西瓜食酸菌Ⅲ型效应蛋白AopBF1的鉴定与功能分析

【背景】细菌性果斑病（bacterial fruit blotch,BFB）是一种发生在葫芦科作物上的检疫性病害,其病原菌为西瓜食酸菌（Acidovorax citrulli）,西瓜食酸菌通过Ⅲ型分泌系统（type Ⅲ secretion system,T3SS）将重要的致病因子Ⅲ型效应蛋白（type Ⅲ effector,T3E）转运到植物体内,从而致病。目前,对于T3E致病机制的认识非常有限。课题组前期已鉴定到西瓜食酸菌FC440菌株中的一些候选T3E。【目的】明确西瓜食酸菌FC440菌株候选T3E中AopBF1的序列特征、转运特性及其在病原菌致病过程中的作用,可以为深入解析病原菌致病机制奠定理论基础。【方法】利用生物信息学手段,预测分析AopBF1的T3E序列特征;通过RT-qPCR、无毒蛋白报告系统检测AopBF1所受调控及其转运特性;观察aopBF1突变体（插入突变）及过表达时西瓜食酸菌的致病力表型,分析AopBF1对西瓜食酸菌致病性的贡献。【结果】AopBF1具有T3E的序列特征、不含保守结构域,具有蛋白激酶序列特征;AopBF1在T3SS核心调控基因hrpX、hrpG突变株中的表达量显著降低;当aopBF1基因与AvrBs1功能区（59-445 aa）片段同时于avrBs1突变株中表达时,能够诱发含Bs1蛋白的ECW-10R辣椒叶片发生过敏性坏死反应;aopBF1突变株对寄主黄瓜的致病力显著减弱,而同时黄瓜组织中过氧化氢、超氧阴离子自由基及胼胝质的积累量表现为显著增加;AopBF1过表达菌株对寄主的致病力显著增强,其在诱导本氏烟的hypersensitive response （HR）反应发生上表现延迟;AopBF1瞬时表达时,显示定位于本氏烟细胞的细胞质、细胞核和细胞膜,可诱发本氏烟发生HR反应,促进PAMP-triggered immunity （PTI）及激素通路相关基因的表达。【结论】AopBF1是西瓜食酸菌的一个具有蛋白激酶特征的T3E,抑制寄主活性氧和胼胝质积累等PTI免疫反应以促进西瓜食酸菌的致病,激发含R抗性蛋白的本氏烟的PTI和激素相关抗病免疫反应。     

Synthesis and in vivo evaluation of cyclic diaminopropane BACE-1 inhibitors

The synthesis, evaluation, and structure-activity relationships of a set of related constrained diaminopropane inhibitors of BACE-1 are described. The full in vivo profile of an optimized inhibitor in both normal and P-gp deficient mice is compared with data generated in normal rats.     

小麦盐华南象草PpCAD基因的亚细胞定位及其在转基因烟草中的异源表达迫相关基因的克隆与表达分析

该研究根据已克隆的华南象草(Pennisetum purpureum cv.Huanan)肉桂醇脱氢酶(CAD)基因PpCAD的cDNA序列,构建亚细胞定位载体pAN580-PpCAD,用PEG介导法转化象草原生质体,以探究PpCAD蛋白在细胞内的定位;同时构建植物过表达载体pBA002-PpCAD,通过农杆菌介导法在烟草中异源表达,以研究PpCAD基因与植物木质素合成的关系。结果显示:(1)PpCAD定位在象草原生质体的细胞质内;(2)过表达载体pBA002-PpCAD转化烟草后获得27株转基因烟草,其中25株PCR鉴定为阳性;(3)半定量RT-PCR检测6株转基因烟草后发现,PpCAD基因在不同植株的表达量存在差异,通过Southern杂交检测后发现该差异与目的基因插入的拷贝数有关;(4)6株转基因烟草和野生型烟草表型上没有明显差异,除目的基因多拷贝插入的植株OEC6外,木质素含量有不同程度的提高,最高比野生型提高了56.50%。研究表明,PpCAD是一个细胞质蛋白,在烟草中过表达PpCAD能够提高植株木质素含量,表明PpCAD基因参与了植物的木质素合成,可用于象草的木质素调控研究。     

Knockout mutagenesis of the kpsE gene of Campylobacter jejuni 81116 and its involvement in bacterium-host interactions

Campylobacter jejuni is a common cause of bacterial enteritis. The surface capsular polysaccharides are important for this bacterium to survive in the environment, but little is known about their involvement in bacterium-host interactions. This study showed that the C. jejuni capsular polysaccharides play an important role in adherence to and invasion of human embryonic epithelial cells. However, no significant role of capsular polysaccharides was shown in colonization of the chicken gut.     

