High auxin stimulates callus through SDG8-mediated histone H3K36 methylation in Arabidopsis

Callus induction,which results in fate transition in plant cells,is considered as the first and key step for plant regeneration.This process can be stimulated in different tissues by a callus-inducing medium(CIM),which contains a high concentration of phytohormone auxin.Although a few key regulators for callus induction have been identified,the multiple aspects of the regulatory mechanism driven by high levels of auxin still need further investigation.Here,we find that high auxin induces callus ...     

大仓鼠和黄胸鼠的肺皮蒸发失水及其和地理分布的关系

栖息于荒漠环境的哺乳动物,往往具有非凡的节水能力例如:更格卢鼠科(Heteromyidae),仓鼠科(Cricetidae)、跳鼠科(Dipodidae)和鼠科(Muridae)的许多种类能不饮水。仅食取干燥的植物种子,依靠有限的预成水(preformed water)和代谢水在荒漠于热的环境中,保持水平衡而长期存活(Vaughan,1978)。五十年代至七十年代以来,Sehmidt-Nielsen(1950、1952、1964)和MacMillen(1967、1969、1970、1972、1975)等许多国外学者,对上述荒漠啮齿类曾作了大量的研究,发现它们对于荒漠的干旱炎热环境在形态、生理、生态和行为方面有一系列相似的适应特征。节约肺皮蒸发失水就是这些适应特征之一。肺皮蒸发失水是哺乳动物水分代谢中重要的失水途径(Chew,1965),根据现有资料上述荒漠啮齿类中除少数鼠科种类的蒸发失水率不同作者报道的结果有较大出入外(Daily,1981;Shkolnik,1969),大多数种类在这方面的节水能力比非荒漠种类强。     

不同预处理方法影响昆虫干标本DNA提取效果

为从昆虫干标本中获取高质量DNA,以利于后期PCR扩增目的基因,本研究对DNA提取前昆虫干标本的预处理方法进行探讨,分别测定其纯度和质量,并用不同引物进行了扩增效果对比。结果显示:经过预处理的样品DNA平均含量均高于CK的52.283 ng/滋L,最高为0.9%Na Cl处理3 h,平均含量达122.632 ng/滋L;米象4种预处理方法提取的DNA利用引物Lco1490/Hco2198及UEA7/UEA10均能扩增出650 bp长度条带,仅有0.9%Na Cl溶液浸泡3 h处理的米象可通过引物J173/J1331扩增出1 000 bp的长片段条带。研究表明,经过预处理后,一定程度上减少了基因组DNA的断链,主要对样品DNA的质量浓度影响显著;以9%Na Cl溶液3 h预处理后的昆虫干标本,利用磁珠法所提DNA的质量及PCR扩增效果最佳。     

Noggin and bFGF cooperate to maintain the pluripotency of human embryonic stem cells in the absence of feeder layers

Human embryonic stem (hES) cells are typically maintained on mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) feeders or with MEF-conditioned medium. However, these xenosupport systems greatly limit the therapeutic applications of hES cells because of the risk of cross-transfer of animal pathogens. Here we showed that the bone morphogenetic protein antagonist noggin is critical in preventing differentiation of hES cells in culture. Furthermore, we found that the combination of noggin and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) was sufficient to maintain the prolonged growth of hES cells while retaining all hES cell features. Since both noggin and bFGF are expressed in MEF, our findings suggest that they may be important factors secreted by MEF for maintaining undifferentiated pluripotent hES cells. Our data provide new insight into the mechanism how hES cell self-renewal is regulated. The newly developed feeder-free culture system will provide a more reliable alternative for future therapeutic applications of hES cells.     

Promoting human embryonic stem cell renewal or differentiation by modulating Wnt signal and culture conditions

