香菇栽培种线粒体DNA和核糖体DNA多态性研究初探

本文应用RFLP技术研究了10个香菇主栽品种的线粒体DNA（mtDNA）和核糖体DNA（rDNA）的部分小区段,利用PCR技术扩增了rDNA5．8＋ITS区段及mtDNA的小区段,分析这些片段的限制性酸切图谱,并进行菌株间的遗传相似系数的估算。结果显示：菌株间的rDNA在5．8＋ITS区段差异很小,表明同一种内菌株间的rDNA具有相对的遗传稳定性;不同菌株间未检出mtDNA的差异,表明菌株间在所研究的区段具有很高的遗传相似性。     

Identification and characterization of potential NBS-encoding resistance genes and induction kinetics of a putative candidate gene associated with downy mildew resistance in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cucumis</Emphasis>

Background  

Due to the variation and mutation of the races of Pseudoperonospora cubensis, downy mildew has in recent years become the most devastating leaf disease of cucumber worldwide. Novel resistance to downy mildew has been identified in the wild Cucumis species, C. hystrix Chakr. After the successful hybridization between C. hystrix and cultivated cucumber (C. sativus L.), an introgression line (IL5211S) was identified as highly resistant to downy mildew. Nucleotide-binding site and leucine-rich repeat (NBS-LRR) genes are the largest class of disease resistance genes cloned from plant with highly conserved domains, which can be used to facilitate the isolation of candidate genes associated with downy mildew resistance in IL5211S.     

Isolation and characterization of a mesophilic Arthrospira maxima strain capable of producing docosahexaenoic acid

A strain of the cyanobacterium Arthrospira was isolated from Lake Chahannaoer in northern China and was characterized according to microscopic morphology, photosynthetic oxygen-evolving activity, growth rate, and nutritional profile. Compared with thermophilic Arthrospira species occurring naturally in tropical and subtropical lakes, this isolate is mesophilic and grows optimally at ~20 degreesC. The total protein, fatty acid, phycocyanin, carotenoid, and chlorophyll a contents were 67.6, 6.1, 4.32, 0.29, and 0.76 grams per 100 grams of dry weight, respectively. The strain is rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). An essential omega-3 fatty acid, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), was detected, and gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) and DHA accounted for 28.3% of the total fatty acid content. These features of this newly isolated strain make it potentially useful in commercial mass culture in local areas or as a biofuel feedstock. It is also an alternative resource for studying the metabolic PUFA pathways and mechanisms of cold stress tolerance in cyanobacteria.     

柱前衍生化HPLC法测定黄芪中黄芪甲苷的含量

目的：建立黄芪中黄芪甲苷的柱前衍化高效液相色谱测定法,并用该法对不同产地黄芪中黄芪甲苷的含量进行比较,方法：以吡啶－苯甲酰氯（２．５：１）为衍生化试剂,对黄芪甲苷分子中的羟基进行苯甲酰化,以甲醇－四氢呋喃－水（９０：４：６,０．２％三乙胺）为流动相,ＶＤ３为内标物,在２３０ｎｍ波长处检测。结果黄芪甲苷在０．００４－０．０８０ｍｇ．ｍＬ＾－１范围内呈线性,相关系数为０．９９９９,平均回收率为９４．７     

Different Growth and Physiological Responses to Cadmium of the Three Miscanthus Species

Miscanthus has been proposed as a promising crop for phytoremediation due to its high biomass yield and remarkable adaptability to different environments. However, little is known about the resistance of Miscanthus spp. to cadmium (Cd). To determine any differences in resistance of Miscanthus to Cd, we examined plant growth, net photosynthetic rate (Pn), activities of anti-oxidant and C₄ photosynthetic enzymes, concentrations of Cd in leaves and roots, and observed the chloroplast structure in three Miscanthus species treated with 0, 10, 50, 100 or 200 μM Cd in solutions. Miscanthus sinensis showed more sensitivity to Cd, including sharp decreases in growth, Pn, PEPC activity and damage to chloroplast structure, and the highest H₂O₂ and Cd concentrations in leaves and roots after Cd treatments. Miscanthus sacchariflorus showed higher resistance to Cd and better growth, had the highest Pn and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) activities and integrative chloroplast structure and the lowest hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and leaf and root Cd concentrations. The results could play an important role in understanding the mechanisms of Cd tolerance in plants and in application of phytoremediation.     