Reproductive biology of Galaxias maculatus (Jenyns 1842) in the Río Ovando,a high‐latitude environment in southernmost Patagonia,Argentina

This study establishes the reproductive cycle, batch fecundity and oocyte diameter of a diadromic population of the puyen, Galaxias maculatus, in the Río Ovando, Tierra del Fuego, (54°S), at the southernmost limit of its distribution. Given the short ‘favourable season’ in relation to other populations of the species (in terms of temperature, photoperiod and food availability), the study also explores the trade‐offs between feeding and oocyte production and between phases of growth and reproduction. The reproductive cycle was analyzed by the monthly evolution of the proportion of gonadal maturity stages (determined from microscopic examination of the gonads). Oocytes were measured using a micrometric ocular scale and classified by diameter and morphological characteristics; absolute fecundity was established as the total number of hydrated oocytes per ovary. The studied population exhibits a repetitive spawning strategy, given the coexistence of post‐ovullatory follicles and hydrated oocytes in histological sections and the presence in ripe ovaries of an intermediate cohort of yolked oocytes ready for hydration. Individual fecundity is lower (1422 ± 422 oocytes/ovary) than in other puyen populations, but the egg production increases through individual repetitive spawnings during the protracted spawning period (from October to February). Females attain larger sizes than those of other South American populations (the largest female reaching 115 mm total length), maximizing its potential fecundity. The present paper contributes to the knowledge of the variability of reproductive traits of G. maculatus in relation to diadromic populations, given that the bulk of information in South America refers to landlocked populations.     

The metaphase scaffold is helically folded: sister chromatids have predominantly opposite helical handedness

We have studied the three-dimensional folding of the scaffolding in histone H1-depleted chromosomes by immunofluorescence with an antibody specific for topoisomerase II. Two different types of decondensed chromosomes are observed. The majority of the chromosomes are expanded, and the central fluorescence signal is surrounded by a large halo of chromatin. A much smaller number of chromosomes are more compact in length; they contain a smaller halo of chromatin and their scaffolds are not extended but folded into a genuine, quite regular helical coil. This conclusion is based on a three-dimensional structural analysis by optical sectioning. The number of helical coils is related to chromosome length. Surprisingly, sister chromatids have predominantly opposite helical handedness; that is, they are related by mirror symmetry.     

Multivalent Repression of Aspartic Semialdehyde Dehydrogenase in Escherichia coli K-12

Mutants of Escherichia coli in which the lysine-sensitive aspartokinase is feedback-resistant are described. In these strains, as well as in the wild type, aspartic semialdehyde dehydrogenase is subject to multivalent repression by lysine, threonine, and methionine. When these amino acids were added to a culture in minimal medium, the differential rate of synthesis of the enzyme dropped to zero and remained there for about one generation.     

Cytochemical demonstration of hydrogen peroxide in polymorphonuclear leukocyte phagosomes

Phagocytosis by polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) is accompanied by specific morphological and metabolic events which may result in the killing of internalized micro-organism. Hydrogen peroxide is produced in increased amounts during phagocytosis (17) and in combination with myeloperoxidase and halide ions constitute a potent, microbicidal mechanism (8,9,11). There can be direct iodination of micro-organisms (10), or alternatively, other intermediate reaction products, i.e. chloramines and aldehydes (21), can exert a microbicidal effect. The H2O2-peroxidase-halide system is presumed to operate within the phagocytic vacuole (12,18). Myeloperoxidase, present in the primary granules of PMN, enters the phagocytic vacuole during degranulation (1,4,7), and halide ions are probably derived from the extracellular medium or are present in the PMN (see 11, 18). For the operation of this system in intact cells, the presence of H2O2 in the phagocytic vacuole is necessary, and indeed this has been suggested by the work of several investigators (12, 18, 21). In the present investigation, the diaminobenzidine reaction of Graham and Karnovsky (5), modified to utilize endogenous myeloperoxidase and hydrogen peroxide, has been applied to actively phagocytizing PMN to demonstrate cytochemically the presence of H2O2 in the phagocytic vacuole.     

