海河流域14种农作物对土壤库中磷的输出量和输入量初步研究

 海河流域14种农作物平均含磷量为0.127±0.053%,变化范围0.023—0.214%,不同器官中最高可达0.419%,最低仅为0.019%。对土壤库中磷输出量最大者为谷子,磷可达99.758±56.931kg·ha-1·a-1,其次是玉米和棉花;磷输入量以白薯为最大,为12.557±5.020kg·ha-1·a-1(但包括可食部分块根的输出部分在内),然后是谷子和花生,其余作物均较低,<2kg·ha-1·a-1。具高输出量的作物的部位有玉米、谷子、花生、棉花等果实,谷子、花生、白薯等茎叶;就输入量而言,除白薯为高输入和谷子为低输入类型外,其余均属很低输入型,上述特点揭示了海河流域因作物的收获而大量损失土壤库中的磷,如种植谷子、玉米、棉花等分别以99.758、32.661和26.591kg·ha-1·a-1的速率损失有效态磷。并对不同子流域作物磷的输出(入)量差异以及针对上述问题应采取的对策作了探讨。     

小葱凝集素的纯化和部分性质研究

小葱凝集素的纯化和部分性质研究林玉满（福建师范大学实验中心生化室,福州３５０００７）凝集素具有众多的生物学性质~［１－４］。自从发现凝集素至今已一百多年,人们已从植物种子或根、茎、叶、韧皮纯化的凝集素有百数十种~［３,５］,但对蔬菜凝集素的研究不多,有...     

t-PA cDNA在CHO细胞中的高效稳定表达

我们曾报道t-PA mRNA非翻译区序列对其表达有明显的抑制作用,在此基础上,通过对5′-UTR及3′-UTR的改造,使t-PA在COS-7细胞中的表达水平提高30倍左右。将t-PA表达质粒用电击法转染中国仓鼠卵巢细胞二氢叶酸还原酶缺陷株(CHO-dhfr),经过混合加压及筛选,在CHO细胞中高效表达了t-PA,表达水平达到5000～6000 IU/10~6细胞/24hr。重组t-PA具有与天然t-PA相同的分子量及酶活性。经过8个月连续传代,表达水平未下降,表明细胞株是稳定的,其主要指标均符合工程细胞株的要求。     

The transforming growth factor beta type II receptor can replace the activin type II receptor in inducing mesoderm.

The type II receptors for the polypeptide growth factors transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) and activin belong to a new family of predicted serine/threonine protein kinases. In Xenopus embryos, the biological effects of activin and TGF-beta 1 are strikingly different; activin induces a full range of mesodermal cell types in the animal cap assay, while TGF-beta 1 has no effects, presumably because of the lack of functional TGF-beta receptors. In order to assess the biological activities of exogenously added TGF-beta 1, RNA encoding the TGF-beta type II receptor was introduced into Xenopus embryos. In animal caps from these embryos, TGF-beta 1 and activin show similar potencies for induction of mesoderm-specific mRNAs, and both elicit the same types of mesodermal tissues. In addition, the response of animal caps to TGF-beta 1, as well as to activin, is blocked by a dominant inhibitory ras mutant, p21(Asn-17)Ha-ras. These results indicate that the activin and TGF-beta type II receptors can couple to similar signalling pathways and that the biological specificities of these growth factors lie in their different ligand-binding domains and in different competences of the responding cells.     

Multiple genotypes of mitochondrial DNA within a horse population from a small region in Yunnan province of China

mtDNA genotypes of six domestic horses (three adult short horses whose heights are under 1 m and three common domestic horses) from a small region of 15 km² in Malipo county of Yunnan province of China were investigated by the technique of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) with 16 restriction endonucleases which recognize 6-bp sequences. An average of 56 fragments for an individual was obtained. Unlike other domestic animals, this population of horses exhibits high mtDNA genetic diversity. Each of the six horses has a specific mtDNA genotype showing a pattern of multiple maternal origins, as suggested by fossil and literature records. We think the population of horses is an amazing seed-resource pool of horses and hence deserves to be paid more attention from the view of conservation genetics. However, it is also remarkable that we did not find any typical mtDNA genetic markers which would discriminate between short horses and common domestic horses.     

GTPase-dependent signaling in bacteria: characterization of a membrane-binding site for era in Escherichia coli.

