Soil organic matter molecular composition and state of decomposition in three locations of the European Arctic

Increased mineralization of the organic matter (OM) stored in permafrost is expected to constitute the largest additional global warming potential from terrestrial ecosystems exposed to a warmer climate. Chemical composition of permafrost OM is thought to be a key factor controlling the sensitivity of decomposition to warming. Our objective was to characterise OM from permafrost soils of the European Arctic: two mineral soils—Adventdalen, Svalbard, Norway and Vorkuta, northwest Russia—and a “palsa” (ice-cored peat mound patterning in heterogeneous permafrost landscapes) soil in Neiden, northern Norway, in terms of molecular composition and state of decomposition. At all sites, the OM stored in the permafrost was at an advanced stage of decomposition, although somewhat less so in the palsa peat. By comparing permafrost and active layers, we found no consistent effect of depth or permafrost on soil organic matter (SOM) chemistry across sites. The permafrost-affected palsa peat displayed better preservation of plant material in the deeper layer, as indicated by increasing contribution of lignin carbon to total carbon with depth, associated to decreasing acid (Ac) to aldehyde (Al) ratio of the syringyl (S) and vanillyl (V) units, and increasing S/V and contribution of plant-derived sugars. By contrast, in Adventdalen, the Ac/Al ratio of lignin and the Alkyl C to O-alkyl C ratio in the NMR spectra increased with depth, which suggests less oxidized SOM in the active layer compared to the permafrost layer. In Vorkuta, SOM characteristics in the permafrost profile did not change substantially with depth, probably due to mixing of soil layers by cryoturbation. The composition and state of decomposition of SOM appeared to be site-specific, in particular bound to the prevailing organic or mineral nature of soil when attempting to predict the SOM proneness to degradation. The occurrence of processes such as palsa formation in organic soils and cryoturbation should be considered when up-scaling and predicting the responses of OM to climate change in arctic soils.     

同型半胱氨酸对大鼠血管平滑肌细胞增殖的作用

血中同型半胱氨酸（ｈｏｍｏｃｙｓｔｅｉｎｅ,ＨＣＹ）浓度的升高已成为动脉粥样硬化发生的一个独立危险因子．为进一步阐明ＨＣＹ促进血管平滑肌细胞（ｖａｓｃｕｌａｒｓｍｏｏｔｈｍｕｓｃｌｅｃｅｌｓ,ＶＳＭＣｓ）增殖,从而引起动脉粥样硬化发生的机理．本实验采用细胞计数、３Ｈ－ＴｄＲ参入、细胞周期分析、Ｎｏｒｔｈｅｒｎ杂交方法证明,一定剂量的ＨＣＹ可促进离体培养的ＷＫＹ大鼠血管平滑肌细胞增殖,使其ＤＮＡ合成增加,细胞周期中Ｓ期细胞所占比例增加４３％,并促进ｃ－ｍｙｃ与ｃ－ｆｏｓ原癌基因ｍＲＮＡ表达增加．提示ＨＣＹ可能通过促进ＶＳＭＣｓ增殖而诱发动脉粥样硬化     

Genetic Variability of PRNP in Chinese Indigenous Goats

Polymorphism of the prion protein gene (PRNP) is usually associated with scrapie susceptibility or resistance. To determine the variability of PRNP in Chinese indigenous goat breeds, we isolated genomic DNA from goat blood and amplified and sequenced the coding region of the gene. We identified 10 polymorphic sites that gave rise to 28 haplotypes. Clear frequency differences were found between northern and southern breeds and confirmed by genetic distance analysis, except for the Tangshan dairy goat. Phylogeographic analysis supported the idea that northern and southern breeds might be considered separate clusters, except for the Tangshan dairy goat. The finding of significant differences in allele distribution in northern and southern goats, especially if involved in modulating resistance/susceptibility, needs to be carefully considered for the feasibility of selection plans for resistance to scrapie.     

Improvement of pristinamycin production by genome shuffling and medium optimization for Streptomyces pristinaespiralis

To isolate an improved pristinamycin producing strain of Streptomyces pristinaespiralis, the technique of Genome shuffling was used which resulted in a high-yield recombinant G 3-56 strain. Strain G 3-56 yielded 322 ± 17 mg/L of pristinamycin which was 11.4-fold higher than that of the initial strain and 3.7-fold higher than strain UN-78 which previously had the highest yield of pristinamycin. The genetic characteristics of the recombinant G 3-56 strain was stable as revealed by our subculture experiments. The optimal production medium was determined using the orthogonal matrix method. Under the optimal medium conditions, the maximum yield of pristinamycin was 412 mg/L with about 1.24-fold higher than the original medium.     

Immune-related microRNAs are abundant in breast milk exosomes

Breast milk is a complex liquid rich in immunological components that affect the development of the infant's immune system. Exosomes are membranous vesicles of endocytic origin that are found in various body fluids and that can mediate intercellular communication. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a well-defined group of non-coding small RNAs, are packaged inside exosomes in human breast milk. Here, we identified 602 unique miRNAs originating from 452 miRNA precursors (pre-miRNAs) in human breast milk exosomes using deep sequencing technology. We found that, out of 87 well-characterized immune-related pre-miRNAs, 59 (67.82%) are presented and enriched in breast milk exosomes (P < 10(-16), χ(2) test). In addition, compared with exogenous synthetic miRNAs, these endogenous immune-related miRNAs are more resistant to relatively harsh conditions. It is, therefore, tempting to speculate that these exosomal miRNAs are transferred from the mother's milk to the infant via the digestive tract, and that they play a critical role in the development of the infant immune system.     