We previously showed that Wnt3a could stimulate human embryonic stem （hES） cell proliferation and affect cell fate determination. In the absence of feeder cell--derived factors, hES cells cultured under a feeder-free condition survived and proliferated poorly. Adding recombinant Wnt3a in the absence of feeder cell derived-factors stimulated hES cell proliferation but also differentiation. In the present study, we further extended our analysis to other Wnt ligands such as Wntl and Wnt5a. While Wntl displayed a similar effect on hES cells as Wnt3a, Wnt5a had little effect in this system. Wnt3a and Wntl enhanced proliferation of undifferentiated hES cells when feeder-derived self-renewal factors and bFGF are also present. To explore the possibility to promote the proliferation of undifferentiated hES cells by activating the Wnt signaling, we overexpressed Wnt3a or Wntl gene in immortalized human adult fibroblast （HAFi） cells that are superior in supporting long-term growth of undifferentiated hES cells than primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts. HAFi cells with or without a Wnt tmnsgene can be propagated indefinitely. Over-expression of the Wnt3a gene significantly enhanced the ability of HAFi feeder cells to support the undifferentiated growth of 3 different hES cell lines we tested. Co-expression of three commonly-used drug selection genes in Wnt3a-overpressing HAFi cells further enabled us to select rare hES clones after stable transfection or transduction. These immortalized engineered feeder cells （W3R） that co-express growth-promoting genes such as Wnt3a and three drug selection genes should empower us to efficiently make genetic modified hES cell lines for basic and translational research.     

干扰RNA的非靶免疫副作用及其siRNA序列设计与化学修饰

siRNA介导的RNA干扰技术已经成为基因功能研究和开展疾病治疗的有用工具.近年发现,siRNA在哺乳动物体内可激活天然免疫系统,诱导干扰素等炎症因子的分泌,并且可非特异性抑制某些非靶基因的表达,有可能极大限制RNA干扰技术的应用.进行高效特异性siRNA的设计和修饰,以保持或者增强siRNA的特异性靶基因沉默作用,又消除siRNA对机体的非靶免疫副作用,成为使siRNA安全有效应用于临床治疗的关键.     

不同细胞周期大鼠肝实质细胞癌细胞粘弹特性研究

以胸腺嘧啶核苷和秋水仙碱顺序阻断法及胸腺嘧啶核苷双阻断法分别获得同步化Ｇ１期和Ｓ期细胞,从细胞周期角度出发,采用微管吸吮技术对大鼠肝实质细胞癌细胞的粘弹特性进行了测定并以标准线性固体模型对实验数据进行了拟合,结果表明：该细胞具有高弹性和低粘性的总体特征;Ｇ１期细胞与Ｓ期细胞相比具有高Ｋ１值和低μ值的特点,从而显示Ｇ１期细胞比Ｓ期细胞具有更大的强度和更快的被动变形能力。这些结果不仅反映了同步化细胞存在的细胞骨架状态的周期性差异,也提示Ｇ１期细胞可能比Ｓ期细胞更适于在血流中存活和转移。     

窝雏数处理对两种雀形目幼鸟生长的影响

基于 1 997～ 1 999年野外实验 ,对高寒草甸小云雀和黄嘴朱顶雀两种雀形目鸟的窝雏数进行增减处理。结果表明 ,对照组的幼鸟生长率和离巢体重都大于增加组 ,说明窝雏数增加后 ,幼鸟质量下降。随着窝雏数增加 ,这两种幼鸟生长率显著下降 (小云雀 :r =-0 965 ,P =0 0 3 5 <0 0 5 ;朱顶雀 :r =-0 82 8,P =0 0 2 2 <0 0 5 )。窝雏数改变对小云雀幼鸟出飞重影响不显著 (r =-0 41 8,P =0 5 2 8>0 0 5 ) ,而对黄嘴朱顶雀有显著的影响 (r=-0 90 1 ,P =0 0 1 4<0 0 5 )。     

长春花黄化植原体（PY）株系的检测与鉴定

植原体 (Ｐｈｙｔｏｐｌａｓｍａ) (原称类菌原体Ｍｙｃｏｐｌａｓｍａ ｌｉｋｅＯｒｇａｎｉｓｍ ,简称ＭＬＯ)是一类无细胞壁、存在于植物筛管细胞内的原核生物。植原体自 1 967年被日本学者土居养二首次发现后 ,迄今为止 ,世界上报道的植物植原体病害多达 30 0余种 ,早期对植原体的鉴定主要是通过生物学特性 ,如症状特征、与昆虫介体的相互关系等进行的。这些方法费时费力 ,结果往往也不是很可靠。 80年代 ,随着血清学、分子探针以及ＰＣＲ技术的发展应用 ,为植原体的检测提供了一种相对简单、灵敏、可靠的方法。通过对 1 6ＳｒＲＮＡ基…