Era is an Escherichia coli GTPase that is essential for cell viability and is peripherally associated with the cytoplasmic membrane. Both immunoelectron microscopy and subcellular-fractionation experiments have shown that Era is present in cytoplasmic as well as membrane-associated pools. These data led to speculation that the mechanism of action of Era may require cycling between membrane and cytoplasmic sites. In order to investigate this possibility, an in vitro binding assay was developed to characterize the binding of Era to membrane fractions. Competition and saturation binding experiments suggest that a site that is specific for Era and capable of binding up to 5 ng of Era per microgram of membrane protein is present in membrane preparations. The binding curve is complex, indicating that multiple equilibria describe the interaction. The binding of Era to this putative receptor is dependent on guanine nucleotides; binding cannot be measured in the absence of nucleotide, and neither ATP nor UTP can substitute. Subfractionation of cell walls showed that the guanine nucleotide-dependent binding site was present in fractions enriched in cytoplasmic membrane. These data provide evidence that Era may be involved in a GTPase-receptor-coupled membrane-signaling pathway that is essential for growth in E. coli.     

Spectral heterogeneity and time-resolved spectroscopy of excitation energy transfer in membranes of Heliobacillus mobilis at low temperatures.

Transient absorption difference spectra in the Qy absorption band from membranes of Heliobacillus mobilis were recorded at 140 and 20 K upon 200 fs laser pulse excitation at 590 nm. Excitation transfer from short wavelength absorbing forms of bacteriochlorophyll g to long wavelength bacteriochlorophyll g occurred within 1-2 ps at both long wavelength bacteriochlorophyll g occurred within 1-2 ps at both temperatures. In addition, a slower energy transfer process with a time constant of 15 ps was observed at 20 K within the pool of long wavelength-absorbing bacteriochlorophyll g. Energy transfer from long wavelength antenna pigments to the primary electron donor P798 was observed, yielding the primary charge-separated state P798+A0-. The time constant for this process was 30 ps at 140 K and about 70 ps at 20 K. A decay component with smaller amplitude and a lifetime of up to hundreds of picoseconds was observed that was centered around 814 nm at 20 K. Kinetic simulations using simple lattice models reproduce the observed decay kinetics at 295 and 140 K, but not at 20 K. The kinetics of energy redistribution within the spectrally heterogeneous antenna system at low temperature argue against a simple "funnel" model for the organization of the antenna of Heliobacillus mobilis and favor a more random spatial distribution of spectral forms. However, the relatively high rate of energy transfer from long wavelength antenna bacteriochlorophyll g to the primary electron donor P798 at low temperature is difficult to explain with either of these models.     

Physiological Elevations of Glucocorticoids Potentiate Glutamate Accumulation in the Hippocampus

Abstract: Glucocorticoids (GCs) are secreted during stress and can damage the hippocampus over the course of aging and impair the capacity of hippocampal neurons to survive excitotoxic insults. Using microdialysis, we have previously observed that GCs augment the extracellular accumulation of glutamate and aspartate in the hippocampus following kainic acid-induced seizures. In that study, adrenalectomized rats maintained on minimal GC concentrations were compared with those exposed to GCs elevated to near-pharmacological levels. We wished to gain insight into the physiological relevance of these observations. Thus, we have examined the effects of GCs over the normal physiological range on glutamate and aspartate profiles; this was done by implanting adrenalectomized rats with GC-secreting pellets, which produce stable and controllable circulating GC concentrations. We observe that incremental increases in GC concentrations cause incremental increases in glutamate accumulation before the kainic acid insult, as well as in the magnitude of the glutamate response to kainic acid. Elevating GC concentrations from the circadian trough to peak doubled cumulative glutamate accumulation, whereas a rise into the stress range caused a fourfold increase in accumulation. Similar, although smaller, effects also occurred with aspartate accumulation (as well as with taurine but not glutamine accumulation). These data show that the highly elevated GC concentrations that accompany neurological insults such as seizure or hypoxia-ischemia will greatly exacerbate the glutamate accumulation at that time. Furthermore, stress levels of GCs augmented glutamate accumulation even in the absence of an excitotoxic insult, perhaps explaining how sustained stress itself damages the hippocampus. Finally, even the moderately ?levated basal GC concentrations that typically occur in aged rats augmented glutamate accumulation, perhaps explaining how GCs damage the hippocampus over the course of normal aging.