Kinetic analysis of the transformation of phthalate esters in a series of stoichiometric reactions in anaerobic wastes

Phthalates such as dimethyl phthalate, dimethyl terephthalate (DMT), diethyl phthalate (DEP), di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate and mono(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP) are degraded to varying degrees under anaerobic conditions in waste treatment systems. Here we kinetically analyse the enzymatic hydrolyses involved and the subsequent stoichiometric reactions. The resulting model indicates that the degradation of the alcohols released and the transformation of the phthalic acid (PA) result in biphasic kinetics for the methane formation during transformation of DMT, DEP and MEHP. The ester hydrolysis and the PA transformation to methane appear to be the two rate-limiting steps. The PA-fermenting bacteria, which have biomass-specific growth rates between 0.04 and 0.085 day⁻¹, grow more slowly than the other bacteria involved. Anaerobic microorganisms that remove intermediate products during phthalic acid ester conversion appear to be important for the efficiency of the ultimate phthalate degradation and to be inhibited by elevated hydrogen partial pressures. The model was based on (and the simulations corresponded well with) data obtained from experimental waste treatment systems.     

米根霉脂肪酶基因pro-ROL和m-ROL在毕赤酵母中的密码子优化、表达和酶学性质的比较分析

米根霉Rhizopus oryzae脂肪酶不仅在众多工业领域中具有良好的应用价值,其典型的分子内伴侣结构(Intramolecular chaperon)也是研究蛋白质翻译后加工和成熟的理想材料.以尼oryzae HU3005为材料,克隆了其脂肪酶前体基因(pro-ROL)和成熟脂肪酶基因(m-ROL),并实现了其在巴斯德毕赤酵母Pichia pastoris GS 115中的分泌表达.酶学性质比较分析表明:m-ROL对中等链长底物(Cl0和C12)具有更高的水解活性,而pro-ROL更倾向于短链底物(C4),且在pH 8.0时活性最高.再者,pro-ROL具有比m-ROL更好的温度稳定性.推测m-ROL和pro-ROL脂肪酶酶学性质的差异可能是由前序列对脂肪酶的折叠和修饰的影响而导致.为提高m-ROL的表达水平,采用重叠延伸PCR技术将基因中8个低频密码子替换为高频密码子.在摇瓶条件下,发酵72 h后,经密码子优化后的m-ROL酶活和蛋白质含量分别达到132.7 U/mL和50.4 U/mL,而初始m-ROL和pro-ROL酶活和蛋白质含量分别仅为28.7 U/mL和14.4 mg/L、29.6 U/mL和14.1 mg/L.     

Iron supplementation promotes in vitro shoot induction and multiplication of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Baptisia australis</Emphasis>

C₄ plants can efficiently accumulate CO₂ in leaves and thus reduce wasteful oxygen fixation by the RuBisCO enzyme. Three C₄ enzymes, namely carbonic anhydrase (CA), phosphoenol pyruvate (PEPC) and pyruvate orthophosphate dikinase (PPDK), were over expressed in Oryza sativa L. ssp. indica var. Khitish under the control of green tissue specific promoters PD_54o, PEPC and PPDK, respectively. Integration of these genes was confirmed by Southern hybridization. The relative expression of PEPC, CA and PPDK were, respectively, 6.75, 6.57 and 3.6-fold higher in transgenic plants compared to wild type plants (control). Photosynthetic efficiency of the transgenic plants increased significantly along with a 12?% increase in grain yield compared to wild type plants. Compared to control plants, transgenic plants also showed phenotypic changes such as increased leaf blade size, root biomass, and plant height and anatomical changes such as greater leaf vein number, bundle sheath cells, and bulliform cells. Our findings indicate that the combined over expression of these three enzymes is an efficient strategy for incorporating beneficial physiological and anatomical features that will enable subsequent yield enhancement in C₃ rice plants.     

若尔盖高原产甲烷菌数量的时空差异性

应用实时荧光定量PCR法,构建了总甲烷菌实时荧光绝对定量PCR的标准品以及标准曲线,用于总甲烷菌的定量测定,所构建的质粒DNA浓度为160mg/L,标准曲线相关性为0.992,扩增效率为98.6%。研究表明,若尔盖花湖地区4月草地生态系统和湿地生态系统甲烷菌含量相当,湿地生态系统9月甲烷菌含量高于7月,7月甲烷菌含量高于4月,在7月和9月随着深度的增加甲烷菌含量也增加,而草地生态系统的甲烷菌含量并未表现出明显的季节和深度上的规律性。     

哺乳动物朊蛋白基因序列变异及其系统发育意义

以朊蛋白基因(PRNP)为研究对象,从GenBank中选取代表哺乳动物的17目61属共84个物种PRNP的编码区序列,分析了该基因的结构及其在不同层次分类阶元间的进化关系.发现由于在基因内序列重复区存在插入或缺失,PRNP的编码区长度在哺乳动物不同目的物种间存在差异.在终止密码子的使用上不同目的物种之间存在明显的偏好性, TGA和TAG是哺乳动物PRNP最常用的终止密码子,只有奇蹄目的5个种和有袋目袋鼠科的2个种是使用TAA终止.所有84条序列呈现了较高的核苷酸多样性(10.54%).以PRNP为分子标记构建的系统进化树总体上是和以往研究一致的,结果表明PRNP可以应用于哺乳动物较高分类单元的系统进化研究,但对于能否用于种间和种内不能肯定.最后应用系统进化树对尚未有患病报道的哺乳动物的患病可能性进行了预测.