAV Rep78/68 proteins and Rep78/68-binding sequences, respectively. Here, we describe the generation, characterization and testing of fiber-modified dual hcAd/AAV hybrid vectors (dHVs) containing both these elements. Due to the inhibitory effects of Rep78/68 on Ad-dependent DNA replication, we deployed a recombinase-inducible gene switch to repress Rep68 synthesis during vector rescue and propagation. Flow cytometric analyses revealed that rep68-positive dHVs can be produced similarly well as rep68-negative control vectors. Western blot experiments and immunofluorescence microscopy analyses demonstrated transfer of recombinase-dependent rep68 genes into target cells. Studies in HeLa cells and in the dystrophin-deficient myoblasts from a Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patient showed that induction of Rep68 synthesis in cells transduced with fiber-modified and rep68-positive dHVs leads to increased stable transduction levels and AAVS1-targeted integration of vector DNA. These results warrant further investigation especially considering the paucity of vector systems allowing permanent phenotypic correction of patient-own cell types with large DNA (e.g. recombinant full-length DMD genes).     

pLR: A lentiviral backbone series to stable transduction of bicistronic genes and exchange of promoters

Gene transfer based on lentiviral vectors allow the integration of exogenous genes into the genome of a target cell, turning these vectors into one of the most used methods for stable transgene expression in mammalian cells, in vitro and in vivo. Currently, there are no lentivectors that allow the cloning of different genes to be regulated by different promoters. Also, there are none that permit the analysis of the expression through an IRES (internal ribosome entry site) - reporter gene system. In this work, we have generated a series of lentivectors containing: (1) a malleable structure to allow the cloning of different target genes in a multicloning site (mcs); (2) unique site to exchange promoters, and (3) IRES followed by one of two reporter genes: eGFP or DsRed. The series of the produced vectors were named pLR (for lentivirus and RSV promoter) and were fairly efficient with a strong fluorescence of the reporter genes in direct transfection and viral transduction experiments. This being said, the pLR series have been found to be powerful biotechnological tools for stable gene transfer and expression.     

High level expression of a mutant (K151E, R154G) of single chain urokinase-type plasminogen activator in silkworm

A cDNA of a mutant (K151E, R154G) of single chain urokinase-type plasminogen activator (mscu-PA) was constructed to include the natural scu-PA signal peptide sequences and transferred into the genome of Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus (BmNPV) by transfer vectors pBE284 (derived from BmNPV) and pVL1392 (from AcNPV), respectively. Both Bombyx mori (BmN) cells and silkworm larvae were infected with the two recombinant viruses. Fibrin-plate assay showed that the re-virus from pVL1392 increased the yield of mscu-PA three times compared with the re-virus from pBE284.     

High toxicity,low receptor density,and low integration frequency severely impede the use of adenovirus vectors for production of transgenic mice

Although many methods are available for introducing genes into the mammalian germ line, none is ideal for genetic manipulation of livestock or primates. These organisms produce relatively few offspring in each reproductive cycle and they have long generation times. For these reasons, a recent report that adenovirus vectors can efficiently insert genes into the mouse germ line by embryo infection is of considerable interest. Adenovirus vectors have a high cloning capacity, can be produced in high titers, and can infect a wide variety of cell types. We have investigated in more detail the potential for such vectors to infect embryos and integrate their DNA into the genome. We exposed mouse embryos to adenovirus vectors that express bacterial beta-galactosidase (LacZ), and studied expression in the preimplantation period, toxicity of the vectors, and the frequency with which fetuses and pups integrate vector DNA. Our findings indicate that fully functional adenovirus receptor does not appear until the two-cell stage of development. Successful infection is associated with high toxicity, such that viral titers must be balanced to achieve high infection with tolerable levels of toxicity. Screening of 94 animals after embryo infection revealed a single positive polymerase chain reaction signal, which is indicative of the presence of the lacZ gene. This finding could not be confirmed by Southern blotting, which indicates that the founder animal was a genetic mosaic for the exogenous DNA. We conclude from these experiments that adenovirus gene transfer vectors are not readily usable for germ line gene insertion.     

mRNA expression and DNA methylation in three key genes involved in caste differentiation in female honeybees(Apis mellifera)

In honeybee(Apis mellifera)colonies,queens and workers are alternative forms of the adult female honeybee that develop from genetically identical zygotes but that depend on differential nourishment.Queens and workers display distinct morphologies,anatomies and behavior,better known as caste differentiation.Despite some basic insights,the exact mechanism responsible for this phenomenon,especially at the molecular level,remains unclear although some progress has been achieved.In this study,we examined mRNA levels of the TOR(target of rapamycin)and Dnmt3(DNA methyltransferase 3)genes,closely related to caste differentiation in honeybees.We also investigated mRNA expression of the S6K(similar to RPS6-p70-protein kinase)gene linked closely to organismal growth and development in queen and worker larvae(1-day and 3-day old).Last,we investigated the methylation status of these three genes in corresponding castes.We found no difference in mRNA expression for the three genes between 1st instar queen and worker larvae;however,3rd instar queen larvae had a higher level of TOR mRNA than worker larvae.Methylation levels of all three genes were lower in queen larvae than worker larvae but the differences were not statistically significant.These findings provide basic data for broadening our understanding of caste differentiation in female honeybees.