Selection of appropriate reference genes for gene expression studies by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in cucumber

Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (QRT-PCR) has become one of the most widely used methods for gene expression analysis. However, the expression profile of a target gene may be misinterpreted due to unstable expression of the reference genes under different experimental conditions. Thus, a systematic evaluation of these reference genes is necessary before experiments are performed. In this study, 10 putative reference genes were chosen for identifying expression stability using geNorm, NormFinder, and BestKeeper statistical algorithms in 12 different cucumber sample pools, including those from different plant tissues and from plants treated with hormones and abiotic stresses. EF1α and UBI-ep exhibited the most stable expression across all of the tested cucumber samples. In different tissues, in addition to expression of EF1α and UBI-ep, the expression of TUA was also stable and was considered as an appropriate reference gene. Evaluation of samples treated with different hormones revealed that TUA and UBI-ep were the most stably expressed genes. However, for abiotic stress treatments, only EF1α showed a relatively stable expression level. In conclusion, TUA, UBI-ep, and EF1α will be particularly helpful for reliable QRT-PCR data normalization in these types of samples. This study also provides guidelines for selecting different reference genes under different conditions.     

Effect of N, P concentration on growth rate

The total nitrogen, phosphorus, biomass, pH, dissolved oxygen in and temperatures of three eutrophic waters were investigated in the rapid-growth season of phytoplankton (July-October). Chloromonas rosae was cultivated in water samples from three eutrophic waters and diluted water samples from Lake Donghu to determine the effect of N and P concentrations on the growth rate. The relationship between the biomass and the N and P concentrations, analyzed by regression, showed that phosphorus was the limiting factor for algae growth in eutrophic water. The relationship between the growth rate and the P concentration can be described with the regression equation y=0.0806ln(x) 0.4658, (R²=0.889). The growth rate increased linearly with the increase of P concentration when it was below 0.05 mg/L. It increased less when the P concentration was above 0.05 mg/L, and was almost unchanged when the P concentration exceeded 0.2mg/L. The P concentration corresponding to the growth rate “0” (deduced from the regression equation) was 0.003mg/L, close to the minimal P concentration of poorly nutrient lakes. This indicated that the regression equation was representative. The average values for plankton cellular N and P in the three eutrophic waters were 53% and 85%, respectively. To evaluate the levels of eutrophy, N and P, both in the water and in the plants, must be considered. The biomass of phytoplankton is controlled by concentrations of both dissolved and cellular N and P. The following linear regression equations describe the relationship between biomass and N: y=10.687x-7.8304, (R²=0.950), and between biomass and P, y=122.11x-12.069, (R²=0.991). They exemplify the absolute and relative aspects of growth-limiting factors with Redfield values. We conclude that the only way to prevent eutrophication is to maintain a balance between the input and output of nutrients and to remove excessive dissolved N and P in the water.     

PAK5, a New Brain-Specific Kinase, Promotes Neurite Outgrowth in N1E-115 Cells

We have characterized a new member of the mammalian PAK family of serine/threonine kinases, PAK5, which is a novel target of the Rho GTPases Cdc42 and Rac. The kinase domain and GTPase-binding domain (GBD) of PAK5 are most closely related in sequence to those of mammalian PAK4. Outside of these domains, however, PAK5 is completely different in sequence from any known mammalian proteins. PAK5 does share considerable sequence homology with the Drosophila MBT protein (for "mushroom body tiny"), however, which is thought to play a role in development of cells in Drosophila brain. Interestingly, PAK5 is highly expressed in mammalian brain and is not expressed in most other tissues. We have found that PAK5, like Cdc42, promotes the induction of filopodia. In N1E-115 neuroblastoma cells, expression of PAK5 also triggered the induction of neurite-like processes, and a dominant-negative PAK5 mutant inhibited neurite outgrowth. Expression of activated PAK1 caused no noticeable changes in these cells. An activated mutant of PAK5 had an even more dramatic effect than wild-type PAK5, indicating that the morphologic changes induced by PAK5 are directly related to its kinase activity. Although PAK5 activates the JNK pathway, dominant-negative JNK did not inhibit neurite outgrowth. In contrast, the induction of neurites by PAK5 was abolished by expression of activated RhoA. Previous work has shown that Cdc42 and Rac promote neurite outgrowth by a pathway that is antagonistic to Rho. Our results suggest, therefore, that PAK5 operates downstream to Cdc42 and Rac and antagonizes Rho in the pathway, leading to neurite development.