Tobamovirus evolution: gene overlaps, recombination, and taxonomic implications

Tobamoviruses, mostly isolated from solanaceous plants, may represent ancient virus lineages that have codiverged with their hosts. Recently completed nucleotide sequences of six nonsolanaceous tobamoviruses allowed assessment of the codivergence hypothesis and support a third subgroup within tobamoviruses. The genomic sequences of 12 tobamoviruses and the partial sequences of 11 others have been analyzed. Comparisons of the predicted protein sequences revealed three clusters of tobamoviruses, corresponding to those infecting solanaceous species (subgroup 1), those infecting cucurbits and legumes (subgroup 2), and those infecting crucifers. The orchid-infecting odontoglossum ringspot tobamovirus was associated with subgroup 1 genomes by its coat and movement protein sequences, but with the crucifer-pathogenic tobamoviruses by the remainder of its genome, suggesting that it is the progeny of a recombinant. For four of five genomic regions, subgroup 1 and 3 genomes were equidistant from a subgroup 2 genome chosen for comparison, suggesting uniform rates of evolution. A phylogenetic tree of plant families based on the tobamoviruses they harbor was congruent with that based on rubisco sequences but had a different root, suggesting that codivergence was tempered by rare events of viruses of one family colonizing another family. The proposed subgroup 3 viruses probably have an origin of virion assembly in the movement protein gene, a large (25-codon) overlap of movement and coat protein open reading frames, and a comparably shorter genome. Codon-position- dependent base compositions and codon prevalences suggested that the coat protein frame of the overlap region was ancestral. Bootstrapped parsimony analysis of the nucleotides in the overlap region and of the sequences translated from the -1 frame (the subgroup 3 movement protein frame) of this region produced trees inconsistent with those deduced from other regions. The results are consistent with a model in which a no or short overlap organization was ancestral. Despite encoding of subgroup 2 and 3 movement protein C-termini by nonhomologous nucleotides, weak similarities between their amino acid sequences suggested convergent sequence evolution.      

Substructural specificity and polyvalent carbohydrate recognition by the Entamoeba histolytica and rat hepatic N- acetylgalactosamine/galactose lectins

Both the Entamoeba histolytica lectin, a virulence factor for the causative agent of amebiasis, and the mammalian hepatic lectin bind to N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) and galactose (Gal) nonreducing termini on oligosaccharides, with preference for GalNAc. Polyvalent GalNAc- derivatized neoglycoproteins have >1000-fold enhanced binding affinity for both lectins (Adler,P., Wood,S.J., Lee,Y.C., Lee,R.T., Petri,W.A.,Jr. and Schnaar,R.L.,1995, J. Biol. Chem ., 270, 5164-5171). Substructural specificity studies revealed that the 3-OH and 4-OH groups of GalNAc were required for binding to both lectins, whereas only the E.histolytica lectin required the 6-OH group. Whereas GalNAc binds with 4-fold lower affinity to the E.histolytica lectin than to the mammalian hepatic lectin, galactosamine and N-benzoyl galactosamine bind with higher affinity to the E. histolytica lectin. Therefore, a synthetic scheme for converting polyamine carriers to poly-N-acyl galactosamine derivatives (linked through the galactosamine primary amino group) was developed to test whether such ligands would bind the E.histolytica lectin with high specificity and high affinity. Contrary to expectations, polyvalent derivatives including GalN6lys5, GalN4desmosine, GalN4StarburstTMdendrimer, and GalN8StarburstTMdendrimer demonstrated highly enhanced binding to the mammalian hepatic lectin but little or no enhancement of binding to the E.histolytica lectin. We propose that the mammalian hepatic lectin binds with greatest affinity to GalNAc "miniclusters," which mimic branched termini of N-linked oligosaccharides, whereas the E.histolytica lectin binds most effectively to "maxiclusters," which may mimic more widely spaced GalNAc residues on intestinal mucins.